Rubberized coating coming off of rear wheel wells on '09 GT

[vibenvy]

Everytime I wash my GT, I wipe out the wheel wells with Armor All tire foam and a bug sponge. I like to keep them clean because it just makes the entire car look cleaner. So, I washed the GT this morning and wiped out the wheel wells like I normally do when washing the car. Than, after drying and waxing the car, I sprayed some more Armor All tire foam into the wheel wells and wiped them out again, this time using a towel which I also normally do (it makes them nice and shiny black). Well, after wiping out the rear wheel wells, I noticed they looked weird. At first I thought it was still the foam in there that I hadn't wiped away well enough. I kept wiping and it was still looking weird in there. I looked closer and noticed the rubberized coating is coming off the rear wheel wells big time . This bugs me because now the rear wheel wells are turning silver which is obviously not going to look very good as it gets worse . This is clearly not a big deal and I am going to take care of it myself by simply taking the rear wheels off and adding some new rubberized undercoating in there. I certainly don't trust my local Pontiac dealer to do something like this without screwing something up. I just wanted to put this out there for everyone as an FYI. I have a feeling that even if you don't scrub out your wheel wells, this will happen after time considering all the stuff that gets tossed up inside there against the rubberized coating.Here are some pictures:Why couldn't Toyota have just put wheel well liners back there than I wouldn't have this problem .

[ou.grizzly]

I do not think the coating is coming off, I think that is the way it was from drying when it was applied at the factory...Unless you are taking a high pressure wand to it and it is peeling off?

[Vibe_dude]

Quote, originally posted by J_TO_ENVY »Why couldn't GM have just put wheel well liners back there than I wouldn't have this problem . This is not a GM car...Totally made by Toyota!

[vibenvy]

Quote, originally posted by ou.grizzly »I do not think the coating is coming off, I think that is the way it was from drying when it was applied at the factory...Unless you are taking a high pressure wand to it and it is peeling off?No, it is definitely coming off because the rear wheel wells used to be nice and black and now they are slowly turning silver. Plus the very top of the rear wheel wells (right by where the suspension mounts) are silver because they did not bother to spray any coating up there.Quote, originally posted by Vibe_dude »This is not a GM car...Totally made by Toyota!Yep, I am aware of that! Didn't dawn on me until now that I put GM. I am still getting used to have a Poyota !*Fixed it*

[Dog Hauler]

Have you looked into the tire foam eating away the coating?

[vibenvy]

I thought of that, but I have used it on my previous cars with the rubberized coating in the wheel wells and it never happened with them.It sucks because the tire foam works so well at cleaning and shining up the wheels wells, but I don't want to do any more damage if it is the tire foam that's doing it.Hum...

[rob454]

Its probably just black sealant that is sprayed on the wheel wells from the factory. It prevents rock chips and works as a rust inhibitor. I would take it to the dealer and have them respray it. The tire foam is probably eating away from the coating because it might be a different type of sealant on the Vibe. You can also go to the auto parts store and pick up a can of rubberized coating yourself and respray. About $4 a can. No biggie.The coating they use is just a "final touch" before it leaves the plant. They all start peeling after a year or so especially if you scrub out the wheel wells. My Dodge Avenger did this when I first bought it and I just got some black paint and resprayed the inside.

[vibenvy]

Yeah, like I said earlier, I am just going to scrub the current junk out of there and put some new rubberized coating in there. It's not a big deal, I just wanted to put the information up here for everyone as an FYI since that's the whole point of this site.

[ou.grizzly]

Quote, originally posted by J_TO_ENVY »No, it is definitely coming off because the rear wheel wells used to be nice and black and now they are slowly turning silver. Plus the very top of the rear wheel wells (right by where the suspension mounts) are silver because they did not Have you taken a high pressure wand to it?

[vibenvy]

Quote, originally posted by ou.grizzly »Have you taken a high pressure wand to it?Nope. The Vibe gets hand washed in the driveway with a garden hose. I wipe out the wheel wells with tire foam, so I am assuming that's the problem. It doesn't seem to have gotten any worse, but before winter hits I am probably going to add a coat or two of some rubberized undercoating. I think they just didn't coat it that well from the factory and me scrubbing it is making it come off faster, but I can't have dirty wheel wells .

[jake75]

Quote, originally posted by Dog Hauler »Have you looked into the tire foam eating away the coating?Reinforces my practice of relying on a protective layer of dirt.

[Zimm]

well, if enough of it falls off, i'd suggest replacing it with roll-on truck bedliner. i had a buddy who would restore old rustbuckets and he always put a coat of bedliner on the undersides instead of painting.should be nice and black for you, unless you want to track down a custom color...

[vibenvy]

Quote, originally posted by jake75 »Reinforces my practice of relying on a protective layer of dirt.LOL! Well, dirty wheel wells completely ruin the look of an otherwise clean car for me so I'm definitely not going to stop wiping them down.Quote, originally posted by Zimm »well, if enough of it falls off, i'd suggest replacing it with roll-on truck bedliner. i had a buddy who would restore old rustbuckets and he always put a coat of bedliner on the undersides instead of painting.should be nice and black for you, unless you want to track down a custom color...This is exactly what I am planning on doing before the winter hits. It's only the rear wheel wells since the front ones obviously have the plastic liners so it wouldn't take much coating. Plus I will be able to fully coat them since there is a huge bare spot up around the rear struts where there's no coating at all .