# Paint coming off - Cruze less than 1 year old



## JoeBean (Jan 1, 2015)

I'm not very pleased with my dealership right now. I bought a 2014 Chevy Cruze diesel brand new fully loaded in October of last year. I noticed about three months ago that on the fender in front of both of the rear tires, what I had thought was dirt/salt over the winter was actually the primer, the paint is coming off. I brought it into the dealership at 22,000km and ultimately was told that after 20,000km there is no warranty on "road rash". I am now noticing a lot more damage on other parts of the car, and actual rust, as well as chips of paint coming off the hood. Does this seem normal for a Cruze that's been on the road for less than a year? I don't do any crazy off road driving, and I'm sure this "road rash" started well before the 20,000km mark, I just didn't notice it because of it being winter and having salt on the road/car most of the time. Has anyone had this happen? Any way I can appeal this decision?


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

Wow - that looks like your paint job didn't get sealed at the factory. PM our Chevy Customer Care staff here and see if they can get a good will paint job done on your car. I'm guessing the entire car will need it.


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## Robby (Mar 1, 2013)

100% stone damage......I can see your headlamp lenses are destroyed as well and the abrasion has worn through the ELPO at the rockers....which is why they are showing surface rust.

Sorry, but whatever you are driving in, through, behind, whatever, it is sandblasting the paint, primer, and protective coatings off the car......the headlamp lens abrasion damage seals my opinion.

You have no beef with the manufacturer based on your photos.

Rob


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

Rob, what about the abrasions that are vertical? This makes sense for the direct hits and horizontal abrasion, but I'm not sure how the vertical ones would occur in your scenario.


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## rcclockman (Jan 16, 2012)

Looks like you've been rally-crossing that thing! Hopefully if your lucky somebody will Key your entire car and you can get a comp-claim to pay for a new Paint job and a haircut!


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## rcclockman (Jan 16, 2012)

There's even Gravel in all your pictures!


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## Merc6 (Jun 8, 2013)

The back doors need to be checked for alignment, that's how I got my chips on the dog legs 1 month into ownership(pic 8 & 9). Had them realigned 3 times under B2B and they are fine so far @ almost 50K miles. Rest of the car is crappy EPA paint, not much you can do about that. I had the factory splash guards but not sure if it would help much in that case.


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## Robby (Mar 1, 2013)

obermd said:


> Rob, what about the abrasions that are vertical? This makes sense for the direct hits and horizontal abrasion, but I'm not sure how the vertical ones would occur in your scenario.


Define the verticle areas you are asking about.....I am referring to the finish blasted off of every leading edge of ajoining panels as well as the bottoms of the rockers.....this car looks like it has been operated in a sandstorm....daily.

Rob


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## Chevy Customer Care (Oct 29, 2011)

JoeBean said:


> I'm not very pleased with my dealership right now. I bought a 2014 Chevy Cruze diesel brand new fully loaded in October of last year. I noticed about three months ago that on the fender in front of both of the rear tires, what I had thought was dirt/salt over the winter was actually the primer, the paint is coming off. I brought it into the dealership at 22,000km and ultimately was told that after 20,000km there is no warranty on "road rash". I am now noticing a lot more damage on other parts of the car, and actual rust, as well as chips of paint coming off the hood. Does this seem normal for a Cruze that's been on the road for less than a year? I don't do any crazy off road driving, and I'm sure this "road rash" started well before the 20,000km mark, I just didn't notice it because of it being winter and having salt on the road/car most of the time. Has anyone had this happen? Any way I can appeal this decision?
> 
> View attachment 154218
> View attachment 154226
> ...


Hi Joebean,

I viewed the attached photos and I can imagine how concerning this must be! As obermd advised, please send us a private message with your VIN, mileage, contact information, and preferred dealership. Although we primarily assist customers within the United States, we'd like to forward your information on to our internal resources within your region.

Thanks!

Jasmine F
Chevrolet Customer Care


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

Robby said:


> Define the verticle areas you are asking about.....I am referring to the finish blasted off of every leading edge of ajoining panels as well as the bottoms of the rockers.....this car looks like it has been operated in a sandstorm....daily.
> 
> Rob


I agree it looks like this car has been driven through a sandstorm but the vertical abrasions indicate to me the clear coat wasn't applied properly or was damaged during manufactering. The entire car needs to be repainted and based on the vertical damage you can make a good argument that something didn't get applied properly at the factory's paint shop. It was based on the vertical damage that I recommended trying to get a GM Goodwill full paint job. If it had just been leading edges and the bottoms of the rocker panels I wouldn't have made that recommendation.

