Billy346

I think I can agree with you on those accounts. If GM promised those things and failed to deliver, this is on them. But I think details like this bother some people more than it does others. (I'll admit that red one really pushes the boundaries of my own ability to look past defects.) . Now you've got me going out to the garage scrutinizing the fit of the front bumper cover and headlights. Mine isn't perfect, but thankfully not as bad as the one in your photos.

RapidC84B

That one doesn't kill me because it just needs the bracket adjusted. The last one where the fender is 1/4" lower than the headlight is really bad. Very little adjustment in how the fenders go on.

Foosh

Yep, same here.

Skid Row Joe

Huh?????? What did you do to it?!

My last 3 Mercedes Benz' sedans' paint, fit and finish over 27 years has been nothing short of magnificent. Here's my 12 year old E320 CDI sedan; the paint quality is nothing short of outstanding!

Billy346

LOL...you called me out! Well played!

I stand by my comment though! Park that Benz next to that busted red Corvette and see which one gets more compliments!

Vet Interested

Typical GM "quality", plain and simple.

muncie21

Curious what the maintenance has run you on the MB over the past 12 years?

Had I not done all the repairs to my 10YO BMW, it would be upside down in value by now. My C5 on the other hand, ~120K and no significant maintenance, just oil changes, brakes and tires and that's with the SC and LTs installed at 40K

joemessman

I guess I was lucky with mine. Perfect panel fit, very little orange peel, and the A8 hasn't skipped a beat. I have 54,000 on it. You can see my build date in my signature below this post.
Knock on wood!

Skid Row Joe

Mercedes-Benz paint, fit n finish are outstanding.

You lost the argument, so you change the issue. Real bright, Billy.

Oh, look at my POS fit n finish new red Corvette.

ElGreco53

My '18 Z51 has much better fit and finish than the red one shown by the op. Mine was a pre-shutdown unit. Just got lucky I guess!

Skid Row Joe

We're talking about fit n finish here. However .......

5 years:
Half the Texas sales tax and annual licensing of my new C7.

RapidC84B

I agree... my wife's 2012 ML350 diesel with 75k miles presents better than almost all the used or new C7s I looked at.

tcinla

I have no issues with panels on my 17 Stingray, built in October of 2016 according to the sticker in the door. I do have Orange Peel but I'm not entering any car show competition so... meh. I might do a paint correction before next summer comes but it's not high on my 'must do' list.

Iconic

Could you pease elaborate on your source of the VIN cutoff for new VS old paint of the 2018 Vettes. I am very interested in this.

Billy346

I was just having some fun. I thought you had a great reply, and thought I'd respond with some friendly banter!

Seriously though, when I was looking over my Corvette before purchase, I didn't even think to go over the fit of the body panels or the smoothness of the paint. I didn't actually start noticing the way the car fit together until I washed it the first time. I didn't know about orange peel until I read this forum! Now that I know about both of them, I notice them more, but they don't bother me as much as they may bother you. (My car is put together alot better than the red one in those photos though. I'd be pretty angry if I noticed the body panels were that far off in my car.)

However, I guarantee if you parked that busted red Vette next to your pewter Mercedes in a parking lot, very few *if any* people would notice the defects in the 'Vette. They would see a red 'Vette with a pewter sedan parked next to it. They'd say, "Wow, look at that Corvette! If I ever get one, I want a red one like that." And no mention will be made of the pewter colored sedan sitting next to it. I'm not knocking your Mercedes. It's a quality automobile, which you have enjoyed. But in terms of what people notice, the last thing they will notice is the body fit and finish.

Skid Row Joe

"All-in-All," I think both you AND I lucked out! -As contrasted with some of what we're seeing here!

Very few will admit to their C7's paint & fit-n-finish flaws.

Hard to believe the new C7 #*&*%#@$^&* here!

mbaessler

OK, all of these comments made me go into the garage and check out my Vette. Panels were all lined up and no Orange peel. Must of been lucky. Car was built in April 2017.

RapidC84B

All of them have orange peel on the sides... just have to look at the right angels. They're not wet sanded to remove it. The issue is some are so bad it jumps out at even the casual observer.

dyoung

There was a thread on here a few months ago asking about the # of cars built before the plant shut down. I found the info on Corvette Blogger.

Early 2018 production was June 5 to July 27.

2486 stingrays and 2925 GS for a total of 4511.

1958 ZO6's.

5470 coupes and 999 converts.

On this thread, post #14 has some different numbers. I believe that these #'s are correct.

tcinla

Now THERE's a hornet's nest of a topic if ever there was one. German luxo isn't cheap to purchase ( leases.... that's another issue) and if you keep them long term, the maintenance can be quite disruptive to your wallet. Once the warranties are expired... watch out.

I'm actually telling my neice to look into Mazda since she's all about low total cost of ownership, quality, durability, features you get for the money, quality of Dealer handling of the customer, etc. Tech is quickly distributed to most car brands when it appears so She can spend more for a C class ( some call them stripped out sh8t boxes when compared to the icon of big german lux barges of old) where she has to pony up extra for the options or go with something like a Mazda 6 where everything comes standard for a lower cost (same tech). A lot of people put a premium on the 3-pointed star but a small sedan from Merc vs a Mazda 6, from a price/feature comparison standpoint, can be a tough decision. Unless you a brand snob / fan boy, in which case there is no perspective where a Mazda sedan can equal a c-class. Now the new c-class interior quality is premium, no doubt about it. I'm talking from a tech feature perspective.