# Rocker panel damage



## S-Fitz (Jul 16, 2012)

It's a do-able fix, I've had the same work done on my car. As long as the repair is done by someone who knows what they are doing, it is good as new. Not like there are any options, either get it fixed or leave it to rust.


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## boraz (Aug 29, 2013)

Wilbrr said:


> They say it will not be on the car fax.


didnt think there were ppl left that put ANY value into a carfax


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## boneheaddoctor (Dec 10, 2014)

boraz said:


> didnt think there were ppl left that put ANY value into a carfax


Its not perfect but its more reliable than taking the word of the person with a vested interest in selling you the car.


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## NickD (Dec 10, 2011)

Old one has to have the spot welds drilled out, new one spot welded in, and the most important thing is to spray a good undercoat inside. The rest of it is visible, did this on my own vehicles for around 50 bucks, but a body shop may want a small fortune if you have to pay for it. 

Ha, at least by doing it myself, knew it was done right.


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## boneheaddoctor (Dec 10, 2014)

My concern is future rust on the repaired panels. After the structure is spot welded together at the factory, its imersed in a rust preventing primer. THESE parts won't benifit from that and in all likelyhood will be the first part of the car to rust out. 

MIght be best that a DEALER does it because you want a lifetime warranty for that work thats going to be honored down the road or even in a new city or state if you move. An independent body shop won't be able to offer that.


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## NickD (Dec 10, 2011)

His dealer broke it and should fix it. OP can contact the factory reps on this board so this is documented with them.


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## Wilbrr (Jan 30, 2015)

Dealer is telling me they can cut about an inch either side of the dent and weld in new piece. From what i see the rocker panel is a pretty important piece of the unibody construction. My other question is how this affects the value of the car. I have this feeling that spot welding in a piece leaves a structural soft spot that could let go when you jack up the car as this frame carries the weight. Am i right or wrong on this.


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## Wilbrr (Jan 30, 2015)

And would it benefit me to take the car for an independent assesment of the damage before repairs are started.


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## Wilbrr (Jan 30, 2015)

The dealer is in a big hurry to fix this. This sends a red flag up for me. I was told that any repair to a new vehicle that doesnt constitute 5 percent of invoice does not need to annotated when sold. From what i see this will exceed that level of cost. I realize the vehicle is not new, but with 22400 miles and nothing else wrong i am concerned about resale or diminshed value of the car.


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## boneheaddoctor (Dec 10, 2014)

The welding process is going to burn any protective coating off the metal. Yes it can be repaired. But the repair process is not the same process that made it and I don't know of any body shop thats going to make the required efforts to assure in inside cavity it properly treated to prevent rust from reoccuring. Why? because it will take a few years to rust and you will be long gone, and it takes time and effort to do...both cost money, a lot of it. And enough time will have passed to reasonably be able to blame it on something else as the cause.


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## Gus_Mahn (Aug 16, 2011)

The skin on the rocker is part of the uni-side which is pretty thin and not structural. It would be pretty unusual to get water inside the rocker. I doubt rust will be an issue, but if it is, it will be years down the road. How much do you think a 10 year old Cruze will be worth? If the past 20-30 years of GM economy cars is any indication, a little rust won't make much of a difference, since the car won't be worth anything anyhow.


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## NickD (Dec 10, 2011)

Was thinking about other vehicles I have done this to. But doing a search, gmpartsdirect.com is calling the replacement rocker panels as being non serviceable.

But then I found this on the net.

http://www.naaa.com/pdfs/2012_Chevrolet_Cruze_Structural_Analysis_RockerPanel.pdf

This youtube video looks like the cut the rocker panels out of a donor vehicle.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IlHvoNTD0hI

Comments on this mod are calling this a death trap, I tend to agree.

I see that Carid supplies rocker panels, but wonder why gmpartsdirect say they are not serviceable. I would trust my body shop friend on this issue.

I hope they are not planning on filling yours with bondo, this is indubitably a key structural part. Could ask for a new car.


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## boneheaddoctor (Dec 10, 2014)

Gus_Mahn said:


> The skin on the rocker is part of the uni-side which is pretty thin and not structural. It would be pretty unusual to get water inside the rocker. I doubt rust will be an issue, but if it is, it will be years down the road. How much do you think a 10 year old Cruze will be worth? If the past 20-30 years of GM economy cars is any indication, a little rust won't make much of a difference, since the car won't be worth anything anyhow.


