Kent1999

This. Just because you are very well-to-do, that doesn't mean that everything you touch turns into Gold.

Really tiring to see these people insist on thinking that their $150k ZR1 is going to be a whole different, much higher quality level product than a $50k Stingray. Like the whole assembly line stops when a ZR1 comes down the line, and all the parts and people are changed over to higher quality parts and more meticulous workers.

NEWSFLASH: The ZR1 isn't a $150,000 car -- it is a $50,000 car with $100,000 of added-on options. See the difference??? A model's Quality level is set by the cheapest trim line in the family, not the most optioned-up trim level.

And to all you beating the "Lexus does it 1000x better" drum -- why didn't you buy the Lexus sports car (such as the LC) if that is your ideal? Why buy something working-class and mass-market, and then complain about it when the company you obviously really wanted exists? (I think we all know the answer -- we just want to hear you admit it.)

dbirdhouse1

You spend six figures on a halo car that comes with a level of disfunction that frankly takes the twinkle from one's eye and the anticipation that a car like this creates and just puts it out like a cigarette butt. These are issues that one would be accepting of for a ten year old Toyota, the expectations are within reason.
I do wonder why so much of this was not seen beforehand either by GM and/or the buyer but nonetheless I get the angst here.

Jim2003

I am from the C6 group. It is cold outside and I am bored so I was surfing the CF and came across this long story. I read the whole thing, yep really an old retired bored man today. Only one comment or question; in 2003 I bought my first Corvette. I ordered it my way. My salesman was one of the top ones in GM. I got to follow my 2003 C5 down the line for 6 hours. I put the first gas in it, the first start and many other neat things the man guiding me took pics.

Now to my point. I got to go on the test drive. Into the station we went, she hooked up my car and a screen came down in front of the windshield. Then she started going through all sorts of tests. Shifting through the 6 gears, braking hard, active handing, lights and heater and AC and fan working obviously many other tests. The screen then said coast down to 30 and apply the brakes. I asked her now what. She told me a green screen meant it past all tests and a red screen meant it failed and had to go get that item repaired. So how did this ZR1 pass this test my C5 went through? I have toured the plant many times (I live in Louisville, KY) and they still go into that same station. I am not saying the owner is lying, just how did it roll out of that station and not get corrected in Bowling Green, that is not a dealer error for certain.

Still cold outside and still bored, bye, just my .02 worthless question!

Guy gm screwed

Guy gm screwed

CBloy

Anything more happen with this issue?

Guy gm screwed

Hopefully the suspension don’t pop and clunk Again when I put it on the track again
got the car back finally. They did a good job painting it. They had to bring in a special Dupont tint specialist because they could not get the color correct. If you get your head really close to it you can see where they use just a little more metal flake or something but if you stand back you can’t see it. Since general motors did nothing to compensate me and force me to have to keep this vehicle at full price it will be my last Corvette. I would have bought every new vet for the rest of my life but not after this Experience with gm. Even one of their executives Working on the C8 apartment told me they would have liked to get their hands back on this vehicle but GM legal department didn’t let that happen. I’ve owned the vehicle for almost a year now and I’m just now able to use it. That’s pathetic and general motors probably lost at least 1 million dollars from me as a customer due to an Issue that could have easily been resolved. I will post a picture with new Sparco seats and track wheels installed .

xWS6guy

krwunlv

I have been lightly following this thread. Something I would suggest, is to your dealer/GM this thread so they can see that is has been viewed by over 25,000 potential ZR1 buyers or C8 buyers. I would even go as far as posting it on other public corvette or GM forums to bring awareness to your story and warm others. It's a good story with a lot of opinions and valuable information others could certainly use knowledge on. Of course, people hate bad press/media.

joemessman

These guys at GM are up in age and don't understand the significance of issues posted on the Internet. Rightly or wrongly there is a malstrom of negative responses that can be read by potential buyers. I don't think they get it.

krwunlv

True, but the value of these posts is you can actually show/prove the story is being heard and read buy the numbers. I would be that assh0le that posts this same story on every corvette/chevy forum I knew like it was my job. LOL

JALLEN4

That is a failed attempt at satire...Right? A company who hires top college graduates yearly, spends 10's of millions of dollars on advertising monthly into social media, and a leader in the field of communications. Yet, they are all too old to understand the Internet like say you do? Really?

