General Motors quality control isn’t exactly on the same level as Lexus. Everyone knows that the biggest of the Big Three in Detroit could do better in this regard, but still, it’s not often that we get to understand what quality control actually means in a new automobile.
C8 Corvette owner Brandon Martin found a few pieces of paper in his glovebox, and as you can tell from the headline, it’s a QC checklist for his pre-production 2020 model year. As a rule of thumb, PP cars have a VIN that starts with L50 while series-production cars feature L51 and 14 more digits or capital letters.
According to the photographs uploaded on Facebook by Brandon, his ‘Vette has been checked for “mutilations” in areas such as the IP top pad, cluster bezel and hood, and steering column’s lower trim. Next up, QC makes sure that the clam shell and shroud of the steering column are fully seated and properly tucked.
This particular C8 Corvette quality control checklist contains many more items, namely:
- Turn signal stalk not seated on the steering column
- Door weather seals – birds beak retainers visible
- Emergency release handle not routed through the carpet
- Seatback garnish to quarter garnish flushness – seatback not fully seated
- Halo garnish to quarter garnish flushness – halo not fully seated
- Upper to lower B-pillar garnish (flush / offset)
- Rear tub carpet (not layered correctly / gaps)
- Side airbag cover not fully seated
These things make up only the first page of three pages, so if you’re curious about what else the QC team checks before delivery, you may want to check out the photo gallery for more details. The thing is, C8 Corvette quality control can go wrong in many ways as we’ve reported time and again based on owners’ experiences.
From uneven stitching to a leaky dual-clutch transmission, small dots in the paintwork, a self-blowing horn, and limited-slip differential fluid pressure issues to a screw gouging the door paint are only a few examples. But that’s not all…
Some owners – quite a few of them in fact - report that the engine bay collects water due to the design of the heat-extraction vents. The water then rolls into a gutter, and when you open the glass, it all pours into the engine bay on sensible components such as the magnetic ride control wiring and the throttle body.
According to the photographs uploaded on Facebook by Brandon, his ‘Vette has been checked for “mutilations” in areas such as the IP top pad, cluster bezel and hood, and steering column’s lower trim. Next up, QC makes sure that the clam shell and shroud of the steering column are fully seated and properly tucked.
This particular C8 Corvette quality control checklist contains many more items, namely:
- Turn signal stalk not seated on the steering column
- Door weather seals – birds beak retainers visible
- Emergency release handle not routed through the carpet
- Seatback garnish to quarter garnish flushness – seatback not fully seated
- Halo garnish to quarter garnish flushness – halo not fully seated
- Upper to lower B-pillar garnish (flush / offset)
- Rear tub carpet (not layered correctly / gaps)
- Side airbag cover not fully seated
These things make up only the first page of three pages, so if you’re curious about what else the QC team checks before delivery, you may want to check out the photo gallery for more details. The thing is, C8 Corvette quality control can go wrong in many ways as we’ve reported time and again based on owners’ experiences.
From uneven stitching to a leaky dual-clutch transmission, small dots in the paintwork, a self-blowing horn, and limited-slip differential fluid pressure issues to a screw gouging the door paint are only a few examples. But that’s not all…
Some owners – quite a few of them in fact - report that the engine bay collects water due to the design of the heat-extraction vents. The water then rolls into a gutter, and when you open the glass, it all pours into the engine bay on sensible components such as the magnetic ride control wiring and the throttle body.