[Modernmusclecar]

Originally Posted by Chutzpah

Yep, I’m with you. I’ve had tons of cars with plastic bumpers... this one, my most expensive purchase ever, happens to have the worst fit and finish.

I’ve made peace with it, sort of..

Thats good.....im not sure I believe you tho haha.

[ember1205]

Originally Posted by Chutzpah

Yep, I’m with you. I’ve had tons of cars with plastic bumpers... this one, my most expensive purchase ever, happens to have the worst fit and finish.

I’ve made peace with it, sort of..

There's a difference between gaps that are engineered in for specific amounts of expansion and contraction and "fit and finish." Fit and finish of many aspects of this car are inexcusably terrible yet GM continues to cite that everything is "within spec."

Look at the gap between the rocker panel and the body - many cars have a reasonably tight fit will many others simply do not. GM excuses this as both parts being within tolerances but the exact amount that each is out becomes additive to create the gaps on some cars.

I call BS. Fix the design and stop making excuses.

[Petrol Head]

Give this guy a call - this is the final inspection point at Lansing:

[arpad_m]

You know what, guys, I'll try this TSB I mentioned above on mine and report back if successful. Have a new diffuser anyway to "sweeten the deal", because who in their right mind wants to pop bumpers just to fix a small extra gap

[SirJangle]

Originally Posted by ember1205

There's a difference between gaps that are engineered in for specific amounts of expansion and contraction and "fit and finish." Fit and finish of many aspects of this car are inexcusably terrible yet GM continues to cite that everything is "within spec."

Look at the gap between the rocker panel and the body - many cars have a reasonably tight fit will many others simply do not. GM excuses this as both parts being within tolerances but the exact amount that each is out becomes additive to create the gaps on some cars.

I call BS. Fix the design and stop making excuses.

I agree 100%. The gaps/seams on my lowly $30K Mazda3 Hatchback are perfect. As were the gaps/seams on most cars that I've owned/leased over the past 30+ years. It's inexcusable, IMO.

[Spaceme1117]

Anyone have a problem with the center of the rear bumper at the top near where it meets the trunk separating from the plastic piece that is supposed to be glued/plastic welded on the backside that locks into metal tabs on the body of the car?

In a couple of videos from Lethal Garage, you can see that when his rear bumper is off, that plastic piece stays on the car.

My rear bumper was the same way. I ended up using some plastic epoxy to re-glue it back on so the bumper was secure.

[Number 3]

As a Body Engineer, I'll tell you those gaps "may" occur when it's hot, but they aren't supposed to.

I had the same issue on my SS sedan and had the dealer fix it.

If you want to compare, walk around a parking lot on the same Arizona hot day in the sun and see how many other cars have the same gap.

Also, since it's nearly identical in the interface, does your front fascia to bumper change when it gets hot too?

I'd take it back, but don't delay.

For reference, Saturns and Corvettes have larger door/closure gaps by design for thermal expansion, but that was door to door, door to fender.

In this case, if the surface is hot, it's probably relaxing the fascia causing the gap, because the heat should be causing your fascia to expand, not contract which would tighten the gap.

[ember1205]

Originally Posted by SirJangle

I agree 100%. The gaps/seams on my lowly $30K Mazda3 Hatchback are perfect. As were the gaps/seams on most cars that I've owned/leased over the past 30+ years. It's inexcusable, IMO.

Your hatchback wasn't designed to be driven on a track in the triple digits, though. When the Camaro was designed, the heat from that kind of use was accounted for to allow the body panels to be able to not rub up against one another under hard cornering and similar, causing scrapes, scuffs, and even chips in the paint.

There is a reasonability in there being an allowance being made. But, it's a "commercially-produced car" (that's the phrase that the local GM rep keeps using when talking to me about some quirks in the paint on my car), so variances in panels are to be expected, and these variances are sometimes additive to where they simply don't fit right and there's nothing that GM will do about it.

[SirJangle]

Originally Posted by ember1205

Your hatchback wasn't designed to be driven on a track in the triple digits, though. When the Camaro was designed, the heat from that kind of use was accounted for to allow the body panels to be able to not rub up against one another under hard cornering and similar, causing scrapes, scuffs, and even chips in the paint.

