[PICS] How Was This New 2024 Corvette Allowed to Leave Bowling Green in This Condition?

By
Keith Cornett
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23
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[PICS] How/Why was this New 2024 Corvette Stingray Allowed to Leave Bowling Green in This Condition?

Photo Credit: Keith Cornett


What the heck is happening in Bowling Green?

First we have reports of new Corvettes that have been diverted to Michigan and are now sitting in a Penske facility for repairs/updates. The number of cars up there appears to be growing daily with the count now standing approximately at 23. And the story is becoming more clearer now as the problem is said to be the Stingray’s transmission.

Chevy had redesigned the case and made some other updates to the DCT for the 2024 model year which may explain why they are suddenly dealing with this issue now. According to a post on the MidEngineCorvetteForum, Corvette engineers are working with Tremec and Penske staff to get to the root of the problem once and for all.

Making the situation even worse is the fact that many of these Corvettes have already been invoiced and paid for, and customers may even be forced to begin making payments while they wait for their new Corvettes to be repaired.

And then there are reports that the number of Corvettes waiting for parts at the Corvette Assembly Plant may be even higher than first thought. As many as 1,100 new Corvettes that were built “shy” (i.e. without all the parts to complete the build) are waiting on parts to be completed. As we mentioned in our October production update, things like emblems and even quarter panels are some the parts missing on cars. Building “shy” may explain why Chevy has been able to keep building 170-190 Corvettes per day despite everything we hear about temporary parts supply issues.

Meanwhile, a new 2024 Corvette buyer just refused delivery of his Corvette and we can’t believe how a car in this condition could be allowed to leave the Corvette Assembly Plant and shipped for delivery. Posting on the Corvette Forum, a member named Mrvett writes the following:

I refused delivery of my 2024 Corvette, mechanical problems.

VIN # 1064.

My car was built on September 27, 2023. It was delivered on October 8, 2023. I went to pick it up on October 16,2023.

I had an agreement with the purchasing dealer that when my corvette was unloaded from the transport truck that it gets parked and is not touched until I arrive. On Monday morning my salesman and I removed the transport cover from the car, and we did a very good inspection. Everything looked good as I expected, no damage.

After our inspection we put the car in gear to drive it over to the service department for the PDI work. As soon as we started moving, the car started making all kinds of loud noises. We looked at each other with disbelief. We were wondering if we should even move the car around to the front of the dealership. The car was shuddering when we moved it. It seemed like every brake was catching and releasing. The car has 2 miles on the odometer. The distance to the front of the dealership was maybe 700 feet.

We were met by the Sales Manage and the Service Technician in the front of the dealership. The technician said we need to pull the car into the service bay and put in on the lift. As we drove the car to the service bay, the car was dragging and shuttering and pulling from side to side. He put the car on the lift and removed the rear two wheels. To our surprise there was a lot of gray substance material which looked like graphite all over the brakes, rotors, and the wheels. All four wheels had the same substance on them. The tech removed the brake pads from the driver side rear caliper. The pads were full of this gray substance. The technician’s comment was he had never seen anything like this in all the years he’s been working on new corvettes. We also suspect a axle problem.

The technician sent pictures to GM tech support and was told they had no idea what the substance was. This car should have never left the plant because the noise and driving ability was obvious.

Unfortunately, I refused delivery of the car because of the issues.

I’m working with a great dealership who volunteered to order me a new car, order is in.

2024 Corvette's brake pads
2024 Corvette's brake pads

Kudos to Mrvett’s dealer for handling this and supporting their customer. It’s definitely the right position to take. He’s right that this car should have never left the plant.

Being a world class sports car is more than just quarter mile times or winning racing championships. It’s about building a car that people can be proud of owning, and that starts with the assembly plant’s quality control. When quality falls off and customers are left to deal with a mess at delivery instead of it being one of the best days of their lives, the brand ultimately suffers.


