Cladding Nightmare!

[Smitty]

OK... so I took my '03 Vibe in to have the discolored cladding replaced. After much arguing, they agreed the TSB covered my problem and agreed to replace it. After getting all the parts in (or so they thought) I bring the car in. They called me and said it was done, so I go on over to pick it up only to find that they didn't replace half the cladding -- even more ridiculous, they had replaced a couple of the pieces on one side but not the other (not to mention that they didn't put the molding strips on). The thing looked like crap. So of course I complain and they admit that it looks odd. Come to find out, they failed to order more than half the parts! They aren't sure why it happened except that maybe they were looking at a superceded TSB. So now they have to reorder the missing parts and I have to go through the entire process of taking it in again.This brings me to my questions:1) Is there anything else I need to tell them that might not be included on the TSB (the latest version - # ends with a B) that they will need to know to do the job correctly?2) What pieces are suppose to be replaced? They didn't replace any of the pieces attached to the doors or the rear bumper cladding. I know the front cladding isn't suppose to be replaced but shouldn't everything else be? -- I want to be sure I know what to look for when I go back in.3) Lastly, which pieces need the stipping? Is it just the pieces that are around the tires.Thanks for your help guys. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.Smitty

[ragingfish]

The only parts authorized for replacement are:Quote » 88973242 Molding Rear Wheel Opening-Right 88973243 Molding Rear Wheel Opening-Left 88963246 Molding Rear Side Door Lower-Right 88973247 Molding Rear Side Door Lower-Left 88973089 Rocker Molding-Right 88973090 Rocker Molding-Left 94848834 Retainer Parts are currently available from GMSPO.

[Smitty]

Actually that's incorrect.Those are the parts listed on TSB #02-08-111-005A (July 31, 2003). There is a new revised TSB #02-08-111-005B release April of 2004. I don't have a copy of it (only saw it at the dealer) and it has about twice as many parts listed.Anyone have a copy of this new TSB.(I think this was why they didn't order all the parts needed)

[Ponyota]

I wouldn't stand for this kind of mistake. First of all, they are the professionals and they should know how to order the correct parts. Secondly, they should have realized that they didn't have all the parts before they started. Third, they shouldn't have even started the job untill they knew if they had all the parts or not. Why can't they find the part numbers? If I were you I wouldn't have even left that place untill someone with a little more authority came out to look at the mess they made! This seems to help alot, then the guy that did the service work would have heard from his bosses boss. I would have been po'd and they would have known it along with everyone else that was around. I have a short fuse when it comes to stupidity and they seem like they got alot of stupid in em'. Here is my sugestion to everyone that takes there car in for replacment parts like this. When you take it in, make them show you the parts before they do any work. If they don't have the right ones or all the parts for the job, make them order them before having any work done. This saves you and them alot of headaches. If they mess up again, don't be ashamed to let them know that you can't trust them to work on your car and then take it to another dealer for the work. Good luck!

[scherry2]

Quote, originally posted by Ponyota »I wouldn't stand for this kind of mistake. First of all, they are the professionals and they should know how to order the correct parts. Secondly, they should have realized that they didn't have all the parts before they started. Third, they shouldn't have even started the job untill they knew if they had all the parts or not. Why can't they find the part numbers? Good luck!settle down there.... I was one of the first vibe owners to have my cladding replaced and when i finally got the warranty manager to look at the TSB they ordered the parts and forgot the gaskets behind the cladding. It was the first one they had ever worked on and maybe this is smitty's dealers problem. Its not like they are changing every vibe sold there, only the people that come to this site seem to be aware of the problem. just relax, and smitty give your dealer a chance its not every day they work on toyotas at the pontiac dealer.

[millster]

I'm going with Scherry on this one. When I had my accident, they replaced a couple of pieces of cladding. For some unknown reason, the gaskets (molding strips, whatever) didn't come with the cladding they replaced. When it was inside the shop, they didn't notice the ones I had were discolored and so reused them. All I had to do was mention is to them and they got it ordered and replaced. Sometimes cooler heads prevail (as I believe the creator of this thread has likely noticed). To answer one of the questions from experience, the only parts that need the rubber strips are the fenders/wheelwells. It was a quick install on mine. Even with the additional issues they had to correct, they had the car back to me the same day.

