Paint Issues - Who has problems and who doesn't

scherry2 · Post by **scherry2** » Wed Oct 26, 2005 10:21 pm

Quote, originally posted by TheBri Â»Awsome I was thinking on the dealer on. How hard is it to remove and put back on? Also does it do a good job at protecting the front end? mine is for an 03' it goes on easy, some where someone said there is one with a bunch of clips but its aftermarket. yea it does a good job. http://forums.genvibe.com/zerothread?id=17456Quote, originally posted by TheBri Â»So you take it off when its snowing out, I would think that the sand and salt on the road would be worse for the front end, then durning the summer road conditions.I take it off when its snowing or raining if its not snowing I have the hood piece on. I wash my car once a week so sand and salt (which they don't use here) isn't a problem.

TheBri · Post by **TheBri** » Fri Oct 28, 2005 3:09 am

So far I am not plaining on driving it durning the winter so but the roads here are realy bad for stuff on the roads plus all the trucks around here also sucks. But I am going to look into the bra for sureThanks

jasonvibe · Post by **jasonvibe** » Sun Oct 30, 2005 11:41 am

someone stated they are getting the "minnesota package" on their Vibe. Well, You have just voided your no rust warranty. At least that's what it said in my manual. "undercoating is not needed nor recommended. If improperly applied can cause the factory anti-rust coating not to work." Don't get me wrong. I believe a good under coat helps us in the snow belt. Also the reason the paint may be poor on some of these....the California plant does not know what rust is...or that a good paint job protects the car. I honestly think they don't want us to buy another Toyota driven car. I will know in the spring how well mine has stood up. Too few miles on it now to know. No bugs this time of year and little crap on the roads. Also the bumper is clear coated...unlike what some say. Only colors that may not need clear is white and salsa.

ColonelPanic · Post by **ColonelPanic** » Sun Oct 30, 2005 2:21 pm

Quote, originally posted by jasonvibe Â»Well, You have just voided your no rust warranty.Cool, my dealer must have voided the corosion warranty on my car before I even took ownership of the stupid thing then. They send all of their new vehicles out for undercoating to be sprayed on before they are ever put out on the lot to be sold. Many dealers around here of just about any make do the same... So, if you don't want undercoating, I guess you have to order the car, drill it into their head that you don't want undercoating, wait for the car to come in, then hope/pray/etc. that they don't send it off to get the undercoating sprayed on before you come in to pick it up. I have no problems with having undercoating on mine, anything extra will probably be beneficial in the long run.

jasonvibe · Post by **jasonvibe** » Sun Oct 30, 2005 11:22 pm

Undercoating with a quality product is good. I did mine...all but the driveshaft tunnel. Here, you cannot be charged for something added by the dealer that cannot be removed. Also the paint I suspect is thin on all the plastic- ft. bumper, side mouldings. We had a door opened into ours. But it hit the middle door trim. I noticed how easily the scratch went through to the plastic. But at least the trim did it's job. ALL the plastic is painted seperately of the body on these cars. The rounded nose of the '05 and '06 could be an issue if the paint just chips from bugs. Hope I don't have to worry. Also the plastic is not the usual GM stuff. It is more rigid. ANd may not require the "flex agent" needed in most GM bumper paint. My 10 year old Bonnie's bumper held up great...no chips at all. But this had the flex paint because the plastic is extremely pliable. If these cars use the standard ABS plastic. Which is rigid. They can get away with a thin coat of paint. BUT it depends on the quality of the paint and the process. Motorcycle manufacturers have done this for years. My 15 year old motorcycle has almost no chips @ 70k miles. Granted the frontal area is small in comparison. Years ago(15) GM warrantied a bunch of cars that the paint just flaked off of. My bro has one. It was repainted but the clear that was used now looks white. In most cases GM won't warranty the paint unless it flakes off. UPDATE- FOUND MY FIRST CHIP @ 1500 miles, it is small, like a pin head, on the front bumper. The paint is thin on the plastic as I suspected. The car being light colored really shows these. Just hope the steel is painted better. I see areas at the edges of boby panels that looks like the paint was ready to drip off. So I hope it's as thick in most areas. After finding a scratch on the door I suspect the vertical surfaces to be thin. UGH....

