*Sigh... Add me to the list for spoiler paint chip problems

[Bama 2SS/RS]

So I just happened to notice this little guy today:





So, I took off the spoiler to check the damage, and :upset:








So, I called up my local dealer. Well, not my local dealer, because they seem to have crappy customer service, but my slightly less local dealer the next town over. I asked if they'd had anyone come in needing this problem fixed (of course not), I asked if they'd heard anything about said problem (of course they haven't), and I asked if they had seen the TSB on it (yep, you guessed it, they didn't have a clue). I guess I can't really fault them, this is a "small-town" kind of area. I explained the problem, explained that my research online showed that there is, in fact, a TSB for this, calling for a better set of spacers (or rubber grommets, or whatever you wanna call 'em) and calling for repainting the trunk lid. The guy on the phone seemed rather pleasant, seemed like he was going to work with me, and set me up an appointment to bring it in on Wednesday 9 am. I told him I'd bring in a copy of the TSB (already printed that bad-boy out) so they could see it.

Now, I just have to wait until Wednesday to see what they tell me. I try not to be a pessimist, but I'm afraid of either a hard time getting this fixed under warranty (although I really don't see how they can deny it, with the TSB and all) or either them fixing it, and me being stuck putt-ing around in some 40 HP P.O.S. dealer rental car for the next 3 weeks or some garbage.

Anyone know how long I should reasonably expect it to take for the paint work to be done? Anybody more versed in auto paint that can tell me if this stuff can be touched up and blended, or would this need the entire lid repainted? If the whole thing's got to be redone, that's going to mean the stripes will need to be redone, too.

I'd really like the whole thing repainted, for the best quality, I just don't want to be without my car for however long it'll take them. I hope it's not longer than a couple of days or a week at most.

[TOMS1SS]

Wow that sucks. Ever since I saw that happen on a couple other cars I keep checking my spoiler, thankfully no issue.

[Bama 2SS/RS]

Yeah, it definitely sucks, but at least there's a service bulletin, so this is going to be fixed under warranty. I don't think there's anyway they can get around fixing it under warranty with a service bulletin on it.

Here's what I want to try to do. I want to see if I can get them to repaint it for me, and either install my MPD1 spoiler (which I was going to install until I saw the paint chipping), or else leave the stock spoiler off completely and I'll install the MPD1 myself. I just really don't want that stock spoiler back on there, because I think it looks too small for the car, and I don't like the way it fits over the edge of the trunk lid (I think that's partly why they're hitting and chipping paint).

I'm sure it will work out in the end, though. I'm not letting them get out of fixing my paint under warranty.

[OBSSEST]

I am in the same boat as you except I won't be getting my MPD1 for about 5 months.

I recently discovered the same damage as yours. My first thought was also PAINT PAINT PAINT. After thinking about this for a bit, I decided it might be best to "Be careful what I wish for".

I know there is NO WAY the dealership will paint my trunk lid in a manner that meets my expected level of quality. I think the MPD1 will cover every bit of paint that the factory spoiler touches, completely covering these flaws. I had the dealer install the spacers so as to eliminate any further damage but I asked them to only touch up the small chips. They even did a lousy job with the touch up, further evidence that I made the right choice in not letting them paint my entire lid.

I feel better about having the flaws UNDER the spoiler than having my entire trunk lid being the flaw. Just something to think about before you jump in.

[Bama 2SS/RS]

Originally Posted by OBSSEST

I am in the same boat as you except I won't be getting my MPD1 for about 5 months.

I recently discovered the same damage as yours. My first thought was also PAINT PAINT PAINT. After thinking about this for a bit, I decided it might be best to "Be careful what I wish for".

I know there is NO WAY the dealership will paint my trunk lid in a manner that meets my expected level of quality. I think the MPD1 will cover every bit of paint that the factory spoiler touches, completely covering these flaws. I had the dealer install the spacers so as to eliminate any further damage but I asked them to only touch up the small chips. They even did a lousy job with the touch up, further evidence that I made the right choice in not letting them paint my entire lid.

