We have a month old 2010 Camaro.
We took it though a car wash and the driver’s side mirror fell off, well it was held on by the electrical cord. The mirror showed no damage. The three bolts that held it were not
bent or damaged. We taped it onto the car for a month waiting for a part. The dealer says this is not covered by warranty. And we got to pay $400 for the mirror. We also had to tighten the bolts on the spoiler. When we were driving around, we heard from another owner who had his mirror come off. Has anyone had these problems? and this seems unreasonable to me - the dealer actually suggested we not take it through a car wash - this was the gentle touch model! ?
GM should definitely cover this under werranty. With your owner’s manual you should have an 800 number to file complaints above the dealer’s head. Go there. Do so.
If this is typical of the effects of the recent bankruptcy it does not bode well for the future competativeness of GM.
How does GM know they are not being scamned and the damage was not “operator error”?
It’s pretty easy to tell visually if the mirror is off due to damage or it simply fell off. I have to admit, though, to wondering why if there’s truely no damage the mirror cannot be simply reinstalled.
Sounds like yours was built Monday morning or Friday afternoon. 
No damage to the bolts points towards them not being tightened enough at the factory, same with the spoiler bolts
You cannot blame GM for the mirror falling off. Warranty is not for normal wear & tear and while this may not be abuse it is not wear and tear.
If the mirror showed no damage and the bolts were present and good then how did it fall off? Something had to break.
You cannot blame GM for the mirror falling off. Warranty is for normal wear & tear…
Are you saying GM’s warranty doesn’t cover manufacturing defects? This sure sounds like a defect to me. In my opinion, warranties are supposed to cover normal wear and tear AND DEFECTS.
It’s bad enough this car is ugly as sin. Knowing it is slapped together haphazardly is enough to make a guy want to slap a “Yugo” badge on it.
Hey, Whitey, old buddy, for once I agree with you!! I wonder if the car is yellow (lemon).
Some quality endures. Chevrolet must be determined to keep Camaro quality at the same traditional levels as in the past. I hope there are some good things about those cars. I also hope the Boeing 787 works out…
I don’t know what a gentle touch car wash is. If it uses something other then just water and air hitting your car (like spinning brushes or rags) then I can understand the dealer fighting it. My wife had the driver’s mirror on her car torn off years ago by spinning brushes or something. She immediately went to the manager of the car wash operation and they picked up the bill for the replacement (parts and labor).
But if you were using a touchless (just air and water) car wash. Then I would be kicking butt and taking names.
But having to tighten the bolts on your spoiler? Sounds like GM is going to be going for another bailout. I’d be asking the dealer to check the nuts and bolts on the chassis and body.
This mirror just happened to fall off while going through a car wash. A simple examination can easily tell if this was a manufacturing defect or whether it was “operator error” as oldschool suggests.
These 3 bolts just did not suddenly loosen at the car wash leading to the mirror falling off. They would have had to have been loose for quite a while which meant the mirror should have been bobbling around in the wind before it finally did cave in to gravity.
A bobbling mirror this loose should also have left some noticeable scuffing in the mounting area from flapping in the breeze.
The dealer says this is not a warranty repair so exactly what reason did the dealer give for stating this?
I wouldn’t be so quick to condemn Camaros and GM without knowing the entire story.
What exactly happened for it to fall off? You say there was no damage, but then you also say a part was needed. What part was that?
I also suggest you not take it through this type of car wash, not because of the mirror issue, but because it will leave scratches in your car. Find a touch-free one to use.
It’s bad enough this car is ugly as sin.
I always thought the 60’s Camaro’s was far better looking then the 60’s Mustang…But I LOVE the look of the new Mustang…Chevy did NOT do a good retro design with the new Camaro…Ford did a much better job.
