[Soumyajit9]

I own a Chevrolet Beat LT Petrol model from March 2011. [LINK]
The vehicle has been serving us very well, with absolutely no major troubles.
This being the first car that we owned, holds a special place in our heart.

It has been routinely serviced at Kropex, Hosur Road, Bangalore, from where it was purchased.

Recently when I was cleaning the car, about a week back, I noticed that the rubber beading on the door panels had become loose. I tried to put it back and then I observed that the door panel beneath the rubber beading has caught rust and the metal was disintegrating.

My service was due and I decided to take up the matter with Kropex Chevrolet when I visit them.

So I went to Kropex on 15/09 around 10 AM, after fixing up an appointment earlier.
The routine servicing details were noted down by the SA. Complaints were noted.

When i spoke about the rusting problem, the SA took a step back and asked me whether I had extended warranty.
I was not surprised, because the 3 year warranty expired in March 2014.
So I told him that the last time when I had come for servicing, in Feb 2014, I had asked the Warranty department about extending my warranty for additional 1 or 2 years. The Warranty Manager at that time had discouraged me to proceed with extending the warranty.

Here is the account of the discussion I had with the Warranty manager at Kropex India Limited. LINK

Coming back to the problem of rusting, I was extremely worried about the issue and no doubt, it would detoriate further if immediate actions were not taken. I was infuriated and spoke to the SA in a stern tone. This is when a lady walked up to me and asked about the concern. I explained her the rusting problem and the way the Sa ignored it since the car did not have EW. She immediately asked me to take her to the car and show me the problem. I felt better and guided her to the parking area and showed her the rusting.
She immediately called for the Warranty manager and asked him to click pictures.
The lady was extremely polite and listened to my frustration and agreed that a 3 year old car catching rust is not a good sign and needs to be investigated.
She came back to her desk and immediately called up some number and discussed with someone in a regional language, which I could only make out that she was explaining the problem.
She said that she had someone from General Motors on the call and updated about my issue. She said that once she gets an update, would let me know.

Nevertheless, I was not very much convinced and there was no documented proof that I had reported the issue (apart from a mere mention in the job card).
So I decided to shoot an email to one, Mr. Somashekhar, Zonal Area Manager, General Motors India. The information and contact details are very clearly displayed in the Customer Lounge.

I informed the lady that I am sending an email to the ZAM. She asked me to CC her in the email too. She gave me her visiting card and turned out that she is the VP - Operations, Kropex India Private Limited.

It was then agreed that they would return the car after the regular service by the end of the day. The rusting issue would be taken up separately when General Motors responds to me / the lady (VP - Operations).
While leaving, surprisingly, I overheard from the SA that there were some other Beat cars who have a similar rusting problem.
So it may be possible that General Motors may be collecting data of affected cars and would come up with a group resolution (not a recall, but may be fix the rusting).

I am waiting for a response from General Motors. Its' Day 2 from when I had sent the email to the Zonal Area Manager of General Motors.

The E-Mail I sent to the Zonal Area Manager, General Motors.

From:soumyajit9@gmail.com
To: xx.xxxxxxxxx@gm.com
Cc: vp.operations@kropexindia.com
Date: 12:12, Mon, 15 Sep 2014

Hi Mr. Somashekhar,

I own a Chevrolet Beat LT Petrol 2011 model bearing registration number KA 51 MB 1922.
Last week while cleaning my car, I noticed that the rubber beading on the doors have become loose. While putting them in place, I noticed that there was severe rusting of the door panels.
I am attaching pictures for your reference. They have been clicked this morning at Kropex Chevrolet, Hosur Road, Bangalore.

I have overall been a very happy customer of Chevrolet and the Beat has been serving me excellently without any troubles so far.

The rusting seem to have developed from a long time and very clear on the door panels.
The car has been majorly used within Bangalore city limits. It has clocked about 30k kms in the last 3 years and has been regularly serviced at Kropex Chevrolet, Hosur Road, Bangalore. You may please check my service records.

While I am now worried about the safety and the future of this car, this also indicates at the quality aspect of products manufactured by GM India and makes me worried about the future of the Beat that I own.
A 30k run, 3.5 years old car catching rust in Bangalore surely is not a good indication of the quality of vehicles from Chevrolet stable.

Request you to kindly intervene into this matter and take necessary action under warranty to resolve the matter at the earliest.
Please treat this as Urgent !!

Regards,
Soumyajit Laha
+91-988-689-4668
soumyajit9@gmail.com

Rusting on Rear Right Door Panel



Rusting on Rear Left Door Panel



Rusting on Front Right (Driver's) Door Panel



ODO Captured at 30268 Kms



VIN and Mfg Year Info



Registration Number Captured for Records (sent the same to General Motors)



Loose Door Beadings (I observed this at home)



Rusting on Rear Door Panel (I observed this at home)



Customer Information Board with various contact details:





A Quick Glance at the current prices of parts.