tnpartsguy · Post by **tnpartsguy** » Sun Nov 27, 2005 4:36 am

Well, got my final word in from Pontiac Division Friday, havn't posted it because I'm so angry and upset still, but.....the final word is NO. I'm out of 3yr/36 k bumper to bumper, and whenever decision the field rep makes, the division will NOT override. I have one more step I can take, but my boss has asked me not to, due to other circumstances I'm not able to discuss now. Basically, I'm stuck with a car with no paint on the front bumper, hood, or roof. I just went to wash it and found another chuck of paint gone, biggest one yet! I so wish someone would start a class-action against GM for this crappy paint. I love my Vibe, but right now I'd sell it in a heartbeat because of the crappy paint, and the fact that my value is going to do nothing but nosedive as the paint continues to flake. GM you suck.P.S. if you're still under 3/36 and have paint problems, don't go to the dealer, call Customer Assistance 1st!! and get a case number, then let them tell you to go to the dealer. I tried to do it the nice way and you see where it got me.

scherry2 · Post by **scherry2** » Sun Nov 27, 2005 8:59 am

Quote, originally posted by tnpartsguy Â» GM you suck.to bad its Toyota (solvent based) paint which is softer than the GM (water based) paint.

tnpartsguy · Post by **tnpartsguy** » Sun Nov 27, 2005 10:44 am

Quote, originally posted by scherry2 Â»to bad its Toyota (solvent based) paint which is softer than the GM (water based) paint.I'm complaining about GM's lack of customer support about this issue as well. They know they have a problem, it's one of the things they have said is a problem they intend to correct (or are intending to correct with the next generation or the Vibe's replacement). I looked over at MO, and don't see near as many paint complaints there....or are I nuts?

joatmon · Post by **joatmon** » Tue Jan 30, 2007 1:48 pm

http://blogs.zdnet.com/Berlind/?p=319 a blogger with paint problems on his Vibe

ColonelPanic · Post by **ColonelPanic** » Tue Jan 30, 2007 4:14 pm

Man that's rough... Sounds like the same jacknads that Partsguy had to deal with! I wouldn't buy GM again either if I went through what the blogger did. I sure hope that if he does go to another brand that it won't be Toyota. It's their fault the paint on these cars is absolute crap.

joatmon · Post by **joatmon** » Tue Jan 30, 2007 9:13 pm

Quote, originally posted by ColonelPanic Â»Man that's rough... Sounds like the same jacknads that Partsguy had to deal with! I wouldn't buy GM again either if I went through what the blogger did. I sure hope that if he does go to another brand that it won't be Toyota. It's their fault the paint on these cars is absolute crap. I do not know whose fault it is. The cars are painted at NUMMI, where they also build Toyotas. If all the Corollas coming out of the NUMMI plant had similar paint problems, then I'd say it was a plant problem. Howeverr, it could be a GM problem, since all the Vibes are built for GM, perhaps GM tried to save a buck and had NUMMI go easy on the paint compared to other cars painted at NUMMI. Info we don't have access to, so it's hard to know who to blame.For what it's worth, the paint on my vibe is holding up a lot better than the paint on my 94 Dodge minivan did.

kep427 · Post by **kep427** » Tue Jan 30, 2007 10:41 pm

Mine seems to be holding up ok too. It certainly isn't what I'd call "good quality" as it takes only the slightest affort to make a scratch (e.g., accidential fingernail contact), but is no where near as bad as others have posted. I consider myself lucky.'04 base Vibe

tnpartsguy · Post by **tnpartsguy** » Tue Jan 30, 2007 11:37 pm

Not many shared colours between the Vibe and the Corolla.....wonder if they use different paint, or different paint lines??And a note on the BBB....it's nothing.....they have no power.....it's a member driven organization....guess who the members are....that's right....the businesses. So as a consumer, you have little to gain going to the BBB. If you really have a problem, every state has a consumer protection agency (which would have been my last step, btw, but I was asked NOT to do it since it would have been going against the dealership I worked for). Yes, I bought another Vibe.....but I did take out the paint and finish protection insurance for 100K miles. Excessive chipping is covered.

micbarric · Post by **micbarric** » Tue Jan 30, 2007 11:52 pm

I don't think it's just the Vibe with paint problems! 2006 Camry (also mentioned is 2007 Yaris):http://www.topix.net/forum/aut...TL/p3Toyota Tacoma:http://www.tundrasolutions.com...07-a/Maybe Toyota should have GM run the paint shop!

