I will never buy another GM vehicle - frame coating peeled off

Haus_Z71 · November 18, 2015

I recently purchased a 2015 GMC Sierra, no previous owners, with 3200 miles on it.

It is a 5.3L crew can Z71 package. I expected, that for $40k, I would be able to get a dream truck with absolutely no issues.

Boy was I wrong. Within 24 hours of having the truck, I looked underneath and saw that there was tons of rust on the frame and that the factory frame coating was peeling off. Some spots I could literally wipe off with my pinky.

I called the dealer and took it in. They had it for 3 days and applied the bandaid TSB work. I got it back with a little built confidence. However after looking underneath I found that they hadn't even taken care of the whole frame. They only did part of it and I could even see rust under spots that they had coated.

I emailed the general manager with my concerns and was told that I was overreacting and that the rust just shows more on these trucks. I had to bite my tongue to not freak out at that reply. Absolute Nonsense. He hooked me up with their service manager and I showed him my concerns. They took it on again and literally sprayed over the rust that I showed them.

I have given up. I'm done dealing with them. I've already had to buy a can of frame spray to recoat huge sections that are peeling off. There are also sections I can't even recoat because they are internal to the frame.

At this point I'm ready to talk with a lawyer. It's so sad and unfortunate that I have to go through so much trouble after spending $40k on a vehicle that is essentially new. The frame is the core to any vehicle. If it rusts out then the whole truck is a loss. I will have no resale value because over a short period of time this vehicle will look like it's 30 years old.

GM, you have really wronged me here. I honestly don't even have time to address this because I am recovering from receiving whiplash in a bad accident, on top of recovery from a service connected injury.

I really hoped I could be proud of my truck and share all the good things about it. By honestly I will never appreciate this vehicle knowing my frame is rusting away. I live in MN where tons of salt is put down. It's all down hill from here.

http://imgur.com/a/ctmp2

HondaHawkGT · November 18, 2015

If you just spray that crappy black wax over the rust it's just going to peel back off and continue to get worse. The wax is no good.

Haus_Z71 · November 18, 2015

If you just spray that crappy black wax over the rust it's just going to peel back off and continue to get worse. The wax is no good.

The dealer claimed that the service department followed the TSB but its pretty obvious they skipped several steps. I can tell on the easy areas they removed the factory wax but on many areas I could tell they put the new coating right over the rust.

I wonder if I can have warranty work done at a more reputable place?

Rawyzf · November 18, 2015

Why did it take you 24hrs to inspect the truck? I would have looked it over before I purchased it.

I see you're in MN as well, where did you get the truck from?

HondaHawkGT · November 18, 2015

You'll find all the information and opinions on the junky GM frame wax in these threads:

http://www.gm-trucks.com/forums/topic/164605-frame-rust-issue-fixed-by-gm-before-and-after-pics/

http://www.gm-trucks.com/forums/topic/163244-frame-rust-build-date-1213/

http://www.gm-trucks.com/forums/topic/160608-frame-waxundercoating/

http://www.gm-trucks.com/forums/topic/158444-factory-undercoating-is-peeling-off/

http://www.gm-trucks.com/forums/topic/158871-rusting-frame/

This is a good discussion on the different options out there. The Tacoma World forums also have a lot of good information on undercoatings. They definitely have a lot of experience preventing rust, I've never seen a truck rot out from rust like a Tacoma.

http://www.bobistheo...opics/2859096/1

From what I've gathered from various forums there are four categories of undercoatings:

Oil
Wax
Rubberized coatings
Paint/epoxies

I personally prefer the Krown (Carwell in the US) and Fluid Film method. It creeps into hard to reach areas, joints/crevaces that would hold moisture, and inside the boxed areas of the frame. Wax coatings area thicker and faster to apply but harder to treat inside a frame and won't penetrate joints and crevaces, leaving these areas unprotected. Anything similar to the GM wax will get hard over time and eventually flake off. It'll also trap water below the surface of the wax in any area that it's poorly adhered to. The upside is that wax will look better than oils which can attract dust. Rubberized coatings are similar to wax but you run the risk of trapping moisture and oxygen under the coating, creating more rust issues than you are preventing. Rubberized coatings are best if the truck is new and hasn't been exposed to water or salt yet. Epoxy coatings (POR-15) are the most permanent and durable but to do the job right means stripping of the factory wax, degreasing the frame, and applying the epoxy paint.

newdude · November 18, 2015

LOL lawyering up for a freaking wax coating? Undercoat the truck and drive the crap out of it, done.

tnchevy · November 18, 2015

The rust in unsightly but that is all it is, unsightly. My ford work truck with the painted frame is also covered in surface rust after 1 year.

