New Vibe

[drb22]

I received my Vibe just a few days ago and I love it so far! It is a two tone Shadow (almost no need for the monotone in this color in my opinion) with slate interior, power package, moon and tunes, abs, and 16" aluminum wheels. I have a couple quick questions.I slightly scratched up the plastic on the auto gear shifter inadvertently (the black plastic on the other side of where you can view your gear), any suggestions on how to remove scratches or make it look better or change appearance? In addition to this there are two small scratches I noticed that the dealer must have put on the side bar, when removing an old inspection sticker probably, on the lower left driver’s side, scratched pretty good into the light grey textured plastic. Not sure if I can do anything about these.My car came with two pinstripes – a thin white and maroon stripe down the side of the car with a small Pontiac symbol on the front quarter panels. Anyone else have pinstripes? Most pictures I see don’t have them. I am still trying to decide whether I like them or not. In the meantime, can someone tell me if it is possible to remove pinstripes? Can detail shop do this cleanly and for how much? A buddy of mine said it wasn’t possible as “the manufacturer puts the clear coat on over the pinstripes”, is this statement accurate?Thanks!

[CrazyJ-GT]

the pinstripe can be removed.....(unless it's painted on). A heat gun will remove the stripe with no problems. I'd recommend taking it to a body shop if you want it professionally removed. I know for a fact that the pinstriping did not come from the factory. Usually the dealership pays a guy to put the stripes on to make it look better.

[Vibe Rater]

quote: “the manufacturer puts the clear coat on over the pinstripes”, is this statement accurate?No

[Cubanpete]

not always!!!!!!!!

[Shadow Realm]

The pinstripe can be taken off with a heat gun. In fact, the dealer will take it off for you. You need to go back to them anyway, because they need to fix the scratches they put on your Vibe. Your Vibe has to look new when you get it and it wasn't. They will fix it because the CSI (Customer Serice Index) that they will send to you from GM is crucial to there business. They have to keep the dealership average above the national or they get in trouble. The way they do that is have happy customers. Tell them that you will bring in the survey when it comes in and that your happy with the vehicle execpt for the scratches they put on it. This is all part of the car business and customer satisfaction!Hope this helpsShadow Realm

[NovaResource]

quote:not always!!!!!!!!So you think the dealer will clear coat the whole car just because a 1/16" pinstripe was installed. I don't think so.

[Shadow Realm]

I didn't say anyting about the clear coat Nova. He said that the dealer had scratched his car. That had nothing to do with his pinstripe. That was what I was referring to. If he askes the dealer to take off the pinstripe they probably will. Pinstriping doesn't come from the factory, it comes from the dealer. It's a stick-on. Any good dealer would do that for a good customer or at least they should.The clear-coat is not done by the dealer anyway. It is done at he factory. If the dealer has a protection package, it is usually a wax type of coating. When I got my Vibe it had a pinstripe on it and I didn't like the color that they had put on it so i told them I wanted a different color and so they put a new strtipe on it for me.

[NovaResource]

My comment wasn't direct at you. If you look at the subject: "Re: New Vibe (Cubanpete)" you will see it was directed at Cubanpete:

[Triton]

I have to agree with NovaResource. The dealer would now have the car clear coated for a pinstripe. And if it not something you like, take to the dealer and have them remove it along with fixing those scratches they put on the side bar. The dealer will usually bend over backwards to satisfy the customer, even after the sale.

[Stang2Vibe]

