Big Dan 427

Let me start by simply saying please DO NOT take this in any way as a slight against the C7, it is more about GM and their lack of quality control.

I really have no idea what the % of new owners are posters/members here on the forum but it is unreal how many complaints and issues have been posted in a few week period. My point is if we are reading just what is posted here I wonder how many other dissatisfied new owners are out there.

I completely understand that things do happen when a product is mass produced but the amount of problems that have been stated are just staggering. I won't get into the specific issues I've read about but I will ask, why is the apparent build and quality process so seemingly inferior?

I have been with Acura for 21 years and I can tell you that I have never seen with our product paint peeling, parts missing, misalignment, unfilled fluids etc. not to mention the electronic and other issues some have posted here. Now don't get me wrong, I am not saying we don't have problems too but we aren't selling iconic 60-70k sports cars, and what problems we do have pale in comparison.

Again this is not about the C7, it's about how disappointing the QC and refinement of the C7 is. For the guys who have a "perfect" car count your blessings, for the guys who are dealing with minor or major issues I hope you can see it through and your cars are also perfect soon.

Does anyone else think the amount of problems seem to be exorbitant? Lastly this is a thread about opinions of people who post here whether they have a 7 or not, please do not turn it into anything else!

runutzzzzz

My car isn't perfect but everything is fixable. I'm willing to deal with any issues that arise because I know GM will make it right.

jschindler

I do agree. When the C7 came out, there were a few problems that cropped up, like a crank bolt that came off and caused major problems for a handful of cars. But in the case of the C7 it does not seem to be failures, it seems to be sloppy assembly.

To your point, I think the C7 is a great car and I would not hesitate at all to buy one, but it does seem like there are an unusual number of this sort of problem.

MThomas

I don't know about others on here, but every time I build a house I ALWAYS have issues after the purchase and the house cost a hell of a lot more than our corvettes!!! They all get corrected and life goes on. Just my two cents. Sorry.

doneski

to be honest... that's the reason I'm going to Porsche. Because the quality is just NOT there with GM. With the customer service and the quality of the build. If I am going to spend 60-70k, I want something stable and reliable.

Glenmcp

There is no doubt in my mind that GM customer service is a mess. Most Vettes do not have a major problem. Minor issues are fixed quickly be a dealer. Major issues do take time and you have to take it upon yourself to get GM to correct things in a timely fashion. Having said that, if you love Vettes, you have to take the poor service as part of the deal. It should not be that way, but it is. And now, the flame posts will begin!

OnPoint

I think it's hard to guage one way or the other at this stage. The thing I've noticed with the issues that have been reported is the widely varying nature of them. It's not surprising to have a supplier fall down and supply a component that is discovered to need changed. But the varying nature of the issues is notable.

I don't think we've got enough reports from the cars currently released to draw any conclusions. I suspect we'll get a better feel for that in the coming weeks. I also think once the plant and its suppliers hit a "groove" on production and tweaks that forthcoming cars even yet in this MY will be quite solid.

And one upside is that no magazine has seen pieces flying off it during testing, which is a very public black eye the SRT fellas had to endure.

Big Dan 427

Some great feedback so far guys, thanks! I'd like to add that my 427 which is now a little over a year old (only 1200 miles..) has been flawless.

I don't doubt for a second that a new product will have some teething problems, it's just that some of those problems shouldn't exist IMO.

OnPoint

Dang Dan,

You need to drive that beast some more.

b4i4getit

Considering that the majority of new owners don't even know about this forum there is a real chance that the quality is even worse. These problems that are surfacing are more frequent than what I recall from the C6. From the looks of it they are just pushing product out of the factory as quick as they can with the expectation that the dealer will correct a lot of these issues. That is just unacceptable in my opinion since the new GM is supposed to be quality conscious. I hope this mindset has not permeated into the engine and transmission plants or we will have bigger issues to complain about.

C7_Z06

Whether minor or major, my Camaro SS has/had issues... my Boss 302 has/had issues... both of my previous Porsches had issues... my previous BMW M3 had issues... my previous E55 AMG had issues. But at the end of the day, I was still quite content when I owned them and very happy with the ones I still currently own. And I won't let the posted issues detract or persuade me away from owning a new C7 soon.

