I understand that SC430's were hand assembled up to late 2004 in 72hrs, thereafter assembled by robots in 26hrs.
My provocative question is which is better?
Has anyone formed a view that a hand assembled SC430, with Spanish leather, is better than/worse than the robot made ones using Chinese leather???
Are the hand-assembled cars more collectible?

Just askin'

 

 

My thoughts... if it took 72 hours vs the 26, seems to me that maybe the Japanese had more time to make sure assembly was to perfection, Robot's are not perfect since they are made by humans. However robots are faster.

The more eyes~~on assembly of the car gives the advantage for many assemblers to see potential manufacturing defects as the car rolls down the production line. I would prefer the 72 hour versions.
As VVTiBob says, car is dead quiet! I would not say no to a 26 hour version;-)

B-

 

As one who worked on an assembly line as an inspector in Detroit to make money for college, I'd prefer a robot assembled vehicle. Robots don't have bad days, arguments with their wives, get pissed off at the boss, etc. The key to perfect assembly is a lack of variability. Robots will give you that every time.

 

Like deliberately throw some bolts in a sealed fender well to rattle around because the boss cut their overtime? Like decide not tighten a bolt to spec because they "didn't have time?"
As an inspector, I saw it all.
My job would have been cut in half if the worker stopped doing things that they were not instructed to do!

 

One of my friends showed me some photos yesterday, his father is a GM Technician, I could not believe my eyes~~2018 Equinox, with the entire Dash, Console, and front Doors, yes, both front doors and Interior Seats, all removed! All that to remove/fix the Evaporator, can't make that up!

JohnnyCake you are correct, somebody on the assembly line forgot to hook it up properly! He told me that the total time allowed was 9 hours for his Dad to do the replacement and put the car back together again!

B-

 

Yeah, robots don't leave a coke bottle inside a door panel for an example. Their work is more precise, IMO. There is no difference cars assembled on Monday or Friday from ones made other week days.

 

Not to have this thread change direction too far, but there's not a whole lot of accountability when a worker messes up like that. Worse case scenario, s/he got "written up" which amounts to nothing unless there's a clear pattern. As an inspector, I got paid a little more per hour than the line workers. The trade-off was that management was free to discipline me without jumping through a bunch of hoops. For example, I worked on the engine line and once sent a V-8 up when the build sheet called for a V-6. When the engine and car couldn't mesh, the line stopped, which is most egregious sin (much worse than not connecting an evaporator, since that can be corrected on the side). I was immediately suspended for the rest of the day and sent home. I deserved it and learned a lesson.

 

While I've certainly heard all the same stories about manufacturing sabotage by American auto workers, but these cars are built in Japan where there are corporate anthems and codes of honor. These workers were producing a car that the company was willing to lose money on each one that was built. Sabatoge by a Japanese auto worker would be followed with a trip to The Suicide Forest after just a few sleepless nights.

 

Johnnycake shares a belief, with many others, that car-building robots will repeat, repeat, repeat without error or variation but the Tesla robots punching out a 1000 cars a week seems to disprove that assumption...... I really enjoy driving my 20-year-old SC430 and have great respect and admiration for the many Japanese hands that assembled it.

 

I have never been able to see any difference between my 2002 and 2007.
they are almost the same car with a few exceptions. Just my observations…

 

I have zero experience with "hand-built" SC430's, but I can tell you my 2008 robo-built copy has been flawless! The only complaint I had initially was the run-flat tires, but that was easy to resolve and had nothing to do with the build. The engineering or marketing exec that called for run-flats should take "a trip to The Suicide Forest."

 

how many miles on your 08?

 

Just 62K miles on my '08. Perhaps it will take a few 100K more before any robo-defects show up?

 

‘
after fixing the bad oem design stuff I am planning on trying to wear mine out. I may not live long enough I think as I have seen a few with 300k miles without major issues. I am at 42k