Yukonboy03

So I have been trying to do a lot of research on this and it is pretty hard to figure out exactly how much you are allowed to do. All of the accounts are pretty much just saying "what a great experience" "a must do!" and then there is one picture in front of the museum. Also, a lot of the accounts are dated and so the experience might be inaccurate today.

If I am dropping another $1k, I want to do the most possible, even if that means taking another day off work.

Areas of confliction:
1. Do you get to always have the option of seeing your order IN production? and no photos allowed, right?
2. Is your Corvette just going to be waiting under a cover?
3. The champagne toast is a lie? (if so, then why no children? OSHA?)
4. Installing the last lugnut/bolt also a mean lie?
5. Do they take a lot of photos for you?
6. Do you get to be on the floor of assembly or just behind glass?
7. Who can post pictures of your baby's birthday "plate" that they send you?
8. Can you really not get the "Stingray" door sill plates as an option?


Thanks guys

Zymurgy

1. Seeing your car "in production" is a separate offering than Museum Delivery. And it is NOT guaranteed that you will see your car. This is the Corvette Buyers Tour: https://store.corvettemuseum.com/services/buyertour.asp
2. No, it is not under a cover. It is on display on "Delivery Row", roped off and each slot has a live webcam. Museum Delivery: http://www.corvettemuseum.org/ncm_delivery/index.shtml
3. No champagne toast. Age limit is for the factory tour.
4. Yes, that is a lie. (Don't know where you got these)
5. No they don't take a lot of photos for you unless you order/buy the Corvette Photo Album: https://store.corvettemuseum.com/ser...photoalbum.asp
6. The Factory Tour is a marked walkway that winds through the plant. The walkway is for your safety, lots of material movement going on. It is NOT behind glass.
7. Not sure what you are asking about on this one.
8. You really can't. Basically, no LPO (dealer installed) options are allowed on NCM deliveries. But, they can be installed yourself by ordering from one of the forum parts suppliers.

Zymurgy

My C7 delivery at the NCM:

DocGuy

Yukonboy,

I just recently did an NCM delivery. I have also had many conversations with the staff of the Museum that are in charge of the NCM delivery. I will asner your questions as best I can. If I say I think, that means just that I think... If I say during my delivery, means just that so here we go...

1. Do you get to always have the option of seeing your order IN production? and no photos allowed, right? Yes, and no. To get the chance to see your car on the line, you must get to the museum about 2 weeks before your actual R8C delivery. This is called the "Buyers Tour". They try very hard to ensure you see your car roll off the line, I have seen pictures of this so I am confident it is true.
2. Is your Corvette just going to be waiting under a cover?
Your Corvette wait for you on "Corvette Blvd" in the Museum. Go to corvettemuseum.org, webcams, and look at the Blvd cam as well as any of the 8 delivery cams...once they park it out there they can tell you which camera.
3. The champagne toast is a lie? (if so, they why no children? OSHA?)
Didn't get a toast, but there are many reasons for no kids. I have two myself, and have grandchildren. Having said that, There are a lot of moving parts in the factory, no place for young ones. Additionally, I am not sure if the kids would appreciate what is happening during the delivery, and most of the customers are older and would appreciate a delivery without the additional noise some children bring. Having said that my 13 y/o nephew will go wiyth me next time.
4. Installing the last lugnut/bolt also a mean lie?
I have been told that if it works out like they try to do, you may start it at the end of the line. The lug nuts are put on by a gun the tightens ALL of the nuts at the same time so it would seem like that my be far fetched. However, if you are there when you car is getting tires, they may then be able to let you spin on a lugnuts before he/she hits it with the gun...
5. Do they take a lot of photos for you?
So you know about the R8C and the Buyers Tour. You can also get the Photo Album. It will cost you some cash but they take phots of your car on the line, (with and or without you). The R8C delivery will include one or two pictures as well. I am gouing to do the Buyers tour with the photo album and come back in two weeks to pick her up... Buyers tour is 2 people only and the R8C is 4 people only (although, I think you can pay 50 bucks and get a max of 5 for your R8C deilvery.
6. Do you get to be on the floor of assembly or just behind glass?
7. Who can post pictures of your baby's birthday "plate" that they send you? See above...
8. Can you really not get the "Stingray" door sill plates as an option? Some options are dealer installed, the R8C/museum is not you dealer so that explains that...

Tis what I know hope it helps if you want more info PM me.

Doc

John Ulrich

Our great guide, Dan, took a few photo's like this outside that Shane send us.

John Ulrich

Zymurgy got the "prime" parking spot too!!!



Hard to beat the feeling walking thru the door the afternoon before delivery and seeing your new Vette sitting in a spot that was vacant when you checked before leaving the hotel minutes before...
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.
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Asterism

note that the Buyers Tour is separate from the regular factory tour and NCM delivery tour. it is an additional $800 option. I just did one last week and it was awesome, highly recommended. I was able to walk with mine down the line from bare frame to water test. as with any production environment it is not 100% guaranteed that you will see your car on the scheduled day.

15vette

I just placed my order for a 2015, can't wait to pick it up! Thanks for the info!

Sin City

To me the enjoyment of getting the car at the factory was just the drama and the drive home.

The rest of it is pretty meaningless. The factory visit is interesting if you like that sort of thing (I've seen my share of factories but I did enjoy the tour).

Was it worth $1000? -- well that's actually a lot of money for just picking up a car when you can do that at your local dealer for free -- but I didn't mind paying the bill.

