Is this a common problem?
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Dec 2006
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From: Deerfield VA
St. Jude Donor '07
Is this a common problem?
My door panel is "de-laminating"!!!! I was wiping the interior down yesterday and I noticed that the area where you rest your arm on the driver's door is "disappearing". The vinyl that should be glued to the door panel is releasing, causing the "shelf" where you rest your arm on the door to disappear! I notice it is in the beginning stage on the passenger door. I still have 700 miles left before my warranty ends, anywhere else should I look? BTW, my car is an '04 with 35K on the clock.
John
John
Last edited by Black 'n Tan; Apr 6, 2007 at 06:47 AM.
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My door panel is "de-laminating"!!!! I was wiping the interior down yesterday and I noticed that the area where you rest your arm on the driver's door is "disappearing". The vinyl that should be glued to the door panel is releasing, causing the "shelf" where you rest your arm on the door to disappear! I notice it is in the beginning stage on the passenger door. I still have 700 miles left before my warranty ends, anywhere else should I look? BTW, my car is an '04 with 35K on the clock.
John
John
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I have heard of this happening before. You can try and get the dealer to replace the panel under warranty. Another option would be to get a set of the arm rests from Vette Essentials. They are very comfortable and will cover this area.
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 1,092
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From: Deerfield VA
St. Jude Donor '07
Thanks guys, sounds like it is not that widespread a problem, so if I get new ones they should hold up. My car came from Florida, my guess is it was stored outside, it has it's own garage bay now, so it won't be sitting in the hot VA Summer sun. My console cover feels mushy under my arm as well, but that I'll probably re-cover with one of those after market leather embroidered covers. I'm kinda disappointed in GM, this is a top-shelf car, upon initial inspection it looks very well made, but my past experience with GM has shown after about 3 years, shoddy materials start showing up. Geeze! If they only spent about $250 per unit (I'd gladly pay that) to put better materials in their cars, they could easily re-coup a hunk of market share.
I love the power and fuel economy of my 5.7L, (I averaged 32 coming back from Florida) but the engine sounds noisy as hell till warm. The Ford modular engines are SUPER QUIET, (I've had 5, 4.6's and 5.4's) they idle silky-smooth, cold or hot, and the only noise you hear with the hood up is the ticking of the injectors. I hope GM some day will finally get it, and go that little extra to make world class products. This '04 'Vette is telling me it's still business as usual, sigh. I WANT TO BELIEVE!
John
I love the power and fuel economy of my 5.7L, (I averaged 32 coming back from Florida) but the engine sounds noisy as hell till warm. The Ford modular engines are SUPER QUIET, (I've had 5, 4.6's and 5.4's) they idle silky-smooth, cold or hot, and the only noise you hear with the hood up is the ticking of the injectors. I hope GM some day will finally get it, and go that little extra to make world class products. This '04 'Vette is telling me it's still business as usual, sigh. I WANT TO BELIEVE!
John
Racer
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 302
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From: Birmingham AL
My door panel is "de-laminating"!!!! I was wiping the interior down yesterday and I noticed that the area where you rest your arm on the driver's door is "disappearing". The vinyl that should be glued to the door panel is releasing, causing the "shelf" where you rest your arm on the door to disappear! I notice it is in the beginning stage on the passenger door. I still have 700 miles left before my warranty ends, anywhere else should I look? BTW, my car is an '04 with 35K on the clock.
John
John
I do think this problem may be more prevalent than you might think. Mine is doing the same thing. 
Too bad there is not a way to inject glue behind the thing and force it to reattach to whereever it was designed to attach? It is curious that it seems to occur on driver side only? At least that is my experience. 
LT
Safety Car
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After you get it fixed I would install the arm rest pads that Vette Essentials sells - not only will they cut down on wear and tear, they are really comfortable
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Melting Slicks
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From: queens Newyork
Thats a very common problem, when I was looking at used vettes quite a few had the same problem, as far as a well made car the vette is not, most of the interior materials are cheap and put together cheaply, like the door panels and seats but I still love them 
Burning Brakes
Joined: Aug 2002
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From: chandler az
After you get it fixed I would install the arm rest pads that Vette Essentials sells - not only will they cut down on wear and tear, they are really comfortable
Advanced
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From: Birmingham Alabama
My door panel is "de-laminating"!!!! I was wiping the interior down yesterday and I noticed that the area where you rest your arm on the driver's door is "disappearing". The vinyl that should be glued to the door panel is releasing, causing the "shelf" where you rest your arm on the door to disappear! I notice it is in the beginning stage on the passenger door. I still have 700 miles left before my warranty ends, anywhere else should I look? BTW, my car is an '04 with 35K on the clock.
John
John
Melting Slicks
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From: Newark, DE
St. Jude Donor '06
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Dec 2006
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From: Deerfield VA
St. Jude Donor '07
Thanks guys for all the info. If the 'Vette essentials armrest insert screws through the panel, it would be the cure for the delamination problem. (it would hold it in place) If it attaches with adhesive, wouldn't it ride up with the vinyl underneath?
John
John
Melting Slicks
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From: clackamas oregon
Safety Car
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From: Rochester MN
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No screws, they use double sided tape. I guess before you put them on you could make a small slit under where they were going, and inject some adhesive in there, but if you still have warranty, get them replaced...
And yes, they do eliminate the sore elbow problem.
And yes, they do eliminate the sore elbow problem.