[R1jamn]

I drove my new 2023 Camaro ZL1 home today and went out to wash it this afternoon.
I noticed the left rear bumper was not aligned correctly.
I inspected further to see if their was a cause that I could identify or determine if it was damage from assembly or transport or from a lift at the dealership.
The left rear bumper also does not lay up on/into the left rear tail light lens either.
everything on the left side is not aligned properly with the lens of the rear tail light.
I cannot determine if this was from assembly damage from factory or from an accident of some kind. Transport?
Until the bumper comes off I can only guess.
Then I got a mirror and a flashlight to see if their was any damage underneath.
I went around the entire car looking for any damage underneath and I found this.
The undercarriage was damaged on the front passenger side.
Whoever lifted the ZL1 on a lift or a jack missed the pinch weld and lifted up on the undercarriage and smashed in in like it was an aluminum can.
Probably did this during PDI when the spring spacers were removed. Again, just a guess.
The undercarriage that is dented is now compromised and is not safe.
Brand new ZL1....I'm Heartbroken....
What are my options?

[XXX ZL1]

The assembly of them is terrible. Misalignment and pins not seated. I would pull the bumper and reinstall correctly. The least number of times the dealer touches it the better, as seen in them lifting it in the wrong place and denting the floor.

[arpad_m]

Personally, I would go back to the dealership and demand a resolution. While you can fix some of these issues such as bumper misalignment and inconsistent gaps, the damage sustained has already reduced the value of your car and that needs to be taken care of. Also, once you start messing with the body, it becomes more difficult to work with a dealership in terms of warranty repairs.

I'm very sorry this happened to you, hope you'll find willingness at the dealership to make things right.

[R1jamn]

Here you can see the rear left fender is bulging out away from the quarter panel.

[R1jamn]

The dealership is not local to me. They are 500 miles away.
I flew in to take delivery on Saturday and drove it home.
I stopped at a hotel for a night and completed my journey today, Sunday.
Unfortunately the dealership is closed on Sunday.
I will reach out to them tomorrow (Monday).

[ShockingZ]

Hoping they are going to take responsibility. But that 500 mile drive home is a LONG way to then try and pin any of this on them. They could easily take the road of "that could have happened on your drive home" route. Then you wouldnt have a leg to stand on. This is a really good reason to inspect a car like this very carefully before you drive off. I caught something like this before I signed papers on a new car a few years ago and ended up walking away because the dealer refused to fix anything until I purchased the car. That was a trap in itself because you know it would be as cheaply as possible and most likely not up to any standard that a new car should have. This is the world we live in now. The factory is throwing them together as fast as they can with substandard parts that a few short years ago, would not pass QC. But since parts are so hard to get now, lower QC standards are being used. We've hit a new era of "They dont make them like they used to". Pre-covid

[R1jamn]

I can't sleep so I went out to the garage to get a closer look at the drivers side.
The under carriage on the drivers front side has a dimple and a witness mark from the lift and/or jack.
Getting mad doesn't fix it and it surely doesn't make friends.
Diminished value is certainly a major factor in this but it is secondary to my safety and safety of others.

[CalgaryZL1]

I have seen a few posts with same damage from being lifted from that spot and although it sucks it happened to your new car it is mostly cosmetic. As far a your bumper alignment hopefully it can be just snapped back in place after the needed screws/fasteners are first removed so it can be popped back in place without having to force it.

[Jus Cruisin]

Bumpers don't align very good. Mine isn't perfect but I don't lose sleep over it. Undercarriage dents? Certainly not a safety issue. And I doubt it'll ever be looked at at time of sale down the road. In Aaron Rodger's words.... R. E. L. A. X.... Not the end of the world. I'm sure there are thousands of Camaros out there with some form of undercarriage dents.

[LT4Greg]

Originally Posted by ShockingZ

Hoping they are going to take responsibility. But that 500 mile drive home is a LONG way to then try and pin any of this on them. They could easily take the road of "that could have happened on your drive home" route. Then you wouldnt have a leg to stand on. This is a really good reason to inspect a car like this very carefully before you drive off. I caught something like this before I signed papers on a new car a few years ago and ended up walking away because the dealer refused to fix anything until I purchased the car. That was a trap in itself because you know it would be as cheaply as possible and most likely not up to any standard that a new car should have. This is the world we live in now. The factory is throwing them together as fast as they can with substandard parts that a few short years ago, would not pass QC. But since parts are so hard to get now, lower QC standards are being used. We've hit a new era of "They dont make them like they used to". Pre-covid

This^^ I hope the dealer will help you out. Good luck!

[radz28]

First - definitions:

The panels over the FRONT wheels are FENDERS.
The panels over the REAR wheels are QUARTER PANELS.

So it's clear - you're stating the REAR facia doesn't fit on the driver's side rear facia-to-quarter panel? And you're stating you found damage to the transportation anchor points on the FRONT of the chassis? Further - you're stating you think these are interconnected, causing the resulting rear facia damage you showed pictures of?

