While washing the Vette about a week ago I noticed the right rear tail light lens flexed in on the inboard end when I ran the wash cloth over it. Immediately checked the left side to compare and it was solid. I also checked a C7 at a local dealer just as a sanity check, also solid as I expected.

When I say flexes, I mean that just the inboard side moves in about an 1/8 to 1/4 inch and feels springy when you press on it. When I press on the right side inboard edge, it moves in slightly but I can also see the plastic rear facia deflect slightly also, that is not the case on the right side, so it appears to not be secured properly.

A bit of background to this, the same dealer installed a Z51 rear deck spoiler on the car about a month ago, so my suspicion is they left out a screw or clip on reassembly, or worse broke something inside there.

Had the car at the dealer yesterday for the triple flush and asked them to check it. They agreed it flexed more than expected, but claimed to have inspected it and found everything intact.
Service writer said he would discuss it with the service manager and see what they could come up with and let me know.

The assembly is not loose to the point where it rattles or anything, but just does not seem to be right.

So my question is.

Has anyone else experienced anything similar, and if so what was the reason or fix.

 

My rear tail lights are like yours too. Mine has never been apart. I was also wondering if mine were loose.

 

Never noticed that on my tail lights but the bezel that surrounds them flexes and the rear bumper has never been off. To me this is just another example of GM's always just slightly off build quality issues.

 

Pull off the bezel and pull and push on light assembly to determine the movement. When the rear cover is pulled off to install the spoiler, the lights are disconnected from the rear cover, so the nuts for the spoiler can be installed. It sounds like a bolt is not tight or missing on light assembly.

 

I just went out and checked mine, an '18 St'ray I bought new 4.5 years ago. No, nothing as you describe. Both lights are solidly mounted all the way around.

As you describe yours and the situation, I'd bet something was diddled when it was apart. Such is not uncommon at all. I worked in a few dealerships when much younger and saw the "close enough" factor all too often when mechanics (in those days) were trying to beat flat-rate and move on to the next car.

 

Thanks, that is what I was thinking also

​​​​​​​Thanks, that is what I was thinking also

 

100%. Having done this install, could easily be a fastener that was not secured. The light assemblies are not all that robust so breakage is also possible. Not a big deal to fix but continued movement will eventually weaken the other points. Before putting the cover back on, I took 30 minutes making sure I didn’t miss anything. Annoying

 

Thanks to all that replied and offered good suggestions and insight.

I took the bezel off today and inspected as best as I could looking through the gaps between the rear facia and the tail light lens assembly.

All of the mounting screws are installed, but when you "flex" the inboard tip of the light assembly and watch the screw at that end, it does not move back with the assembly.

It is really hard to see, but I am fairly certain that the mounting tab on the light assembly that the screw goes through is not attached t the outer housing of the light assembly, I can see a portion of it moving when the light assembly is flexed , but the part held by the screw stays put.

I am thinking this is a warranty item, either on the general bumper to bumper or against the workmanship when the spoiler was installed.

I will discuss it with the service writer next time I am there.