[dylan01]

I heard from a main GM distribution manager that the Solstice's production was pushed back from may 16 to may 31. Now, It has been pushed back once again until June 20. As sad as it sounds, I'd rather get a perfect Solstice rather then one with problems. Lori Queen said on the autoblogs that they are testing them quite harshly to ensure that quality is there. So im quite sure what I was told is correct...
We better not be getting our cars in the winter!

 

[Fformula88]

It is discouraging news from the standpoint of people hoping to get a car. However, it is also good that they are not caving in to pressure to push them out the door, and instead are willing to get the bugs worked out of them.

Lets say that the rumor is of a mid June start to production holds up as being true. It is not going to take GM 4+ months from then before they start delivering cars. That could still leave a late summer delivery possible, at least for first 1000 cars.

 

[PAS22]

Lets wait and see. As I said in another thread, June will tell if production has started or not. Lets hope they get the bugs worked out. I would rather have a great quality car from the get go.

 

[Audio Imagez]

Well, the parking lot has been kind of empty lately and I've seen some heavy machinery being delivered in the past week or so. So maybe they are changing something with the manufacturing process?

And yes, they have been testing the cars a lot. I see them every day now at least a few times.

 

[Fortyninenorth]

Wouldn't a June 21st production start be fitting?

 

[Fformula88]

Wouldn't a June 21st production start be fitting?

Very fitting! :thumbs:

 

[general]

Goofy - I think he meant the parking lot is empty of newly produced Solstices...not employee cars.

 

[AZJuez]

You Do Not Want Your Solstice In The Winter?

I heard from a main GM distribution manager that the Solstice's production was pushed back from may 16 to may 31. Now, It has been pushed back once again until June 20. As sad as it sounds, I'd rather get a perfect Solstice rather then one with problems. Lori Queen said on the autoblogs that they are testing them quite harshly to ensure that quality is there. So im quite sure what I was told is correct...
We better not be getting our cars in the winter!

Just shows what is really great about America! I can live without mine in June, July, August and even into September in here in Arizona, but I sure want it by October and the top will stay down most of the winter.

 

[graybird]

I am as anxious as the next guy/gal to take delivery of my Aggresive Solstice, ordered April 16th, but here in Florida "convertible weather" begins in November.

 

[dori-san]

Wouldn't a June 21st production start be fitting?

It'd be more fitting as a delivery date for the first 1000, but oh well...

 

[crj1949]

GM just announced problems with the Cobalt's air conditioners that somehow downpowers the car to max speeds of about 30 mph. Let's hope we can avoid those kinds of things!

 

[achieftain]

I am as anxious as the next guy/gal to take delivery of my Aggresive Solstice, ordered April 16th, but here in Florida "convertible weather" begins in November.

Yes cause in your "summer" you need the top up and A/C blowin' cold and are you going to put one of those mesh things in front of the grill to keep the bugs out?

 

[brentil]

It was in the low 90's in Central Florida yesterday, and the Love Bugs are out in force. Splattering themselves over every car they can find. I however personally drive winter and summer with all my windows down and the sun roof open with no AC on. I've never liked the smell of the air after it's run through AC, and it makes my car a little slugish when on.

However for me winter or summer delivery, all year is Roadster time in FL.

 

[mceb]

It was in the low 90's in Central Florida yesterday, and the Love Bugs are out in force. Splattering themselves over every car they can find. I however personally drive winter and summer with all my windows down and the sun roof open with no AC on. I've never liked the smell of the air after it's run through AC, and it makes my car a little slugish when on.

Yuck, I remember I encountered those critters during a trip to FLA one year...I had to stop and buy paper towels and spray cleaner :lol:

 

[solli4me]

And how are those no seeums doing, brentil? My first encounter with those was in 1973, on a Pine Key camping trip. I thought I'd been bit overnight by hundreds of fleas, and spent the next day in a Key West laundromat washing the sleeping bags. :lol: Not so funny then.

 

[SolsticeMan]

What are "love bugs"?

Are they anything like mayflies (or called "fish-flies" both because fish love them, and because when they gather and die by the millions they smell like fish).

Supposedly, once they hatch, they live approx 24-36 hours, they mate, lay eggs and die - in HUGE piles, wherever they happen to land, or overnight deaths around lampposts (like on Put-in-Bay and lake Erie shorelines) in piles that can be up to 25" deep...

