Factory Striping vs. Dealer Installed

[RetroDude]

FOOD FOR THOUGHT! It has been my knowledge that back when the Monte Carlo SS was being built here in Oshawa, ONT. and someone ordered the rally stripe package... upon completion of the vehicle at the Oshawa assembly plant the car was then taken by transport to a place east of Toronto ( Whitby or Pickering if I remember correctly ) where an independent company under contract with GM would apply the strips and then the car would be picked up and sent to the appropriate dealer. Due to the hi demand of the Camaro, in order not to overwhelm this company, that is if this is still what GM is doing, I can see the need to limit the colour choices for it will make it much easier for this company to mass produce these decals. Essentially, they would be able to print off a lot of copies at once rather than changing the roll of vinyl for each car. Now as for the Dealer installed versions. My dealer said that they will be using an outsourced company to be brought in to apply these decals ( 3M / Trim Line to be exact ) Since this is definitely the case here, I think it's only a matter of time before the stripe packages are copied and then available in any colour of the rainbow you desire. Also, if you want the Rally Stripes and Hockey Stripes too, I don't see this being a problem either down the road. The real question here is about quality and warranty! As the factory stripes are done to order, they will be covered by GM's factory warranty ( not sure what the standard warranty is in the US .. 3 years ... expect restrictions ), however, the decals will be applied by professionals so expect top quality! The dealer installed decals, on the other hand, will most likely be outsourced to independent local graphic shops. In my case it has been confirmed the local 3M-Trim line dealer will be brought in to install these decals for them or more likely the cars will be sent to their shop for installation. This was how my 2000 Alero 442 was done and frankly, their work was excellent and I've had the decals on for over 8 yrs now! I'm currently in the process of having the rally stripes replaced since they are finally starting to crack. They were warranted for 5 years, but I got 8 great summers and winters out of them anyways. I could probably get another year, but cracks aren't my style. As for warranty, if they are licensed by GM and the dealer takes care of installation for you then they will be covered under your basic warranty, but if you do something different ( colours not listed as an example: Lime Green ) expect that the only warranty will be that of the independent dealer used. No guarantee that there won't be something under the film or even an air bubble or two! Your stripes are only as good as those who apply them so check with your dealer first to find out what their plans are. I'm looking at purchasing a 2LT/RS in Imperial Blue and will probably order the Silver Dealer installed Rally Stripes. I'm also going to see if at the same time the independent graphic dealer can install matching Silver Hockey stripes as well. I guess I will have to wait and see.

[Z/28orSs]

thansk for the info !