I feel better about having the flaws UNDER the spoiler than having my entire trunk lid being the flaw. Just something to think about before you jump in.

Yeah, that's a very good point there, and something to.think about for sure. Unfortunately, when I test fit the MPD1 I discovered that it doesn't cover the worst paint chipped area in my case. The factory spoiler sort of curves down over the edge of the trunk, and covers all but the last tiny part of the paint chip. You can see it in my pictures, in the first one. In the last one, you see the full size of the same chip. My MPD1 fit the car great, and looked very sharp, but the base stops just short of that long paint chip. I'm still thinking I might just have them touch up those areas, because you're right, its all under the spoiler. Except for that one paint chip I've got that will be just at the edge of the spoiler and still visible. If they can match and blend it pretty well, it won't really be noticeable. Plus, if the whole lid gets redone, it will require them to put new stripes on, too. If they can match and blend the edges well, that's what I really want. Its only that one chip that will be visible when the MPD1 is installed.

On a side note, for that brief time I had the MPD1 on there, that thing looked sexy as hell. I LOVE that MPD1 spoiler, man. Its just my personal opinion, but I think that spoiler just seems to flow best and compliment the lines of the car the best. The stock spoiler just falls short, to me. Not wide enough or tall enough for the lines of the car, it just looks too small to me.

Anyway, I'll definitely report back after talking with the dealership on Wednesday, and of course, more pics to come after the repairs and installation of the MPD1.

[Bama 2SS/RS]

So I went to the dealership this morning.

It was pretty much a waste of time. I had printed out the TSB for the spoiler paint chip problems, and brought it and the car in to the dealership so they could see it and set up the repairs. When I had called on the phone last week, they set up an appointment time for 9am today.

I had sort of thought we might have done something today, since they had set up an appointment over the phone, but that was not the case. Instead of dropping the car off, picking up a rental, and the body shop getting started on it, all that happened was that they looked at the car, and scheduled a time to bring it BACK to drop off for body shop work NEXT week, on Monday. I felt the trip to the dealership today was useless, and redundant given the phone call last week. I didn't realize that they would have to schedule me a time to come in, to schedule me a time to come BACK in to have the work started.

At least the service manager was pleasant and willing to work with me. He read through the TSB, and said that he HAD heard of the spoiler chipping problems (unlike the guy I spoke to on the phone). He said they would get it fixed up under warranty and give me a rental for the time they had the car. He spoke with the body shop guys, and they decided they would repaint the entire trunk lid, so they're ordering new stripes for my trunk, a new SS badge and a new Chevy bowtie for my trunk lid, along with the rubber mount kit the TSB requires them to install.

So, aside from a useless waste of time this morning, going to the dealership for no real reason, at least they're going to take care of the problem and fix it up. I'll be dropping the car of Monday, and I got the impression that they only expect it to take a day or two. With some luck, maybe I'll have the car fixed up and ready to go by the end of next week. Here's hoping they don't f*ck up and do a good job on the paint and the rally stripe application.

[Rob V]

Guh... Add me to the list as well. Went to the local dealership, they had no idea. I brought them a copy of the TSB, showed them the chipping and they're going to fix it. They're even going to install my MPD-1 spoiler for me. He offered to give me touchup paint at no cost, but I told them I'd prefer the dealer does the work.

[Bama 2SS/RS]

Originally Posted by Rob V

Guh... Add me to the list as well. Went to the local dealership, they had no idea. I brought them a copy of the TSB, showed them the chipping and they're going to fix it. They're even going to install my MPD-1 spoiler for me. He offered to give me touchup paint at no cost, but I told them I'd prefer the dealer does the work.

Excellent! Glad to hear it, hope everything works out well for you and they do quality work.

An update to my situation, I just drove my Camaro back home from the dealer this afternoon. I dropped it off Monday morning, and picked it up today, Wednesday, afternoon. Not to bad of a turn-around time. They re-did my entire trunk lid, installed new rally stripes, new bowtie and SS emblems, and remounted my stock spoiler with the larger spacer kit.