Are you saying GM’s warranty doesn’t cover manufacturing defects?..I cannot believe you said that. Of course GM covers defects under warranty but please reread the post. The op took the vehicle through a car wash and while most all cars can go through a car wash without any damage is it GM’s fault if a car wash brush or other apparatus knocked the mirror off? I think not! I am sure vehicle manufactures take car washes into account when designing but can they test all car wash makes to see if mirrors will fly off? Impractical! You read the op say the bolts were good and it appears the mirror was not damaged at all. If that were the case the mirror should have fallen off while on the transport. I am confident that something like the plastic base broke. Not all car washes use the metal rails to guide the tires for correct positioning, maybe the vehicle was to close to a washer part and contact was made.
It would be interesting to see several pics of the mirror from different angles.
In reference to the op not seeing any damage (no insult intended, this is an observation). I inspect vehicles everyday and I have noticed when someone comes in that has an untrained eye they do not see the obvious, example, a driver came in and the black textured unpainted bumper moulding was furred by abrasive impact with an object. The driver said it was not damaged but after I pointed out obvious damage and explained the problems with leaving it on, only then did he “get it”.
Please also remember that the op may be upset that this is going to cost them $400 and maybe even more if it does not come painted. We have all learned on this website in the past if the owner is upset that it is costing them money then the manufacturer is going to get the blame.
In my opinion, warranties are supposed to cover normal wear and tear AND DEFECTS. …Whitey, opinions are valuable tools that we can all learn from in one way or another but are you really of the opinion that wear & tear is or should be covered under warranty? What about brake pads? That is a W/T item so if pads wear out early from a pedal rider should that be covered? I am sure you agree that it should not be.
It’s bad enough this car is ugly as sin…This is simply a judgement item and there is no correct answer as is the opinion of it being thrown together. If it were thrown together then it would have a Pentastar on it. KIDDING, I had to throw that it.
“You cannot blame GM for the mirror falling off. Warranty is for normal wear & tear”
In fact normal wear & tear are not covered under a warranty. The warranty is for premature failure due to manufacturing defects.
meaneyedcatz, some car washes can damage a perfectly good car, and sometimes a car wash exposes a manufacturing defect. We obviously have different assessments in this case.
When I say “normal wear and tear,” I mean that the car us used normally, but parts that are supposed to outlast the warranty don’t outlast the warranty. Obviously, brake pads are not covered by most warranties. However, a side view mirror IS SUPPOSED TO OUTLAST THE WARRANTY. This one didn’t, and yes, I consider taking the car through a car wash “normal use.”
One of us is going by what the OP wrote, and one of us is choosing to ignore part of what the OP wrote. In other words, I am trying to be objective and you are bringing your preconceptions into this discussion. Either one of us could be right, but I suppose we might never know. I just happen to like my approach better because it is based on my listening skills, not my preconceptions.
I think the only way to resolve this is to file a claim with the car-wash. It may be a manufacturer defect…in which case the car-wash might actually then fight GM for this. But who really knows. The problem is the mirror fell off at THEIR car wash. They are responsible for all damage.
You did not just compare Government Motors to Boeing! Maybe McDonnell-Douglas, but Boeing?!
We will need to agree to disagree on this and, no I am not using preconceptions. With what little info we both have we are seeing things in two different lights. I am using the basis of it falling off by applying some sort of force be it water or something else. If there were no force then it would not have made it off the assembly line. It is easy for me to formulate this not because of a preconceived notion but from over twenty six years in the automotive industry and eight years as a damage inspector with over 6,000 assignments to my credit.
With that said, I do not know what you do for a living but because of my lack of experience and your accumulated experience I will miss obvious errors associated with your profession. I am repeating myself but sometimes people need to agree to disagree before it turns into a spitting contest.
FYI ,I did check with our service manager today and they have not seen any mirror issues with Camaro’s but 30 seconds after that I did inspect some factory paint errors on a Camaro. I never said cars were perfect.
I would love to see a dozen pics of the mirror.
You are correct and I found the error in my post. I wrote “is for” and forgot the “not”.
thanks.