scherry2 · Post by **scherry2** » Wed Jan 31, 2007 12:02 am

the toyota matrix is painted and assembled in canada. the vibe is painted and assembled in california along side the TACOMA (see above post)Quote, originally posted by joatmon Â» The cars are painted at NUMMI, where they also build Toyotas. If all the Corollas coming out of the NUMMI plant had similar paint problems, then I'd say it was a plant problem. do corollas have paint problems? seems the Tacoma does.Quote, originally posted by joatmon Â» However, it could be a GM problem, since all the Vibes are built for GM, perhaps GM tried to save a buck and had NUMMI go easy on the paint compared to other cars painted at NUMMI. the cars are painted on an assembly line all in a row there isn't a GM line and a Toyota line. they are all painted by robots in different paint booths by color. Quote, originally posted by joatmon Â»Info we don't have access to, so it's hard to know who to blame.sure we do. plenty of people here work for GM and a few work at NUMMI.as I've stated before GM uses a waterbased paint in their assembly plants which is hard. Toyota uses a solvent based paint in their assembly plants which is cheaper and softer. maybe the real reason GM won't honor the paint problem is that TOYOTA refuses to agree there is a problem and refuses to pay GM for the repaints.

kep427 · Post by **kep427** » Wed Jan 31, 2007 1:02 am

Quote, originally posted by scherry2 Â» do corollas have paint problems? seems the Tacoma does. If you go to micbarric's 2nd linkhttp://www.tundrasolutions.com...07-a/and dig a bit deeper in the link you will see numerous posts complaining about the paints on newer Tacomas, Camarys, and Corollas. Most are complaining how their newer cars are flaking/chipping while their older similar models had no/few paint problems. It makes me start to wonder if it isn't both a Toyota and GM (Vibe) problem.

Wheatking · Post by **Wheatking** » Wed Jan 31, 2007 7:03 am

Wow do I ever consider myself lucky. I do have paint chips from rocks, but nothing like alot of you have. I live on a gravel road in the country so probably 50-60% of my driving is on gravel. I do have some chips that are starting to rust, i thought it might be a little more than it should be, but nothing compared to alot of others. My hood did get a few chips right away so I bought a Bra which seemed to help alot. On a side note the bra that I bought for it from GM is garbage, it is so unbelievably tight. Also a few of the buttons have pulled out in the plastic under the wheel wells.

wyatt89 · Post by **wyatt89** » Thu Sep 06, 2007 10:37 am

im pretty sure i have the worst paint here, its lava, has chips about the size of a pencil eraser all over the hood, has lots of paint missing from the side skirts...oh yah and the bumpers dont really match the car anymore, they have faded a bit (no, never wrecked) this is by far the worst paint i have ever seen on a car

mistertwo · Post by **mistertwo** » Mon Sep 10, 2007 4:13 am

agreed my friend... agreed.i also have a lava vibe and by day 2 of owning it i had 3 stone chips in the hood... i just got done detailing it and it took me longer to touch up all the chips then it did to wash and wax... this is retarded.. is there anyway this can be brought to somebody elses attention.. like the BBB or something? Its one thing when you live in the sticks, but i do all city driving and can't figure out how this is happening.. i have never ever had this kind of issue before.calling pontiac now.

mistertwo · Post by **mistertwo** » Mon Sep 10, 2007 4:33 am

everyone call pontiac and complain and lets see if they will recall the paint on our cars.. hahaha.. i am currently on hold and they are processing my claim.edit, they are now calling my dealer.. i wonder if my car is going to get re-sprayed.

mistertwo · Post by **mistertwo** » Mon Sep 10, 2007 8:38 am

update: after a long phone call, the pontiac rep said she is going to do some digging and see if she can come up with more complaints like this, and then see what they can do to help. i urge you to call and tell them if your paint is chipped

mistertwo · Post by **mistertwo** » Tue Sep 18, 2007 2:48 am

sooo according to pontiac they haven't received any other calls about how thin the paint on the vibe is... I find that impossible to believe...

