teejake

Those are terrible.

golden2husky

Agreed! My '14 body is very good fit wise, though the passenger door could be a bit better. On the inside the center "waterfall" was too low, creating a 1/2 gap when the top was down. I took it off and shimmed it with washers to a nice 1/8 gap. I admit I am very fussy about fit and finish and was nervous as I ordered my car. I asked the dealer to check it before I arrived and told him the known problem areas. I have some OP in the CR paint but it is not too bad. The lack of flatness of the SMC panels bothers me more than the OP. SMC is just not as flat as rolled steel and I can see that when I look for it.

But the fact is that Vettes are built quite differently than normal unibody construction where tolerances are so tight that the parts don't need to provide adjustability for consistent good fit. Vettes seem to be more dependent on the skill and attitude of those assembling them. Hence the lack of consistency in assembly. Robots just do it better, period.

droideka

I took delivery of an '18 RS 3 in late December and agree with the build-quality sentiment. It is superlative. Before that, I had a '16 Volvo V60 Polestar with excellent fit and finish as well which is actually what I traded my '14 C7 Z51 in on. The C7 V8 fun was replaced with a '16 SRT 392 Challenger that had similar build quality to the C7 for $20K less and a dealership experience that wasn't as gross as Chevy.

I reluctantly bailed on my C7 experience early due to multiple quality and service issues I couldn't bear to deal with. It was a great performance car that provided an exceptional driving experience, but I wasn't committed enough to stick it out with GM as a questionable manufacturer and their awful dealer network. As an early adopter, local dealers were having issues with understanding how to change the oil in the dry sump cars, only pulling one plug and then over-filling which caused all of that extra oil to exit the intake and cover the engine bay. I was changing oil on my dime regardless of the free changes being offered. I also had a shift **** that was wearing the finish off in only 3K miles, a regular grind in 1-2 and 2-3 shifts and $2500 comp seats that were delaminating the top surface of the 2LT leather. Like I said, I wasn't committed enough to corvette ownership to bother with taking it in and bailed when I still had a lot of equity and re-sale value.

The C7 is an awesome vehicle that is unfortunately made by a company that produces a lot of shitty automotive appliances with a sub-par dealer network to support it. The handful of committed and spectacular dealers that support the forum are not at all indicative of the everyday experience.

proexpert

Well said.

red62vette

This topic should be the next Ask Tadge question.

3 Z06ZR1

The new plant is the assembly plant now but still using the same parts supplied the old plant did.
I don't see a major change till the parts gets better. Paint looks the same as well.

My paint looks great and the panels all fit nice with no loose paint on the seams with my 2017 but not all are as lucky.

The major issues with paint not sticking on the edges of the panels were happening stuff like that can be an issue with the cars from the new plant as well.
The new plant doesn't mean the car is better quality than the car from the old plant that still varies from car to car.

rmorin1249

This thread is disturbing but I can't avoid following it.

E.T.D. Corvettes

For those that missed my earlier post...the cars in the OP were produced before the 13 week plant shutdown for retooling.

RapidC84B

Thought only the red car was?

E.T.D. Corvettes

All four of their Corvettes that I referenced in my earlier post were pre-shutdown units.

Soonere39

My other car IS a Mercedes E350 and it has about as much orange peel. Its a pearlcoat white so it just hides the orange peel better.

jimmie jam

Poor paint and fit issues are not unusual with even the "best/uber expensive" cars. The local shop that does all of the R/R and Bentley work told me that they touch nearly ALL cars when they arrive due to fit and finish issues. They don't even try to sell these vehicles without addressing the F & F issues first. Exotics are no different.......

Frosty

I won't order one again just for the reason given.

3 Z06ZR1

Smart to see the car first!

onyx_z71

That makes it all ok then...

BlueFinn

Sat in my 2014 C7 in my heated garage yesterday with a scotch in my hand and the dog on my lap. The weather was -16C outside (Ontario, Canada).

I admired the quality of work and materials inside the car. Aluminum is real aluminium, leather is real leather and plastic is real plastic (good quality). The fit of everything is great with stitching in line and the gaps between doors and body small and uniform.

Perhaps I got a better one or I am less picky than others? But it sure looked good to me. (Well I did have problems sitting my coffee cup straight in the cup holder!)

Can't wait for spring!
John

Patman

There are certainly pros and cons to both sides though. Picking one off the lot often means compromise, you end up paying for options you didn't want or you're missing options you wanted or you don't get the exact color combo you wanted. In the case of my car there was a very slim chance of ever finding it on a dealer's lot, they rarely ever order 1LT cars to begin with, and NOBODY ever orders gray interior with Torch Red. Another problem with buying a car off the lot is that it often sits outside for a long time, so you'll find the paint could be damaged slightly from acid rain, bird droppings, extra scratches from the dealer having washed the car a couple of dozen times, etc.

Yes you are taking a chance when you order the car that you don't see it before committing, but if something is really bad the dealer can fix it and if it's something minor then just leave it alone. I'm perfectly happy with the fit and finish of my car.

joemessman

Those are good points you make. And I think the gray interior with a red car is magnificent!

dvilin

Most everything looks better with a glass of scotch or two.

golden2husky

Mercedes paint quality is not great. I sit in an awful lot of stop and go traffic commuting to work and in my boredom I check out the cars around me. You would be amazed at the rather average paint quality that some very expensive vehicles have. For the expensive cars, I found that Audi seems to have high assembly and paint quality delivered consistently. Ditto Porsche. M-B and BMW are not nearly as good. In fact my friend who owns a 330i told me when he sees really good paint on a BMW he suspects a repaint. Sadly, that "engineered like no other car in the world" ended in the 2000s when Mercedes abandoned building to a standard and adopted building to a price point. Like many Vette owners who gloss over defects, plenty of high end German car owners do the same. Just look at the BMW apologists at Bimmerfest forum. How somebody can consider replacing half of your cooling system at 50K regular maintenance is beyond me.