Well heres another update with something that really caught my attention, ill go into detail on that below.

It turned out really quite good. I took a few pictures but it was around 6pm so theres no light. I can clearly see though that the problem is fixed. No more bubbles or wavy/lifted paint. Its not exactly show car perfect but it is still just as good as a factory job. It all looks new. When I got there, the guy was extremely apologetic for it taking over 2 days to fix (he thought it was only gonna take a few hours). So he took the car in to have fully detailed and waxed free of charge to me. It looked MINT. I was surprised. He said it was the least he could do, he also offered to look at a bumper i bought off ebay which needs repainting (normally they only paint stuff that THEY order). The other nice thing is that anything they paint is covered for the life of the vehicle.

As far as the actual sail panel repairs: He figured it was just a matter of repainting the panel. So he went to order parts off GM and waited for them to ship. Well, he removed the roof and got it ready to paint, then the packages arrived. He said everything arrived AS A KIT. It was complete with the new glue, paint stuff, a new carbon fiber-like panel, and everything else needed. A KIT!? Either GM knows what is wrong and has created this package for the obvious fix or they simply use this as a complete kit for repairing damaged roofs. Either way it seemed fishy on GM's part. Apparently it was an easy install once everything finally got there. They were extremely nice and on my part, all i had to do for the entire install was sign once at the beginning and once at the end.

I saw the bill which displayed all the parts/labor prices. At the bottom was the total and then "GM warranty coverage" which deducted the entire price and gave a final total of $0.00. I then signed a second time and left.

Thats all guys, its that simple and I cant believe GM is giving the runaround like they are. The manager that did the work for me said he believes the fiberglass panel that was used at the factory might be at fault for spreading the fumes/outgassing the glue. He said carbon fiber wont do that which is likely why they replace them with those pieces.

I figured that once I was successful for myself i would outline my own personal experience so heres the gist of how I conducted everything:
-went online to find a list of nearby pontiac dealers.
-called them asking when their service managers are available and if they had a repair shop (which is important because sometimes theyll agree to the work but have to send you elsewhere to another dealer that inturn might not approve of the repairs)
-then I printed ALL the info on these pages here in this thread. The old TSB, the new one that was updated as well as the two links concerning "autosafety" paint stuff.
-I wrote down additional notes for persuading the manager, such as "latent defect", "evidence of condition occuring regardless of owner's care for car" and things like that.
-Stick it to them. I often added lines like "Im a member of the fbody association" or giving myself some sort of title that means business. Yes its somewhat of a lie but its also leverage, giving the manager the idea that you are from some sort of organization thats familiar with the problem.

thats about it, i never emailed or called any sort of customer service line. Just keep driving till you find the dealer is what id suggest. Then resort to higher-ups. sorry for the long wind but hopefully itll help somewhat. Goodluck

 

I have a little wave round the top part hatch. It's nothing major, only noticed it when I polished it. Well my car is underwarrently for about 50k miles and two years, so I'll watch it.

 

update on mine




im getting it done for free through my local dealership. parts are on order now so figure next week sometime


00 SS, took in the PDF and sat with them and a week later called back. im a happy camper right now

 

I admit I read a lot of these pages but not all of them.

I took my 01 Z with 22,000 miles (2nd owner) to Rally Chevrolet in Palmdale, CA. I did not buy from this dealer, and have had no work done there. The dude who ran the body shop immediatly knew about the bubbles, as they did another Camaro the previous month. Since I was out of the 36 month warranty, they had to check with the district manager, and I waited anxiously for 2 days.

They called back saying they would do it. I was so relieved. I took it in, with an estimate of 2 days. I called every afternoon, and it kept getting pushed back for whatever reason. Then I started stopping buy to see first hand what was going on.

The dude in charge said that the workers had left small flaws, and based on the condition of my vehicle, he assumed I would not be happy with it. He assumed correctly. But I did not care how long it took, so long as it was done right and free. He also said that he did not want flawed work to come out of his shop, because he does not want negative comments floating around. Over a week later, it was done, and I could not find any flaws, no air noise from the T-tops, and a great feeling that customer service is not yet gone forever...and for once, something went right for me.

Good luck to everyone else on finding such a dealership/body shop...

 

After patiently waiting for 2 weeks i finally got my car back bubble free... Apparently their body shop couldn't handle it and hired workers from a glass shop to do the repair lol. I must say it turned out very well, and am pleased with the finished product.

heres a couple of pics:









And one of the car

 

Thats interesting for them to say that. As far as i know the guy i delivered the car to handled the repairs solo. Took him almost 2 days but still. Maybe i missed something.

Anyways Glad to hear you guys are havin luck with the repairs. Anybody still gettin a runaround?

 

Yup, it's not going to happen with any dealerships near me. My 02 has only 13.5K miles and I will have to pay for all of it if I want it done.

