Pisswilly

Just wondering, never heard a definitive answer.

trivette

Neither have I, and mine (#307) was one of them. Dealership tried but got nowhere.

agapsdiver

For Quality Control!

Foosh

The same thing happened at C6 and C6 Z06 introduction. It seems to have become almost SOP at BG on a new model. The worst thing that can happen to a manufacturer introducing a new model is to build them, release them, and have a whole bunch of bad press and angry owners on your hands with a bunch of unforeseen problems.

One of the smartest things a manufacturer can do on a mass-produced car, is build several hundred true production models destined for sale, with a fully operational mass-production process, and then go over all of them with a fine-toothed comb to check for bugs.

I'm pretty sure most manufacturers do this, but it's kept more under wraps. That's pretty impossible to do with so many eyes on the introduction of a new gen Corvette.

Patman

I factory ordered a 98 Firebird Formula back in January 1998 and even though the car was built right here in Canada, it took 11 weeks from order to delivery and some of that extra wait was because they did extra QC on my car. I'm glad they did as that car was put together very well and ended up being very reliable for me too. I'd rather wait an extra couple of weeks for a new car, knowing it was being double and triple checked.

2K14C7

It must have worked. My 14 has been trouble free with great fit and finish.

911Hunter

Same here, mine does not have any issue. 26K and still going strong.

What you mentioned applies to any new car model.

Steve Garrett

Being the first cars of a new generation Corvette, I've got to think that they just wanted to make sure all was well before they let them go into the field.

trivette

Mine has been trouble free as well; I wish that QC hold took place on my early production '84, '97, and '05...

I've heard rumors from a reflash of some sort was done to potentially no fluid being in the rear ends when assembled; who knows? Just not sure why they had to ship them to Nashville rather somewhere on the plant grounds or at least closer.

Crossed Flags Fan

36,000 trouble free miles on my Feb 2014 built Vette.

OH THREE Z

If my slowly failing memory remembers correctly they trucked the cars to nashville and had tents in the lot.... that didnt seem like typical new model QC to me

blackmagicZ

My 14 is one of the best I've owned.

trivette

Re the trucking & tents in Nashville; exactly my thought as well. This was not something one would perceive as a routine QC check. There must have been something suspect about the early batch that needed to be corrected or at least inspected before being released to customers. It did appear that the rear carpet near the battery had been pulled up and re-installed on mine, unless that was just the best install BG did on the early ones. If it was something routine you would think it would have been made public by this time. In a few years something will surface about what really took place-then we can all have exclusivity with our cars' experience.

ZL-1

Yes it was not a routine inspection, only certain cars were held. My car # 570 was not affected but many both lower and higher vins were held up. I got mine 9/23/2013 while a lot of lower vins waited a long time for their cars. At the time we tried to find out what options were involved, manual or automatic, base or Z51, etc. Never figured out a common denominator.

(Amazingly, in 4 years #570 has been virtually trouble-free, just a new nav display and a couple reflashes)

Jeffthunbird

I don't recall hearing about a lot QC issues. I've heard more since then. Like an appliance, nobody yelps when it works as it should. You only hear the bad stories. I had a '97 for 4 years also. No issues. First year production issues are a wives tale.

TKgs2010

Not a clue, really. I have several friends that bought first year C7's, and only 1 has had a serious issue, and that was at least in part his own fault. I just took delivery of my new 2018 ZO6 coupe and I'm pretty picky, but I haven't found any quality control issues yet, so far so good. Hopefully I won't have any issues, but it can happen with any vehicle, and I really don't believe in the "first year blues" myth. Totally unrelated, but I had a good laugh with your screenname, my wife's Irish grandmother would always call people a pisswilly, but she never revealed exactly what one was. Any clues?

TBIRD57

they throw out the stuff that finally worked so well on the previous C version and then "re-invent the wheel" on the next C version,and after they get that right, they do it again!

we all know that this supposed mid-engine version is going to be a real problem child-yikes!

JoesC5

It wasn't and they didn't do it to the 1997's or the 2005's.

there was some(secret) problem with the C7's that took GM a while to come up with a fix, and they didn't want to ship all those Corvettes they were building to the dealers to have them sit at the dealers and then pay a premium to have the dealer "fix" the problem, once they(GM) came up with a "fix".

They were not going to shut down the assembly line and send all those workers home with pay while they(GM) developed a "fix", and they soon ran out of room in the back lot at the factory in Bowling Green.

GM rented a huge, fenced in parking lot in Nashville(I believe it was an unused lot where cars were held to be loaded off/on rail cars by the company that transports the Corvettes) to hold the cars coming off the assembly line until they could "fix" them, assembly line fashion, even if it was under a tent in a parking lot.

It was not a "normal" QC hold, it was a problem with the C7 that had to fixed.

golden2husky

Reality is that GM does usually have a bit more problems - even today - than most manufacturers when it comes to new model launches. It must kill them to see Honda pump out a brand new model replete with a new drivetrain and watch it soar to the top of the reliability charts in most instances.

I waited and bought a late build 2014 and other than the Z51 brake squeal and the filler neck recall/airbag reflash, the car has been perfect. Very good assembly as well.

BRCC

Not all, mine was #160 and was shipped to Lavonia, MI Roush Industries, my dealer knew it was shipped but could not find out where, finally they discovered it was shipped to MI and would be sent here (This was a 45 day ordeal), and when finally shipped it came on a transpore but was not a Cooper transport.