General Motor safety recall rates as a measure of Corvette C7 Stingray and Z06 reliability

On paper, +General Motors recall rates do not look bad.  When compared against other manufacturers, GM recall rates seem pretty low, right down impressive and certainly giving a reason to Stingray and Z06 buyers to be assured of projected reliability of their cars.

The number of recalls per number of vehicles produced comes up to 0.65 for General Motors versus  BMW lagging behind at 0.90.  So what is the meaning of these numbers, are GM cars, including Corvette, more reliable than BMW?

As with any statistics, the number could not be more misleading actually. 

First of all, recalls are based on SAFETY CONCERNS, with NTHSA being the lead agency.  In other words, if problems with the car do not lead to potential accidents, these problems never end up being a subject of a recall.  For example, the GM cars from the past had a problem with primer compatibility with the base coat, causing paint to literally fall off GM cars, a safety concern?  Not at all, thus, no recall, no matter how shitty cars might have been.

Secondly, even if a problem leads to safety issues, it is subject of a rather lengthy investigation and should manufacturer refuse to cooperate, JUST LIKE GM DID WITH INGNITION SWITCHES, it may not happen until someone gets killed, just like it happened to GM.  If there were no fatalities resulting from ignition problems, the millions of GM turds recalled now by GM would never be recalled, just because GM hid the evidence and outright lied to everyone involved.

Who is more trustworthy and raising confidence regarding reliability and problem handling when issues come up with a new car? Someone who has to be literally forced to admit to problems and takes well over THIRTEEN YEARS to issue court mandated recalls or a company that quickly issues them VOLUNTARILY and then addresses them in a super fast manner, having buyers safety in mind?

Certainly, GM can never be accused of caring about customers and making them top priority, buyers interests get in the way of profits and profits are the top priority for GM.

Finally, even after GM is forced to issue recalls, GM fails to address the recalls DUE TO UNAVAILABLE PARTS which has happened with ignition switches and currently with two recalls involving the newest Corvette.  Certainly this is not the way to raise buyers confidence levels.

In summary, the recall rates mean absolutely nothing when dishonest manufacturers like GM are involved. GM does not issue recalls because GM cars have fewer problems, GM refuses to issue recalls because the company does not want to spend the money and decrease profits, even if human lives are at stake.

Should potential buyer go by GM low recall rates as any kind of yard stick to gain confidence in reliability of their purchase?  Only if customer is deprived of any kind of intelligence and lacks the ability to think independently.  GM is a very inferior company and cars produced by GM are ridden with considerably more problems than any other makes.  What happens to the new Corvette, with engine failures, shitty paint, torque tube and rear differential failures is just the tip of the iceberg, as long as safety is not involved DIRECTLY, the problems with Corvette will not just continue, they will increase, leaving suckers buying these cars out in the cold, with empty wallets and cars permanently parked in their driveways.   A shitty car company with non existent ethics and customer car is not capable of producing a good car because customer service is part of that car and GM has no ethics.

The one thing anyone should keep in mind is the fact that a few years ago, GM recall rates were considerably lower, while people were dying due to problems with their GM made death traps.  Were the problems not there at that time?  Yes, they were there, only GM refused to acknowledge them and then take initiative to voluntarily fix them before any human lives were lost.  GM is a truly shameful company and anything coming from GM should be look at very carefully before opening the wallet.

There are already plenty of red flags regarding the seventh generation of Corvette, no car made by GM  is exempt from the corporate mentality that prefers short term gains over long term customer loyalty and satisfaction.  As usual, none of the problems related to the newest Corvette generation will be fixed to improve it, only those who manage to play within the warranty rules to the letter, will get their cars fixed.  Those who do not drive their cars will leave the ticking time bomb to the future buyers in the used market and unless someone dies, business will be as usual since it is cheaper to fix a few (for a while) than improve all produced cars that have flaws.