Question about the replacement cladding issues

[SpaceGal]

Hi there everyone,I'm a new 2004 Vibe "owner". I haven't officially said hello yet since I haven't really gotten the car yet tho...it's all paid for sitting at the dealership waiting for me to pick up once i relocate to my new city. In any case, I'm very excited to get a new Vibe. Since I didn't get to take my Vibe home the day we purchased it, it's currently sitting safely in Upstate NY...I didn't want to ruin it by bringing it to the jungle of NYC and suffer harm like keying for just being a new car. So right before we left the dealership my hubby and I did a quick lookies over on the car to see how it looked and take note of how it's condition was...no scratches or marks or things like that you know what I mean, right? Anyways, I apologize for going on and on...here's my question. Does any one have a picture of how the bad cladding looks like? Like is it just discolored or something else? I ask because I'm confused. I've lurked around the forums to learn as much as I can about the Vibe and things I should know and such. I read about this cladding issue with the 2003 models...I have a 2004...but when we saw my car at the dealership I noticed on the cladding...darker gray marks on the gray cladding...almost like tears when they trickle down. I thought it might just be dirt or something...and figure it might be fine once I pick it up since the dealer will give it a full detail and stuff like that...I don't really know what a detail is but I figured it's some cleaning and prepping process. BTW, it's our first new car purchase ever so excuse my clueness with cars. So is this 2003 cladding issue happening to 2004 Vibes too? Or is it just my dumb luck with my frist car purchase. I looked around the forums but didn't find anything on a TSB for the 2004 model...but I was wondering what others might have experienced. Does my car sound like it's got a bad lower cladding? I don't have pictures of it unfortunately...but I do remember seeing that and trying to brush it off a bit with my fingers and gloves.Any ideas or thoughts?? Thank you for helping this newbie Vibe and car owner.Oh and I must say this site is really great! You all have me so thrilled to start driving again.

[scherry2]

http://forums.genvibe.com/zerothread?id=3558 on this thread is a pic of sand blasted cladding. it looks scruffed up not drips. hope this helps

[ragingfish]

Sounds like it's most likely dirt, maybe some sorta road tar or something...maybe they used a chemical on the car to clean or protect it that dripped down. But as scherry said, the "discoloration" is in fact not that, but a sandblast effect that affected the 03s mostly. I don't know if the TSB applies to 04s or not...

[pmh013]

The TSB for cladding should not apply to the 2004 models, as the design of the cladding was changed from 03 to 04. The revised cladding TSB actually puts 04 cladding on the 03 cars.No worries, SpaceGal, you're good to go!

[ragingfish]

I also forgot to mention I Had some kinda "tar" or drippy stuff on my car back in the summer, which didn't come off, even in the car wash.A little goo gone, and the goo was gone!Try the stuff, does wonders!

[DopeVibeGT]

Just wanted to say welcome to being a Vibe owner. Which model did you get? I cant help you with the cladding, sorry. I have the monotone cladding.

[SpaceGal]

Ahh the new car....I just picked up my Vibe yesterday. I didn't get to drool or stare at it for long...I had to pick it up, park it, and leave town. Hope my baby's ok.Anyways, the exciting but not so exciting specs...I got a two-tone Abyss...with Moon and Tunes, Power Package, 4 speed Auto transmission, ABS, and 16" aluminum wheels. I also got the cargo mat and net with it and I added the exhaust tip. It was all very exciting...I wanted to put my cool license plates holders on it but I really had no time. What's funny is that I picked it up and it was snowing so the car is new but it had all this snow on it already. So much for the shiny new car look. I didn't get a chance to take picutres of it either...I'm so bummed. Oh well I'll get to see it again in a week or so...in the mean time hopefully my hubby's taking care of it. I must say that this forum is awesome! Now after reading most of the threads, I have a better idea of being a good new car owner. Since this is my first car...not to mention new car...I'm very intent on trying to maintain the car well as best possible. And since I'm in a very snowy town I hope I can help prevent early rusting and salt damage.Nice to meet you all.