[Starks8]

As the title alludes to, I personally want to know more about this negative perception towards cars built on either a Monday or Friday. Is it really true? Why is it true or not true? How can I best avoid getting/buying a Cruze built on a Monday or Friday when I hopefully go to purchase my 2013 Chevy Cruze this fall?

I personally would like to have my Cruze built online and received from the factory at the dealership just for me and not get one that's been sitting on the lot getting test drove by others. Is there any way to tell the Cruze you have delivered to you or the Cruzes sitting on the dealer's lot were built on a Monday or Friday, so that they can be avoided? lol. Is there any time of week that one should go to a dealership and put in their car order from the internet to make sure the order gets to the factory at a certain time and then is built on a day which isn't a Monday or Friday?

Has anybody here been able to personally identify with thinking they might have gotten a Monday or Friday built car? Why did you think that, and was there a way to prove your suspicion? Any Lordstown workers care to chime in and either put this "myth" to bed or confirm it unfortunately? Thanks!

 

[Hoon]

I used to work for a GM dealer.

There are no "monday" or "friday" built cars. That's just myth.

The only thing you need to plan is when to buy for the best deal, and that's much easier with other makes than with GM.

There are no factory freaks either. There are different break-in, maintenance and driving techniques, but unless there in something defective, they all leave the factory the same. Some cars perform better than others because of their owners.

A new car arrives at the dealer lot with anywhere between 2-15 miles (4-8 is average) on it. Those miles are put on during shipping, which is far more likely to be abusive than test drive miles and there's nothing you can do about it regardless of when/where/how you buy. Don't be afraid to buy a car that has been test driven. I worked in sales, 99% of test drives are not abusive in the least bit. ****, when i test drive cars i'm much more aggressive than most, and even then it's nothing at all abusive.

 

[Patman]

The idea of Monday Friday is that: Friday: people are just looking forward to the weekend and don't care. Monday: people are still hungover/tired from the weekend and don't do so well. That was the old wives tale I was told probably to make an excuse for something of poor quality. Truth? I do not know.

 

[Jim Frye]

I think in this day, the idea of a Monday or Friday car is stuff of urban legend. What about those lines that run seven days a week? Are Saturday or Sunday cars even worse? I doubt it. Today's assembly lines are very much different than when the Monday/Friday legend came from.
I also think odometer mileage is not important. I've had dealer traded cars that came in with 50 to 70 miles on them and have had no issues with them at all in the 10 plus years I owned each one. I bought a '92 Saturn SC off the lot with 342 demo miles on it. The car is still running as a daily driver for a relative and has been trouble free for the last 20 years.
No, there isn't any order time of the week you can define when the car will be built. Orders are queued at the plant based on materials going into them. Your order will sit until plant schedulers determine if they have everything needed to build to your order and then they release it for build scheduling. It used to be that assembly plants built cars in color batches. They don't have enough paint booths and robots to paint every color that is offered for a model. They will paint and build two or three colors of bodies for a week or two, change out to different colors and so on. Therefore, you (and the dealer) won't know when your car gets built until it shows up on the build schedule. You can follow your car on GM's web page and see when it gets built, but that's it.
You can follow your order at this URL:
Connects | GM vehicle order tracking

 

[Bohdan]

When I spoke to my salesman the best information he could get for me was my Cruze built the last week of May. I did locate this site for how to read the Vin #s very interesting.

http://service.gm.com/dealerworld/vincards/pdf/vincard 2010 car.pdf

 

[Subic]

I used to work for a GM dealer.

There are no "monday" or "friday" built cars. That's just myth.

The only thing you need to plan is when to buy for the best deal, and that's much easier with other makes than with GM.

There are no factory freaks either. There are different break-in, maintenance and driving techniques, but unless there in something defective, they all leave the factory the same. Some cars perform better than others because of their owners.

A new car arrives at the dealer lot with anywhere between 2-15 miles (4-8 is average) on it. Those miles are put on during shipping, which is far more likely to be abusive than test drive miles and there's nothing you can do about it regardless of when/where/how you buy. Don't be afraid to buy a car that has been test driven. I worked in sales, 99% of test drives are not abusive in the least bit. ****, when i test drive cars i'm much more aggressive than most, and even then it's nothing at all abusive.

I just had to quote ya. I agree with everything in your post.
It just reminds me, and this is the truth.
1988 don't remember what month I bought an 1988 GMC cargo van. After the test drive it had 13 miles on it. The salesman wrote on all the paper work 25 miles.
April 1994 I bought a 1994 Chevy K1500. After the test drive it also had 13 miles on it. That salesman also wrote 25 miles on that paper work.
Maybe I look like I am superstitious.