Haus_Z71 · November 18, 2015

Why did it take you 24hrs to inspect the truck? I would have looked it over before I purchased it.

I see you're in MN as well, where did you get the truck from?

Arrow GMC. I bought it in the evening. It was on the showroom floor listed as new (no owners, dealer miles.). I would have never expected to check and see if a 2015 with 3200 miles has the frame coating peeling off. Now I know.... It wasn't until the following afternoon that I had a chance to give it a full inspection.

Haus_Z71 · November 18, 2015

LOL lawyering up for a freaking wax coating? Undercoat the truck and drive the crap out of it, done.

Undercoating it is literally just a temporary band aid. It wasn't even a week after "undercoat the truck" was done and their undercoating was peeling off.

Are my standards for a vehicle just too high? I know there are plenty of other 2015 Sierras out there without this issue. Why should I have to just accept this?

I've seen what happens to trucks with this issue. Here is a 3 year old truck i saw for sale on another lot:

http://imgur.com/a/vOC9T

Maybe that's not a big deal to some of you. But that is not how a 3 year old frame should look

Haus_Z71 · November 18, 2015

Thanks HondaHawk for all the info. Greatly appreciated.

From one of the links, someone said exactly how I feel:

"WELL GUESS WHAT, I DONT WANT TO BE SITTING AT THE DEALERSHIP EVERY COUPLE WEEKS GETTING WARRANTY WORK DONE FOR THE NEXT 3YEARS .."

In 6-8 weeks I've already had my vehicle at this dealership for a total of 6 days, 3 different occasions. But, I must just be overreacting.

TJay74 · November 18, 2015

While it sucks, in your lifetime and probably your kids that frame will never rust thru. It is surface rust. Now with that GM has coated their frames with wax for years now with no issues, until the K2xx trucks came out and there was issues with the late 2014 into early 2015 production. I would open a case with GM on the issue, the dealer will not put much effort into it until GM is willing to pay them properly for the labor to do it correctly.

Haus_Z71 · November 18, 2015

While it sucks, in your lifetime and probably your kids that frame will never rust thru. It is surface rust. Now with that GM has coated their frames with wax for years now with no issues, until the K2xx trucks came out and there was issues with the late 2014 into early 2015 production. I would open a case with GM on the issue, the dealer will not put much effort into it until GM is willing to pay them properly for the labor to do it correctly.

That was my main concern. But hopefully that is true and the frame will not rust through. If you know how to open a case please let me know. Thanks!

HondaHawkGT · November 18, 2015

While it sucks, in your lifetime and probably your kids that frame will never rust thru. It is surface rust. Now with that GM has coated their frames with wax for years now with no issues, until the K2xx trucks came out and there was issues with the late 2014 into early 2015 production. I would open a case with GM on the issue, the dealer will not put much effort into it until GM is willing to pay them properly for the labor to do it correctly.

My coworker had a 2010 2500HD that had the same issue the k2xx's are having. GM needs to find a better coating for the frames. The wax sucks.

pm26 · November 19, 2015

That was my main concern. But hopefully that is true and the frame will not rust through. If you know how to open a case please let me know. Thanks!

Guy, please read through the vibration thread, the entire 440+ pages of it and then be happy that your truck is one of the good ones. The problem you are worrying about about is very trivial compared to what other people are facing with these trucks. What you have is surface rust only on the frame that will not hurt anything. That frame will not rust through for years even if nothing is done to it.

Badass69 · November 19, 2015

I laugh about all this hoo ha about these shitty coated frames...... and I own one. Well that's a lie.... I own 4 GM trucks and not one of them including my 86 Blazer has had it's frame fall apart even though it no doubt when new had this wax garbage on it...... which fell off 20 years ago. If you don't leave asphalt ever and more or less never see winter the properly adhered stuff can look okay for a long time..... otherwise it falls off and your frame is an orange rust mess in a few years anyway. You can prolong it but it is going to happen. I was disappointed in it when I looked under my truck initially but the GM "fix" was not something I was interested in letting them do. I had it undercoated and will leave it at that. The gravel and mud will do it's magic and it will be rusty either way.

You can lawyer up all you want and waste your money, time and GM's while they wipe the floor with you. If it's going to eat you up inside then sell the truck off or trade it in on something else. For what you will waste on a lawyer for nothing will easily cover that cost.