Source:
MidEngineCorvetteForum.com and CorvetteForum.com

Related:
October Update on 2024 Corvette Production
GM is Shipping Customer 2024 Corvette Stingrays to Michigan for Updates/Repairs
DUDE, WHERE’S MY CAR? Corvette Buyer with NCM Delivery Sees his Car Was Shipped to Michigan

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23 COMMENTS

  2. Very, very unusual. I am curious to know more. I’ve seen bad brake pads like that before, but it was for an aircraft application, and was ruled down to a bad batch series. In either case, very rare. Glad to hear the dealer is doing right; there are some out there who wouldn’t.

  3. Union sabotage? Brian Bosworth,OU and Seahawks,had a summer job at OKC Ford when UAW was in the same situation as they are now. He said that some members were putting ball bearings in crankcases.

  5. More transmission problems? What was changed other than case for 2024? Limited to Z06 models? We need answers, Keith.

  7. The gray matter in photos looks suspiciously like dried cement. ‘Any wet cement driven through on the Bowling Green plant property around build date??

  8. Look suspiciously like red cement residue. Was there paving being dome at the Bowling Green plant around build date?

  9. it’s what you get when you buy a car built during a STRIKE!!!!!!!!!!!………thank the UAW (U Ain’t Working)

  10. Don’t kid yourself and inspect your Corvette thoroughly. My 2023’s left front fender, both doors and rear hatch were way out of alignment. The front bumper had to be removed to align the fender. Add to it, rub marks from the transport cover and two obvious scratches on my carbon fiber roof. Luckily no mechanical issues on my Corvette. I do not think the assembly plant is doing a very good job on quality checks before cars leave the factory.

  11. All of this is ridiculous and totally unacceptable especially for what these cars cost. Where’s the quality control?

  12. What do you expect? It is built by Americans, who are also disgruntled with their wages. No sense of pride anymore. They want 4 day work weeks, as well as 40% increase in pay. That would outrank fine auto crafters like the workers at Rolls Royce and Lamborghini. The UAW workers will be in for a surprise if they find they qualify for very few non-automotive jobs in the real job market. I’d buy Japanese, Korean, and German brands right now.

  13. UAW worker’s need to start being fired if they put out work like this. It’s never a good idea to worry about the amount being done, but not the quality.

  14. I hate to even think that even one of our dedicated workers and friends at the assembly plant would do anything to damage the beautiful cars they build for us.
    To me that would almost be sacrilegious.
    Please say it isn’t so.

  15. I worked at a Chevrolet Production Plant in the late 1960’s, a Strike Year. Some of the things I seen to slow production down was pathetic. NEVER, EVER order a New Car during a Strike Year. Buyer Beware!

  16. To answer the question, it’s a production car. It’s the luck of the draw. Been lucky with mine. Maybe now that GM is officially withdrawing from the EV business, they can focus more on their core products.

  17. I just put down a $3000 deposit for a 2025 Stingray. I have in writing that it will not be a 2024 because I read here about changes to the interior to improve it. Now, after reading this, I have to rethink my actions.

  18. I wonder if the wrong fluid was put in the brake system? Could have attacked the seals and leaked at each wheel. Might explain the odd ABS behavior.

  19. I believe it was driven over a wet epoxy or cement. After it sat on the delivery truck to be driven to dealership the cement dried and this was the end result.

  20. Wow, GM is really screwing up. What is wrong with these guys?? I’m embarrassed to be a Chevrolet fan right now, I have never said that in all of my 65 yrs. Maybe Ford has an idea here, they have someone else build their super cars. GM is really starting to suck.

  21. My Z06 built 8/10. Sat 2 months,museum pick up 10/9. Opened frunk and no carbon fiber engine parts,was on build sheet and my window sticker,my guy jus shook his head and said I’d have to deal with dealer about it. Still waiting to hear,dealer contacted rep. Hopefully will work out. Little disappointing but love the car,had 2020 for 3 years,zero issues,traded with 10k miles.😁

  22. A German autoworker, Japanese autoworker and a UAW autoworker were each put in separate cubicles with a table and three bowling balls and told to use their imagination. After a time a supervisor went into the German’s cubicle and found he had balanced the balls one on top of the other. In the Japanese cubicle they found he had balanced the balls one on top of the other and the center ball was spinning. In the UAW cubicle they found the worker had lost one ball, broke one ball and took one home!!!!!!!!

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