# Stone chips behind rear doors



## MWCOOL (Feb 23, 2011)

I have a 2011 LS with 12k on it. I have an entire series of small paint chips (spec size) on both sides. They are vertical going about 1/2 way up the hieght of the door and located on the body where the doors close. Dealer says not seen anything like this yet and looking into. I don't drive on any unpaved roads, however it was a rough winter with road salt etc...

Anyone else?


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## Blue-LT (Apr 28, 2011)

I've only had mine about 3 weeks and I have about 3300Km on mine and I'm seeing the same thing but so far only on the drivers side. I looked at both sides last night and was shocked to see just how bad it is in such a short time. It's almost as if the door is set in a little too far and the debris is catching it instead of flowing past.


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## northvibe (May 4, 2011)

this is a common issue. You have the splash guards?


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## MaximusPrime (Mar 23, 2011)

There are plenty of other threads on this. It is a common issue that some Cruze owners have, while others do not. Take it to your dealer, some dealers will re-paint and/or add splashguards at their cost.


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## 72buickgs (Mar 20, 2011)

we do not have the problem but if i notice it i would install a pair of splashguards, also.


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## robertbick (Jan 1, 2011)

I thought the problem was not the absence of splash guards, but the adjustment of the rear door being to far in?


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## Butcher98 (Jan 28, 2011)

Going in for an oil change tomorrow and mentioned it to the dealer. Will report back on what happens. Mine has been driver side only.


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## karzz (May 13, 2011)

Get paint protection installed


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## cruzen (Mar 3, 2011)

Had the same problem with my LS. I contacted GM and my dealer. Car repainted,3m Tape put on, doors realigned, and larger mud flaps put on the front. All at their cost. and a loaner 2011 Buick Regal for 10 days. oh ya  Hopefully problem fixed


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## Jim Frye (Mar 16, 2011)

Has anyone had this problem with the RS package installed? I don't recall seeing that on the previous threads. My Mazda Protege5 has rocker panel addons that are similar to those on the RS and there are no chips behind the wheelwells on it. I am thinking the skirts alter the airflow and thus the chips are not occurring.


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## jsscooby (May 11, 2011)

I don't have my car yet, but this has me concerned. Hopefully, the door alignment issue will be resolved.


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## MWCOOL (Feb 23, 2011)

cruzen said:


> Had the same problem with my LS. I contacted GM and my dealer. Car repainted,3m Tape put on, doors realigned, and larger mud flaps put on the front. All at their cost. and a loaner 2011 Buick Regal for 10 days. oh ya  Hopefully problem fixed


Can I get the dealer info to refference? My dealer says he's checking, however it's been a week and I'm not getting that warm & fuzzy feeling.

Thanks


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## Butcher98 (Jan 28, 2011)

I took mine back in today to the body shop and had told them about what I read here. It is going back in on wednesday to get fixed, the guy agreed that the door was to far in and causing the problems, it has even begun on the passenger side also. Said he hoped to get my car back to me friday. They are fixing the chips and putting the 3m tape on, I may have the mud flaps put on, still deciding.


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## cruzen (Mar 3, 2011)

*rock chips*

View attachment 705


View attachment 706


View attachment 707


Chips painted, door aligned, 3M tape and larger mud flaps


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## shawn672 (Oct 31, 2010)

My dealer refused to do anything about the rock chips, said it might be a design flaw and that I should just get it repainted every few years to keep it fresh.


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## Butcher98 (Jan 28, 2011)

shawn email chevy. They got back to me the next day and called the dealer while I was on the line. Bet that dealer changes its tone when they get a call from higher up.


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## shawn672 (Oct 31, 2010)

link that you emailed? i've gotten no where with GM in the past

also clean pics of the problem everyone else is having so i can be sure this is the same issue


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## Butcher98 (Jan 28, 2011)

Here is a link, I clicked the Email Chevrolet Link. Chevy | Help - Contact Us | Chevrolet

Ill try to get some pics today, have a marathon 13+ hour day @ work.


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## cruzen (Mar 3, 2011)

I just went to GM.ca and entered a concern on the complaint link and a lady from GM called me weekly to check on progress. And dealer was great too.


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## Butcher98 (Jan 28, 2011)

These pics arent the best in the world but with the glare its tough. Taking my car in to be fixed in an hour.


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## shawn672 (Oct 31, 2010)

But how does pushing the door out help at all? Sure it'll sit flush but there will still be chips in that area, perhaps on the door now instead of on that area where they are now.


