Car buyers are justifiably concerned about “Lot Rot”.
I ordered a 22 Tahoe in February 2022. I was informed the vehicle was “built” in April. However the dealer informed me the vehicle needed to be “repaired” and later was told a recall needed to be handled. My own research indicates that the vehicle is missing an Integrated Circuit (Chip) from Asia. I asked how the vehicle was being stored. I was told it was in “covered” parking. I discovered on a YouTube video that vehicles assembled at the Arlington Texas plant were being stored at a facility in Midlothian Texas. It’s easy to see this facility from satellite imagery available online. It’s MASSIVE!
I decided to visit the “covered” parking in Midlothian Texas, because the satellite photos show the vast majority of it not to be covered. Estimates are, there about 20,000 vehicles stored there with only 2 or 3 inches separating each vehicle front to back. I only viewed the site from the nearby public roads. The little bit of covered parking I saw did not have General Motors cars in them. I saw Volkswagen and Audi which I believe they contract for covered parking. General Motors is not so fussy. The vast majority of this parking lot is DIRT. Another surprise was about 10% of the vehicles had their hoods wide-open facing the sun. Why they’re doing this I do not know. Perhaps they’re getting the vehicles ready for the missing part.
My poor “brand new” Tahoe has been baking in the hot Texas sun and temperatures up to 108°F. Hail storms are not uncommon in this part of Texas. Although my monitoring of the weather in the last six months indicates this has probably not happened (so far).
My vehicles are always garage kept so perhaps I am overly sensitive to my $75,000 SUV sitting in the hot sun for many months. As of this writing, neither dealer or General Motors has ANY idea when I might take delivery on my 22 Tahoe. Do a DuckDuckGo search of “Lot Rot” a lot of people are concerned about it, and not just General Motors customers. axleaddict says that there is a risk that your brand new vehicle can come “pre-rusted”, other problems are also possible. Check your vehicle very carefully before you accept it.