John Ulrich

When you and I are rocking in a chair in the nursing home we won't be thinking about what it would have been like!

talon90

It seems you might have a few of the museum programs rolled in to your questions. The museum offers the Delivery program. This is option R8C where you go to the National Corvette Museum and pick up your new Corvette. They also offer a Buyer's Tour where you get to walk on the line alongside the assembly of your Corvette. They also offer a Buyer's Photo Album where a photographer from the National Corvette Museum will follow your car on the line and take photographs of the assembly process. They offer a V.I.P. tour which is a guided tour of the assembly plant watching production of the Corvette (not yours) and being able to visit and stop a few locations where the public plant tour can't stop.

I think you are asking about option R8C, museum delivery. The museum delivery starts with the completion of the assembly of your car and then a two week quality hold. After the two weeks, you can go and pick up your completed car. You will see your car displayed on Corvette Boulevard in the center of the museum. You will be greeted by your host, taken to a safety briefing and then transported to the assembly plant. You will take a guided tour of the assembly plant and the return to the museum. You will then take a guided tour of the museum and then taken to your car where you will get a hands on informational session about the operation of your vehicle. When you are done and ready to leave, your car will be driven out of the museum (and you will have the option to ride along as a passenger) where photographs will be taken of you with your car in front of the museum.

1. During museum delivery you will not see your car in production. It will have been produced two weeks prior to your arrival. If you want to see your car, you will need to add the Buyer's tour.

2. Your Corvette will have gone through PDI and displayed in the open (also on Webcams) for all to see.

3. There is no Champagne toast (there never has been a champagne toast). This is the south and alcohol isn't what it is in other parts of the country. Additionally, you will eventually be given the keys to your car and it wouldn't be good PR to provide alcohol to someone about to drive away.

4. Again, your car is built. There was a time when during the Buyer's tour, owners would be asked on to the line and put in a bolt or fasten a nut or snap in a trim part. The problem becomes, at that point, this isn't your car. It is GM's car. Adding a small part became can I sign a panel, became can I have the operators sign a panel on the car. This was becoming a distraction and more and more stuff was being added that wasn't part of the specification of the car. When a car gets to final QC, how is the inspector supposed to sign off a car covered in graffiti? If the owner scratches the car or another car with a belt buckle, who takes ownership for the damage? If they trip and fall on the way to or off the platform, there is too much liability risk. This isn't Disney land, it is a working factory and there are more than a few ways someone unfamiliar with the surroundings can get hurt from being hit by a fork truck to being hit by a material conveyor to bumping in to an operator.

5. At the NCM you can take as many photos as you would like. Your host is there to escort you and give you an informative tour. They do not take a lot of photos for you other than at the end. Any guests you bring can take as many photos as they want in the NCM.

No photography is allowed in the plant during your delivery tour. Only those with photo clearance are allowed to take photographs during either the Buyer's tour or Photo album and these are for the most part, only of the car and the assembly steps.

6. While in the plant you are typically no more than 20 feet from the vehicles on the line. This is the same if it is your car during the Buyer's Tour or other cars during the delivery tour or V.I.P. tour. There are no glass partitions. There is simply a pedestrian walkway that you are required to stay on throughout the duration of your time in the plant. Off the walkway there are fork trucks moving material around the plant to the various assembly stations and they can't always stop on a dime.

7. You would be able to post any photographs that were sent to you. Not sure if I'm addressing the actual question you are asking. If not, please clarify and I'll be happy to address it.

8. Stingray sill plates like other LPO options are dealer installed. The museum for the most part does not perform these installs. So yes, you cannot order the Stingray sill plate with museum delivery. You certainly can order it via GCA and have it installed after the fact.

I did my delivery on the 24th of October. I would do it again in a heartbeat.

Asterism

well put. that was one of the things I noticed on the buyers tour
which allows you to get a little closer to things than the other tours.
theres no shortage of equipment there that can squash you like a grape
or cut you in half like a pair of scissors, you really do need to
pay attention. people have been escorted out of the tours on several
occasions. please don't be "that guy" and ruin it for those that follow.
all it takes is one person to get hit with a forklift and GM could cancel
the entire program.

OnPoint

Paul, how much does the photo album costs?

Also - what do they do with the car during the two week quality hold for museum delivery. I understand they PDI the car, but do they also check it over to make sure she's good to go? And if so, what all do they check and confirm?

talon90

The photo album is $700.00. There is also a option to combine it with your Buyer's Tour for a slight discount over the price of the two packages purchased separately.

https://store.corvettemuseum.com/ser...photoalbum.asp

The two week hold is mandated by GM. When you have your car shipped to the dealer, it is held by the shipping company until transportation is arranged, on a truck over land for a period of time and finally delivered to your dealer. During this time, it's whereabouts are known. The museum delivery car is going have the keys handed over and the new owner is going to drive it away.

The purpose of the two week hold is to allow GM to control that car while subsequent manufacturing is going on. This allows them to monitor production and communicate with suppliers and ensure that no latent or insipient defects are discovered in the subsequent production that could affect your car. Since it will be in most cases the owners primary means of transportation home, they want it to be the best it can be.

For the most part of the two weeks, the car simply sits and waits. If a defect is discovered on the line that affects your car, the repairs can be made while it waits but 99% of the time, it just sits.

A few days before your scheduled delivery the car is loaded on a truck and transported over to the NCM. The PDI is performed and the car is detailed for you. The night before (in the event of a morning delivery) or the morning of (in the event of an afternoon delivery) the car is driven out on the boulevard.

Asterism

if you purchase the photo album and NCM delivery they will combine your delivery pics into the photo album.
if you get the combined buyers tour and photo album
the tour guide will take the photos during your tour.

talon90

All correct.

OnPoint

Thanks guys.

Jack Be Quick Racing

Whats the kid age restriction for the factory tour?

WelderGuy

Do you have to pay the $995 delivery fee when you pick the car up at the Museum? Can they just drive it over?

mpuzach

Yes, you still pay the $995 destination charge. That stays the same whether the car is trucked to the museum or to a dealer anywhere in the country.