If I stated that correctly: they are NOT related. It DOES look like some of the rear facia issues are it was not seated to the tail light correctly. That could have cause the facia to misalign to the mounting clip on the quarter panel, making it stick out. That is all easily correctable, and would only require, probably just a partial removal of the facia. Perhaps it might require a full removal, and reinstallation, but it is NOT a big deal, from what images you've shared.

As far as the transportation anchor points - they are NOT part of the crash protection. That is blown out of proportion completely. They're aluminum panels, and not that big a deal. It's better they didn't bend the bolts for the shear panel inches away, but while - YES - those look crappy, they are NOT a big deal either.

I wouldn't suggest to you these aren't in the least bit irritating, but I would say that your many assertions are not informed. Are these acceptable for a car this price? No - I would not argue that. I would accept that QA/QC is an issue for the facia, but the factory can't be held accountable for a dealership not racking the car correctly, and that's not a QA/QC-issue. I could see an argument for an engineering issue, but that's stretching it a bit, too.

All I'm trying to say that making claims these are safety-related or whatnot is not reasonable, nor true. Again - I'm not taking anything away from your feelings of frustration or anything, and that this is a HUGE inconvenience (I purchased a car, from about the same distance from the dealer as you, so I get it), but these are not reasonable claims. BUT - make your call, and I'd see if there were a dealer that was closer that you could do a warranty claim with for the facia. There's nothing you can do about the anchors, unless you want them mangled into being straight by a body shop, or worse - have them cut off, and new ones welded back on... Which means you're going to destroy the OEM corrosion protection and welds that are still superior to what body shops will do... And yes - I've worked at dealerships and in body shops (QUALITY body shops), so it's reasonable to say I know what happens and what it means to leave OEM alone, for the sake of the car...

But - it is YOUR car, and YOUR money. I do wish you good luck, either way. It does suck that you have to go through this though.

[NicKey]

Unfortunately, the majority of Camaros we work on are lifted incorrectly and damaged by the dealership, owners, and or other shops.

[radz28]

Originally Posted by NicKey

Unfortunately, the majority of Camaros we work on are lifted incorrectly and damaged by the dealership, owners, and other shops.

I'll be honest and admit I have no idea (beyond saving $$$) why they would make these anchor points the way they did. I don't even think lifting by pinch welds is a good idea, because it seems like they'll always fold-up with a floor jack. Maybe the engineers don't care about that, but it would have been nice for them to have given us some good lift points for the front.

I added some el cheapo pinch weld lift points shortly after buying. I, also, accidently damaged those lift points a little, thinking a 2 x 4 might work. I learned the hard way it didn't, though, not to the point of these images. These https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...1?ie=UTF8&th=1 have served me well, and for cheap. I'd recommend them to anyone.

[sr71bb]

Originally Posted by R1jamn

I drove my new 2023 Camaro ZL1 home today and went out to wash it this afternoon.
I noticed the left rear bumper was not aligned correctly.
I inspected further to see if their was a cause that I could identify or determine if it was damage from assembly or transport or from a lift at the dealership.
The left rear bumper also does not lay up on/into the left rear tail light lens either.
everything on the left side is not aligned properly with the lens of the rear tail light.
I cannot determine if this was from assembly damage from factory or from an accident of some kind. Transport?
Until the bumper comes off I can only guess.
Then I got a mirror and a flashlight to see if their was any damage underneath.
I went around the entire car looking for any damage underneath and I found this.
The undercarriage was damaged on the front passenger side.
Whoever lifted the ZL1 on a lift or a jack missed the pinch weld and lifted up on the undercarriage and smashed in in like it was an aluminum can.
Probably did this during PDI when the spring spacers were removed. Again, just a guess.
The undercarriage that is dented is now compromised and is not safe.
Brand new ZL1....I'm Heartbroken....
What are my options?

Well that in no way compromised the safety of your car. I can appreciate the fact that it was particularly bothersome on a brand new car but I can guarantee you there are those type of under carriage dings on the vast majority of cars that are driven on the road any amount of time.

I would sugggest to you that you should buy should LIFT PADS like what Zl1ADDONS sells. https://zl1addons.com/products/camar...558e1873&_ss=r

Any time the car is lifted up be sure and be there to tell them EXACTLY where those lift pads are . That way any future damage can be avoided. My car is low enough that you CANT get a jack under the FRONT lift pad, so you can lift up BOTH wheels on one side of the car by lifting car by REAR lift pad and then you put a jack stand under car for additional support.

The rear bumper fit on our camaros is not very tight and you can snug that up by using some plastic wire ties to pull the bumper up tight so that the GAP closes up between the bumper and the quarter panel.

If you ever have to TOW your camaro, the BEST way is to have them hook on to your STOCK TOW HOOK that should be underneath your truck floor. I have a ZL1ADDONS Tow hook BUT for loading on to a tow truck using a wench, use the STOCK one because it is MUCH stronger. Also a couple of 2x6 boards come in VERY handy if you are trying to load a LOWERED car on to a flatbed trailer.

ENJOY your car and dont worry too much about the underbody dings!!! It is an absolutely BEAUTIFUL car. My ZL1 1LE was the same color as yours. I remember we drove it back from Florida to Texas because at the time (2019) it was the only one in the country with an A10 and that color.