Phanni

How old is "too old"?
I'm 74 and was a pioneer in the development of mainframes. (Control Data)

orca1946

How long is it now that the car has been in the dealer's shop? It was months earlier in the posts.

Matthewstorm

My dad worked at Control Data. He would have been 101 this year.

JoisyDevil

All this time spent with the dealer wouldn't it qualify for a buy back under the lemon law?

Bill Dearborn

There are always two sides of a story. It sounds like the car sat around for a long time waiting for the owner to give permission to repair it. GM and the dealer were willing to repair but he wanted a buy back and didn't authorize a repair. That is why it sat for 5 months. After making reasonable attempts to cure the problem they just let the Customer bray and wait until he gets tired of braying and decides to proceed. His statement above ("Even one of their executives Working on the C8 apartment told me they would have liked to get their hands back on this vehicle but GM legal department didn’t let that happen. I’ve owned the vehicle for almost a year now and I’m just now able to use it. That’s pathetic and general motors probably lost at least 1 million dollars from me as a customer due to an Issue that could have easily been resolved") doesn't even make sense. What is the C8 apartment? He didn't have sufficient interest to do a quality check on his own post and make sure it made sense. As for the quality of the product that is a function of the manufacturing engineering that designed and developed the production process and all vehicles run through the same process. That is true in all volume vehicle manufacturing plants where the goal is to have well documented and repeatable processes so quality control can be maintained. The thumb print story is suspicious at best. We all have seen the videos of how the panels are painted. No way a human is in the paint booth when the panels are being painted/cured.

What this story proves is if you act like a three year old you will be treated as such. People dealing with the Customer will be excessively polite but the Customer will not get what they desire. Manufacturers and retailers have their procedures for handling complaints. Those procedures are followed by Human Beings that make decisions on how closely the procedure should be followed. F with them and you get the screw job. Don't bite the hand that can give you something.

Bill

wadenelson

I ordered a brand new Vette in 1985.

When it arrived the fit and finish sucked.

I refused it and didn't look at Corvettes again for 30 years, when I bought a C3. At least I can justify all it's paint and trim failures, mismatch, poor hoodlines lines, etc.

mschuyler

Yes, but 25,000 does not equate to 25,000 disgruntled and/or now-wary potential Corvette buyers. Views does not equate to people. A few hundred, perhaps, have followed this thread. A great many readers may very well fall into Bill's camp:

Here we have a guy who joined this forum for only ONE reason: To "tell his story." I dare say he has spent more time "telling his story" and defending himself than he has on the actual issues involving his car. He accepts NO RESPONSIBILITY whatsoever for his own actions here. It's ALL the other guy's fault. His character is on display here by his own hand and I don't think he even knows it.

But moreover, I believe people over-estimate the "power of the Internet." This story has not gone viral. It is restricted to this forum which amounts to a relief valve for OP, accomplishing nothing. This idea that "25,000 people!" are now aware of the issue is laughable and betrays ignorance of the statistics we are given. CNN has not picked up this story to broadcast to an audience of millions who have grown aghast at the depravity. No one else cares. Most people will not be sympathetic to a bunch of spoiled rich guys bitching over inconsequential issues. Oh my God, there's a blemish in the paint! So they'll take a quick look at their Honda Civic and say, "Meh? These guys are way beyond OCD."

As far as I'm concerned this guy gives Corvette owners a bad name. We're not all like that, but we can thank our lucky stars he will never buy another Corvette. That is a very good thing.

douglee25

You guys drive a hard bargain on this forum! Even IF the guy exaggerated slightly on his story, he spent 145k on a vehicle and it should be damn near perfect regardless if it's a volume production car or not. If anyone of you disagree, I'd sure like to see you on the receiving end when spending over 2x the mean annual family income on a vehicle. Hell the vehicle probably costs more than most people's houses. As a manufacturer, GM is ultimately responsible for defects and their QA process was absolutely audited when they were notified of this issue. I hope for everyone's sake they improve their process.