05 monotone cladding looks like it is dull.

[vibebob]

I have an 05 Salsa monotone I have had 6 months and the cladding, especially the back bumper kinda looks fadded. It is really noticeable in the sun not so much in the shade. I have waxed it, could that be the cause ? I used Mothers Gold.of course "IF" it is fading then I'll take it to the dealer to get fixed.

[viberationz]

I've noticed the same thing on my monotone black... I learned quickly not to 'buff and shine' that stuff too much.

[jasonvibe]

the paint on the plastic is different than the rest of the body. (1) it's thinner,(2)in the metallics it's just not a match.

[Toasted7]

I wonder if they will cover the "fading" under warranty?

[jwalcik]

is it actually paint on the cladding, or is it some sort of glaze/laminate? those painted areas definitely feel different to touch than the sheetmetal.

[unkindgrl]

I have a question.. did u get the paint fixed? Right now I am fighting with the dealership and pontiac cause my paint is peeling off of my rear bumper and rocker panels.. the dealer said i did it with my shoe.. give me a break..like i just stand on my car and see if i can do damage to my car...of course pontiac says they have to side with body shop manager... what a crock.. and to fix 3 spots they want 500 bucks.. cause they have to take it apart.. they gave me touch up paint but the red paint doesn't match the original color..

[slvrvibes]

dealers service departments are such rip offs. When you are under warranty they do the work as cheap as possible and when you are out of warranty the screw you with the pricing.By the way welcome unkindgrl. Glad to see another female vibe owner here.

[GMJAP]

Quote, originally posted by unkindgrl »I have a question.. did u get the paint fixed? Right now I am fighting with the dealership and pontiac cause my paint is peeling off of my rear bumper and rocker panels.. the dealer said i did it with my shoe.. give me a break..like i just stand on my car and see if i can do damage to my car...of course pontiac says they have to side with body shop manager... what a crock.. and to fix 3 spots they want 500 bucks.. cause they have to take it apart.. they gave me touch up paint but the red paint doesn't match the original color..Both my parent's Vibe and mine got the rockers repainted under warranty. They also tried to tell me it was my shoes, but my previous car I was 12 years old and never had a problem. They finally checked with GM, and GM said it would cover it under warrantly - so make them check with GM.The rocker chipping is a definite Vibe paint issue that seems to have gotten worse with the 2005 model year.CLADDING: yeah, my monotone cladding looks a slightly different (duller) color than the rest. I think it's because it's plastic versus metal, and the texture is slightly different.

[1oldbanjo]

Before I bought my Vibe I noticed that the painted cladding on all of the Vibe's was duller than the paint. The other Pontiac cars on the lot around the Vibes had paint that matched and was the same shine on the plastic and metal parts...but every Vibe in every color had duller plastic parts - but I don't know why.I have painted plastic bumpers using clear coat/base coat paints and never had trouble making them shiny....I don't know why Pontiac/Toyota can't or didn't on the Vibe. I remember in the old acrylic enamel days that when you added the Flex additive it would reduce the gloss of the paint - but never with modern base/clear coat paints - which are flexible even without additives. I wonder what would happen if you scuffed the factory clear coat and sprayed a new coat of clear on.......I believe you could get them to match much better.I bought a ground effects package for mine that is black and will have to be repainted in Llava - and I am afraid the new parts will be much more glossy and will make the factory pieces look even worse....I may end up having to spray my cladding with clear coat when I can't stand the dull look anymore. My car is only a few months old and I wonder if the dullness gets worse as it weathers.....or does it get glossier as you continue to wax and polish? Has anyone tried buffing it? The worst looking part on my car is the piece over the rear license plate as it is really rough looking.....kind of like the leather on a football.Dave

[unkindgrl]

well right now GM is siding with the dealership.. They are telling me that i have to get a 2nd opinion on the chipping. So if the 2nd dealership says that it isnt defective paint then GM said they will have to take the dealerships side and not cover my paint job. Then I will have to pay the 500 bucks if i don't want the paint to keep coming off. There has to be a hitch somewhere that i can make them repaint the chips but i just can't seem to find it.. i've been searching high and low. so if anybody knows please let me know

[binary]

lame...The cladding on my '05 chipped when the gas cap from it's lofty (cheap-(removed) hook) wrest and fell the extrodinary distance of about 4 inches... took a nice chunk of paint and primer right off... I see grey cladding under. vibe paint has to be the biggest joke and the dealer/GM flip flopping just makes it worse.

[binary]

Quote, originally posted by 1oldbanjo »Before I bought my Vibe I noticed that the painted cladding on all of the Vibe's was duller than the paint. The other Pontiac cars on the lot around the Vibes had paint that matched and was the same shine on the plastic and metal parts...but every Vibe in every color had duller plastic parts - but I don't know why.I have painted plastic bumpers using clear coat/base coat paints and never had trouble making them shiny....I don't know why Pontiac/Toyota can't or didn't on the Vibe. I remember in the old acrylic enamel days that when you added the Flex additive it would reduce the gloss of the paint - but never with modern base/clear coat paints - which are flexible even without additives. I wonder what would happen if you scuffed the factory clear coat and sprayed a new coat of clear on.......I believe you could get them to match much better.I bought a ground effects package for mine that is black and will have to be repainted in Llava - and I am afraid the new parts will be much more glossy and will make the factory pieces look even worse....I may end up having to spray my cladding with clear coat when I can't stand the dull look anymore. My car is only a few months old and I wonder if the dullness gets worse as it weathers.....or does it get glossier as you continue to wax and polish? Has anyone tried buffing it? The worst looking part on my car is the piece over the rear license plate as it is really rough looking.....kind of like the leather on a football.DaveThe cladding texture is still there - even though there's a primer/base/clear coat on top... its still the same textured abs plastic as the two-tone'rs.I have an abyss monotone... and I notice the slight difference in the paint before I purchased the car. My dealer even pointed it out (nice eh?)... but I still opt'ed for it. So far my rockers havn't lost a chip and still look good.. the only issues I have are on my hood and the rear fender where my gas cap fell - and if they say it was from my shoe - they'll have to remove it from their ( Y )...

[unkindgrl]

well still so far i'm getting the shaft from GM.. I took it to the second dealership.. the guy stood there and told me that the paint is too thin on the vibe, it has the orange peel effect, it will eventually all wear off.. So my specialist called the dealership.. GM said it is not covered because the bodyshop guy didn't say that it was a possible bubble in the paint and that it could of cracked the paint.. (removed).. So needless to say i wrote something not so nice on the GMblog website knowing that they would contact me.. and i also wrote a letter to the CEO of GM.. Not that either one will probably get me there.. but hey i wanna be a pain in the (Y)