Hello all, I'm hoping somebody or the GM customer service reps can help. I recently bought a 2009 black LTZ with 29k, got a great deal.

This being my first GM product ever, I'm hoping this isn't common - but I took it to the car wash the other night, (where you spray/wash the car your self) and as soon as I pointed the spray at the top lip of the front bumper, clear coat and paint started peeling off immediately!!! This wasn't a pressure washer or anything like that, I was holding the nozzle @ a foot - 18 inches away from the paint. I'm in shock because I've never seen this before on any preious cars (all Fords and 1 Toyota), even in instances where you hold the spray stationary to wash off a bug or similar spot. The Tahoe was never wrecked or re-painted according to the dealer, clean title, etc. so its factory original paint.

My questions are:
1. Has anyone heard of this happening?
2. Is it covered under warranty?
3. Insurance said it could be the car wash's fault if the water was too hot, but it wasn't, I felt the spray and is was warm but not hot. Should I file under insurance?

Maybe this is more common than I think, but I've never seen this before in person and hate driving around in a new SUV with 3 inches of paint peeled off! Thanks for your help!

 

Welcome to the forum..
Sorry to hear about the peeling paint, as far as I know the GMT900 or new body style has had pretty good quality with paint.
The first thing that comes to my mind is that it WAS repaired and repainted at some point for there to be a seam for the water to get behind or a hold of.

I would first go back to the dealer and see if they will address it, if not then see what your insurance will do for you under comprehensive coverage...

 

Also the car wash that you are referring to is a "Pressure Washer". Probably higher pressure than most you can buy for consumer use.

As in2pro said, I strongly suspect a repaint. Did you see the CarFax report?

 

I did see a car-fax and it was clean, I guess its possible that it was re-painted and not reported on the vehicle history?

The paint actually started peeling in the middle of the top lip of the bumper, not along a seam best I could tell. Does anyone know if this would be covered under the 36k mile warranty?

 

CarFax doesn't get all insurance claim info.

Doubt warranty will cover, especially now that the dealer knows what happened.

 

How do you mean? I haven't told the dealer anything yet or taken the vehicle in. I was going to call first but I'll have to tell them how it happened.

 

Benaggie01,

I am sorry to hear that this has happened. Paint is covered against defects in materials or workmanship during the bumper-to-bumper warranty period. You will need to take your vehicle into the dealership and have them take a look at your bumper to confirm if this is a defect in materials or workmanship.

Thank you,
Elizabeth, Chevrolet Customer Service

 

I misunderstood what you said when you said the dealer said no wrecks.

That being said, I can almost guarantee you that once you tell them what happened, it will not be covered. They'll probably say something like anything w/ more pressure than a garden hose can peel the paint.

Now if that were true, then how can the paintless dent repair guys glue a pin to the dent and pull it out w/o damaging the paint. That's how my hood got fixed for the dents that were over the bracing and they could work them out from the backside.

 

carfax wont show anything if just the front bumper was repainted. we had to get our rear bumper repainted when a 16year old girl hit us from behind - her car was jacked and just some scratches on the bumper. anyway the paint shop said do not wash the car for 1 month at least
I suspect you got a repainted bumper from MACCO or somewhere cheap like that maybe - can you see any random overspray to confirm?
if not and it is original paint you should be covered no problem by the warranty

 

Just a quick update. I took it in to my dealer this morning and they did determine it was a re-painted bumper, probably done by the original dealer somewhere in Arkansas. The tech said it actualy looked like a decent re-paint job, but he could see a couple tool marks around the area that peeled. I'm not sure if this could have helped cause the issue, he didn't say.

Anyway, its not covered under warranty but the dealer is covering the cost for me. So all in all, I'll have a smooth newly painted bumper for free, not a bad deal, except for being without the Tahoe for 3-4 days!