I've seen them use front end loaders to clear the streets - they die in the grass and you can't avoid stepping on them by the thousands... YUCK!

Of course, they make a mess of cars, motorcycles (wear a full-face helmet, just my advice)...

Nasty.

 

[brentil]

And how are those no seeums doing, brentil? My first encounter with those was in 1973, on a Pine Key camping trip. I thought I'd been bit overnight by hundreds of fleas, and spent the next day in a Key West laundromat washing the sleeping bags. :lol: Not so funny then.

You get used to them over time. We call then gnats too (which is I think they're real name).

Personally I hate the love bugs more though. They have small levels of acid in their bodies, so when they splatter they stick and then start slowly eating away the clear coat and paint of your vehicle. You have to get to them within a couple days of them getting on there or your pretty SOL. Of course during mating season they fly around stuck to each other (which is where the name comes from), so you get a two for one deal when you hit them.

Back on topic again though, I hope the Solstice comes out soon so I can start washing it weekly to get the love bugs off my nice new Solstice. Part of why I went with black too since the bugs are black they don't show up.

 

[brentil]

What are "love bugs"?

Are they anything like mayflies (or called "fish-flies" both because fish love them, and because when they gather and die by the millions they smell like fish).

Love Bugs are March Flies, kinda like may flies which I've been exposed to living up north, but bigger and worse in my opinion. The first image below shows why they're called lovebugs. They fly around like that, and apparently roads are there favorite places to fly.

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/BODY_MG068

'Lovebugs' ( Figure 1 ) are small black flies with red thoraxes. Males are 1/4 inch, and females are 1/3 inch in length. These flies are members of the family Bibionidae and are known as March flies. Several species of March flies are native to Florida, however, Lovebugs, Plecia nearctica Hardy are recent invaders from the west.

Lovebugs Hinder Motorists
Lovebugs are a considerable nuisance to motorists. They congregate in unbelievable numbers along highways and the insects spatter on the windshields and grills of moving trucks and automobiles. Windshields become covered with the fatty remains, and vision is obscured. During flights, the flies clog radiator fins causing cars to overheat. They also get into refrigeration equipment on trucks causing them to malfunction. The fatty tissue will cause pitting of the car's finish if it is not removed within a few days. Flies enter cars and sometimes drivers and passengers soil their clothing by sitting on lovebugs. They are also a considerable nuisance to fresh paint. The flies enter houses under construction in such numbers that carpenters refuse to work. Beekeepers complain because worker bees do not visit flowers that have been infested with the flies.

 

[SolsticeMan]

mayflies: yuck!
http://www.johnbob.net/john/graphics/junebug4.jpg

A mild case of them. I've seen them change the color of a house, they get so thick.
http://www.johnbob.net/john/graphics/junebug3.jpg

Piles of decomposing mayflies surround most streetlights and give off a fishy, pungent odor...

They can get inches deep on people's porches if they don't turn off porch lights at night (I'm talking >6" deep).

Oh well. 'nuff off topic.


On topic: We'll know when production starts WHEN IT STARTS. Not before. No amount of inside information will prognosticate the start date.

Maybe it will be a snowbound delivery. Don't worry - it WILL be summer again next year. Prolly also the year after that. I'd be willing to bet that it might happen once a year for at least the next 10 or 15 years... :lol:

Sustained success of the Kappa/Solstice/Sky/Opel/other is not dependent on fickle or impulsive customers that abandon their purchase if it gets delayed just because GM is trying to deliver top-notch product. These customers would be the FIRST to blast GM if they delivered a half-baked product.

Patience, patience, patience. - these delays are NOT BAD THINGS!! It is an indication that GM is trying desperately to change the way they do things. In the past, they would release the cars under pressure, half-baked, and let the customers do the final "testing". Now GM has a reputation for bad startup quality.

Ever taste a cake that was baked for only 80% of the time it needed? Not very nice - especially if you try to finish the frosting.

 

[package]

Wilmington.. we're buyers.. and We're here to help!

I want a Wilmington Web Cam installed so we can see the cars as they get to the staging area.

Just think of all the extra security the plant will have with all us members watching that parking lot!!