I doubt that the dealer will replace the scratched grey plastic unless it is blatantly noticable. As for the pinstripes, mine came with one also. The dealer listed it as a $110 charge attached to the window sticker. I told them that there was no way I was going to pay that for the pinstripe and they said that was no problem, they weren't actually going to charge me for that anyway. The pinstripe is nice, though. A good choice for a pinstripe usually should match the interior colors of the car, so I am told by several personal sources. My stripe is actually 2 thin stripes, charcoal and a grey with a metal flake look to it. Exactly the colors of the interior, so a perfect match! I just think that they applied them a bit crooked. I was going to take them off, but decided to leave them on because they grew on me.I do pinstriping for my company's fleet, so I am familiar with taking them off and putting them on. If you want to take them off, it should be pretty simple. Sometimes the stripes are clearcoated over if they are applied at a body shop (racing stripes are sometimes done this way, too). I would say with 99% certainty that yours are just stuck onto the surface and removing them will cause no harm to the car's finish. Since they were applied recently, you could most likely start to peel them off with your fingernail and just pull them off. If that didn't work, I would use a straight razor blade (not a utility knife, but the blades that you put into them) and gently get under the stripe to start it then pull it off with my fingers. Once you start about an inch of it, pull it back sharply in the direction you are peeling, so that the lifted part of the stripe is directly over the stripe that is still on the car. Pull slowly and steadily, and pull off about 6-12 inches at a time, then grab the stripe closer to where it is still attached to the car and pull again (do this so that the stripe doesn't keep tearing off and you have to start peeling it again). I would take off the stripe when the weather is warmer or if it has been in a heated garage for a while. A heat gun will work too, if the car is indoors. The heat gun will help you when you start peeling it off, too. After it is all removed, there is usually some adhesive left behind on the surface of the car. To remove it, I would use DuPont Prep-Sol solvent which is available in body shop supply stores, but is probably rather expensive. A cheaper alternative is Goo Gone, which you can usually get in a larger grocery store or Wal-Mart type chain store (it smells like lemons and works well around the house for removing adhesive residues, too). If you can't find any of that, a larger local parts store should certainly have some spray on adhesive remover that is safe for clear coats. Use one of these products with a paper towel or other soft cloth (that you can throw away because you will never get the adhesive out of the cloth). Wipe the area where the pinstripe was and then wipe it dry with a clean paper towel or dry soft cloth. Check with your hand to see if any sticky spots remain. After all the adhesive is gone and the area has been dried, wax the area as you would normally wax the car. Waxing is important because the products you use to remove the adhesive will also remove the wax on the car and leave your clearcoat vulnerable to the elements. It really is simpler than it sounds. Good luck and I apologize for the length of the post. But then I guess that I wouldn't have been dubbed the "King of Long Posts" if all my posts were short!

[Vibe-agra]

I just purchased a Vibe from Jacob's Twin Buick in Chicago. When I was in the showroomI noticed all the vehicles had pinstripping on themp. The dealer puts it on and adds it to vehicle cost, makes a couple extra hundred per vehicle. I told them no pinstripping on my vibe!

[Shadow Realm]

Sorry Nova! I'm a dumba**

[NovaResource]

quote:Sorry Nova! I'm a dumba**No you'r not. It's a very common mistake. You just happened to reply before I did and it looked like I was replying to you. This is why I always try to include a quote of the text I was replying to.

[Shadow Realm]

THat's a good idea Nova. I'll have to do that from now on. Thanks Shadow Realm

[drb22]

Thanks for your lengthy response. I have talked to the dealer and said they can take it off with a heat gun when I bring my car in to get its alignment checked. The problem with the pinstripe is that its two colors, maroon and silver, I kind of like the silver, but the maroon I can't understand, there is no maroon on my car! They also said they would look at the scratch but I feel they aren't going to be able to do anything about that - I'm not sure how pissed I should be - I think might suggest that they give me the seatback storage and cargo mat a consolation price for having a scratched vehicle.On another item mentioned above - has anyone had alignment problems? My car is pulling a bit - if the center spoke of the steering wheel is pointed straight down I will veer off the road. I checked the tire pressure but all is equal. The car does seem to drive straight, its just the steering wheel isn’t pointed straight. I am sure this is an easy fix though.

[NSimkins]

quote:On another item mentioned above - has anyone had alignment problems? My car is pulling a bit - if the center spoke of the steering wheel is pointed straight down I will veer off the road. I checked the tire pressure but all is equal. The car does seem to drive straight, its just the steering wheel isn’t pointed straight. I am sure this is an easy fix though.I wasn't going to say anything, but I have the same issue. The steering wheel is actually turned a little over to the left. I have no other problems alignment wise and I have actually got used to it not being perfectly straight. This is something I will have taken care of when I get some free time to go to the dealer (whenever that happens). Maybe something not perfected/critical on the assembly line.

[Stang2Vibe]

I have a slight off-center steering problem too. I'm in the same boat as you, Nick. When I get time, I have a few things on the car to have looked at.