x10 · Post by **x10** » Thu Sep 20, 2007 3:26 am

I had to have the dealership repaint most of my car and every bit of the plastic before I would take the car off the lot. I had looked at the car during cloudy days and it was sunny on the day to pick it up, Plus I was checking every inch of the car before I picked it up, It started with finding chips then I found very very thin paint all over

mistertwo · Post by **mistertwo** » Thu Sep 20, 2007 5:38 am

i strongly urge everyone who is having issues to call..THE NUMBER IS:1-866-790-5600EXT. 12106her name is KELLYand she is the woman from pontiac that i talked to. Apparently they haven't gotten any other complaints about thin paint, which I find unbelievable. Sooo maybe if everyone calls, and they realize the paint does suck they will do something, or we get the BBB and hello class action suit!

mistertwo · Post by **mistertwo** » Wed Sep 26, 2007 2:55 am

UPDATE!I just got a call and she was like paint defects are definitely covered under warranty but the dealer said they look like stone chips and from you hitting things...I got pissed and said really? is that what the dealship said? really, THEY NEVER SAW MY CAR WITH CHIPS IN IT...the lady didn't know what to say to me, so i said to hell with that i want another opinion because if they deny it WITHOUT SEEING IT God knows what they will say, and I dont want to waste my time with them. She said it could go to another dealer...oh man was i pissed.

chevelle_lover · Post by **chevelle_lover** » Fri Oct 05, 2007 8:52 am

I just emailed GM Canada directly about the paint. I noticed about 20 small chips out of my hood one on my fender near the windshield and one on the door lip of the left rear passenger. I got a call from a Catherine today who sounds like a lawyer to call her back. I'll see what she says about it. For now i am thinking of getting a hood deflector. Does anyone have a picture of theirs with the hood and which one did you get?ThanksMike

evanhatch · Post by **evanhatch** » Tue Oct 09, 2007 7:37 am

I just picked up a 2004 Black Vibe and the first thing i noticed (Ask my wife) was just how poorly the paint job looked. It is scratched all over (small scratches not like it got keyed) I actually said i think the previous owners had a dog that jumped all over it...and the chips on the entire body blew my mind. I didn't notice them right away due to the touching up that was done. Needless to say after reading all this, I am concerned. I have called "Kelly" at GM as Mistertwo suggested and left a message. For the love of all things Vibe call and let them know there is a major problem.

bull77 · Post by **bull77** » Wed Oct 10, 2007 9:29 pm

Quote, originally posted by chevelle_lover Â»For now i am thinking of getting a hood deflector. Does anyone have a picture of theirs with the hood and which one did you get?I got my deflector from the dealer - brand= AVS. We put it on a month after purchasing the Vibe right after getting a stone straight to the windsheild. Even with the deflector on, it still has small chips all over the hood and above the windsheild. Recommend getting touch-up paint from the dealer...our Vibe seems to have a target on it for stones and people backing into it and leaving paint streaks - 3 run-ins in 2 years!!!

mistertwo · Post by **mistertwo** » Sun Nov 18, 2007 12:57 am

Quote, originally posted by evanhatch Â»I just picked up a 2004 Black Vibe and the first thing i noticed (Ask my wife) was just how poorly the paint job looked. It is scratched all over (small scratches not like it got keyed) I actually said i think the previous owners had a dog that jumped all over it...and the chips on the entire body blew my mind. I didn't notice them right away due to the touching up that was done. Needless to say after reading all this, I am concerned. I have called "Kelly" at GM as Mistertwo suggested and left a message. For the love of all things Vibe call and let them know there is a major problem.I wish everyone would call kelly, because the more people that complain the more likely they will do something for us.. if its a couple cars they can brush it off, if all of genvibe called, they would have to realize there is a flaw...

zionzr2 · Post by **zionzr2** » Fri Apr 18, 2008 10:48 pm

any word yet on '09 Paint quality issues?

berserk · Post by **berserk** » Sun May 04, 2008 2:17 am

We are planning on upgrading our 2005 base vibe to a 2009 awd. Got a lot of paint problems on the 05. The color is silver.How is the paint holding up on the 09?

berserk · Post by **berserk** » Sun May 04, 2008 2:51 am

Here is the spec for paint thickness that we use in determining what hole size to use.

Attached files

WaveAction · Post by **WaveAction** » Sun May 04, 2008 10:53 am

no problems here with paint..a few chips from rocks..but those are hard to avoid

renate · Post by **renate** » Sun May 04, 2008 11:25 am

Snce I ave a 2008 that is 2 1/2 weeks old, there is no paint problem except where the guy backed into me with a truck.