If it makes it 10 years before that repair from an average body shop rusts out he'd be fortunate. How much would the value decrese for you if you were looking for a used car with a rusted out rocker panel when so many others like it didn't? It gets you thinking what else might be rusted you can't easily see yet.

I doubt that is a totally dry sealed cavity. You get condensation at least on rapid temp changes. I can't say for certain the cruze is sealed or not. But I've seen enough other make and model unibody cars over the years to know it wasn't for them.

No these probibly won't be valuable at all down the road....but they won't be free either.


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## Wilbrr (Jan 30, 2015)

http://www.genuinegmparts.com/pdf/v...ze/2011/13_Rocker_Outer_Panel_Replacement.pdf

Found this on web. How can the dealer body shop manager tell me he can notch it just in front of damage and in back when I see this document. I am getting the runaround from this dealer. Thinking its time to call GM.


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## spacedout (Dec 7, 2010)

Sounds like your dealer is stepping up to the plate to fix their mistake, no reason to over think the needed repair.


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## NickD (Dec 10, 2011)

It occurred to me with poor workmanship that I received from my dealer that I was dealing with a bunch of kids, even the service manager was a kid and didn't even know the very basics of the Cruze. But yet I keep on getting emails and brochures from them that they are expert factory trained mechanics.

Sounds like a kid wasn't even capable of positioning those four arms of the lift properly before lifting your Cruze. When I was told by a GM rep on this board to find a different dealer found one where the service manager was in his 60's, been around the block and knew what he was doing. Even the mechanic working on my car was in his 50's and was able to keep his job by doing consistent good work.

What's the future of that person that wrecked your car? Certainly not making money for his dealership, ha, watch out for kids. Ever notice is getting rare to find an older mechanic, pushed constantly to meet unreasonable times. Run into this myself with the crap they are making today, should take an hour to change a water pump, but not when all the bolt heads snap off. Spend hours drilling them out. And one slip of a wrench can break a cheap plastic sensor. So have to take your time.

The procedure for replacing unibody parts is to first get your hands on the replacement panel and use that as a guide for what has to be removed. And hope they have a spot welder that meets factory specifications to get a good weld and count the number of welds from the old panel. And to do good consistent work. One good reason for unibody construction, people were eliminated from this task and replaced by robots.

Key reason for me dumping a unibody vehicle is rusted out rocker panels, vehicle sags in the center and can no longer be jacked up properly. Don't even bother attempting to change a rocker panel, there is nothing left to weld the new panel to.


Sometimes, a guy has to hire an attorney, but if you have a good insurance company with collision, can leave it to them to fight it out. Cutting out a panel and jamming a piece of aluminum under it and filling it with bondo is not a very good repair. This is a main structural item.

Don't take any advice from posters that don't know what they are talking about.


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## Robby (Mar 1, 2013)

Wilbrr said:


> http://www.genuinegmparts.com/pdf/v...ze/2011/13_Rocker_Outer_Panel_Replacement.pdf
> 
> Found this on web. How can the dealer body shop manager tell me he can notch it just in front of damage and in back when I see this document. I am getting the runaround from this dealer. Thinking its time to call GM.


Don't bother calling GM.....dealers are independent operations that only market/service GM products.

With that mindset, you must come to terms with the repairer....in this case, I am led to believe the dealer has its own body shop.

Rather than get the proceedure that will be followed from the shop manager who is not a bodyman and has no clue what proceedure will actually be used, discuss the repair with the body shop manager.

This individual does know what the proceedure is, and yes, they may modify the process for your specific repair.
Print the repair page that was posted, take it to the body shop mngr. and ask him to show you, on the line drawing, what proceedure they will follow.

The GM corrosion warranty remains in effect so the repair is, in essence, warranteed.

Rocker panel damage/repair is a common bodyshop proceedure......parking curb swipes seem to be the thing to do......but knowing that it is a common repair should be calming to a degree......this is not uncharted territory.

Rob


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## Wilbrr (Jan 30, 2015)

The person i spoke with was the body shop manager. I realize this is not uncharted territory. But I have a vested interest in having them do the repair the proper way. This is a GM document. Notching a foot out of the rocker panel and splicing in only that section leaves me with a weak spot basically where i jack up the car for the front right side. I still dont think I have gotten the real story. Went to the dealer yesterday and looked at the car and noticed that the front grill is cracked. And bumper damage. None of those were there when i dropped the car off. 
I am trying my best to see how the repair should be done or bite the bullet and negotiate for a resonable trade in and purchase another car.


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