And when the economy slows down, GM will frantically restart small fwd economy car production as sales of the Blazer MeToo SUV tank too. And probably miss that market peak too. Cling to the old iron.
More Quality Control issues from 1985. And an interesting decal find on the AC Compressor
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QC was so bad, this is how my car looked after it came off the delivery truck to the dealer. 🙂 I exaggerate to clarify.
If you haven't seen this one yet, the entire 83 Oldsmobile Lineup is discussed here in this vid. Some scenes show G-body Oldses in the body assembly and in the assembly plant. Quality...hahaha
I can't help but roll my eyes when you all start squaking about QC this, Union that, blah blah blah...
Clearly none of you have a clue what really goes into a manufacturing operation that size.
Safety and emissions regulations and market changes occurred faster than anybody could keep up with in that era.
Mix that with the hypocracy of the typical American consumer and you have a battle that nobody wins.
GM was run by the bean counters in those days, not the QC department... just like everyone else.
Next time you're struggling with putting something together on your car, remember that the assembly line workers only have 30 to 60 seconds to complete that task.
If they don't, stopping the line costs approximately $10-15K per MINUTE.
So yeah, they probably didn't give a sh*t about the clamp on your vapor canister...
Clearly none of you have a clue what really goes into a manufacturing operation that size.
Safety and emissions regulations and market changes occurred faster than anybody could keep up with in that era.
Mix that with the hypocracy of the typical American consumer and you have a battle that nobody wins.
GM was run by the bean counters in those days, not the QC department... just like everyone else.
Next time you're struggling with putting something together on your car, remember that the assembly line workers only have 30 to 60 seconds to complete that task.
If they don't, stopping the line costs approximately $10-15K per MINUTE.
So yeah, they probably didn't give a sh*t about the clamp on your vapor canister...
And I'm here to tell you, they didn't seem to give a shiite about several things when they built my car. It must've been "new employee" week. It's all on them. If they couldn't learn to perform their part of the job in the amount of time they were supposed to, that's their fault. They were able to do it SOME of the time, apparently. But I paid for a complete automobile and Arlington (and some vendors) came up a little short that day. A quality product is only as good as the quality put into it. QC is only the cop that is supposed to spot check after the fact. In my eyes, at the very minimum, 2 departments failed me that day.
People that either aren't trained properly, or don't give a flying f**k about their own pride in the job they do, or a combination thereof, made my car "special". It wasn't anything that couldn't be fixed at the dealership, but it really starts with management on down. And the dealership was hosed because I found a bunch of the snafus they should have easily found on the pre-delivery inspection. The thing is, if it was just that ONE car, one could surmise it was a one off, an outlier. The plant had a bad day. It happens. But numerous times in this forum, and the fact that many of us has owned a lot of G-bodies over the years, these little cues aren't a one-off.
GM had their issues, and other auto manufacturers had their problems, too. I get that. It's simply a running joke that we, collectively as G-body owners, already know and have come to accept about our cars when they rolled off the assembly line. I can't change it, and chances are, everyone who ever put a wrench to my car in the factory is likely retired and/or passed on. So it doesn't matter now.
Everyone has their experiences and opinions. But what I deem rather offensive in what you said is this BS about consumer hypocrisy. Hypocrisy of what? How? How in the heck can you put the blame on the consumer for the foibles of the workforce that's responsible for putting out the product? Makes zero sense.
I've been a GM rat all my life. My dad worked at GM for 30 years. I've been to the Corvette assembly plants in St. Louis and Bowling Green countless times. I've also seen my share of expensive line stoppages. I knew some things before it was made public. And I have seen things in plants that probably weren't meant to be seen. I'm not oblivious as to what went on behind the scenes. There were actually guys that worked at Corvette that blew off their mistakes. Their motto was "let the dealership take care of it". I got a feeling it wasn't limited to just the Corvette plant.
I wasn't actually there all the time, true, but I've been a production supervisor in an FDA-compliant pharmaceutical plant and I know what it takes to make a quality product in a large manufacturing facility while maintaining compliance with all the Alphabet regulating agencies.
