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You did not take a minute or two to look over a car that was costing you $150,000? You have just stated that all these imperfections and misalignments are glaring and outstanding to the point that everyone who looks at the vehicle can point them out. You didn't see any of them before you wrote a check or signed the papers?
I don't really have a dog in this fight since mine is absolutely beautiful on fit and finish. However, I don't think quality control and inspection is the job of the buyer. I believe that someone is being paid by GM in house for that duty.
I don't really have a dog in this fight since mine is absolutely beautiful on fit and finish. However, I don't think quality control and inspection is the job of the buyer. I believe that someone is being paid by GM in house for that duty.
Agree... a buyer shouldn't have to nitpick a $140K new car. Personally, I will never buy one w/o going over the cars very closely knowing what I know now, but I can see a "normal" person expecting more. Maybe I'm ignorant, but if I bought a new Porsche I would expect the panel gaps to be uniform and the paint to be blemish free.
I say that, but a surprising amount of new cars are damaged in transit and repaired and sold as new unblemished. Happens all the time.
Agree... a buyer shouldn't have to nitpick a $140K new car. Personally, I will never buy one w/o going over the cars very closely knowing what I know now, but I can see a "normal" person expecting more. Maybe I'm ignorant, but if I bought a new Porsche I would expect the panel gaps to be uniform and the paint to be blemish free.
I say that, but a surprising amount of new cars are damaged in transit and repaired and sold as new unblemished. Happens all the time.
That does happen. I have seen it with a couple of my own vehicles.
It's not as easy as you make it sound given how the car was delivered. Some of the defects, like mine on the rear bumper, can only be seen in certain lighting.
Curious, do you track - or intend to track- your car?
And I hope you get your issues sorted. Maybe post up what your results are resolving.
I don't really have a dog in this fight since mine is absolutely beautiful on fit and finish. However, I don't think quality control and inspection is the job of the buyer. I believe that someone is being paid by GM in house for that duty.
So you would write a check for $150,000 and not even look it over because that is for some one else to do?
My C7 Z06 was as close to perfect as an automobile can be. I find it extremely difficult to believe that this tool here has a C7 with scores of glaring defects. Calling BS on that one as many others on this forum have also.
So you would write a check for $150,000 and not even look it over because that is for some one else to do?
My C7 Z06 was as close to perfect as an automobile can be. I find it extremely difficult to believe that this tool here has a C7 with scores of glaring defects. Calling BS on that one as many others on this forum have also.
I'm sorry, but you bitching out everyone is getting a little old.
So you would write a check for $150,000 and not even look it over because that is for some one else to do?
My C7 Z06 was as close to perfect as an automobile can be. I find it extremely difficult to believe that this tool here has a C7 with scores of glaring defects. Calling BS on that one as many others on this forum have also.
You got lucky... my C7 is rife with exterior fit/finish defects. If you frequent the forum you'll see that threads like this are far more frequent than in the C5/6 years. Just to humor you I'll give you a run down of my 2014:
1. Roof halo bar doesn't line up to rear hatch and targa panel perfectly. There is no adjustment in the halo bar as it bolts to the composite upper tub/roof. My rear hatch is perfect everywhere else so no moving that. My targa has different lip thicknesses on the driver vs. passenger side which are the root cause of the issue. The factor workers "split the difference" in how they lined it all up.
2. The front of my targa panel is lower on the driver side because of how they bolted the front bracket to the windshield frame. Yes I can fix this, but I have to remove all the interior a-pillar trim and rear view mirror etc. My car is a trackday car now so I don't care as much.
3. Lots of waviness in my panels, not orange peel, but actual ripples. One was prominent enough in my passenger quarter that someone asked me if I had a "door ding". I've taken the car apart to install Z06 ducts and checked with a paint gauge. No body work on the car. This is why they developed the robotic panel sanding process for the new paint shop. Also, it was a new lighter SMC mix for the C7 (which got lighter for 2016+).
4. My driver quarter never lined up to the rocker panel. It was molded too thick. I ended up having to dremel the back side when I installed my Z06 ducts to get it perfect.
5. Rear fascia sags vs. top of quarters. The rear fascia snaps on with plastic and no amount of adjustment will get it perfect.
6. Gap between rear fascia and quarters... lots of C7s have this... again due to the cheap plastic snap mounts.
7. Fuel door not centered. You'll find the door and pocket are cheap plastic and the hinge pin is plastic too and as it wears it sags in the opening. A piece of velcro in a specific spot forces the fuel door up and fixes this, but at a car show start looking at C7 fuel doors.
8. Door alignment is horrible in early cars. Gaps are all over the place and getting the lower door line to line up to the fender lower crease can be very challenging. Many times when the door is lined up properly with the quarter panel it's a good 1/8" in at the fender crease. No I'm not talking about how the door tucks in at the very bottom relative to the rocker for wind noise. Even now I can walk a dealer lot and you can look at the rear of the door to quarter at the tops and then front of door to fenders and you'll see huge variances in gaps. I had to re-do both my doors and fenders and adjust my glass.
