If we had some attorney's on this site it would certainly help from an organizational standpoint. I just don't have any experience in this area. But if enough people are really interested in doing this, I think we could put it together and get it going. I'd be more than happy to help organize things and gather data.

I've contacted some people, and I've also called some shops, and this is not the kind of repair that you want to pay for out of your own pocket if its done right.... nor should we have to pay for it.

I am not some protest/sue happy person. I honestly just want my car fixed and that's it. But doing a search on this site has shown me that there are a lot of people with the same problems. I think we can all help each other.

 

TTT this is good information.

I Agree with T-Hawk on taking legal action. This is clearly a defect, plain and simple judging from the amount of replys. I'll try a few local dealerships and recommend them to anyone within a few hours of atlanta if they will fix the problem at a reasonable rate.

We should not be responsible for this. Even my 88 bird has the original paint and its not bubbling. This is rediculous. My LS1 had one previous owner who was an fbody collector up north and kept the car in near mint condition, garaged and cleaned daily. For the paint to bubble within only a few years is absurd. Ive only owned it for a few months and been giving it the same treatment. Between the two of us, its obvious that we have gone above and beyond normal car care, reason enough that GM did not design these panels properly.

 

FWIW, it's not so much the panel, it is the glue they used.

 

I would join the class action in a heartbeat. My 01 started to do this and I went to 3 different dealerships in Northern VA. All turned me away and said it wasn't covered under my extended warranty. My car is mint otherwise and well maintained. Its amazing how these guys are, I told them I am in the market for a second car and if this is how they treat their customers then they just lost a repeat buyer. They don't give a ****. What is needed to get this moving?

 

I'm glad to see that this thing has some momentum. I'm actually going to be traveling for work for the next few days so I won't be able to check in, but I don't want people to lose interest in pursuing this.

JAavenger, I'm just up the road from Atlanta so I am more than interested in finding a place that will deal with us and also do a really good job. After doing a search on this topic, I've read enough to realize that even if you can get the dealer to fix the problem, getting quality work can be a challenge. I've personally talked with a forum member who had this done to his car following GM's TSB and the car will never be the same because of the job that was done (massive air and water leaks).

To let everyone in, both my 11,000 mile 99' SS Camaro and my 21,000 mile 01' Firehawk are doing this. And its bad on both cars. Both cars are as nice as they were new (probably cleaner) and have been garaged since purchased. They have been meticulously cared for like many of the members of this forum. It makes me sick to my stomach to the point of literally not wanting to even keep two cars that I worked so hard to take care of. I can not think of a way that I could have taken any better care of my cars.

This is GM's problem... but its hitting all of us. I plan to try to contact some lawyer's to talk about the feasibility of this case. Just some quick calculations. If we got 1000 people to come forward and each person's car cost and average of $2000 to fix, then you are talking about a $2 million lawsuit plus the cost of attorney's fees, court costs. etc... this is really big money. This is a case that somebody should want to take, if we can get enough people involved. But its not gonna happen with 5 guys complaining.

Like I said, I'll contact some attorney's to find out what we need to do, but we also need to be spreading the word across this forum and others to gather as many people who have this same problem and getting them together. GM may not have cared enough about this to call for a recall... they didn't care enough to not cancel the f-body, but we all spent our money on a product they produced with an acknowledged defect (the TSB is proof) and we shouldn't just take it.

Let's keep this going!

 

Count me in, I have the some problem. I have'nt gone to the dealer but I know what the response would be. I will take my car to the local dealer to see what they tell me. Am I the only one in So Cal with this problem?

 

Guys,

I have tried contacting some attorney's and haven't had much luck finding one that handles defective products (at least not any that didn't cause an injury). I'm planning on looking some more later in the week. In the meantime, let's keep this thread going to try to gain more support.

 

Thanks for the service bulletin pdf. Youre a lifesaver!

 

Count me in. I have a buddy that would be iterested in this also.

 

Well just found out that i have bubbles too
Car is not a daily driver an it never sits outside for any length of time.
Today it set out for awhile an there they were
Guess i take it to the dealer monday and see what they say.
Also did yalls bubbles go down when you put the car in the garage?

 

Mine does the exact same thing. The warmer the roof gets, the worse the bubbles are.