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## TSURacing (Jan 1, 2011)

With the door under flush to the quarter there is an opportunity for the airborne stone to impact more squarely on the surface that is exposed by the inboard door. If the door is made flush the stone is more likely to flow with the air over the smooth surface, or at least hit the surface at a steep angle, making a chip less likely. You will notice most vehicles with a flare on the rear wheel will come with the PPF from the factory. The Cruze must have been pretty close to that criteria as designed, because a small deviation in the door set creates a problem.

The best way to change the design to avoid this is to set the wheels depper into the wells so all the stones are stopped by the wheel well liner. This is not the most attractive design as the wheels look lost in there and it narrows up the track of the car. When GM designed boring cars that all looked the same they had very few stone chips from the tires. 

I have a couple small chips on my RS, but nothing like Mr. Butcher is showing there. I'd be upset too!


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## limited360 (May 6, 2011)

Butcher98 said:


> These pics arent the best in the world but with the glare its tough. Taking my car in to be fixed in an hour.


Ouch... Glad they are fixing that! 

I need to wash my car by hand and actually look to see if I have chipping yet... I will be to 2000 miles by Friday.


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## Ruger (May 21, 2011)

My moms red cruze has some real bad chipping goin on. Hope it don't happen to my rs... Shes gonna see what they say when she takes it in for the recall stuff.


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## Gritts (Jan 23, 2011)

There is no real cure for this in my experience. It can be repainted, but unless some sort of protective film is applied the problem will re-occur. The only vehicle I have owned that did not have this problem was my Grand Cherokee that had plastic lower body molding.

Whether it is a car or truck that I drive this crap happens to all of them. Maybe it's the lovely scenic roads I drive on. I finally decided to use spray-on bed liner on my truck's lower body panels. So far I've used a little bottle of black touch-up paint on the Cruze--but I have yet to drive this car in winter yet. :dazed052:


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## cruzeman (Mar 13, 2011)

I have black Eco that's had oem mudguards installed since new and haven't noticed any chipping. Maybe they do help even though they are very small.


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## Jim Frye (Mar 16, 2011)

Am I understanding this problem correctly? This is only happening to Eco models, or non-RS equipped models?


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## shawn672 (Oct 31, 2010)

It's happening to my 2LT non-rs


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## Ruger (May 21, 2011)

I have an rs but only 700 miles on it so far, and no chips. My moms is a non rs lt with about 2k miles, and she bought it in february and is very chipped.


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## Butcher98 (Jan 28, 2011)

shawn672 said:


> But how does pushing the door out help at all? Sure it'll sit flush but there will still be chips in that area, perhaps on the door now instead of on that area where they are now.


This is what my dealer was worried about. I am scheduled to pick mine up on wednesday as of right now.


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## Macman (May 4, 2011)

not sure this is the same issue, but the very edge of my driver side front and rear doors have paint chipping, I have no idea how?


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## TSURacing (Jan 1, 2011)

Front or rear edges of the doors? How high up the door are the chips occuring?


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## Macman (May 4, 2011)

rear, around half way up. by rear I mean the end where the handle is closest to.


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## Burtess (Apr 7, 2011)

I have 3 small chips through the CC at the bottom of the leading edge of the rear passenger side wheel well. This side the rear door is about 3mm further in the door frame than the drivers rear.
I just got my recall letter for the steering so I will ask the dealer to put some film on the areas. Hopefully he agrees as I can be very persuasive  .

Burt


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## audog (Apr 28, 2011)

Jim Frye said:


> Has anyone had this problem with the RS package installed? I don't recall seeing that on the previous threads. My Mazda Protege5 has rocker panel addons that are similar to those on the RS and there are no chips behind the wheelwells on it. I am thinking the skirts alter the airflow and thus the chips are not occurring.


RS Package and no rock chips, and I have driven over some lousy country roads.


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## eagleco (May 3, 2011)

Just got my first stone chip behind the rear door, so I ordered a set of splash guards (OEM even though some have mentioned fitment problems), and I will have the 3M film put on too. I am going to get the film put all along the rocker panels, the front of the hood, and the front portion of the fenders too.

And I will pick up a bottle of touch up paint for the inevitable paint chips I am going to get anyway.


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## Macman (May 4, 2011)

eagleco said:


> Just got my first stone chip behind the rear door, so I ordered a set of splash guards (OEM even though some have mentioned fitment problems), and I will have the 3M film put on too. I am going to get the film put all along the rocker panels, the front of the hood, and the front portion of the fenders too.
> 
> And I will pick up a bottle of touch up paint for the inevitable paint chips I am going to get anyway.