That said, there's a lot of good people that work for GM and had worked for GM back then. But the ones that decided they weren't going to pay attention to doing their job correctly were letting down their workmates, as well as the customer. And I know first hand how hard it is to get people on the same page that work in different parts of a large manufacturing plant. But you learn how to pull it off or you'll be getting a new resume ready.
80s GM quality had holes in it. I don't care the reason. But I'm not the only one that has experienced it or ever said anything about it. When you get a reputation, even if all of it isn't true, there's always some part that is.
In general, from my own experience, GM made good cars in the 80s. Good. Not great. So no, I'm not letting them off the hook for not giving me everything I paid for. I don't hold any of them personally responsible because the check system failed, but I still retain my right to point out the quality holes for educational purposes.
Don't be offended, that remark wasn't aimed at you. We here are very clearly not the 'average' buyer...
What I meant is that the average American car buyer has a very short memory, and a very short attention span.
Their interests, desires and expectations all turn on a dime...
Unfortunately, the auto industry cannot, and adapting to changing market trends can take 6 to 18 months.
Consumer: I want a big car with lots of power!
Auto Makers: OK!
C: Bigger! More power!
AM: OK!
Gas price goes up a little
C: We want economy cars
AM: We stopped making them because you wanted more SUVs... Give us a minute.
C: You're monsters for making SUVs!
AM: OK, here's your economy cars...
C: Yay! I'm saving the planet!
Gas price goes down
C: Bigger! More Power!
AM: OK
Price goes up a little
C: Where are your economy cars?
AM: Nobody was buying them...
C: We want economy!
Gas price drops
C: We want SUVs!!!
THAT consumer hypocrisy...
Personally, I'm not too fond of the Union-bashing some people love to do, but we're not supposed to get political here...
What I meant is that the average American car buyer has a very short memory, and a very short attention span.
Their interests, desires and expectations all turn on a dime...
Unfortunately, the auto industry cannot, and adapting to changing market trends can take 6 to 18 months.
Consumer: I want a big car with lots of power!
Auto Makers: OK!
C: Bigger! More power!
AM: OK!
Gas price goes up a little
C: We want economy cars
AM: We stopped making them because you wanted more SUVs... Give us a minute.
C: You're monsters for making SUVs!
AM: OK, here's your economy cars...
C: Yay! I'm saving the planet!
Gas price goes down
C: Bigger! More Power!
AM: OK
Price goes up a little
C: Where are your economy cars?
AM: Nobody was buying them...
C: We want economy!
Gas price drops
C: We want SUVs!!!
THAT consumer hypocrisy...
Personally, I'm not too fond of the Union-bashing some people love to do, but we're not supposed to get political here...
I apologize, I thought you directed that at me. I don't union bash. I was in the IBEW for a time when I worked at a couple nuclear power stations. Sometimes unions are a good thing. Sometimes not, but they do have a purpose when needed. I think every company workforce should choose to either have one or not based on their own situations. I worked for a more, shall we say, open-minded company until I retired, and their benefits matched or exceeded what a typical union would provide.
I probably wouldn't call it hypocrisy- more so like just being fickle. But that's the way it's always been about everything. With the computer age, things have gotten quicker to bring new stuff to the market, but it still takes time to react. Manufacturers need to listen to consumers needs/wants in order to try and meet that. Because those who do, wins. Those who don't, loses. It's economics 101. Consumer feels they need/want ***. If you cannot provide them *** when they want it for the price they want to pay, the first company that does gets their business. GM has normally always been late to the game on nearly everything.
When GM controlled much more of the market share with less competition, they could pretty much say who what and when a car was made or what car you were going to have to drive. They would build all sorts of cars/trucks. Since losing that, they've become more reactive to trends than being a trailblazer. Strange because they have the Trailblazer name, but don't live up to it. Interesting though, if they never had a TBSS, would those people have ended up with a trailblazer to begin with? I think- no. They were interested in the power level.
My "step-Dad" manages arbitration cases for his union on behalf of the employee. He is very good at it too. But, the number of times he's told me stories where his advice to the employee is: take the punishment, you won't win is a serious tell about the quality of the employee that management has to deal with. The same problems exist everywhere - even in my institution. Some folks have jobs, some have careers - and some people have no business breathing.
30 seconds to hire, 30 years to fire.
30 seconds to hire, 30 years to fire.
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