[Smokin' Rubber]

Agree thats pretty bad.... almost as bad as when the damn dealer did an oil change and they forgot to put the damn oil cap back on! So a couple days after I open the hood just to check on my engine and see to make sure everything is in order (for no particular reason) to find that my strut bar and most of my engine are really shiny and smell like oil... first thing that strikes my eye is the big gaping hole in the top of the engine where the cap used to be. So I call the dealer up and b*tch at them for a prolonged period of time for there blatant stupidity and for creating a potentially dangerous situation (the oil could have caught on fire if the exhaust manifold and down pipe got hot enough). So after looking over my engine some more and wiping the engine down mostly I see what I thought was a part of the radiator hosing that has come of (oh crap right?) well turns out that I was lucky enough to have the oil cap get wedged between the radiator pipe and the side of the fan. Funny that it didn't fall off while I drove the car for about half a week. So I called them up and told them I found the cap but demanded that they give me a new oil change and clean my engine bay of all the oil. So eventually they agreed...So I take my car home and look at the engine again and realize that the liner on top have been torn a bit and worn down in the center (probably where they tries to pressure wash it) and once again looked like crap so I took the car in AGAIN and had them replace the engine liner.Just goes to show how incredibly crappy dealers can be

[ColonelPanic]

Luckily, I didn't have too much of a hassle along the way to get my cladding replaced. Granted, it still isn't on the car yet, as the parts have yet to come in, but it was painless to get the ball rolling. Like scherry2 mentioned, this issue is pretty much unheard of. We know about it here, but we only represent a small fraction of Vibe owners.The remainder may not know about the issue, or if they do, it may not concern them enough to bother with getting this stuff replaced. So, many dealers, although they have the TSB's readlily available, may not know about it either. Which probably makes it that much easier to not order the correct replacement parts.I showed the service manager the damage shortly after buying a car, but there was no TSB released at that time. He and I both agreed that, if they didn't have any redesigned parts available, that the damage would return. I didn't feel it would have made sense for me to waste my time, their time, and GM's money to replace the cladding back in the spring of '03. But now that my factory warranty is coming close to an end, I called the dealer and talked to the same service manager to see what we could do. He still remembers the damage that I showed him back then. Advised that there was now a TSB out on the issue, and he looked it up. He asked about the extent of the damage, and we found it is definitely on all of the parts covered under the TSB. I didn't get the "that's wear and tear" bit that some have had their dealers tell them. He just put all the parts on order, and now I'm waiting for them to come in. It didn't even require a visit to the shop to get things started! Definitely pleased with the way the dealer has handled this one.I hate to hear about the mix-up on your car, Smitty. Hoping that they will be able to get all of the correct parts for you this time... Things happen, I suppose. But I know it's inconvenient to have to go back.Millster, do you or anyone else happen to have the part numbers for the gaskets for the front fender cladding? I'm hoping the rears are replaced with the new cladding, they look horrible. But the fronts look pretty bad too, so I'll buy a set of those myself.Quote, originally posted by scherry2 »and smitty give your dealer a chance its not every day they work on toyotas at the pontiac dealer. I certainly agree! I think I've been the Vibe guinea pig for the small-ish dealership I go to. On a couple occasions, they have hinted that they don't work on too many Vibes, so just pure speculation here - they may do more work on mine than on anyone else's. As often as I visit them, that's very possible. And I don't mind one bit letting them learn from my car, if it will help other owners in the process. But since they also sell Chevrolets, they still have some experience servicing a Toyota, thanks to the now-defunct Prizm.

[millster]

Here are the numbers I have. They pull up on GMPartsDirect.com as a protector, all about the same price, so I'm guessing that these are the actual part numbers. The problem is that since I had every bit of it replaced on my car at once, I've no idea what part number is which part. 889723058897230788972811889723138897231588972317On my service invoice, those are all listed as moldings. If you have any trouble figuring out what is what, I'm taking the car in next week for a few more little tweaks and I'll ask them then.

[ColonelPanic]

Thanks for the part numbers! I'll see what they do (or don't) replace when I get my cladding replaced. Thursday's the magic day!

[millster]

No problem. Just hope they're the right ones. Good luck, keep us posted!