Was your car a NUMMI car?

[drege]

Just reading up on the NUMMI plant near me in fremont california, what they produced and when.
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NUMMI#History

The choice of the Fremont plant and its workers was unusual. At the time of its closure, the Fremont employees were considered "the worst workforce in the automobile industry in the United States", according to the United Auto Workers. Employees drank alcohol on the job, were frequently absent (enough so that the production line couldn't be started), and even committed petty acts of sabotage such as putting "Coke bottles inside the door panels, so they'd rattle and annoy the customer." In spite of the history and reputation, when NUMMI reopened the factory for production in 1984, most of the troublesome GM workforce was rehired, with some sent to Japan to learn the Toyota Production System. Workers who made the transition identified the emphasis on quality and teamwork by Toyota management as what motivated a change in work ethic.

This is the funniest thing I've ever heard in the auto industry - any one ever find a coke bottle in their door?

[rer233]

No coke bottles, but back in the day I heard stories of disgruntled UAW workers putting sandwiches and other half-eaten food inside doorpanels. Give me the coke bottle any day!

[Petros]

our tercel4wds were all made in Japan. all cars and trucks that start with a "J" in the VIN were made in Japan. I noticed when the early Pathfinders (Like mine) were made in Japan, they were excellent solid SUVs, but when they switched to being made in US plants (like most of the import trucks), the quality and reliability went down fast, sales floundered and than Nissan discontinued the Pathfinder (no surprise).

[drege]

The problem is that I've had a few cars without door panels inside and the default thing to do is put trash and stuff in the doors - and I've never had anything rattle, I never found door panels for my chevelle or my bulletside datsun truck.
A sandwich wouldn't be a problem either, the door is usually sealed off to the cabin, there is tarry gummy stuff on the door and a plastic membrane that seals the door interior off for the most part from the passenger compartment, the sandwich would harden or mold and be done being a problem in a few days or weeks.
NOW fish oil is what we used to put in customer cars that abused us unnecessarily, little fish oil capsules, they burst in intense heat and the car smells like the deck of a trawler forever no matter how many little green trees you hang from the mirror.

[Petros]

I think the story of coke bottles found in doors had taken on urban legend status. I first heard that story in about 1970, way before NUMMI, it may have happened once (and it may not have even been from the factory, but a prank pulled on someone), and the story grew and spread. With the internet of course, false or greatly exaggerated stories spread at the speed of light, humans love this kind of "gottcha" insider stories, so they get spread faster than anyone with any sense can verify it can stop it. I read an article once by a responsible journalist who wanted to actually track down the sourse of one such myth, that everyone in the media quoted, that retired pro-foot ball players have a suicide rate much higher than the average, and found no such study, but just the opposite, they were half as likely as a group to have any mental health issues. Yet the story was once speculated, and than was repeated so often that it misquotes as the results of a study. So even if it sounds scientific, likely it is BS. I know when I went to hunt down similar so-called "science", the results were usually no study, or even exactly the opposite of what was claimed.

So unless you personally have actually found a coke bottle in a brand new car, that no one had tampered with, do not believe it.

[ARCHINSTL]

One of my best motorhead peers from HS (still a car guy and a member of THE 200-MPH Club at Bonneville-true!), worked for the (now razed) Chrysler plant here in STL from HS until he took early retirement (at 51!). He was a union guy who worked on the line and eventually became a shop steward. We were talking about this very subject and, with him having contacts with peers at the (also now razed) Ford plant here and the old BIG GM STL plant (made cars, trucks, and Corvettes), he said that, quite candidly, things like that did occur, but nowhere near what the urban legends would have it - just as Petros wrote.
Usually, when such actions occurred, they would consist of leaving a note or some 'graffiti' on a concealed panel griping about a supervisor or the wife or similar.
Heck - confession here - when I was working on the bottom bracket (where the pedal crank bearings are) of a particularly obnoxious customer, I would slip a note inside 'describing' the customer. Special tools would be needed to access this area, so it would give a laugh to the next wrench to work on the douche's bike.
Tom M.

[drege]

Saw a guy in SF the other day with a 87 nova, we blabbed about NUMMI cars and I told him about the coke bottle potentiality/meme.
His nova was trashed, had a pile of speakers on the passenger floor board and a 500 watt amp wired to them and the cigarette lighter - he might have been living in it and definitely insane.

[Mattel]

My VW golf assembled in Australia from German parts had a fair bit of german graffiti under the backseat when I was replacing them it was pretty cool to see. I think it was just production notes. I couldn't read the German though. Nice to see that people are involved.

[Mad_Marx]

This American Life did an entire show on NUMI. Really good, pretty sure the Corolla and GM Badged version (Nova) were what they built. I'll see if I can find a link for the podcast when I get back to the computer.

[Mad_Marx]

Podcast link... http://m.thisamericanlife.org/radio-arc ... /403/NUMMI