9. Hoods... walk around Carlisle or the bash and you'll see gaps all over the place. Some cars have the front hood to fascia gap 2X as wide as others, some have one side almost touching the fender and a cavern on the other side. Mine isn't horrible, but one side is slightly wider than the other. Saw a new ZR1 at Carlisle where the hood was almost hitting fender.
10. Front fascia to fender due to how the plastic snap bracket works.
11. Headlight fit. Many early cars have the front lower corners of the headlights sticking out from the fascia a little. Mine does. Adjusted it as best I could when I installed my Z06 grille. Found both fenders cracked from crappy OEM over-tightening.
12. Fender lip cracks. Some early cars had panel defects in the wheel arches and would get hairline cracks at the 12:00 position. Mine did... had to have it fixed and airbrushed.
For a car that GM marketed the fit finish and a new tighter 3mm gap spec and a "gap man" checking all gaps at the factory... I was left severely disappointed.
Mechanically my car has been very good...and it's a nice car, but if you're expecting a Porsche in terms of quality, it's not. Shoot, all my C5s had better fit/finish and paint.
One problem I noticed in almost every picture of the ZR1 and my car has this is the front bumper tips where it meets the front fender and the headlight, the triangle that sits between the headlight and the hood and the front fender is basically not aligning well with the front fender. It is also sticking out and not parallel and if you press it with your finger, it moves. I am pretty sure this is because for ZR1 they made a brand new front bumper and they simply didnt have enough time to improve the production process to fix all the issues. You can also look around the headlight and see that the gap around the headlight is not equal between the front bumper and the front fender. These are all because front fenders and front bumper are all new. Z06 is not like this.
There is also an issue with the rear bumper to rear quarter panel where rear quarter panel is higher than the bumper. I have seen this on so many cars on the pictures. I am pretty sure many owners simply dont look at these details because from a 6ft distance, car looks amazing. Its when you start spending time with it up close (lilke while washing it) when these issues show up.
I swear to god my $58,900 GT350 does not have ANY of these issues. I can show you a picture of every single panel and they are almost perfect.
One problem I noticed in almost every picture of the ZR1 and my car has this is the front bumper tips where it meets the front fender and the headlight, the triangle that sits between the headlight and the hood and the front fender is basically not aligning well with the front fender. It is also sticking out and not parallel and if you press it with your finger, it moves. I am pretty sure this is because for ZR1 they made a brand new front bumper and they simply didnt have enough time to improve the production process to fix all the issues. You can also look around the headlight and see that the gap around the headlight is not equal between the front bumper and the front fender. These are all because front fenders and front bumper are all new. Z06 is not like this.
There is also an issue with the rear bumper to rear quarter panel where rear quarter panel is higher than the bumper. I have seen this on so many cars on the pictures. I am pretty sure many owners simply dont look at these details because from a 6ft distance, car looks amazing. Its when you start spending time with it up close (lilke while washing it) when these issues show up.
I swear to god my $58,900 GT350 does not have ANY of these issues. I can show you a picture of every single panel and they are almost perfect.
The rear bumper sag is on all C7s due to how they mount them. The headlight fit is hit or miss it's not just ZR1s. The bumper fit inboard of the headlight is common to all C7s, especially if the bumper has ever been removed due to how it snaps in place. The plastic tabs can stretch slightly and it never goes back just the same.
Also I have been watching videos of how to remove the bumper/rear quarter panels to adjust and its insane how many screws you have to remove and how the entire thing snaps into place. The overall design of the bumper is very bad. There is this vertical plastic piece inside that connects the bumper to rear qaurter panel and itself is also screwed to the body. Thats just a horrible design, no other car I have owned has this. Bumpers should attach to the body only not another panel AND the body. And the way that plastic piece with the orange tabs are secured, its very possible to have these issues.
And lastly, who the hell thought about having that screw inside the tail light? Its just badly designed.
Take a look at how Porsche 911's rear bumper comes off. You can remove it in 5 minutes literally and it is put back on in the same spot, perfect alignment every single time.
Also I have been watching videos of how to remove the bumper/rear quarter panels to adjust and its insane how many screws you have to remove and how the entire thing snaps into place. The overall design of the bumper is very bad. There is this vertical plastic piece inside that connects the bumper to rear qaurter panel and itself is also screwed to the body. Thats just a horrible design, no other car I have owned has this. Bumpers should attach to the body only not another panel AND the body. And the way that plastic piece with the orange tabs are secured, its very possible to have these issues.
And lastly, who the hell thought about having that screw inside the tail light? Its just badly designed.
Take a look at how Porsche 911's rear bumper comes off. You can remove it in 5 minutes literally and it is put back on in the same spot, perfect alignment every single time.
