Florida Members - Has anyone gotten their f-body roof repaired free

My Camaro is suffering from the typical F-body roof bubbling. My friend told me that even though my car is out of warranty I should take it down to the dealership and demand to get it repaired free because it was a factory defect. Has anyone done this?

I had no luck at Palm Chevrolet in Ocala. I had to pay someone to paint it for me.:mad:

Um I hate to tell you this but your going to have to have it repainted in 2 years. The defect is in the fiberglass. My friend used to be the service manager at mainstreet chevrolet (now palm in Gainesville) and they discovered it was in the fiberglass.

He also said to not just talk to the estimate dude but ask to see the service manager. If he says no ask to speak to the general manager.

Dude, I talked to everyone short of the owner and still no dice! I had mine painted over 3 yrs ago, and it still looks like it did when i picked the car up at the bodyshop. Good luck i hope you have more luck than i did!!

Thats awesome to hear. Hey were you by any chance selling a formula with Virginia plates on ebay not to long ago? It had a front plate that said LT1-DAN on the front.

Nope, I never owned a Pontiac in my life.

I had a friend that this happened to. NBM v6. She went to the dealership with the TSB in hand (I think that's what it was anyways). Someone gave her crap, she talked to General manager, and it was taken care of for free.

Do some research before you take what im about to say as gospel, but there was a TSB on it but i belive it ran out sometime in 2007.

http://ls1tech.com/forums/showthread.php?t=308546

http://ls1tech.com/forums/showthread.php?t=884432

Here's a few threads you may want to check out.

I think I may have mine done, I can see the sail panel is going downhill. What a coincidence, I am about 5,000 miles away from 100K. Just in the nick of time :D

Whats the significance of the 100K? Warranty has already run out.

Im going to go down and demand to get it repaired free. If they still wont budge Ill see if I can work something out. Like I pay half or something

I thought the rule was 6yrs/100K miles.

i had my car repainted.. but that didnt fix the problem as the bubbles are back....

do they fix the acctual fiberglass itself?

i had my car repainted.. but that didnt fix the problem as the bubbles are back....

do they fix the acctual fiberglass itself?
You have to replace the roof. 700-800 dollar part. Then paint and labor

I thought the rule was 6yrs/100K miles.
For major factory defects it is. I just got back from Palm Chevy of Gainesville. They're going to make a few calls for me and the service manager is going to vouch for me on my behalf to the district service manager and see if we cant get them to approve it.

i had my car repainted.. but that didnt fix the problem as the bubbles are back....

do they fix the acctual fiberglass itself?I seem to recall from reading some of the threads on this topic that it was actually the glue used to bond the roof to the panels, not the fiberglass, that caused the bubbling.

Let me know how it goes talking to that guy there, my 2000 Firebird only has 52k on it and has the roof bubbles as well. It's not terrible but I wanna get it fixed ASAP.

I had it done twice. :nod: First was on my som camaro v6 and under warranty. Second was my t/a. It was a fight but got GM to cover it. Bamm done deal. First the car has to be spotless some deccent miles and very well kept. You can just reapint it the bubbles will come back. The roof has to come off and replaced. I think its around $800 for t-tops and $1200 for coupes. Any other info can be found here.:nod:

http://www.ls1tech.com/forums/showthread.php?t=308546

I thought the rule was 6yrs/100K miles.

Hmm. Maybe. I thought it was one of the shorter warranty's (like 60k miles). Don't feel like looking through the gazillion pages of that thread to find it. I called Melbourne Chevy one day and the guy claimed he tried calling the regional manager and they said it was too far out of warranty (2000 w/ 80k miles).

Although I just read like the first two pages of the huge thread and saw a guy had luck with Palm Bay Chevy and it was out of warranty so maybe I'll try again.

Mine isnt terrible, but defiitely noticeable, only going to get worse and I am pretty meticulous about my car.

Here's what I don't understand. This isn't a warranty issue. It is a TSB. Technical Service Bulletin, which means that GM has acknowledged that the fiberglass whatever is bad, and needs replaced. Shouldn't matter how old the car is, or how many miles are on it.

With that being said, it is up to the dealership, which I think sucks. And if your car is busted up, has paint peeling, than I can totally understand them saying no. But if the car looks cherry, there really shouldn't be a reason to deny it.

I'm not an expert, I don't work in the automotive field, that's just my opinion.

I have mine done @ Classic Chevrolet in Altamonte Springs GM covered the replacement of the top and re-paint back in 2004, the same dealership painted my wifes Y2k NBM Camaro same thing back in 2005.

Chances are slim to none that you will find a dealership around Florida to do it by buddy tried a few with no luck.

Sean

I got mine fixed for free about a year ago at Maroone Chevrolet in Lake Worth. They didn't even put up a fight....it took me about 5 minutes to set the appointment and they took care of it.

From what I understand... A TSB is intended to be internal to GM. It is instructions for how the dealership's service department should repair the issue. This issue was never intentionally made public by GM so it would have to be discovered and repaired before the applicable warranty had expired. However, some dealerships are repairing it under the "good will" policy they hold. This is sorta B.S. because its basically up to some high ranking manager to make a decision and some may be in a good mood, others dont care.

Here is the GM factory warranty information:

NEW VEHICLE LIMITED WARRANTY
GM vehicles registered in the USA are covered for 3 years/36,000 miles, whichever comes first. The complete vehicle is covered, including tires, towing to your nearest Chevrolet dealership, and cosmetic corrosion resulting from defects. Repairs will be made to correct any vehicle defect and most warranty repairs will be made at no charge. In addition, rust-through corrosion will be covered for 6 years/100,000 miles, whichever comes first. See dealer for details.

Corrosion Protection
Chevrolet vehicles are designed and built to resist corrosion. All body and sheet metal components are warranted against rust-through corrosion for six years or 100,000 miles, whichever comes first. Application of additional rust-inhibiting materials is not required under the corrosion coverage and none is recommended. See your Chevrolet dealer for terms of this limited warranty.

Since this defect has nothing to do with rust, it can only be covered under the 3yr/36k.

I'm probably going to keep trying though, its starting to look like shit and it didn't start until after the warranty period. Its garaged, but it sits out all day in the sun while I'm at work.

I had mine done for free about 1-1/2 years ago on my '99 I just sold.I think all the keys to it have been mentioned,the problem is what bonds the panel on so it has to be replaced.What helps too is if you have low miles and the car looks like it's been taken care of,having the TSB in hand also helps.

id like to get mine redone but my local dealerships are assholes. my car is mint. only has 25k on it but it is a 99.

Can That Panel Be Unbolted From The Car And Replaced Or Do You Have To Paint It On The Car?

You have to pry it off the car (glued on) and I believe it will damage the panel in the process, so you have to replace it with a new one.

I had mine replaced about 3 years ago. If you get it repainted it will eventually return. The problem was in the bonding agent they used to bond the roof to the body. To get it fixed the roof has to be removed and replaced there is no other way. Cars with problems are those that sit in the sun day after day, if your car sits in the garage it will take longer to appear. Mine was done at maroone chevrolet and they knew about the TSB. Goodluck..

i had my car repainted.. but that didnt fix the problem as the bubbles are back....

do they fix the acctual fiberglass itself?

it is the glue that was used to hold the panel on. they have to remove the panel, install a new one with the improved glue and paint it.

i had it done in cocoa at quality pontiac,they replaced the whole panel and sent a glass company out to reinstall it,no problems at all getting it done