I have a 2016 buick regal GS. I have a body panel that was not stamped correctly at the factory. It is the right rear quarter panel where it meets the top of the trunk lid at the tail light. There is clearly a alignment issue involving the trunk lid and right rear brake light. The trunk lid gap is way off by 1/8 in. It appears that it would be simple to just loosen the bolts on the trunk lid and move that to align the proper gap. My dealer said the trunk lid does not adjust in that direction. The told me the body panel is stamped wrong and not made to specifications to match the other side. I only have 900 miles on this car as I bought it as a new 2016, leftover in April 2018. Has anyone dealt with this issue with GM, and what was the outcome?
Check in your manual for the numbers for GM corporate. If the dealer won’t do anything or claim they can’t do anything, I would escalate this up to see if you can get some resolution.
If you can find one, take the vehicle to a body shop where you see hot rods sitting outside, and explain the problem.
These people know where to bend/tweak stuff so body lines line up.
Tester
So you bought this as a new car from a Buick dealership in 2018? No worries, just let them fix it for you under your new car warranty. Don’t try to fix it yourself or allow anyone other than a Buick dealership to try to figure it out, as that could void the warranty. They can either bend it so it fits, or they’ll use a replacement panel.
I suppose you’d have to actually see it to see how bad the misalignment is, but I doubt that the warranty is going to cover an excessive gap in a body panel. That’s maybe why it was on the lot for two years. I’d agree a good shop should be able to tweak it and what is sometimes done is actually welding additional material on the seam to close the gap. But that’s expensive and requires repainting the factory finish.
I’d find it hard to believe it was “stamped wrong” as that is a die stamping operation using indexes to make sure the sheet is in position as the press operates. It is very repeatable operation. Rear quarters need to be aligned at installation, a more likely step to get messed up. Regardless, good advice above. Don’t repeat the dealer conclusion, just show the dedicated body shop your concern and let them tell you what’s wrong and can be done about it.
You have a warranty on this car.
Take it to another dealer, or escalate this up the chain to corporate.
Let them fix it at their expense.
I would not take it to a body shop, because then you will pay for the repairs.
Yosemite