I'm visiting the dealer today or tomorrow about paint chips. Can Chevy put this film on or something?


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## cruzeman (Mar 13, 2011)

knock on wood i do not have any. I have appox 4000 miles but have oem mudguards on since new.


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## Eightbelow (Mar 16, 2011)

RS 2LT 1500 miles and I don't have any chips Taupe metallic gray. But when I look at the area you guys are describing you are having the chip problems I can see a few long very light scratch marks where it must be the rocks grazing by the paint but not causing chips. Now after reading all this again and most of the problems occurring mostly on non RS models I think it might be the combination of the extra width of the rocker molding on the RS and the lower height of the car with the sport tuned suspension. If the cars lower then I think the rocks would have less room to get flung up before getting caught in the wheel well. Maybe I'm wrong.


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## Macman (May 4, 2011)

I showed chevy, they say it's because I open the door and hit stuff with it, even lightly. I'm sure I have once at least but I am SO careful. they will touch it up for free if I go in at 8 some time this week.


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## eagleco (May 3, 2011)

Dropped my Eco off at the dealer today for paint protection film. Front of hood and fenders, rocker panels and lower area of doors and fenders, mirrors, door edges, and the edge behind the rear doors. By the end of the week I should have received the splash guards and I'll put them on right away.

Spending money that I had not planned on, but hoping I'll be glad in the long run. That's what two paint chips in just under 1000 miles will do.


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## slyedog (Mar 17, 2011)

eagleco said:


> Dropped my Eco off at the dealer today for paint protection film. Front of hood and fenders, rocker panels and lower area of doors and fenders, mirrors, door edges, and the edge behind the rear doors. By the end of the week I should have received the splash guards and I'll put them on right away.
> 
> Spending money that I had not planned on, but hoping I'll be glad in the long run. That's what two paint chips in just under 1000 miles will do.


Just dropped out 2LT off at dealer. Had a few tiny ones on hood when purchased. They put some paint protection on, and they haven't got any worse. The spots behind the rear doors, and on the bumper cover, behind the rear tire are horrible. They are supposed to be respraying, and putting on paint protection ,as well as the hood since it is in to get all the problems taken care of at once. I am buying the splash guards at cost and they will install at no charge. For having a car for 3 months I believe the paint quality is poor. Seems like the clear is not durable enough to absorb any impact. I don't live on gravel nor drive any and feel this is just like all the GM cars in the past that the paint started peeling from eventually. Lets just hope it is just the few problem areas and some fresh clear and protection product eliminate the problem. Dealer says they are absorbing the cost cause GM wont warranty the chips. I call b.s. or shame on GM for not standing behind their product.


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## Macman (May 4, 2011)

so they fixed my stone chips an d found a scratch and ding from someone's door, the wanted $55 to fix it, so I now have a ding.


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## Ruger (May 21, 2011)

If the dealer is ignoring this problem who do i contact next. The dealer hasn't given my mom an answer/solution.

Edit: I gave my mom the owners help line #.


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## jrrsmith18 (Apr 3, 2011)

to those who have had the issue of the chips behind the rear doors and have taken your car to the dealer because of it; how bad was it before you took car in and did the dealer give any sort of problems? its starting to get bad on my imperial blue cruze (chips on dark paint = easily seen), and was wondering if i should take it in now or when its obviously worse.


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## Macman (May 4, 2011)

jrrsmith18 said:


> to those who have had the issue of the chips behind the rear doors and have taken your car to the dealer because of it; how bad was it before you took car in and did the dealer give any sort of problems? its starting to get bad on my imperial blue cruze (chips on dark paint = easily seen), and was wondering if i should take it in now or when its obviously worse.


It wasn't super bad, just bad enough to bother me, but they also gave me a bottle of touch up paint.


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## jrrsmith18 (Apr 3, 2011)

so i took my cruze into the body shop today and they said it would be covered under warranty just this once. and from what i understand is it is the fault of the rear door as to why the quarter panel is getting chipped. my left rear door is indented inward causing the door not to sit flush with the quarter panel allowing a place where debris can land and chip the paint. if you stand in front of the car and look down the side you can see the door indented inward, the door has to sit flush with the quarter panel to avoid the chipping. i will be taking my car into the shop sometime in the next few weeks (very busy), and they will paint the quarter panel and be applying some protective film. some other options they mentioned were to get door edge guards, they would fill in the gap left by the indented door and so debris would just hit the door edge guards. or they could adjust the door, but then you might run into the problem of extra wind noise. 

i am leaning to also have the doors adjusted because what im thinking is there are cruzes that have properly aligned doors and using the same door seals as the rest of us and i doubt they are having problems with the rear doors causing wind noise. 

idk any other thoughts about having the doors re-aligned?


