[orlando]

I am wondering if any of you have had this happen. My 2 months new 2023 Bolt EV has its rear passenger plastic exterior quarter panels warping. We did nothing we know of that could have caused this. We live in San Francisco, so the weather and sun is moderate. It looks like a heat gun warped this, but that would be strange.
Oddly, this happened on our 2020 Bolt EV as well, but we thought it was the 115 degree sun in Fresno, CA. It was worse on our 2020 Bolt, but it showed up about 2 years into ownership not 2 months like for the 2023 Bolt.

 

[drdiesel1]

Mine is almost 3 months old and has not started to warp. I'm in NV and the sun is harsh!

 

[MisterJJ]

Are there any windows near with reflective tint that could be reflecting the sun onto the panel? My previous home had that and it would toast the grass areas where it hit. That was outside of San Diego. I had the Bolt for a year in the Phoenix sun with no problems.

 

[404 Not Found]

Is it one side only? Maybe a defective part.

 

[jreddington]

Could be a reflective dished window beam hitting it at just the right time of day. In our neighborhood there is one house which has a window that reflects a very bright spot on the vinyl siding next door. You can see warped vinyl in an arc from where the bright spot travels with the sun.

 

[jefro]

You shouldn't park it so close to the reactor.

 

[jrharbort]

This may be caused by a fastener coming loose. I had the same happen to the plastic trim on the rear passenger doors. I had to use a T20 or T25 driver bit (don't remember which) to torque them back down, and they never came back loose ever since. I'm not sure how the rear panel ones are secured, but some careful investigating might reveal how to fix it.

 

[usedBolt]

If it's only 2 months old and there's no obvious foul play or negligence, time to play the warranty card.

 

[Greenfan]

That reflected light theory struck a motorcycle dash of mine , a parabolic windshield focused a beam on the dash, I saw it melting before my eyes.It took a while to realize what caused it .

 

[drdiesel1]

That reflected light theory struck a motorcycle dash of mine , a parabolic windshield focused a beam on the dash, I saw it melting before my eyes.It took a while to realize what caused it .

Honda RC51 ?

 

[drdiesel1]

I am wondering if any of you have had this happen. My 2 months new 2023 Bolt EV has its rear passenger plastic exterior quarter panels warping. We did nothing we know of that could have caused this. We live in San Francisco, so the weather and sun is moderate. It looks like a heat gun warped this, but that would be strange.
Oddly, this happened on our 2020 Bolt EV as well, but we thought it was the 115 degree sun in Fresno, CA. It was worse on our 2020 Bolt, but it showed up about 2 years into ownership not 2 months like for the 2023 Bolt.
View attachment 54134
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View attachment 54133

From the looks of it, you might have a fastener that missed a hole and is trapped
under the panel pushing it out when the sun warms the panel.

What do you mean "again" ? Is it the same car, same panel and has it been replaced already ?

 

[Greenfan]

Honda RC51 ?

A Suzuki vstrom with a oversized window, rc51 way too racey fore me.

 

[orlando]

Are there any windows near with reflective tint that could be reflecting the sun onto the panel? My previous home had that and it would toast the grass areas where it hit. That was outside of San Diego. I had the Bolt for a year in the Phoenix sun with no problems.

We don’t get much sun in my part of San Francisco, but otherwise, yes, there is a window near the car but not one that would reflect directly onto the car throughout the day.

 

[orlando]

Is it one side only? Maybe a defective part.

Only on one side. My guess is a defective part, but it is still odd to see warpage of plastic like this.

 

[orlando]

This may be caused by a fastener coming loose. I had the same happen to the plastic trim on the rear passenger doors. I had to use a T20 or T25 driver bit (don't remember which) to torque them back down, and they never came back loose ever since. I'm not sure how the rear panel ones are secured, but some careful investigating might reveal how to fix it.

I’ve looked under one of these panels on the 2020 Bolt. Secured by several plastic rivets, similar to the ones on door panels.

 

[orlando]

From the looks of it, you might have a fastener that missed a hole and is trapped
under the panel pushing it out when the sun warms the panel.

What do you mean "again" ? Is it the same car, same panel and has it been replaced already ?

I had these same two rear quarter plastic panels warp like this, but this was on the 2020 Bolt and in a different city in Fresno CA. It showed up about 20 months into my lease ownership. I didn’t get these replaced, because I didn’t want to pay, and the dealership wouldn’t honor a replacement under warranty yet they didn’t have a good reason why it happened. Blamed me for it but also didn’t have a reason. GM charged me about $90 during the lease return process.

This time, this is on the 2023 Bolt EV (seems to be the exact same parts as shared with the 2020 Bolt) in San Francisco, CA (much cooler climate than Fresno) and only 2 months in. I can’t imagine foul play (different city, different neighbors), and the car only gets driven 500mi per month around the city mostly. At two months old and 1200 miles, I’m very puzzled.

 

[MichBolt]

Sometimes a coincidence is just a coincidence. Take it to a different dealership and ask to have it repaired under the bumper-to-bumper warranty.

 

[drdiesel1]

I had these same two rear quarter plastic panels warp like this, but this was on the 2020 Bolt and in a different city in Fresno CA. It showed up about 20 months into my lease ownership. I didn’t get these replaced, because I didn’t want to pay, and the dealership wouldn’t honor a replacement under warranty yet they didn’t have a good reason why it happened. Blamed me for it but also didn’t have a reason. GM charged me about $90 during the lease return process.

This time, this is on the 2023 Bolt EV (seems to be the exact same parts as shared with the 2020 Bolt) in San Francisco, CA (much cooler climate than Fresno) and only 2 months in. I can’t imagine foul play (different city, different neighbors), and the car only gets driven 500mi per month around the city mostly. At two months old and 1200 miles, I’m very puzzled.

Things happen in production and I bet one of those Christmas tree clips has missed the hole and
is trapped between the body and the panel. The warmer weather is causing the plastic to soften
from the sun rays and distorting the panel.

 

[jreddington]

We don’t get much sun in my part of San Francisco, but otherwise, yes, there is a window near the car but not one that would reflect directly onto the car throughout the day.

It only takes a few minutes.

 

[GregBrew]

It only takes a few minutes.

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