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xB problem - rear skirt ripped off while going thru puddle!

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Old 09-12-2004 | 01:49 AM
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Default xB problem - rear skirt ripped off while going thru puddle!

When I originally took delivery of my vehicle, I immediatly noticed that the rear bumper skirt pieces were either misaligned, or warped. I brought this to the attention of my service manager, and they said they'd fix it. Well, after they said they fixed it, it still looked weird....

fast foreward to yesterday

I was sitting at a light during a heavy thunderstorm, and there was a large puddle on the other side of the street. The light turned green, and I passed throught the puddle around 10-15mph. I'd say it was about 6 inches deep. I heard a small click noise, but dismissed it as some of the junk I had in my hatch. I got to work about a mile away, and realized that half of my freggin' bumper skirt was gone!! The other half was dragging on the ground and one end was all scraped up. I retraced my path, and found the other half of the skirt sitting in the puddle unharmed, with a few scrathes.

I've read about the skirt falling of by some members here on SL. Body parts shouldn't be falling off when driving, I don't car how big the puddle was. This is just totally unacceptable. Seeing as I've brought it in to my dealership in the past for fitment issues, then the bugger falls off, what's the chance I could get them to fix it?
Old 09-12-2004 | 02:00 AM
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Man that really sucks. I would make them fix it, no if &s or buts about it. They claimed they got it back on there, with what glue? They should be thankful you where not doing 65 with some one behind you & the thing fell off making the person behind you wreck. There ____ poor service could have caused more harm then good. So take it back to them ASAP.
Old 09-12-2004 | 02:02 AM
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Default Rear skirt

That's not the bumper? Well what ever it is ... mine was a little weard also - and fell off once too. It was put back on with no problem by a dealer - and now looks OK. I was asked if I had hit anything before they agreed to put it back.
Old 09-12-2004 | 02:09 AM
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Default Re: Rear skirt

Originally Posted by dulcimoo
That's not the bumper? Well what ever it is ... mine was a little weard also - and fell off once too. It was put back on with no problem by a dealer - and now looks OK. I was asked if I had hit anything before they agreed to put it back.
Nah - it's the bumper skirt. It's actually two pieces that are not attached to the car until it enters port or is delivered because they can be damaged (great design, huh? ).
Old 09-12-2004 | 02:30 AM
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I have personally replaced a few under warranty for the exact same reason. Should take care of it for you. The skirts don't come painted so it will take a day or so to get the parts in order. The skirts are held on with a few clips that can break.~~~~~~~~scott
Old 09-12-2004 | 02:50 AM
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Originally Posted by Scott17
I have personally replaced a few under warranty for the exact same reason. Should take care of it for you. The skirts don't come painted so it will take a day or so to get the parts in order. The skirts are held on with a few clips that can break.~~~~~~~~scott
If my dealership doesn't want to cover it, what measures should i take then? :?:
Old 09-12-2004 | 01:38 PM
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Find a dealership that values your business.
Old 09-12-2004 | 02:11 PM
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My wife was following me one day and called me to say the rear bumper looked like it was going to fly off. I checked behind the bumper and noticed that the two bolts that hold it in place were missing. The only thing holding it on were the clips that attach it to the piece above. I installed two bolts and everything is fine now.
Old 09-12-2004 | 07:03 PM
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They were the last ones to touch it. Tell them they must've done it wrong. They should stand behind the work. I wouldn't mention the puddle, just that it came off in a little weather. And emphasize the point someone made, they are lucky it didn't happen in front of someone on the freeway...
Old 09-15-2004 | 10:03 PM
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I probably have the most experience with this, do a search for some of my posts and you'll see why.

If they won't replace(not fix, REPLACE...it was damaged because of inferior parts/design it should be replaced by them at their expense), contact Scion HQ. If they maintain it's your fault and shouldn't be covered, it gets escalated to regionial status.
The regional manager might call, if he does he'll do one of two things...1). Dick you around. 2) Take care of it like he should.

If he doesn't take care of it, talk to the GM on the dealership or have Scion HQ call the GM(this is what I did, the service manager called me within 20 minutes of hanging up with HQ to ask me what color I needed the new shroud in).

Good luck!
Old 10-19-2004 | 02:37 AM
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WEll, I finally went to the dealer today - they're going to fix it under warranty with new parts too
Old 10-19-2004 | 02:45 AM
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Default yep

i had the exact same problem
Old 10-19-2004 | 02:48 AM
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same thing just happened to me about a half hour ago. Big puddle slow moving and the skirt came apart but didnt fall off lucky i guess.
Old 10-19-2004 | 04:35 PM
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is there a way we can go under the car and adjust it ourselfs very quickly? or will we need to take it to the dealer and have them re-align it? my backened kit is a little un-aligned as well.
Old 10-20-2004 | 12:08 AM
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They wont fix mine cause of a scrape on my rear right side at the bottom
Not covered under warranty.
They also said its broken because of my car being to low!
Being that water is an outside source of the problem they wont fix it
So basically I cant drive my car in the rain for fear it might break apart!
Looks like I have a fight on my hands.

How do I get in contact with scion HQ?
I wanna call them now!!! :twisted:
Old 10-20-2004 | 04:08 PM
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Seriously I need other peoples stories so I know what to say and who to speak to about my problem.

I never had to deal with this warranty stuff before ive always had old cars which i fixed myself.

Help!!
Old 10-20-2004 | 04:41 PM
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Looking at the fragility of the rear skirt and its attachments I think that this is going to be a pretty common problem. Hit a big puddle and the mass of the water thrown up in front of the rear shroud can add up to a lot.

The fact that Toyota ships the xB without the skirts attached is a pretty blatant admission that the skirts are fragile.

Perhaps someone will come up with some less fragile "short skirts" for those of us who drive in less-than-perfect conditions.

George
Old 10-28-2004 | 08:01 PM
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Default Don't Drive in the Rain!

I just had the exact same thing happen to me Tuesday night. I also had noticed the rear skirt looked "strange" when I first purchased the vehicle. Like it wasn't attached properly, I pointed this out to my service technician when I took my car back to get my moonroof installed and they said they would fix it. It too, still looked weird. This past Tuesday I was driving in a horrible rain storm. The streets were pretty flooded. I don't know exactly what point the skirt came off, somewhere between Buena Park and San Clemente, but it dragged behind the car the whole way home. I took it into the dealership this morning and was told it would be fixed. Then about an hour or so ago I was notified by the service department that the cost of repairs would not be covered under my warranty, they are stating that I must have run over something, to that I responded yes I did, I ran over a freakin puddle!
I am a little frustrated by this whole thing- my XB is less than 3 weeks old!
I was very glad to find this website and relieved to see that I'm not the only one who this has happened to. I will be going back to the dealership tonight and using some of the stories I found posted here as my evidence that this happened as a result of faulty parts and installation and not because I ran over a puddle! In the meantime I guess it's nothing that a little duct-tape can't fix!!!

-Former Volkswagon Owner
-Karisa Wickiam
Old 10-30-2004 | 07:21 AM
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Call Scions 1800 number- Who cares what some retards at your dealer say- It might not fall under toyota's warranty- but the dealer you bought it from should take care of it- Why? because they are the retards the put it on to begin with- And it really ____ES me off when they "uhh we wont cover that"...
Old 10-30-2004 | 06:10 PM
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I contacted Scion Corp about mine, they wouldn't do anything. They called my dealership, escalated it to regional level, the Regional manager backed the service manager and Scion Corp told me "At this point there's nothing we can do. We have to go with their word."
So I contacted the GM of the dealership, that fixed the problem quick.


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