You're preaching to the choir here. I have taken my 2014 all apart to install the Z06 quarter inlet ducts and an APR spoiler. I have owned and highly customized 4 C5s and built racecars and show cars out of them and worked on many other cars. The design sucks. The fact that you have to take the tail light bezels out by just "pulling" to access that one screw is horrid. OEM manual says to "release" the tabs with a small flat blade you can't do that w/o marring the paint on the bumper fascia or bezel. You have to gently just pull on them. Eventually the tabs that hold them in on the bumper side (there are these little plastic tabs molded into the entire fascia piece) will break and the bezels won't stay in. Every time you take the car apart it wears out more because it's plastic snaps. After you do this you have to just pull on the bumper hard. Often times the large red clips break. I have adjusted the black bracket on my quarters as far as it can go (there are dimples on the quarters that locate it in a specific range) and my bumper is a smidge lower than the quarters at the top still. Far better than most C7s I see, but not perfect. On and to install a spoiler you have to go through all this and take the bumper off why? because the tail lights crew in from the back! With a C5 you just took the tails out and you could get inside the bumper easily. The bumper to quarters were secured with a metal stud plate and used 10mm nuts. It was simply to align/position the part and then tighten the nuts and ensure proper alignment. You can take a C5 apart as many times as you want and it won't wear out because it's all 10mm nuts/studs and torx screws vs. the C7 all snaps.
I see why GM did all this... they engineered the car to be assembled the first time on the line with as few parts and steps as possible but at the expense of the serviceability of the vehicle. I guaranty the production engineers who came up with this stuff have taken apart a C7 with a few miles on it after these parts have started to age. This is my biggest gripe with the car. The front bumper is worse than the rear. The plastic tabs molded into the bumper can get locked to the brackets on the fender side and don't want to release. FSM just says "use a nylon wedge to gain space, insert appropriate flat blade to release tab" doesn't work well and all the "how tos" on the internet just tell people to "pull hard".
Curious, do you track - or intend to track- your car?
And I hope you get your issues sorted. Maybe post up what your results are resolving.
Not planning to track it. It's my first brand new car purchase and my dream car so I am a little bummed out by the imperfections. However after reading everyone's comments on this issue, I don't think there is a such thing as a "perfect" Corvette in terms of fit and finish.
I'll update everyone once I contact the dealership. Perhaps the bumper to bumper warranty will address the rear bumper ripple?
Not planning to track it. It's my first brand new car purchase and my dream car so I am a little bummed out by the imperfections. However after reading everyone's comments on this issue, I don't think there is a such thing as a "perfect" Corvette in terms of fit and finish.
No, no. There's one guy around here, can't remember his name, that's never had a problem. If I'm not mistaken, he's had something like 12 Corvettes and every one of them has been perfect. According to him, if you do have a problem, it's your fault because you didn't catch it prior to taking delivery. If you mention it after having the car for a while, then you're just whining.
Yeah, that's pukey or spunky, something like that. He doesn't have that perfect C7 Z06 anymore, still shopping. As REPO PILOT says, just check the box. He's just a troll that lurks in the ZR1 forum.
Interesting thread as I just purchased a 2019 gmc 2500 Denali and didn’t notice the rear door for a day or two until the kids couldn’t get it shut without slamming it.
Yeah, that's pukey or spunky, something like that. He doesn't have that perfect C7 Z06 anymore, still shopping. As REPO PILOT says, just check the box. He's just a troll that lurks in the ZR1 forum.
It would seem that several here are posting about vettes that aren't ZR1's which is, of course, the subject vehicle in this thread. The ZR1 body is unique considering all of the CF material. Actually, it is unique in several ways.
This is for ZR1 owners as the front fenders and front bumper are unique.
Take a look at your front headlights... Do compare the gap between the headlight and the front fender and headlight and the front bumper. I guarantee you 99/100 cars will have uneven gap. Front fender side is twice as much as the bumper side. Its clear the mold of these panels arent good and havent been properly tested.
Also take a look at the triangle piece of the front bumper where it meets the front fender next to the headlight. You will see the gap isnt equal. Its less closer to the headlight and expands as you get further.
Both my passenger and driver sides are like this and after going over the car multiple times, reading about how these panels are installed, and also watching videos of kentucky bowling green, I am confident that these front fitment issues is just how ZR1s are going to be. I am not okay with these issues, no car I have owned have had these issues and there is no way these are fixeable unless someone changes the mold of the panels.
The front of the car isnt the fault of the assembly line workers because both sides exhibit equal problems and rest of the panels (i.e gap between the hood and fender or gap between the door and fender are perfect).
In the back however, I have this issue where rear quarter is sticking out and not level to the rear bumper. This is only on one side. The same panel is also not even with the rocker panel. Now this issue is different is entirely the mistake of the assembly line personnel. Although I would blame the engineers for coming up with such a shitty design where 4 different things (rear bumper, rear quarter, plastic bracket holding the two, metal bracket holding the plastic bracket to the body) have to be perfectly aligned. How retarded is this, even my wife who is not an engineer while looking at this issue on her own said this is bound to not line up. I have researched other cars and no other car I have looked into has this design.
Last edited by UnhandledException; 02-24-2019 at 05:50 PM.
02-12-2019, 01:44 PM
That does happen. I have seen it with a couple of my own vehicles.