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## geo81mm (Feb 15, 2011)

Jim Frye said:


> Has anyone had this problem with the RS package installed? I don't recall seeing that on the previous threads. My Mazda Protege5 has rocker panel addons that are similar to those on the RS and there are no chips behind the wheelwells on it. I am thinking the skirts alter the airflow and thus the chips are not occurring.


I have a Black RS in Chicago. Had it since the end of January. No chips on the sides, only on the hood and the rear bumper. I hate how people are careless and have no regard for other people's property .


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## Macman (May 4, 2011)

geo81mm said:


> I hate how people are careless and have no regard for other people's property .


Agreed. My doors look fine, no misalignment.


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## 72buickgs (Mar 20, 2011)

i purchased the splashguard kit and installed all four corners, last week. takes about an hour.
u can probably adjust the "C" piller door latch receiver outward so that he rear door closes flush with the body. however, the door then may not seal tightly enough to avoid water and wind noise.


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## cruze2011white (Feb 2, 2011)

I adjusted my door then had the dealer repaint it and I do not have any noise problems. I would have them adjust it and it will be fine. I did it myself because I didn't know people were having issues so I wanted to stop the chips. If it was a couple of years old and rubber became worn then you may have some wind noise but on a new car the rubber won't be worn so it should be fine.


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## scaredpoet (Nov 29, 2010)

I looked carefully on mine and found two tiny chips on the edge of the rear driver's side door sill. Definitely nothing coming close to as bad as Butcher98's pics. My rear doors are way more flush with the rest of the body though, a tighter fit.

Even so, I had some 3M tape lying around from an earlier project (taped the edge of the inside rocker panels so that they don't scratch up when people go in and out of the car) and taped down the edges to avoid any further chipping.


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## Macman (May 4, 2011)

I'm looking into splash guards. Question: I used my touch up paint tonight to touch up chip on the front near the left headlight, the little brush was no longer straight, it was going all directions making it almost impossible to use only the edge to paint, I have never opened the paint so I have no idea how the brush got that way. I tried, it sorta blobbed on, so now there's a tiny blob, any ideas on fixing it?


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## jrrsmith18 (Apr 3, 2011)

cruze2011white said:


> I adjusted my door then had the dealer repaint it and I do not have any noise problems. I would have them adjust it and it will be fine. I did it myself because I didn't know people were having issues so I wanted to stop the chips. If it was a couple of years old and rubber became worn then you may have some wind noise but on a new car the rubber won't be worn so it should be fine.


how did you adjust the rear doors? im not taking my car in to be painted for another couple weeks and i dont want it to get worse in the meantime.


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## Red Rider (Mar 15, 2012)

I just noticed this yesterday happening to our 2011 Cruze. I think I will contact the dealer with this issue and see where it takes me.


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## Chevy Customer Care (Oct 29, 2011)

Red Rider said:


> I just noticed this yesterday happening to our 2011 Cruze. I think I will contact the dealer with this issue and see where it takes me.




Red Rider,
I would suggest that you do take your vehicle into your dealer and have them look into this for you. I would like you to keep me posted on the outcome of this issue. If you have any further questions please feel free to contact me.
Thank you,
Stacy Chevrolet Customer Service


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## wallbngr (Feb 2, 2012)

I 'm in the process of getting the chipps fixed , The service manager says" GM didnt put the sand on the road " Sound Familliar ??? I said BUT GM built the car .
They said that GM doesn't pay for body work .. I see a post where warranty was paid to a body shop.


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## motorman (Sep 26, 2010)

robertbick said:


> I thought the problem was not the absence of splash guards, but the adjustment of the rear door being to far in?


there was the same problem with the C-6 corvette and GM added a rubber bumper to the inside of the door frame to make sure the door stuck out a little past the surface that was getting damaged.


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## motorman (Sep 26, 2010)

Macman said:


> I'm looking into splash guards. Question: I used my touch up paint tonight to touch up chip on the front near the left headlight, the little brush was no longer straight, it was going all directions making it almost impossible to use only the edge to paint, I have never opened the paint so I have no idea how the brush got that way. I tried, it sorta blobbed on, so now there's a tiny blob, any ideas on fixing it?


sometimes splash guards change the air flow around the car and cause more chipping. this is true on corvettes.


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## grego34 (Dec 27, 2011)

i paid $149.00 for my splash guards for my 2012 Chevy Cruze 1LT and i still get the rock chips.


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