Hey what's up everyone newbie here. I was wondering if anyone was experiencing a problem I am having. I have close to 9000 miles on Angel (my HHR...yeah fruity I know but there is a reason for the name) and I do not have the running boards, however on both of my rear doors and the plastic body cladding at the bottom where they bulge out and blend into the rear wheel flare, they are getting severly chipped up far beyond what I think normal wear should be and collect all kinds of road debris. I have a 2.2 silver 1LT. The plastic pad GM put there in what it looks like an attempt to minimize the impact of road debris to the area is sustaining heavy damage too. I installed the factory mud flaps but the problem continues to progressively get worse. I drive on the turnpike at between 70 and 85 mph 5 days a week and worry that this will be extremely bad long term problem. Simply having it repainted will not fix the problem and I was thinking about going to the dealer to see if there is something that can be done (which I doubt) but wanted to see if this is a problem just with my car or is anyone else having it. Any suggestions on a fix short of buying the factory running boards would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

I have running boards and splash guards and not one chip.

 

same here....

 

No running boards and I have lots of little pits on the plastic like a windshield would get over time. Definitley a problem, unfortunately I have no suggestions.

 

Thats a bummer!Maybe that invisible paint protection would work to prevent it before it happens but I don't know about after.How much would it cost to have my entire rod covered with it?

 

I have only running boards, and don't have any chips.

 

Does anybody have only splash gaurds and have this problem?

It seems running boards definately fixes it. I have an HHR on order without running boards and was going to put splash guards on once I got it, but now I am wondering if that is enough protection.

 

Mine is on order, also. I called my dealer and told him I wanted to add runningboards and he told me that they would sell them to me, through the parts department, at cost. He is supposed to have the price tomorrow.

 

i dont have this problem, however my hood is bubbling. I took it into the dealer and im getting a new paint job on the hood. The were shocked when they saw the bubbling. gotta love a warrenty. No guestioned asked, and they are going to take care of it. That is what im talking about.

 

Thanks for your inputs. I designed flap extensions that seemed to deflect road debris from the area but the material was not flexible enough.They would scrape over speed bumps or when the suspension would compress too low form highway driving. The extensions which hung down 1.5" below the factory flaps need to be made out of a softer but firm material (such as rubber sheeting). I am gonna try this and see how things work out after a couple weeks. I will also post pics so that everyone can see what it looks like. The only other option is to buy the running boards, which look good but I prefer the look without them. Either way I am going to the dealer to (complain to them I Guess) and see what they say. Which I figure will be along the lines of tough and get bent lol. Which is why I will find out how to get a complaint out to the General and see what will be said from the company about what I feel is a bit of a design problem. Never know!