 

[Starks8]

Do you guys trust when your new car is driven to you from another dealership a couple states away? How do you think the person driving it to you treats it? I personally can imagine them driving it as reckless as they want, just to get it there so they can get back home ASAP. Although I hope I'm wrong and that's not the case at all.

 

[mcg75]

Monday and Friday cars are a myth dreamed up by those who don't possess enough logic to understand.

Simply put, a car is made with thousands of pieces. The failure rate of the average piece is less than 1%.

Every now and then, a car with a lot of those pieces in that 1% is built and you have a possible lemon.

It's almost like playing the lottery.

 

[Starks8]

I used to work for a GM dealer.

There are no "monday" or "friday" built cars. That's just myth.

The only thing you need to plan is when to buy for the best deal, and that's much easier with other makes than with GM.

There are no factory freaks either. There are different break-in, maintenance and driving techniques, but unless there in something defective, they all leave the factory the same. Some cars perform better than others because of their owners.

A new car arrives at the dealer lot with anywhere between 2-15 miles (4-8 is average) on it. Those miles are put on during shipping, which is far more likely to be abusive than test drive miles and there's nothing you can do about it regardless of when/where/how you buy. Don't be afraid to buy a car that has been test driven. I worked in sales, 99% of test drives are not abusive in the least bit. ****, when i test drive cars i'm much more aggressive than most, and even then it's nothing at all abusive.

Well I think technically you have the right to refuse delivery or sign off on a car if it arrives and doesn't meet your expectations right? Like I surely wouldn't sign for a car that was delivered for me, yet when I arrive to pick it up from the dealership, its all chipped up, dinged up or missing the extra features I added.

Also, some people test drive cars like a bat out of **** which I can't really blame them because how else can you really evaluate things. Most salesmen ride with people these days on test drives, so we can't really push and test the car like we really want but for those who get to, they are lucky. So with that said, you never know what kind of test drive or test driver those clocked test drive miles have seen, lol!

 

[Hoon]

Do you guys trust when your new car is driven to you from another dealership a couple states away? How do you think the person driving it to you treats it? I personally can imagine them driving it as reckless as they want, just to get it there so they can get back home ASAP. Although I hope I'm wrong and that's not the case at all.

Lol, working for a dealer you have to keep your license in good standing, and even as a sales guy you do a lot of driving all over the place. I drove at lest 1000 miles/month for the dealership. On many occasions i had to pick up cars hundreds of miles away. Most of those miles are VERY boring. Occasionally you might hit the throttle in a Vette or SS Camaro, but beyond that who cares? Even that isn't abuse at all, you're not doing 6K rpm clutch dumps like i do in my personal cars, just feeling the acceleration a bit to break up the monotony of another company drive.

People who work for dealers aren't going to risk their job to have fun in a 138hp car. A Z06 or ZR1 maybe, but nobody cares enough to beat on a Cruze.

Well I think technically you have the right to refuse delivery or sign off on a car if it arrives and doesn't meet your expectations right? Like I surely wouldn't sign for a car that was delivered for me, yet when I arrive to pick it up from the dealership, its all chipped up, dinged up or missing the extra features I added.

Also, some people test drive cars like a bat out of **** which I can't really blame them because how else can you really evaluate things. Most salesmen ride with people these days on test drives, so we can't really push and test the car like we really want but for those who get to, they are lucky. So with that said, you never know what kind of test drive or test driver those clocked test drive miles have seen, lol!

Sure, but your expectations can't be retarded either. Damage is one thing, a car arriving with 10 or 15 miles on the odometer is another. Depending on the shipping route, it may have to be driven that far just to make it between modes of transport and finally to the dealer. It's very common.

My car was bought right off the truck, 6 miles on the odometer. I never saw a Cruze come in with less than 6. Other models never came in with less than 12, depending on where they were produced.

If you want a 0 mile car, you're out of luck at any dealer, with any make.

 

[XtremeAaron]

I test drove mine with 4 miles, felt awesome.

 

[Starks8]

Lol, working for a dealer you have to keep your license in good standing, and even as a sales guy you do a lot of driving all over the place. I drove at lest 1000 miles/month for the dealership. On many occasions i had to pick up cars hundreds of miles away. Most of those miles are VERY boring. Occasionally you might hit the throttle in a Vette or SS Camaro, but beyond that who cares? Even that isn't abuse at all, you're not doing 6K rpm clutch dumps like i do in my personal cars, just feeling the acceleration a bit to break up the monotony of another company drive.