So IMO, certain forum folks simply over-emphasizes or over-exaggerates the sporadic problems that pop up (some are major of course) and like to make these issues the end-all be-all claim about GM's so-called poor QC across the entire production assembly. There will be some problems but I don't think it's representative of making statements & conclusions such as 'problems are staggering' or 'build and quality process so seemingly inferior'.

I won't lose sleep over it. Just staying and optimistic awaiting my Stingray.

OnPoint

Whoa now, I thought German cars were perfect. . . . .

C7_Z06

And yet they were...
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

csf

As a previous Porsche owner I would say good luck with that. (for example Google RMS failure). In my experince my GM dealers have had far better customer service, and with less attitude.

I have posted before I believe if you want a near perfect automobile you better buy a Japanese product. If you want a "premium" sports car like a Vette, a Porsche, a Jaguar, an Aston Martin, etc you are absolutely gonna have issues with all of them and you are also gonna have to "pay to play" once the warranty is up . . . sometimes alot.

b4i4getit

To be fair to Porsche the RMS issue was a design issue not a manufacturing issue. The crappy little problems happening with the C7 are production issues that are occurring during the build of the car. I have yet to see a Porsche coming off the truck at a dealer missing door sills, seat trim or differential fluid. GM has some explaining to do in my opinion.

jspridge

An alternative viewpoint for everyone... BG has now produced 3,500 of these cars, and because of the natural tendency to complain louder and more consistently than we compliment, coupled with the unique ability of internet message boards to enable quasi-anonymous complaining to the world, we've been informed of problems with a dozen or so of them. Let's be generous and say that 50 forum members have reported a minor issue. If that's the case, then less than 2% of the cars have come out with even a minor problem that we know about. I'm pretty pleased with that statistic (so far). After having observed the assembly of my C7 a week ago, I can tell you that the people building these cars have an enormous sense of pride in their work and in their product. They have to build them with the parts that are baing supplied though, and with so many manufacturer's parts going into this car, there is bound to be a problem or two.

icntdrv55

Given the awful spell that all car manufacturers have gone through lately, this really shouldn't surprise anyone. I worked for a large Fortune 500 company--presumably many of us here have as well--and even though the company didn't have the financial problems that GM/Ford/Chrysler had, they have been aggressively cutting staff at all levels to keep the quarterly profits from falling during the recession.

I would bet that GM's Customer Service organization staffing is a mere shadow of what it was prior to the recession. Hopefully, as the economy improves, this will change for the better. This may also be a reflection of what is happening in the plant. Line employee staffing has likely been reduced, but I guarantee that the QC staffing at the final check point is even more affected. While the customer usually doesn't perceive it this way, large corporations unfortunately see these positions as unnecessary/extraneous in times of tight money.

Glenmcp

Good point. At a large company it takes an employee years to become an expert at all of the company workings and gain many personal contacts. I suspect big companies have lost a lot of knowledge in the cost cutting. We all know that finding the person that really knows what they are doing is the key.

torijona

Expectations were raised high for the C7. I work in the industry, and honestly I have found far way more fitment issues on a C6 than a C7, a 2012 Z06 to be more specific. You are coming to a place where people are too picky and often have people creating 2 or 3 thread about the same problem just because they do not have anything better to do.

Cars come with problems. My E46 M# clutch fragmented to pieces at 600 miles. My 2000 Mitsubishi Eclipse dashboard broke in two pieces, etc, etc. I doubt that there are no failures in Acura; you just maybe dont go to the forums as much.

In short, GM's QC is OK and they are doing well. By the number of cars on the field versus the number of issues here, you are looking at 0.5% failures at most. That's not bad in my opinion considering what you are getting. People, for some reason, want Corvette price along with Lamborghini finish. It's not going to happen....

Just the 2 cents from someone in the industry...

b4i4getit

Your comments address issues with reliability. The issue most of us have is that the cars are leaving the factory missing parts and in some cases options ordered are not there on the build sheet. There are some procedural problems that GM has since a rudimentary QC inspection should uncover missing parts and fit and finish issues.