There is a reasonability in there being an allowance being made. But, it's a "commercially-produced car" (that's the phrase that the local GM rep keeps using when talking to me about some quirks in the paint on my car), so variances in panels are to be expected, and these variances are sometimes additive to where they simply don't fit right and there's nothing that GM will do about it.

I get your points and don't disagree. It just seems that Chevy (GM) has more quality issues/annoyances than most. I've driven all makes and models over the past 30+ years and I have to say, Chevy (GM) has been the worst when it comes to this. To name a few, my RX-8, 370Z, RC350 F-Sport, Q60 never had any of these annoyance issues. Even my cheaper cars like the Civic and Elantra I drove when my son was first driving didn't have these annoyance issues. Hell, my Camaro was even more expensive than the RC350 F-Sport and Q60. I know that nothing's perfect but the complaints on GM quality are well-documented. When I had my Camaro, I just learned to live with the gap issues and ignore them. Although, mine weren't as bad as some have dealt with. I used to be a Pontiac fan back in the 80s/90s. I had a couple Grand Am GTs and a Grand Prix. I don't recall these same issues back then. My dream car was the Trans Am but I was too young to afford one then. I sure do miss Pontiac!

[ember1205]

Originally Posted by SirJangle

I get your points and don't disagree. It just seems that Chevy (GM) has more quality issues/annoyances than most. I've driven all makes and models over the past 30+ years and I have to say, Chevy (GM) has been the worst when it comes to this. To name a few, my RX-8, 370Z, RC350 F-Sport, Q60 never had any of these annoyance issues. Even my cheaper cars like the Civic and Elantra I drove when my son was first driving didn't have these annoyance issues. Hell, my Camaro was even more expensive than the RC350 F-Sport and Q60. I know that nothing's perfect but the complaints on GM quality are well-documented. When I had my Camaro, I just learned to live with the gap issues and ignore them. Although, mine weren't as bad as some have dealt with. I used to be a Pontiac fan back in the 80s/90s. I had a couple Grand Am GTs and a Grand Prix. I don't recall these same issues back then. My dream car was the Trans Am but I was too young to afford one then. I sure do miss Pontiac!

I'll take a '65 GTO any day of the week!

[zag]

Try doing what Travis 959 has suggested. Mine also had a gap, took the light out and zip tied it, no more problems. If you do a search, you will find many members took their car back to the dealership for repair. It held for a while and then the separation came back.

[Chutzpah]

Originally Posted by zag

Try doing what Travis 959 has suggested. Mine also had a gap, took the light out and zip tied it, no more problems. If you do a search, you will find many members took their car back to the dealership for repair. It held for a while and then the separation came back.

As far as I know, there isnt a zip tie method for 2019+.

[Modernmusclecar]

This is a fit and finish issue...nothing more.

[arpad_m]

Originally Posted by arpad_m

You know what, guys, I'll try this TSB I mentioned above on mine and report back if successful. Have a new diffuser anyway to "sweeten the deal", because who in their right mind wants to pop bumpers just to fix a small extra gap

Originally Posted by Chutzpah

As far as I know, there isnt a zip tie method for 2019+.

Right, so I performed the zip tie fix, and rear bumper panel gaps are indeed perfect now, both on the left and the right side. I've checked them at temperatures from 50 to 87 degrees, all top notch, unlike before the fix.

However, as with most things in life, this doesn't seem to be "free" either. Since the bumper has nowhere to go on the sides as temperatures increase, because the zip ties have very little give, the center support section gets pressured to expand outwards and /or up.

The bumper has this black plastic retainer plate in the middle that slides between a bunch of metal tabs on the body, right underneath the bottom center of the closed trunk lid. Now, this plastic retainer plate is spot welded to the bumper only at a few, absolutely tiny spots, so I'm sure eventually it will yield and detach.

I will not be able test this theory myself, because I snapped off the plate when pulling the bumper (again, it was held only at a few tiny spots), so I had to apply another, unsophisticated, dual sided tape fix (sheesh). Preventing this without some specialty tool seems next to impossible, because the metal tabs the plate slides into are sturdy, and there is no room to "help" it stay attached to the bumper.

#exterior_modding_adventures