People who work for dealers aren't going to risk their job to have fun in a 138hp car. A Z06 or ZR1 maybe, but nobody cares enough to beat on a Cruze.



Sure, but your expectations can't be retarded either. Damage is one thing, a car arriving with 10 or 15 miles on the odometer is another. Depending on the shipping route, it may have to be driven that far just to make it between modes of transport and finally to the dealer. It's very common.

My car was bought right off the truck, 6 miles on the odometer. I never saw a Cruze come in with less than 6. Other models never came in with less than 12, depending on where they were produced.

If you want a 0 mile car, you're out of luck at any dealer, with any make.

Nah, I know that its impossible to get a new car with 0 miles on it. I was thinking I wouldn't want my newly delivered car to have anything more than 30 miles on it, if it can be helped, but if not, oh well. I certainly wouldn't refuse a car with a bit more miles at delivery than I wanted. My biggest concern I feel would honestly be, in what condition the car arrived in and what environment if had to be drove through to get to me.

 

[iKermit]

What if instead of drinking Sunday they drank Monday?

TUESDAY CAR?!? NO THANKS!

 

[Bohdan]

My car was bought right off the truck, 6 miles on the odometer. I never saw a Cruze come in with less than 6. Other models never came in with less than 12, depending on where they were produced.


I got a very low odometer reading on mine it came with 4 miles on it. I recieved my Title last week for it and there is that 4 mile start.

 

[20126spdRS]

My 12 1LT RS had about 71 before and 83 after test drive, the owner of the dealer took it to the golf course the day it hit the lot...

 

[Starks8]

My 12 1LT RS had about 71 before and 83 after test drive, the owner of the dealer took it to the golf course the day it hit the lot...

Wow, lol! And that's the stuff I'm worried about. I'm sure him taking it to the golf course wasn't a big deal in comparison to if he was to go drive it across the dessert or something but still! You never know who's been joy riding around in your car before you buy it, if it has significant miles on it at the lot. lol

 

[Jim Frye]

Do you guys trust when your new car is driven to you from another dealership a couple states away? How do you think the person driving it to you treats it? I personally can imagine them driving it as reckless as they want, just to get it there so they can get back home ASAP. Although I hope I'm wrong and that's not the case at all.

Most dealer trades are done in well under 100 miles (typically 50 or so), so there is no great hurry to get the turnaround done. They keep the distance short to keep costs low. Around here, the guys who do the moving of dealer trades are usually retired folks with squeaky clean driving records, so they are unlikely to abuse their rides and they're not likely to be in a big hurry. I've seen them at the dealerships in the early morning when the service dept. opens up to get their cars and get on the road. Also, an honest dealer should ask you if you will accept a dealer trade prior to doing the trade. If he doesn't, that's a red flag to be extra, extra particular in your pre-acceptance inspection.

 

[rmy660r]

I work at the Lordstown plant that builds our cars. The Monday/Friday thing is a total myth. A car started on Monday actually isn't finished until Wednesday. No car is going to have 0 miles. Every car is started and every light and function is tested, and we have a test loop at our plant that various car are ran. Our storage lot is alos huge. By the time cars are shuffled around and loaded onto carriers, they may a couple miles on them before they leave the facility. Google Earth 2300 Halloock Young Rd., Warren, OH and take a look where your car came from.

 

[Jim Frye]

In addition to the "mileage" accrued at the plant, there may additional rotations of the Odo when the car is loaded onto a railcar for transit to a regional depot, unloading them and moving them around there, and more turns of the clock loading them onto a truck carrier for shipment to the dealership.

When my Mazda arrived at the ordering dealership in MI, it had 17 miles on the clock and that was from Hiroshima. It picked up another 53 miles in the dealer trade to get it to my local dealership in OH. I know this because I found the car in inventory online and called the ordering dealership to confirm its existence and mileage. I then called my local salesman and let him know where the car was. I know, I was doing his job, but the car had a slight configuration difference from the one I ordered and I thought he might overlook that particular car. Besides, I had worked a deal of 2% over dealer invoice and I really wanted to get the deal done, so they paid for the dealer trade cost.

 

[Pruittx2]

Do you guys trust when your new car is driven to you from another dealership a couple states away? How do you think the person driving it to you treats it? I personally can imagine them driving it as reckless as they want, just to get it there so they can get back home ASAP. Although I hope I'm wrong and that's not the case at all.

At all the dealerships, I worked at,, when doing dealer trades like this,, had a few older gentlemen,, once retired,, that would do these trips. Cheap hourly safe drivers, that I'm sure, weren't out raggin on your ride.