As near as I can tell, it looks like they did quality work. I can't tell a difference in paint color, and the whole finish looks just as smooth and shiny as the rest of the paint. The rally stripes look like they were installed well, with no bubbles, stretches or anything. I was undecided about the bowtie and the SS emblems, so I just went ahead and had them put new ones on for me. I guess if I ever want to, I'll have to fight to remove them later, but I think I'll just go ahead and keep the badged look.

I just had the stock spoiler put back on. I didn't mention anything to the dealer about my aftermarket spoiler or anything, because I was afraid they might cry foul and refuse warranty work -- you just never know. I figured I'd put the stock one on before I went to the dealer, and have them put the stock one back on. When I get the time to fuss with it, I'll be swapping it out for the MPD1. I bought an extra set of the rubber spacer kit online to use with the MPD1, just in case. The part number was in the TSB, so I ordered one from gmpartsdirect.com. Once I pull the stock spoiler off to install the MPD1, I'll get a really good look at the paint under the spoiler to make sure there's no issues. I'm not as concerned cosmetically, because it will be under the MPD1 spoiler, but I want to at least know it's covered and won't end up rusting out from some paint chip under there.

All the parts visible with the spoiler on seem to be just as good as the factory finish, at least to my cursory examination. Once I get a chance to see it under better light, and inspect it more thoroughly, I'll definitely report any issues I find with it on here.

As for now, I'm just happy to have my baby back in my garage. I got stuck with some P.O.S. Chevy HHR for a rental car. The thing smelled bad inside. Not quite cigarette smoke smell, not quite B.O. smell, but something in between. Also there were stains on the seats, the vent registers on the dash were all busted, the car pulled to the left, vibrated on braking, radio was all static-y, and it was literally THE slowest pile of crap I've ever driven. I felt ashamed to be seen driving it. So glad to have finally returned that junk and driving in my nice SS again.

[Cbrenthus]

How do we know if we need to remove our spoiler, check, and redo the washers and nuts? i read about this before I bought mine and that was going to be the first thing I did, but I thought I read only if it is cranked down so bad its touching the trunk. Mine has a good couple mms all the way around, I can actually see the rubber "mat if I look between. Should I be worried?

[Bama 2SS/RS]

Originally Posted by Cbrenthus

How do we know if we need to remove our spoiler, check, and redo the washers and nuts? i read about this before I bought mine and that was going to be the first thing I did, but I thought I read only if it is cranked down so bad its touching the trunk. Mine has a good couple mms all the way around, I can actually see the rubber "mat if I look between. Should I be worried?

From my personal experience, you would most likely see some chipping if you looked closely, if you're having this problem. I think my spoiler was a mm or less from the trunk lid, and I really couldn't see any gap, or see the rubber on mine when it was installed from the factory. I noticed the chip shown in the first picture above, and that's what prompted me to look further, and remove the spoiler.

If you can't see any chipping at all without removing the spoiler, you'll probably be okay. It also sounds like you have a little more clearance, so that's another good sign. Also, if you've got enough clearance to see the rubber parts, take a good flashlight, and really look under the spoiler as best you can without removing it. I think you've got enough of a gap to definitely see any chipping if you had it. For what it's worth, now that mine is back from the warranty work, my spoiler does sit taller than it used to, and I have a gap like you described. I can see the rubber pads if I get down on the same level and look for them, and I definitely have enough clearance to see most of the previously damaged areas without removing the spoiler, now that it sits up higher. It doesn't sit high enough to affect the look of the car, but if you get on the same level, you can tell that it's about 3 mm from the trunk lid now, where before, it was maybe 1 mm at best.

I think it's just up to your judgement if you want to pull the spoiler off to look, but it sounds like you've got enough clearance to see any chipping that might be there without removing it. Just be careful if you do remove the spoiler. It would be really easy to lose one (or more) of the nuts down between the skin of the trunk lid. Also, be careful physically removing the spoiler because it's got sort of a snap fit alignment pin towards the middle of it, so it won't just lift off with the nuts removed. If you don't see any chipping without removing it, it might not be worth removing because you risk damaging the paint just by pulling the spoiler off and potentially dropping it or scratching the paint or whatever. It's not hard to remove the spoiler, but if it was my car, and I didn't see any evidence of chipping, I wouldn't pull the spoiler off.