Take a closer look at pictures 7, 8, and 9. The paint there is wearing off on trailing sides.


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## Robby (Mar 1, 2013)

obermd said:


> I agree it looks like this car has been driven through a sandstorm but the vertical abrasions indicate to me the clear coat wasn't applied properly or was damaged during manufactering. The entire car needs to be repainted and based on the vertical damage you can make a good argument that something didn't get applied properly at the factory's paint shop. It was based on the vertical damage that I recommended trying to get a GM Goodwill full paint job. If it had just been leading edges and the bottoms of the rocker panels I wouldn't have made that recommendation.
> 
> Take a closer look at pictures 7, 8, and 9. The paint there is wearing off on trailing sides.


7,8, and 9 are the leading edges of the rear wheel well......I'm missing something in our definition I think.

The clear coat, color coat, are blasted off down to the ELPO.....a year from now, if nothing in the cars operating area changes, the light grey ELPO will be blasted to raw, rusting metal.
I agree that the rear door(s) were/are adjusted too deep into the opening....the skins should be ever so slightly outward of the opening (known as 'Proud')......every panel should be slightly 'proud' of the next panel from front to rear in a perfectly adjusted world.
The front fender end point should be slightly higher than the adjoining rocker panel and front door skin......the front door skin should be slightly higher than the adjoining rear door skin.....the rear door skin should be slightly higher than the adjoining opening, and so on.

The idea is, there should never be a verticle edge exposed directly to oncoming particles (or even rain water....particles are in the spray) or abrasion will occur.

However, this car is being operated in a extreme environment.....there is no paint produced that would put up with that.

With tounge in cheek, I'd recommend a lower 1/3rd refinish using Rinoliner or some other pastic based product.

Rob


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## JoeBean (Jan 1, 2015)

I live in a winter climate where there is sand used on the roads. So yes it can be a bit harsh on the car. But, I have owned many other cars here and have never, ever seen damage like this even after 10 years and 200,000km on these same winter roads. Yes you expect some damage here and there over time, but this car was driven for ONE winter. No one else's vehicle here looks like this after one year, we all drive on the same roads under the same conditions. My friend has a Toyota Corolla that she bought three years ago that has 60,000km on it, she drives on the same roads that I do in the same conditions, and there's no damage at all. I've also had two Equinoxes, driven for two-three years for 4x the km's and no issues at all. So the problem is the paint, there's no doubt about it. Another interesting point, when I brought in the car to the dealership the first time, I overheard the person at the service desk say to the person in the body shop that the tape "didn't get applied" up high enough, as in, they screwed up on what they were supposed to do with those fenders. But they wouldn't admit that to me of course. If it was just that spot by the fenders, I would get something myself and apply it to prevent further damage. But now that i see the paint coming off the whole car even in low wear areas, this is getting more serious.


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## ChevyGuy (Dec 13, 2014)

I wonder what would happen if the car didn't get it's clear coat?


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## JoeBean (Jan 1, 2015)

It seems to me like the paint didn't adhere to the primer properly. It is really easy to scratch, but I just chalked that up to not being careful enough with my washing and having a black car, and was planning to get a buffer to fix the multiple superficial scratches I have. That being said, I've had black cars before and never seemed to get scratches on that like I have already on this one, especially in the space of just 9 months.


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## JoeBean (Jan 1, 2015)

Comparison pictures - the others are taken of my mothers black Hyundai Elantra which is the same age as mine being driven on the same roads in the same conditions. A few less kilometres but not much. 

Hyundai back door in front of the tire: all black and so shiny it's like a mirror with no marks. 

View attachment 154882


My back door...this was taken when 100% clean - the white you are seeing is not a reflection, it's where the paint is physically wearing off. It's like a haze all over the last quarter of the door with larger chips visible (besides the paint being completely gone along the edge)


View attachment 154874


The Hyundai rocker panel underside (it's completely black though the camera exposure makes it appear lighter)








My rocker panel underside right near the front...the white is where the black paint is gone. Not a reflection or dirt. 








Ive contacted Chevy and they will be getting back to me. From what I'm noticing now the car will be half white after a couple more years besides rusting out if it's not repainted.


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## JoeBean (Jan 1, 2015)

Oh I forgot to mention. I also have the rust proofing for which I paid an extra $400


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## Tomko (Jun 1, 2013)

Couple of things:

You've dropped a lot of bread on your CTD. Even bought a $400 rustproofing that the manufacture specifically recommends against. 

