It seems that in every photo (video) we see of the preproduction mules, the quarter window trim looks "loose" at the corner where the C-pillar meets the rear quarter panel. I know they're not all photos of the same car. To me this screams "poor fit and finish".

Does this bother anyone else?

 

Fit and finish doesn't always apply to test mules. I mean...they won't let a car leave the assembly line with pieces obviously not fitting.

 

That did seem to be a common trend on all of the cars but did not seem to be as apparent on the yellow spy shot. At this stage I would not be too worried just because they are still trying all sorts of ideas and assembly techniques. Plenty of time to refine the process and create that perfect gem for you.

 

It looks to be more like a poor fit between the parts - like a miscommunication between the sheet metal and window people.
http://img166.imageshack.us/my.php?i...ure008wxs1.jpg

The yellow one looks to have addressed the issue though:

 

This is going to sound awful...

Is this a new policy? Or was this policy not enforced until now for prevous GM makes and models?

See...I told you so. I have high hopes for the car, and my hope would be that everything lines up when it rolls off the line, but I've owned too many GM products to trust that things are going to stay flat, glued together, and lined up correctly for any length of time.

 

The windows in the those cars are very likey some of the first made . As judged by all the things held together with tape in the interior and velcroed and hot glued headlamps .....engineering mules are often pretty crude . It seriously doubt it will be there when u start seeing more complete cars , like cars with more production ready parts start hitting the road rather than early development cars . In those cars , which will be different from the current fleet of early mules more attention would be paid to detail stuff .

 

Let me put you at ease ---

The cars you are looking at are called "Beta" and "Alpha" models -- they are very primitive in that they were put together in Australia -- with 'hard' parts.

For instance -- when you get in one of the Alpha or Beta cars, you'll note that many of the interior pieces are hard, dull plastic -- no graining -- no softness --

In some cases, parts are velcro'd in place or taped in place -- because the fasteners have not yet been fabricated!!!

These are 'pre-production' pieces -- the suppliers will work with us to get them sized right so that everything fits the way it should.........that goes for EVERY piece on the car -- inside and out --

This is a perfect example of why we really thought long and hard before removing the cammo. on the new Camaro..........

Trust me -- the car will be put together as a 'world class' car should be.

TIDBIT: we have four vehicles that have been ordered for Marketing -- they'll be the cars you see in Brochures early on -- they were built in Australia - and they're being completely torn apart and put back together again in Milford -- graining is being applied -- parts are being 'massaged' --

............building a new car is much more involved than most of you can imagine............

 

Doubt it.

Just joking.

 

I hafta say that I have never seen so much chatter in my life, both on the boards and in the media, about test mules. It seems as though people pass so much judgement on these cars that are for engineering. I liken this to people looking at a framed up house and giving an opinion on how it's going to be when it is fully done. This is not 1975 and we are going to see huge effort in engineering all the way to final production. No manufacturer can afford to overlook things. Let's wait until the darn thing hits the showroom before we scrutinize this closely.