Buyers Tours and Photo Albums start Monday, 9/30/2013.
I just got an email from the Museum.

 

You beat me to it

From the Museum website:

National Corvette Museum Delivery (Option R8C)

NOTICE

NOTICE GM Bowling Green Assembly Plant Tours will be available to customers with Option R8C on their 2014 Corvettes beginning Monday, September 30, 2013. Please contact the Museum Delivery Department regarding scheduling your R8C Delivery.

 

The email also says if your car is built before 9/30/2013 your money will be refunded. I have registered for the Corvette Buyers Tour and the Corvette Photo Album.

 

So, does the Sept date for tours mean they will delay the assembly of cars with tour options or does it imply production may not begin for all cars until then????

 

I guess that pretty much determines the earliest date those of us who chose museum delivery will get our cars.

It's also interesting that the buyers tour also begins on September 30. I would therefore assume that some of the earliest assemblies will not have a buyers tour available for your particular vehicle. That seems a bit strange to me.

 

I'm wondering the same thing about those of us with Museum Delivery. If the date is prior to Sept 30th would we still get a plant tour? Will we not get Museum Delivery until after Sept 30th or will we just not get a plant tour?

Here is the whole email:

Greetings,

Registration has been activated for both the Corvette Buyers Tour and Photo Album programs. Please visit our website to get signed up.

Buyers Tour

Corvette Buyers Tours will resume on Monday, September 30, 2013. We are now accepting reservations for tours. Once your reservation is made the Delivery Department will work with the Plant to determine approximately when your car will be built. If your car will be built prior to the September 30 tour opening date, your tour fee will be refunded.

Photo Album

The Corvette Photo Album program will resume on Monday, September 30, 2013, but you are encouraged to go ahead and sign-up for this program. Should your car be built prior to the September 30 program launch date, your photo album fee will be refunded. Conversely, you do have the option to purchase an album of a Corvette with the exact same options as yours.

 

Since your car has not been built yet, when the time comes to schedule your delivery, just schedule it after 9/30.

 

^ Understand that doing so does not guarantee your car will be built after September 30th. Though the Museum and the Plant coordinate, the Plant makes the production schedule. This is my understanding . . . .

 

They are trying to give us all a hint. Production cars will not be released until Sept 30. Face it production has not and will not begin till after carlise. Because all the people important in the list will be in attendance. They will then travel back to BG to start production either Aug 26 or Sept 2. Then with the quality control hold that would line up with Sept 30 as the earliest delivery dates anywhere. Remember the Museum cars get the quality control hold as well. So put all those pieces together we get two weeks off researching daily when it might begin. Hell whos in lets go have a drink.....

 

I'm in . . . .

 

Here is the email I got from Shane Webb

Greetings,



Registration has been activated for both the Corvette Buyers Tour and Photo Album programs. Please visit our website to get signed up.



Buyers Tour



Corvette Buyers Tours will resume on Monday, September 30, 2013. We are now accepting reservations for tours. Once your reservation is made the Delivery Department will work with the Plant to determine approximately when your car will be built. If your car will be built prior to the September 30 tour opening date, your tour fee will be refunded.



Photo Album



The Corvette Photo Album program will resume on Monday, September 30, 2013, but you are encouraged to go ahead and sign-up for this program. Should your car be built prior to the September 30 program launch date, your photo album fee will be refunded. Conversely, you do have the option to purchase an album of a Corvette with the exact same options as yours.





Please contact us if you have any additional questions.



Shane Webb

 

Talon90 will probably weigh in here soon. But they do not have a quality hold on production cars, unless they are museum delivered. If the purchased car is going to a dealer to be delivered, they are only held for the transport truck to be filled going to the same general area.
Museum delivery cars are held 2 weeks to make sure nothing was changed on the assembly line after the car was made. Or, something was found to be wrong with the car. this is different for dealer delivered cars, because if something is found with those the dealer and not the plant will make corrections.

 

that's not whats been said on here nor by GM press releases. They all mention a quality hold for up to the first 1000.

 

Wrong... There are holds on all production. Some periods are shorter than others. in the middle of a generation in the middle of a model year the hold is likely very short. A new model year might have a longer hold. A completely new car will have a extended hold. It is too expensive and embarrassing to ship cars that have widespread issues.

My 2001 coupe was built in the first week of production (july2000) and was held (not musuem delivered) after the dead battery issue was discovered.

 

Did they start production today?

 

If GM builds 18 Corvettes an hour for an 8 hour day they will build 144 Stingrays a day.
If they start next Monday, 8/19/2013 they will have 10 working days in August and 19 working days in September before the tours start on 9/30/2013. That means 29 days times 144 Corvettes per day equals 4,176 new buyers will miss the opportunity for the Plant Tours.
If my C7 is one of the first 4,176 built I will not get the joy of a tour.
Honestly, I would rather have my Corvette sooner and not have the tour.

 

I've given up on the museum delivery this time as it 'does' slow down access to your car by a couple of weeks or so. I'll save the bucks and volunteer (for gas & lodging of course) to ferry someone up there in a really nice ride (LoLa, my Torch Red C7) after I get it. Then I can piggy back on his/her tour and join the museum while there . It's just a 5-6 hour ride from here.

 

 

Check my math. Are there more than 4,176 orders now for the Stingray coupe?
Are there more than 4,176 C7 buyers on this forum?

 

When the line starts it will not be at 18 cars per hour. They will take some time to work up to that speed as the make sure the line is correct and the workers get used to their operations.

Dave