Why didn't you spend a few dollars more for factory splash guards? They would have helped deflect some of this sandblasting. A Canadian mechanic I know once told me that splash guards were the single easiest and most important thing that an owner could do to prolong the life of a new car in their climate. 

What about paint protection film? Why didn't you spend some dough on that? It would have eliminated the majority of this damage. 

Where do you live? North of 60 or the north end of Winnipeg?

No repaint, even in Tremclad, will survive the road hazards that you've driven 20,000 km over. 

My advice to you is to contact 3m, Xpel or one of the other paint protection film companies and get them to use your car as an advertisement for why people should use their product. 

This is the first time I see a Cruze with even remotely this degree of damage. I don't believe these are emblematic of manufacturing defects. The film on the dog legs is the same height as every other 2014 I've seen. And as a result I don't believe that GM will comp you.


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## ChevyGuy (Dec 13, 2014)

JoeBean, I think your best bet is to find a respected body shop in your area and get an opinion. They'd have the more in-depth knowledge of paint and your area to assess what the problem is.


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## cri1991 (Jun 19, 2015)

I have a 2011 same color with almost the exact same damage :question:


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## goinovr (May 6, 2013)

Robby said:


> 7,8, and 9 are the leading edges of the rear wheel well......I'm missing something in our definition I think.
> 
> The clear coat, color coat, are blasted off down to the ELPO.....a year from now, if nothing in the cars operating area changes, the light grey ELPO will be blasted to raw, rusting metal.
> I agree that the rear door(s) were/are adjusted too deep into the opening....the skins should be ever so slightly outward of the opening (known as 'Proud')......every panel should be slightly 'proud' of the next panel from front to rear in a perfectly adjusted world.
> ...


The vertical issues you're seeing is him wiping the grime off the car with a rag. You can see it in the paint reflection on a couple of the pictures. 

Having said that, I am pretty sure the black is the weakest paint on these cars. It's sunny most of the time where I live and I don't drive my car in snow conditions. I have nicks and missing paint all over my hood and front valance just from daily driving. 37k miles on my 2012. I've had Toyota trucks with over 200k miles with thicker paint.


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## JoeBean (Jan 1, 2015)

The rustproofing was dealer applied before I bought it, I had no choice in the matter. I didn't even think about buying mud flaps because I've never had this problem before with any other vehicle. I have pictures of three other Cruzes, one that's three years older than mine with more than double the kms. None have remotely close to this kind of damage. The dealership has a major attitude problem with me now, apparently they didn't like the fact that I emailed Chevy directly. It's going to court.


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

JoeBean said:


> The rustproofing was dealer applied before I bought it, I had no choice in the matter. I didn't even think about buying mud flaps because I've never had this problem before with any other vehicle. I have pictures of three other Cruzes, one that's three years older than mine with more than double the kms. None have remotely close to this kind of damage. The dealership has a major attitude problem with me now, apparently they didn't like the fact that I emailed Chevy directly. It's going to court.


The fact that this dealer applies rust proofing to a car that the manufacturer specifically states not to do so is an issue in it's own right. By doing so the dealer has voided any sort of warranties on the car's exterior finish. Good luck in court.


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## JoeBean (Jan 1, 2015)

This dealer preemptively applies rustproofing to all their cars, so they told me. I'm not dealing with a very high level of competency at this dealership I don't think. The mirror sensor malfunctioned and it took three trips for them to replace it, then it literally fell out the next day. I fixed it myself. Today on my way in to have them look at the paint (for the third time) the exhaust fluid low quality warning came on and it was going to limit speed to 104km/hr after so many kms. Then after playing with the display the warning went away. I asked them today if they can check it and the reply was that that's normal, it just means it passed the test. lol


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

JoeBean said:


> This dealer preemptively applies rustproofing to all their cars, so they told me. I'm not dealing with a very high level of competency at this dealership I don't think. The mirror sensor malfunctioned and it took three trips for them to replace it, then it literally fell out the next day. I fixed it myself. Today on my way in to have them look at the paint (for the third time) the exhaust fluid low quality warning came on and it was going to limit speed to 104km/hr after so many kms. Then after playing with the display the warning went away. I asked them today if they can check it and the reply was that that's normal, it just means it passed the test. lol


You've got a lemon on your hands. It's not the car though. It's the dealer.


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## Tomko (Jun 1, 2013)

Time to name names. 

Is your dealer in Dirtmouth?


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