 

Hi, After a few months of phone calls to my dealer here in the UK, i have now got my sail panel and apliques but my dealer said he would not attempt to fit the sail panel,He said all he could do was get the parts under warranty nothing to pay. Can anyone help with what new glue i need to use and tools needed and best way to take off old panel and apliques and put on new panel and apliques, as i will be looking for a decent bodyshop to do the work here in the UK. ( Any work in progress pictures would be a lot of help. ) Thanks for taking the time to read this.

 

I just went to my local GM dealer (Chevy) with service bulliten in hand. I went into there service department and explained the problem and showed them. They agreed it had the problem. Then they said they had to talk to the manager about it since mine was 60 days out of warranty (2002 with 31K miles). When she cam back she said, "What we can do is split the cost since it's out of warranty" I said, "there's no way I'm gonna pay $400 for GM's mistake. What about the 100K mile paint warranty?" She left again, and I could here here talking to the manager across the garage and I could here him say he didn't want to mess with a black car. She came back again and said, "oh that's only for rust." I said, "there is no way a car with 31K miles should have this and it has only really apeared within the last 30 days." She left one more time, and came back to say, "You know what, I just realized it's a Firebird. I thought it was a Camaro. See you would have to go to a Pontiac dealer but they will tell you the same thing about the warranty." I said, "It doesn't matter. The part is exactly the same as the camaro." Then she proceeded to give me my service bulliten back and pretty much said politly to **** off. I'm pretty pissed about the run-around. I'm calling GM customer service in Detroit tomorrow to see if I can get anywhere. I'll let you guys know what they say.

 

Good luck they pretty much told me to **** off also ... I feel your pain. My 02 has ~13.5K miles and has the problem.

 

latent defect, manufacturer's responsiblity, bubbling condition varies accordingly with paint life, NOT owner's upkeep of the vehicle. its as simple as that. Make sure you know all the facts and show them the autosafety bulletins as well. If you breath down their throats theyll budge. if not them then somebody else will. i had to drive over an hour away to find a proper dealer but i would sure as hell be willing to drive 3+ hours if that is whats needed. Hows that lawsuit coming along....?

 

Hey guys!

I think I was one of the first people that had that problem. I posted about it back in my LS1.com days, before LS1tech existed. My car is a 98 hardtop! I noticed the bubbles early on, about after 2 years of ownership (I am the original owner) and mentioned it to the service writer and also had the service and body shop manager look at it. They all agreed that there seems to be the problem, but none of them had ever seen it before. This was before the TSB came out, so noone really knew about it yet. They told me to keep an eye on it to see if it gets worse, and that it was noted in my cars service record. After two years of living with it, it really got to look very bad, so I took it back in. This is now past the 3 year warranty, I am in my 4th year of ownership. They agreed to fix it by repainting the roof. An appointement was made, but when I showed up, the new body shop manager looked at it and said "painting it won't fix it....that roof needs to be replaced" He and I went to the service manager and the body manager told the service manager what needed to be done. The service manager said "do whatever it takes to fix it right"....so they did. They took the roof off, took the front windshield out, and installed the new one. I was a happy camper. Now, 2 more years later...guess what happend...that's right, the bubbles are back! So you guys who just got their roofs fixed, just hope they used the right stuff this time, because apparently, they didn't with mine.

I think I have a strong case still since they fixed it the first time and fucked up!

I am going to have to see what I'll do about it.

Manny

 

I haven't read every page of this thread, where do I find the updated TSB and auto paint safety guidleline info. thanks yall. BTW- my car is a 99, with 51k, should I be ok. I also purchased a 2 year,24k mile warranty from the caddy dealer where I bought the car

 

I don't think my 99 has this problem, but if it did, would a completely new, different color paint job, fix it anyway? Cuz I might be getting one of those, and won't need to worry about dealing with GM anyway.

 

No, the bubbles are caused by the glue releasing gas. It's called outgassing. New paint will get the bubbles in them eventually. A new roof with revised glue will fix it. I was thinking of making a metal cap or cover to fit over the roof. Mine is T-tops so the roof is small. The gas will not get through the metal plus I can paint it without giving up my car. Once painted, I'll bond it over the original painted roof. Should be cheaper and with no down time. That's my idea anyway.

 

Just called Pontiac...They offered to maybe give some "cost assistance" if I can get the pontiac dealership to properly "diagnose" the problem. So pretty much they won't fix it for free either. Way to go GM This is exactly what you need, unhappy customers when your business is in trouble. Hey I found this on ebay, should I get it?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...RK%3AMEWA%3AIT

 

Oh hell yea! Race ya to it!
Man, what a buy! I'll take two at that price, ...
(Of course the auction's not over yet, ...)


You should have read just the second post in the beginning of the thread, ...
The first reply of the whole 12 pages & you missed it, ...

 

would it be possible to replace a sail panel by yourself? I mean if you got the piece all painted and ready to go, could you "pop" the old top off, scrape off the old glue on the car and put new glue on the new piece and lay it on there? Where can you get the new glue?

 

Who has gotten this fixed in in the So-cal Area i just bought my SS and its starting on the drivers side

 

I took to a So-cal dealer located in Upland seems they only want to cover half the cost which i have no idea how much that is said theyll give me a call back