A Customer Feedback Kiosk at the CASS

[GTO]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to Technical Stuff. Thanks for sharing!

[Samba]

More than a case of poor sheet metal, to me it seems like a faulty door beading. I assume in case of a water wash or rain, water is entering the rubber beading's and it didn't get a place to come out or dry up fast which eventually caused the rusting. When Chevrolet takes up your matter and fix the problem you should ask them to check/change the rubber beading too. If its faulty then the problem will reoccur. Rust in these places were common in older cars like Fiat's or Ambassadors or even in Maruti 800/Omni due to water seepage but with these new generation cars its not acceptable.

[dass]

Quite shocking to say the least. It would be interesting to see how GM deals with this issue in particular and the resolution they provide. I do not have much confidence on GM and hence will be eagerly looking at this thread for an update.

How do we prevent this? Not all of us look at the beading on a regular basis, but is there a way in which this can be identified earlier and fixed? Guru's, please share your insights.

[joybhowmik]

If you don't have warranty , then you don't have recourse. My suggestion, get the rust removed, and the panel painted.

[rajeev k]

Usually cars running in coastal areas are prone to such rusting problems. Earlier Ambys and Premiers used to have more severe rusting in a very short span of time but with the rust prevention treatments done on sheet metal panels this were uncommon. The rubber beading appears to be the culprit here.
By the by, are you located near the sea coast?

[commonman]

Interesting!!! I remember seeing this in my 1999 Matiz, after 5 years of usage. The reason I found out was the design of the beading and the door. Water doesn't have a way out. Another issue was the presence of salt as that was a coastal area. This being the third generation Matiz, if the problem persists, its not permissible and its in Bangalore. I assume that you have a covered parking too.

One more observation is that of the pre owned car evaluation people, where they drag the beading down to check and wont put it back in the right way. This will not be your case as I don't think you have tried to sell it before.

Anyway, I don't think company will support you, especially knowing about Kropex! (sorry for this comment which I have valid reason with a friend's Cruze ). Inquire about the cost involved and clean it up ASAP ,else it will become very nasty .

Paint it up and do some anti rust treatment .This must not cost you much.

[Maverick79]

I feel sorry for the situation, Soumyajit9.
One of my close friends faced a similar situation few years ago. He is based out of Lucknow.

One fine morning while he started cleaninig his ride himself, he was shocked to see all the 4 doors bottoms were filled with rust.
Beadings were doing their job good. But the reason was manily due to the poor paint finish.
After lots of complaining and a final frustated mail to then GM India CEO, things were replaced and repainted.

Pls don't leave or accept anything for a compromise.

All the best.

[Soumyajit9]

Originally Posted by Samba

More than a case of poor sheet metal, to me it seems like a faulty door beading. I assume in case of a water wash or rain, water is entering the rubber beading's and it didn't get a place to come out or dry up fast which eventually caused the rusting. When Chevrolet takes up your matter and fix the problem you should ask them to check/change the rubber beading too. If its faulty then the problem will reoccur. Rust in these places were common in older cars like Fiat's or Ambassadors or even in Maruti 800/Omni due to water seepage but with these new generation cars its not acceptable.

Yes, that is the root cause of the problem. I was banging my head as to why I did not check under the beadings for rusting.
But then who does remove beadings and find if there is rust under it.
3 Doors are affected and was discovered just because it happened so that while wiping the car with a microfibre cloth, it got stuck to a loosebeading and whle putting it back I saw the rust.
I dont know of other non-accesible parts of the car where similar rust may have developed.

I would say that thisis due to a manufacturing fault at the paint shop. A well painted part would not catch rust so easily.

Originally Posted by dass

Quite shocking to say the least. It would be interesting to see how GM deals with this issue in particular and the resolution they provide. I do not have much confidence on GM and hence will be eagerly looking at this thread for an update.
How do we prevent this? Not all of us look at the beading on a regular basis, but is there a way in which this can be identified earlier and fixed? Guru's, please share your insights.

Very true dass. I have checked only 3 doors because the beading was loose. Not sure about the fourth door. The Kropex guys didnt dare to remove the beading on the fourth door.
Who in a normal day would lift the beading to see what its the condition beneath it.

Originally Posted by joybhowmik

If you don't have warranty , then you don't have recourse. My suggestion, get the rust removed, and the panel painted.