This is all just my opinion on the issue, but to me, it sounds like you've got enough room to see without removing it, and it also sounds like you might have enough space already, and not need the warranty work. How old is your car? If it's newer, it may already have the taller spacers installed from the factory. I think even some of the older ones might not have the problem, because some people have speculated that some of the spoilers were over tightened and crushed the spacers too much. If yours isn't over tightened, it could very well be a non-issue for you.

[SSLarry]

I mentioned this to my dealer and he knew all about the issue. I decided not to let them try to 'fix' because they would try to repaint and, naturally screw it all up. I followed the directions of someone here and replaced the washers that got squeezed too tight in Oshawa (causing the spoiler to vibrate against the trunk surface).

$5.49 at Home Depot. The scraped clear coat can be touched up and now I know it won't get worse.

[Cbrenthus]

Originally Posted by Bama 2SS/RS

How old is your car? If it's newer, it may already have the taller spacers installed from the factory.

My build date was December '10, deliverd to dealer in January, I think, and I bough in February

I'll probably leave it, from what I have read, if the spoiler is 1mm or closer to the trunk, it is overtightened, but if you can see a gap like mine, its good.

[Rob V]

So there's at least a 4 inch rub line on the passenger side, and they're going to make arrangements to take it into a body shop next week to repaint the trunk. Sucks, but thank goodness I've got another vehicle. The stock spoiler runs a bit over the lip and down, and that's where it rubbed, whereas the MPD-1 spoiler doesn't. I'll try to get some pics of the damage.

[Bama 2SS/RS]

Originally Posted by Cbrenthus

My build date was December '10, deliverd to dealer in January, I think, and I bough in February

I'll probably leave it, from what I have read, if the spoiler is 1mm or closer to the trunk, it is overtightened, but if you can see a gap like mine, its good.

Yeah, like I said, it sounds like you have enough space to prevent the chipping, and also have enough space to see if you were getting the chipping. If you don't notice anything, I'd say you're good to go. Yours is also newer than mine. My build date was August 2010 and I purchased it off the lot in December of 2010. I was kind of surprised to discover my build date was that much earlier than when I purchased it. I didn't think such a sweet looking SS would sit on the lot for months and months like that.

Originally Posted by Rob V

So there's at least a 4 inch rub line on the passenger side, and they're going to make arrangements to take it into a body shop next week to repaint the trunk. Sucks, but thank goodness I've got another vehicle. The stock spoiler runs a bit over the lip and down, and that's where it rubbed, whereas the MPD-1 spoiler doesn't. I'll try to get some pics of the damage.

That's pretty much the exact same areas mine was chipping, as you can see in my pictures. I think they should get you fixed up pretty good. I was pleasantly surprised at the quality the shop did for mine. I took the stock spoiler off last night, so I could install my MPD1 spoiler, and I examined the paint up close where it would be covered by the spoiler. I did not find any trace of any chipping. No low spots, no raised spots, everything was sanded smooth and blended. The paint has no noticeable defects, and appears to have been sprayed on cleanly. No runs or drips or anything, either. I can't honestly tell any difference from the factory paint job. The color even matches perfectly, and the metal flake looks exactly the same.

I took a couple of pictures of the previously damaged areas last night, so I'll post them up when I get a chance, probably tonight. I also need to get some pictures of the car with the MPD1 spoiler on it today (it was too dark to take pictures by the time I got the spoiler installed last night) and post them up as well. Basically, as far as I'm concerned, my spoiler paint chipping issue is resolved, and I'm happy with the quality. As long as it doesn't start chipping later on down the road, I'm good. Now, I just need to address the issue of paint chips in my fender gill area. I'm really thinking it's about time to look into having a clear bra put on the car, and have some film put on the fender gill area as well. It's sad that the clear bra films are all $$$. I wish that stuff was a bit cheaper.