WD0AFQ · Post by **WD0AFQ** » Sun May 04, 2008 1:25 pm

As soon as my 03 GT was out of warranty the paint on the rear license plate cover started coming off. Guess I will have to take the dang thing off and have Abyss sprayed back on by a body shop.Dan

Vibrator08 · Post by **Vibrator08** » Mon May 12, 2008 8:42 am

My 08 vibe has been on the road 5 months and around 10k miles and it already has about 5 chips on the hood.

torque2k · Post by **torque2k** » Tue Jun 03, 2008 3:18 am

So that's where all the little "white" scratches on my roof/backend/doors came from. I thought maybe the previous owner was a painter and had ladders he threw around on the car!Does anyone have rust coloration showing under their rear door handles? It doesn't look like it's the underlying metal that's rusting, so much as maybe rust seeping from the handle mechanisms themselves. Only on the two rear passenger doors, too!

ToolGuy · Post by **ToolGuy** » Wed Jun 04, 2008 1:41 am

Quote, originally posted by torque2k Â»So that's where all the little "white" scratches on my roof/backend/doors came from. I thought maybe the previous owner was a painter and had ladders he threw around on the car!Does anyone have rust coloration showing under their rear door handles? It doesn't look like it's the underlying metal that's rusting, so much as maybe rust seeping from the handle mechanisms themselves. Only on the two rear passenger doors, too!Is it small rust spots around the handles? If so, it is from the brake pads as the metal particles become airborne and stick to the paint. Also called rail dust for trains that transport cars. If your spots sound like these, try a Clay Bar. You can buy them at Murray's auto stores and will remove all these pollutants and make the paint clean and like glass when done. rail dust is hard to remove once stuck on the paint. I could see rail dust collecting around the handles from the way the wind would carry it.

Tailslide · Post by **Tailslide** » Fri Jun 06, 2008 12:07 pm

Quote, originally posted by berserk Â»How is the paint holding up on the 09?The paint on the 09 sucks. I've got 4000km highway on mine and already have at least a half dozen chips. This is by far the worse vehicle I've ever owned with regards to paint.

mikey00 · Post by **mikey00** » Wed Jul 23, 2008 4:14 am

It's hard to believe that GM doesn't care or know enough to fix the Vibe paint problem. I bought my 2005 black Vibe new in 2005. It quickly became obvious the paint was not very durable. I have small white scratches everywhere the car gets touched (door handles, gas door, hood,etc). I have 2 other black GM cars in the family (2000 Alero and 2007 G6) that get the same use as the Vibe but don't have any of the scratches. I then started reading about the Vibe on sites such as this one and it looks like the paint was a problem since 2003. I always make it a habit to check the paint on a Vibe whenever I walk by one and they all suck. I also make it a habit to check out the Matrix and noticed it doesn't have the paint issues. It looks like the 2009 Vibe still has the paint issues from what I am reading. I'm getting close to trading the Vibe but don't want the paint issue again. I may get a Matrix instead.

dianebrat · Post by **dianebrat** » Wed Jul 23, 2008 11:47 am

My 06 Lava looks great on the sheet metal, but I've never seen the plastic with a paint that loses its luster as fast as my vibe, not more then a few months and it needs to be rubbed out and buffed for the bumpers to get shiny again.Diane

Paint Issues - Who has problems and who doesn't

Re: (TheBri)

Re: (jasonvibe)

Re: (tnpartsguy)

Re: (tnpartsguy)

Re: (scherry2)

Re: Paint Issues - Who has problems and who doesn't (Flip-Side)

Re: Paint Issues - Who has problems and who doesn't (joatmon)

Re: Paint Issues - Who has problems and who doesn't (ColonelPanic)

Re: Paint Issues - Who has problems and who doesn't (joatmon)

Re: Paint Issues - Who has problems and who doesn't (joatmon)

Re: Paint Issues - Who has problems and who doesn't (Flip-Side)

Re: Paint Issues - Who has problems and who doesn't (tnpartsguy)

Re: Paint Issues - Who has problems and who doesn't (scherry2)

Re: Paint Issues - Who has problems and who doesn't (kep427)

Re: (wyatt89)

Re: paint issues

Re: (chevelle_lover)

Re: (bull77)

Re: (berserk)

Re: (torque2k)

Re: (berserk)

Re: (Tailslide)