Cracked Spot Welds?

cwendel4 · December 18, 2010

Hello,

Alright, Just got a used 2007 silverado ext.cab 1500 in september, first week. It had 38,000 miles on it and looked in good shape.

Now, the back driver door is showing a crack in the spot weld on the bottom of the door. Cleaned it up but took a photo of it. The truck came with a new 12/12,000 bumper to bumper warranty on it from the dealer as certified. Now I may be understanding why it is certified.

Anybody help me on what i can do besides call the local body shop to have the door panel welded back up. I think I may have two similar issues on the front door for the spot welds where the cage that holds the hinge bolts is spot welded but this last time seems to have stopped the issue.

Help!!!

I have attached the best picture I can get of the door.

johnrugg · December 18, 2010

Hello,
Alright, Just got a used 2007 silverado ext.cab 1500 in september, first week. It had 38,000 miles on it and looked in good shape.

Now, the back driver door is showing a crack in the spot weld on the bottom of the door. Cleaned it up but took a photo of it. The truck came with a new 12/12,000 bumper to bumper warranty on it from the dealer as certified. Now I may be understanding why it is certified.

Anybody help me on what i can do besides call the local body shop to have the door panel welded back up. I think I may have two similar issues on the front door for the spot welds where the cage that holds the hinge bolts is spot welded but this last time seems to have stopped the issue.

Help!!!

I have attached the best picture I can get of the door.

Was the truck involved in an accident? If it was make them pay.

cwendel4 · December 18, 2010

No damage to the driver front or rear door. Both seem to have original paint and no tape lines.

I know of two repairs but they were probably out of pocket fixes. front bumper corner and rear of bed under tail light. Both not too bad but were okay on a 4 year old used dealer truck.

markw8 · December 19, 2010

Was this a GM Certified or only dealer certified? I don't think the factories certify anything with paint work.

Mark

cwendel4 · December 20, 2010

Don't know for sure but it was sold as GM Certified.

But from what i know and have seen over about 12 years of past work in body shops, popped spot weld is either a bad weld which shows immediately or rust has eaten through from behind to weaken it and let it pop.

markw8 · December 20, 2010

What does the selling dealer say?

Mark

cwendel4 · December 20, 2010

Did not get to call the service manager today but I going to tomorrow. I will find out then.

jro909 · December 20, 2010

robots probably did the spot welds, i'd see about getting them redone which is tricky....the welds for my door hinges seem to look they are cracking too

cwendel4 · December 23, 2010

Okay, dealer wants to see the issue then call GM to see what to do.

My problem is that I did put some primer using a touchup brush to keep the metal safe and slow any rusting. Dang it. guess I will have to hold the door open with the heated blower in 30 degree weather again. just hope the wind stays under 15 mph while I fix this.

cwendel4 · January 7, 2011

Took it to the dealer on Tuesday and the service manager said they would take care of the problem for me. That was the great news.

Bad news, they backed into a bookshelf pulling the truck out. Cracked the light left paint on the bumper and now the bottom of the quarter under the light is overlapped by the tailgate.

They agreed to fix that too.

markw8 · January 7, 2011

OUCH.

Mark

cwendel4 · January 22, 2011

Alright, went today to pick up truck from dealer because they said it was ready.

NOT. Didn't even check the warranty work, I checked the crash damage and what did I find?

New tail light, but cracked body work below the taillight that was starting to flake off, paint still on the bumper and no touch ups on it at all. Not good.

They guy at the desk originally wanted me to wait till monday to talk tot he service manager who was not there today. He then walked outside to look at the truck with me and wanted me to take the truck and bring it back monday and get a loaner car. Gave him the keys and said keep it, I don't want it till its done.

Next trip to dealer will be to pick up the truck fixed right or to sell it to them for the entire cost I paid for it.

I didn't crash it and it was not my choice of repair shop so it is all theirs.

Hey, I know I am a PITA but I am willing to pay my bills when something needs to be fixed and when someone fixes something I want it fixed once and correctly. I know that does cost more but it stops having to fix the same problem over and over again. Just my rant but this really ticks me off. This is part of the reason I got out of the business, not enough emphasis on doing the repair right, just getting something done.

cwendel4 · January 29, 2011

Alright, enough is enough.

I went to pick up the truck again today and the repair sucks. The truck was still covered in snow even after I called them over an hour earlier that I would be in to pickup the truck.

They seem to have repainted the bed side but there was bondo on the edge of the panel, on non sanded paint- it will separate and cause major problems. The body lines were not sharp and the panel gap and alignment was still not right. I also found dry spray and dirt marks on the wheel opening lip, overspray on the springs and scratches still on the bumper, still not aligned right.

I cleaned it out and left only the registration, insurance card and plates on the truck.

I am pissed. I bought the truck so I could spend less time running for parts and repairs and more time with my son. Now, I don't even want it back. The panel has been fixed twice and I paid for the truck because of how good it did look.

Can't wait for the service manger to call. Next level is the owner and having either the truck bought by the shop or by the guy who crashed it, especially since they service department thinks how the truck looks is like it left the factory.

Thanks for listening to the rant, I still need to let off some steam.

DwayneJ · January 29, 2011

You know on another car forum I am on a GM customer service rep signed up just to hear about bad dealer stories like this.

Before that happened though I bought this truck and promptly had the tranny strand the family and I hours from home, found out they had bandaided the tranny TWICE in the preceding 4 months they wanted to bandaid it again and take a week and a half with no extension of the 30day warranty and extended warranty on the tranny and wanted to take a week and a half to do it. An in-law is a service manager at another GM dealer and talked to a regional service rep and I had the truck back in 4 days with a reman tranny and 12/12 warranty on the tranny. Point being sometimes you have to go above dealer level to get them to do things right.

In the end I am happy with the truck. Had they not put a reman in with warranty I would have had a "your buying the truck back" talk with them.

PM me if you want more info on the GM service rep trolling the forums.