Paint Chipping?

zback · August 2, 2016

I have a 2016 that I have had for 3-4 months with 3500 city miles on it and already have 2 paint chips on the front. The biggest being half the size of the home button on a iphone. What is my recourse for this? What has the dealer's response been? Is this covered under warranty?

Silverado Steve · August 2, 2016

Some have had luck getting their dealer to cover it, many haven't. Quite a few of us got a clear bra on the who,e front and fenders to prevent this.

KMGZ400 · August 2, 2016

I personally wouldn't want to even waste time going through the dealership, will just be a waste of your time and they most likely will give you the run around. Even if they repaint it will just happen again. Touch up the spots and get a clear bra and you won't have to worry!

Silvern Sentry · August 2, 2016

I am in the other boat. Chips happen it is part of life, welcome to the road and all of that. I do not like clear bras as have seen so many terrible ones you literally could not sell me on one at this point even if you sold fridges to eskimos. I prefer to just paint the darn thing which really is only a day of prep and few hours of spraying tops + detailing. Then again have done so lots I am not adverse to painting stuff every few years, some folks are and choose to treat their paint like a 5th century dynasty relic and guard the heck out of it. It is just paint and there is lots of those where I come from.

newdude · August 2, 2016

Xpel. If it is a painted front, they will chalk it up to road rash. Paint protection from day one would be the best recourse.

BigBadSierra · August 2, 2016

Get touch up paint. My 2014 had a pile of spots touched up on the bumper.

camcamaro1991 · August 2, 2016

PPF, paint protection film from day 1. Nobody even knows I have it on my black truck (full front bumper, full hood & full fenders and door pockets), I believe its Suntek brand.

neokonig · August 2, 2016

I was able to get the dealer to repaint the front bumper pretty easily, as I showed up only a few weeks after buying it with some pretty large chips. They repainted the bumper and I had it clear bra wrapped. After the clear bra it has been holding up much better. Metal + paint on the front was not a great idea for GM, bound to chip easily.

The clear bra will haze over time, but there are methods for cleaning it. I would rather purchase/replace a new clear bra in a couple years then pay the body shop bill.

Willyone · October 16, 2016

I have just over 1200 miles on my '16 Silverado and noticed 5-6 pin head sized chips yesterday while cleaning bugs off the front of the truck. 1200 miles of about 1/2 around town and 1/2 highway seems a little early for chips...pisses me off. I don't tail gate and I stay as clear as possible from big rigs and construction vehicles so guess I could attribute the problem to thin and or weak paint. I've read up on some of the clear bra's and would rather not go that route. Do you guys think a clear coat/s of good old fashion urethane would help?

cbrsilv15 · October 16, 2016

Your only options are clear bra or repaint.

Willyone · October 16, 2016

Not if I pay for it myself.

witness · October 18, 2016

Hey, does anyone have pics of the edges of their clear bra installed? Mine has some lift / slight bubbling. I will take some pics today but wanted to see if anyone else had this issue or if it should have been installed flawlessly.

Edit: the brand used was Xpel

Silverado Steve · October 18, 2016

All clear bras will do this over time; especially if you use a car wash that has a high pressure sprayer. Mine has some edges too that are getting dirt underneath.

Hey, does anyone have pics of the edges of their clear bra installed? Mine has some lift / slight bubbling. I will take some pics today but wanted to see if anyone else had this issue or if it should have been installed flawlessly.

Edit: the brand used was Xpel

witness · October 18, 2016

All clear bras will do this over time; especially if you use a car wash that has a high pressure sprayer. Mine has some edges too that are getting dirt underneath.

Thanks for the reply. I guess I figured that it would be with out any wrinkles / bubbles. The dealer charged me 2 K for bumper, headlights, fog lights, mirror caps and A pillars. For that much money, I was hoping it would be flawless.

Here are some pics

Passenger side, front bumper, below grill

Passenger side, front bumper side

Passenger side, front bumper side close up

Bumper Air bubbles

Driver side, bumper longer air lines

TheGovernment · October 18, 2016

Take a razor blade and poke the air bubbles right in the center. Then get something flat and plastic and try to work out the bubble.

I will be honest, it looks pretty crappy. We have a guy at my dealership that comes to do all the clear bra stuff and it's pretty much perfect.

Also, we do warranty bumpers on any one that asks. I'm a painter, I've done over 50 so far this year. We grind them down to metal and re spray. Then it gets clear bra.

Even though it's not a warranty issue, we still do it for anyone.