 

Ive had this done on two previous vehicles, a 99 and a 01'.....The 01 they put the new piece on and didnt position it right and there was a large gap between it and the t-tops....I was pissed and they said there was nothing they could do.....that was the last straw with that car and it was sold shortly after.

 

I was afraid of that,I hate taking my car to the dealer.
But i 'am still gonna give it a shot.

 

Have any of you guys thought of other fixes? I've seen a guy coat his roof panel in carbon fiber. It was cool, but not everone might like it. Surely it would be cheaper, right?

From what I can tell, the main problem is the outgassing from the glue slowly working it way throught the plastic panel and the paint. I doubt it could work through the carbon fiber. I don't know.

Or my favorite idea. How about some thin gauge sheet metal over the whole roof? Bend it to fit, fiberglass it down. Fiberglass the edges to blend in. I doubt the bubbles could go through metal. Then just paint it.

I actually see an advantage other than price to using sheet metal. You could extend it around the edges just a little to remove those big gaps.

I mean why go through all the trouble of removing a perfectly good roof? It just doesn't make sense to me. Making a new sheetmetal cover would cost what, $200 at most? Paint would cost $250-$350 or so? Have the whole thing looking better than new for under $600. Compare that to some strangers working on your car for who knows how many weeks, may get the new roof on crooked, pay out of your a$$. Forget about that!

Anyway, that's my thoughts on the whole situation. Anyone have any better ideas or improvement on the sheetmetal idea?

 

I think the lawsuit would be better.

 

I have a 02 WS6 and thank god I haven’t had any problems yet, but I’m worried what’s going to happen down the road as my warranty runs out next week.

 

You've got to be kidding, right?

Innocent Criminal, I would suggest you go to the dealer and have their Service Manager look at the bubbles and officially inform them of the problem BEFORE your warranty runs out. You have nothing to lose by doing this and maybe something to gain.

 

I'm glad I found this before I repainted mine...... since it wouldnt have fixed the problem.

I found it odd that my bubbles oozed a sap like substance...... cross my fingers and hope they cooperate, I am not the original owner.

 

I got some interesting information regarding this. My own story is below, but I wanted to post new bulletin info at the top for others to read. GM has an official bulletin in their database. 03-08-98-001A document was issued Apr2, 2003. The article is a revision of the original service bulletin. Since it was issued in 2003 and still calls for all 1999-2002 vehicles, the warranty is clearly not an issue. Obviously GM would not have included 1999 vehicles if the warranty is an issue since it would have ended in 2002 anyways. I didnt catch this during my last visit at the dealers. Details below.

Heres my personal story:

On friday I went to Lou Sohb dealership in duluth georgia. Met the service director (head of warranty department). Very nice guy, listened to my problem, read the bulletin and printed out the official one from GM. He wanted to help, but unfortunately he doesnt have a collision shop at his dealership. So he gave me the number for carl black in roswell (closest one to me) and said to go there and say that he sent me and that he approved the repairs. He said if I got any sort of trouble from them to call him and pontiac customer service, he also offered to contact the district service manager.

I went to Carl Black today, and spoke with the service manager. The man was rude, unprofessional in the way he approached me (i had to reach out and practically grab his hand for a hand shake), and acted like he had someplace better to be. Their dealership is under construction so its nothing more than tents, and gravel. He walked over to the car looked at it, clearly saw the bubbles, and said yup well nothin we can do its only got a 3yr/36K mile warranty. I told him to read the bulletin and other info i handed him and that trey from lou sohb sent me. He kept using the warranty as leverage. I even showed him the info from autosafety.org about the 6yr/100K paint warranty issued in 93. He said, "oh thats just for 80s model vehicles that had that problem." I pointed out 3 cars in the article which were all late 90s models. He still wouldnt budge. I told him i would call his district manager and pontiac customer service if he wasnt able to ok the recall. He said he would take care of the calls (im still emailing and calling). Im calling him back later today to make sure hes staying on top of things.

Get the info needed and go in prepared. GM needs to address this. I agree with the other meticulous owners out there, its frustrating taking perfect care of your car and regardless it still has ruined paint. That is rediculous.

 

JAVENGEr you wouldnt happen to have and electronic version of the updated recall would you?