GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

anyone else's cladding look like garbage in front of the rear wheel well? i have the molded mud flaps,and this area looks as if it was sand blasted,the dealer says that right now gm calls this normal wear and tear,friday i stopped at the dealership to get a price to replace these parts(approx. 300.00 per side)if enough people complain maybe they'll do something. the monotones have the clear tape over these areas so it's apparently a problem area

I have monotone and I'm a little affraid to clean up the exterior.I hope it won't have too much paint chip on it....

quote:I have scrapped cladding in front of the rear wheel well...Same here!Looks realy bad!

mine's tore up pretty badly all the way under the side rail of the car to the front of the rear wheel....i could cry, it looks so bad!! i mean its not like i took it on the haul road/dalton hiway or something, just regular gravel down for traction at the intersections in town

Yeah, but I've driven on your "gravel"! If what they put on the streets matches the stuff they used for the Top of the World "highway" to Dawson, Yukon, it's fist-sized and deadly!

take some apshalt undercoating and spray like a mad dog!!!!!under there

quote:anyone else's cladding look like garbage in front of the rear wheel well?No.quote:i have the molded mud flaps,and this area looks as if it was sand blastedStop driving on gravel.quote:the dealer says that right now gm calls this normal wear and tearThat's correct.quote:friday i stopped at the dealership to get a price to replace these parts(approx. 300.00 per side)if enough people complain maybe they'll do somethingDon't hold your breath.quote:the monotones have the clear tape over these areas so it's apparently a problem areaThe monotones have clear tape over these aread during shipping, not when it's delivered to the customes. You'll find all cars have tape on particular parts to protect them during shipping.

the body shop manager told me that it is actually like a sheet of polyurethane on this area on the monotone vibes,not the protective tape used during shipping.

quote:the body shop manager told me that it is actually like a sheet of polyurethane on this area on the monotone vibes,not the protective tape used during shipping.Here's what I think:Lets ask the monotone owners: http://forums.genvibe.com/zerothread?id=3566

I stand corrected. It appears that Pontiac actually did do this. http://forums.genvibe.com/zerothread?id=3566I guess it was to protect the paint and not the cladding since unpainted cladding doesn't have this.For those who want to add it to their 2-tone cladding or replace the factory decal, go here:http://www.griotsgarage.com/search.jsp? ... search.y=9

there is a car coating that can be put on to the side of a vehicle...my husband shot it on my s10.....it is bumpy looking and can be painted over, however i dont think it would look good on my viby....and the gravel here isnt as BAD as the road in the Yukon ,LOL. its kinda hard not to drive on graveled sections of a road, especially when they use it as a traction device over ice at the paved intersections and roadways i had mudflaps put on after the first 800mi when i noticed just how bad the damage was ...there is still some happening but not as bad....i asked my hubby to look at the damaged areas to see if they can be fixed, and will report back with the results and estimated costs.

Yes Mine too is like that and I pressure wash it, It still looks like a ton of mud caked on the plastic! I would have figured it being more robust not statically holding the dirt there permanently!

I hand-washed my car yesterday and went over the same area 3 times before I realized it had been "sand blasted". They use an incredible amount of very small crushed stone during the winter around here. I only have 4K miles on the vibe (bought in january) and the paint is ruined. I should have bought the mud flaps.

Does anyone know if the Aztek has the same protective coating stuff? I bet it probably does because I know when the Aztek first came out, it was not available in mono because GM couldn't get the paint to stick to the plastic on the bottom. They apparently figured something out with it because they are available in mono now, but since it's the same deal as the Vibe, it would be interesting to know if they are doing something different on the Aztek.