I emailed GM and my response was take it the dealer for them to make the decession.

 

It sounds like they are circling the wagons.

The dealer does not want to do anything because they did nothing wrong. And this is not cheap because the real fix is the running boards and paint work to repair the damage

Chevy is stating that the running boards are to prevent this from happening. See the following description from the GM goodwrench site.

"Designed and engineered to provide a sturdy step into or out of your vehicle. Made from corrosion resistance materials and a traction gripping step surface. Prevents tire splash and road debris to protect your vehicles exterior."

So they will say that the dealer did not order the cars correctly, or inform the customer about the dangers of buying a car without the boards.

BTW, I used to be a factory rep for a european car manufacture. Been there, done that......

 

I started with the GM help line. They referred me to my local dealer service rep. My local service rep told me it was the district service manager's call as to what, if anything, could be done at this time. I bet the district rep will advise me to contact the GM help line.

 

I wrote gmcanada and got a quick reply that some of you may have read after I posted it....#64 ...

I wasn't satisfied because I felt that the problem of "paint chips" had just been passed off to another dept. so I wrote to them again and this time I had a pleasent surprise....

Leslie:"The Internet Correspondent" had actually taken some action by contacting my Sales Manager here in Naniamo and the Parts Manager at the dealership and made sure that a price for running board kit completely installed could be fixed so that I could have them installed at the soonest possible time.

The price is $750 cdn. installed.

Now Leslie called me at home and told me all this. She asked me to check my E-Mail for a letter from the parts manager. She wanted to be sure that I would take advantage of the offer. Later the next day I walked into the Sales Managers office, mentioned my name and was give "Completely Satisfactory Service" by the manager himself.

The parts are on there way and I am booked in for next week.

to affirmative action...

I mean I made a point of mentioning this thread, this forum, and this site, and sure some people want things for free and GM to take the blame etc. but like the Sales Manager mentioned to me the fact was these boards were not available out here back in August when my car was ordered...and that might be a stretch but the trueth is I could not even order them through the dealership in October.
anyways we won't be having anymore problems with grit and paint and I just like to say thanks to Leslie.

 

So, you're saying that their solution was for you to pay $750 to prevent your HHR from being damaged due to an error in the design of the vehicle? If that works for you, that's fine, but to me, "Completely Satisfactory Service" means that GM takes responsibility for the problem and does not try to pass it on to the consumer. I was offered running boards by my local dealer for $685 and refused to pay to repair GMs mistake.

How does this problem differ from a paint job that 'bubbles' or a hatch lock that doesn't function properly? The vehicle is equipped with fenders, which to me indicate that road debris shouldn't cause excessive damage to the vehicle. The installation of plastic rear quarter stone guards indicates that GM is aware of the issue as those stone guards are NOT installed on vehicles with running boards. IT APPEARS THAT GM WAS AWARE OF THE PROBLEM AT AN EARLY STAGE OF MANUFACTURING AND CHOSE NOT TO WARN BUYERS THAT HHRs WITHOUT RUNNING BOARDS FACED AN INCREASED RISK OF DAMAGE UNDER NORMAL DRIVING CONDITIONS! As someone on the other forum said, the HHR did not come with a warning that taking it out of your garage would result in non-warranteed damage to the body panels so the customer should not be expected to bear the cost of resolving the problem.

Everytime a customer agrees to pay full retail, plus installation, for running boards it hurts those of us who feel that GM has a responsibility to repair the problem. I don't give a $#!t how wide the service rep's smile is when he is just trying to pick my pocket!

 

Its 600 US at my dealer just for the running boards.

 

It's true you can't please everyone, but the buyer must except their share of the responsiblity for buying a first year production anything. It has been shown time and again that many items are producted and marketed before they are completely sorted out. If you want to be the first one on the block to have the last and greatest you might receive the benefit of a factory recall and then again you might not.

There are a lot of quirky things on the HHR, from where the cup holders are to how thick "A" pillars are to where the power window buttons are placed, and if you notice most of these items receive some attention in threads generated on this site.

Like I said before, I wanted running boards from the beginning, and I didn't expect GM to buy them for me, so I don't feel that my pocket is being picked.

 

My Troll detector is blasting!!!!!!

 

Tom - you're new sig is crackin' me up!

 

I just bought some running boards and installed them myself. Price was 445.00 through a bodyshop, I would assume that a dealer who wanted to keep your satisfaction would at least sell them to you at the price they sell them to the trade.

The boards are simple to install. You need a T30 torx, a deep 13mm socket and ratchet, and several different wrenches, plus a couple of hours to invest.

The only difficult part was removing the old trim. Once I realized that there was no way to remove it without breaking clips, the other side ripped right off.