Yes, that is the solution, but isn't General Motors accountable for such a fault in their product, and would not be it fair to me if GM fixes this problem ? Its just 6 months that the warranty of 3 years has expired.
If I need to worry about rusting just 4 years into owning a car, a Chevrolet product would be the last on my future list.

Originally Posted by rajeev k

By the by, are you located near the sea coast?

Nopes mate. This is solely used in Bangalore. And I have not travelled to any costal city in this car ever.
Places I have been to in the car - Mysore, Lepakshi, Kotilingeshwar.
Its a pure Home - Office - Home driven car.

Originally Posted by commonman

Interesting!!! I remember seeing this in my 1999 Matiz, after 5 years of usage. The reason I found out was the design of the beading and the door. Water doesn't have a way out. Another issue was the presence of salt as that was a coastal area. This being the third generation Matiz, if the problem persists, its not permissible and its in Bangalore. I assume that you have a covered parking too.
One more observation is that of the pre owned car evaluation people, where they drag the beading down to check and wont put it back in the right way. This will not be your case as I don't think you have tried to sell it before.
Anyway, I don't think company will support you, especially knowing about Kropex! (sorry for this comment which I have valid reason with a friend's Cruze ). Inquire about the cost involved and clean it up ASAP ,else it will become very nasty .
Paint it up and do some anti rust treatment .This must not cost you much.

The front door can have a design fault where the head panel is flat. However the rear doors are sweeping downwards and water should have found an exit.
I stay in an apartment with basement covered parking. I was and wipe the car on my own and have not appointed any washing guy.
I haven't tried to sell the car anytime. So there has been no manual force to remove the beadings.

Originally Posted by Maverick79

I feel sorry for the situation, Soumyajit9.
One of my close friends faced a similar situation few years ago. He is based out of Lucknow.
One fine morning while he started cleaninig his ride himself, he was shocked to see all the 4 doors bottoms were filled with rust.
Beadings were doing their job good. But the reason was manily due to the poor paint finish.
After lots of complaining and a final frustated mail to then GM India CEO, things were replaced and repainted.
Pls don't leave or accept anything for a compromise.
All the best.

Wow, that is even more tragic than mine !! How would one ever go and check what is happenning beneath the door ! Eye opener for me. May be even I should check that part on my car.
I am not leaving this issue. Will follow up with the Zonal Area Manager to check the status of my complaint, after 3 days.

[StrangeWizard]

I have a 2010 Beat LS and my car has the rusting issue at exactly the same spot as your car! While the front doors haven't witnessed rust yet, the rear doors have the same amount of rust as what you have posted.

Really need to take some time off and get it fixed before it gets too late

[Viraat13]

I remember that GM/Opel used to offer a 7 year guarantee against rust. I, for some reason, was not aware of this till the 8th year, when I thought of doing something about the minor rusting. At which point, it wasn't in warranty, so I never bothered to get anything done because it was not developing at a dangerous rate, nor was it present in areas that would have impacted the structural safety. But rusting in three years is surprising to say the least.

[joybhowmik]

Originally Posted by Soumyajit9

Yes, that is the solution, but isn't General Motors accountable for such a fault in their product, and would not be it fair to me if GM fixes this problem ? Its just 6 months that the warranty of 3 years has expired.
If I need to worry about rusting just 4 years into owning a car, a Chevrolet product would be the last on my future list.

What's probably frustrating is that the rust was probably there before your warranty expired.
Yes, it's not fair- but nothing is. Could have happened to any car - though. I would say you are unlucky in not noticing the damage early enough.

[Soumyajit9]

Originally Posted by joybhowmik

What's probably frustrating is that the rust was probably there before your warranty expired.
Yes, it's not fair- but nothing is. Could have happened to any car - though. I would say you are unlucky in not noticing the damage early enough.

True !! It may have developed during my warranty period even. Like I said , why would I have even bothered to lift the beading to see what is beneath it !! The beading was fine during my last service in Feb 2014. Just recently I saw that it was loose and observed the rusting.
Yes, it is in early stage and a quick remediation by GM can stop any further damage. Waiting to hear from the ZAM.

[Sahil]

I am facing a similar issue with my 4 year old Toyota Fortuner. There are rust water stains now visible below the rear quarter panel glass, it seems like the rust is from below the glass/window's beading.

I believe most manufacturers give at least a 10 year warranty from rust and corrosion? Is this applicable for Toyota too?

[abhinav.s]

This is what i remember reading in the owners manual of my 2010 Spark PS. The vehicle is rust proofed for 3 years and there is no need of any extra rust proofing for the car. Owing to this i never went for any anti-rust coating etc for the car!

But just 3.5 years on and rusting in the door panel is quite shocking! Glad you are taking up the issue with the authorities concerned. Hope GM does resolve it for you.