Below is the rear of my 1999 Pontiac Trans Am on July 10th 1999, An "off the showroom floor" new Trans Am. Notice where the exhaust outlets are recessed into the bumper, the recessed license area and the groove from lower left, across the bumper and down the lower right.
Sited at Cherner's Spring Mall Auto Body on February 15, 2002 and photographed on Monday February 18th.
These car butchers hung a Firebird bumper on my Trans Am perhaps turning it into a unique Transula...
After some heated words at Cherner's Spring Mall Auto Body and some furious calls to Nationwide Insurance I finally got my car back on March 13th,
I had to pay out of pocket over $700 in deductibles and car rental fees after getting rear ended by a Nationwide policy holder. To say nothing of the fact I had "NO" car for nearly 3 weeks.
Below is my car on the day of it's return.
It still looks pretty aggressive for an American/Canadian built Muscle car.
The rear bumper, shock absorption components and reinforcement bars were replaced.
Along with both right and left quarter panels
the wheel wells appear equal on both sides with proper clearance between the tire and bumper.
The small chips in the front were filled
and it appears they repainted the front bumper as the scratches across the front are gone.
but lets look a little deeper at the quality issues.
#1 Here is a trunk bracket with the wiring attached left dangling by a single spot weld.
It provides no support at all for the interior trim panel and speaker enclosure.
notice anything missing from this picture below?
#2 The bracket is missing in its entirety. There was no slotted hole for the corner fastener on the spare tire cover panel,
Lets not forget the T-top holders: 1 Pewter and 1 Black
#3 Black just doesn't make it for some reason...
#4 Metal filings were left in the wheel well to rust, along with a source of water since the antenna drain tube was never plugged in.
#5 But this is more likely the source of moisture and the resulting rust already forming. This appears to be a dab of filler instead of a proper weatherproof seal.
The join is immediately behind the right rear tire and gets all the road spray.
Here are some more unsatisfactory joins in the new quarter panels,
#6 Passenger side under the wheel well.
#7 This one is the drivers side up under the wheel well and again subject to the road spray.
#8 So, what is this?
another one?
#9 Still more
and more
and another
sorry about the qualtity of the photo but here's a close up of the damage
These are craters in the glass and heat damaged tinting due to an autobody repairman who didn't take the necessary precautions to protect the customer's car from welding damage. The molten metal contained in sparks from welding has pitted and cratered the drivers side door glass and the drivers side T-top glass.
#10 (I think I could go on forever...)
the manual calls for 30mm clearance between the tail pipe and the bumper, We have 55mm on each side.
#11 A rather large gap on both sides where the bumper was sloppily mounted
#12 Another rather large gap where the taillights meet the trunk lid.
#13 A missing "nut".
Okay, it seems like a nit but when I have to pay over $700 out of my pocket for an accident that was not my fault and get nothing but bullshit from both Nationwide Insurance and Spring Mall Autobody you can be assured that none of these are "nits" and the repairs will be correct and to specifications.
The missing "whatever it is" retains the guts of the aerial which fly out and dangle by the wiring when I turn on the stereo. To preserve the paintwork I disconnected the aerial motor leads preventing the aerial from raising.
The trunk floor panel is new but I wonder what the mounting holes are for?
and both frame rails were replaced.
I need to find out if the frame rails were replaced correctly. The welding looks very strange and I hope to put it on a rack and scrap some of the thick black paint off to get a better look.
This is the most likely cause of the horrible groaning and creaking sounds coming from the rear of my car.
more to come
but for now this is the list of remedial work to be done.
1. Trunk bracket needs alignment and attachment.
2. Trunk bracket needs replacement, alignment and attachment.
3. T-top holder needs replacement with correct color.
4. Metal filings (and now rust) need removal.
5. Poor sealing of quarter panel behind right rear wheel.
6. Poor sealing of quarter panel above right rear wheel.
7. Poor sealing of quarter panel above left rear wheel.
8. Driver side door glass.
9. Driver side T-top glass.
10. Misaligned exhaust system.
11. Bumper sloppily mounted with large gaps.
12. Excessive clearance between the taillights and the trunk lid.
13. Missing retainer nut on the aerial.