New GT350, bumper cover paint flaw

So I bought the GT350 and they didn't have the splitter installed. Thought it was unimportant, so left it off for the month I've had it. So I was doing a size up of the install and noticed the splitter receiver tabs molded into the bumper-cover were ground down a bit, and one was fractured (it still seems to have structural integrity, but not sure how much the splitter receiver thingy actually needs 100% integrity). Now, I am not one to blame others, so I will assume I bottomed it out and did the damage (although I am pretty careful generally)...But as I am down there I notice in the painted corners around the radiator airflow mouth (whateverTF it is called) there is an area where you can see thin paint that allows you to see the undercoat primer.

My bet is there was damage to the front end, they repainted it and f'd up by not being thorough. I doubt it came from the factory with that flaw.

I'm going to have the stealership address the issue.

Splitter protectors and deluxe front rock guards by ZL1 are ordered.

Just thought you'd like to hear the new guy bitch and moan...you are welcome.

Can you post a picture? I wouldn't be surprised if it was a defect from the factory.

Its that little section of the bumper-cover mouth on the other side of that vertical splitter thingy. I don't have a photo sharing account...Just in the corner and if you look closely you can see it wasn't hit well...I'd hate to believe such amateur mistakes are coming off the production line.

Does anybody know if those splitter receiver thingies (side splitter of a three piece near the joining point to the main splitter) molded into the bottom of the bumper cover need strength, or are they primarily just guides for mounting?

If you are describing the very lower, center part of the painted bumper section where the splitter installs - mine has some obvious scrapes down there I would guess from unloading or moving around the dealership before the splitter was installed. With the splitter installed I can just see a few scuffed/scraped areas peaking out a fraction of an inch ahead of the splitter. I didn't notice it for a month and had to be down on the ground to see them.

I suspect a lot of these cars have some paint damage under the splitter. Not completely sure if this is the exact area you are describing.

The splitter provides the front end down force for better grip. On an R the force is greater than a non R due to the different designs. However, each type does provide down force. That force is divided up by each of the attachment points on the whole assembly. Those tabs are more than just guides, they are an integral part of the support for the splitter. If you grind them down, they really should be repaired or replaced. Obviously, replacing the front end facia is a costly item, part, paint, and stripes. So I would look towards repair.

I doubt the dealer who sold your car will do anything for you. You drove it around for a month with the splitter off. You own it.

However, you can probably repair the broken scraped tabs with some ABS plastic repair (as long as the tabs aren't scraped too bad. Likewise, if the scrape is just superficial, I probably wouldn't do a thing.

Post some photos and maybe we can help a little more.

SVTinAR said:

If you are describing the very lower, center part of the painted bumper section where the splitter installs - mine has some obvious scrapes down there I would guess from unloading or moving around the dealership before the splitter was installed. With the splitter installed I can just see a few scuffed/scraped areas peaking out a fraction of an inch ahead of the splitter. I didn't notice it for a month and had to be down on the ground to see them.

I suspect a lot of these cars have some paint damage under the splitter. Not completely sure if this is the exact area you are describing.

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The paint flaw is on the radiator mouth section of the bumper cover. Something you would notice if looking at the radiator and look down at the little shelf parallel to the ground.

Tomster said:

The splitter provides the front end down force for better grip. On an R the force is greater than a non R due to the different designs. However, each type does provide down force. That force is divided up by each of the attachment points on the whole assembly. Those tabs are more than just guides, they are an integral part of the support for the splitter. If you grind them down, they really should be repaired or replaced. Obviously, replacing the front end facia is a costly item, part, paint, and stripes. So I would look towards repair.

I doubt the dealer who sold your car will do anything for you. You drove it around for a month with the splitter off. You own it.

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I am talking about damage to the bumper cover splitter receiver points (the female couple to the male bit attached to the splitter. My hope is the male tab attached to the splitter is taking the pressure (which logically it is). I can't see the female receiver tab would be taking significant downforce given it is like 2 mm of plastic (that which cracked whilst meeting asphalt).

Agreed, I do own it. Wish I would have known about what exactly was exposed and how important it was to protect. But I'll own that too, because I don't have the ethics of a dealership.

MulhollandMonster said:

I am talking about damage to the bumper cover splitter receiver points (the female couple to the male bit attached to the splitter. My hope is the male tab attached to the splitter is taking the pressure (which logically it is). I can't see the female receiver tab would be taking significant downforce given it is like 2 mm of plastic (that which cracked whilst meeting asphalt).

Agreed, I do own it. Wish I would have known about what exactly was exposed and how important it was to protect. But I'll own that too, because I don't have the ethics of a dealership.

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Post a picture of it. If its the tabs I'm thinking of, yes they are important.

Note the red circles. If any of those areas are cracked or broken, you need to either replace or repair to be correct. If you don't ever plan to track the car or drive fast, you may be ok, but those tabs are more than just guides. When the splitter starts pulling down due to aero forces, the tabs help hold the splitter to the assembly.

I don't have the photo handy of when my splitter wasn't fastened correctly to my 16 track pack (improper installation from dealer), but at 130MPH, the splitter pulled down out of those tabs and scraped the road.

The tabs and fasteners should all be intact and present to hold it to the bumper/fascia assembly.

I cant tell about the upper red circles, but the lower one in the middle looks like it is broken.

If that is the case, then it appears replacing the whole bumper cover is the option. Not sure I would trust any attempt at attempting to fix such fine bits and expect structural integrity...One thing for sure, the dealer most likely has no idea about how to fix or the finer points of aero engineering.

I didn't want to believe that was the case, but had I absolute confidence it wasn't a theoretical complete loss of the bumper cover (I mean, fuck!), I wouldn't have posted here.

Thanks for your impression.

MulhollandMonster said:

If that is the case, then it appears replacing the whole bumper cover is the option. Not sure I would trust any attempt at attempting to fix such fine bits and expect structural integrity...One thing for sure, the dealer most likely has no idea about how to fix or the finer points of aero engineering.

I didn't want to believe that was the case, but had I absolute confidence it wasn't a theoretical complete loss of the bumper cover (I mean, fuck!), I wouldn't have posted here.

Thanks for your impression.

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I looked into this a while back for another issue. The stripes alone are going to run about $1200. Add the facia and paint and labor.....

It isn't going to be cheap.

I welcome a second opinion. Maybe someone else will chime in. It has been a long standing topic around here when you see people posting about driving around without their splitters on. The consensus is always the same..... Install the splitter to avoid damaging those tabs.

Again, if only one tab is broken and all the rest are intact, you would probably be ok. However, if all or most of them are damaged to the point of structural integrity, then you are looking at replacing the assembly and that is going to cost some major coin.

The thing that bothers me is I always approach questionable angles at 45ish degrees. I had to bring it back twice so they could install rock guard, the second time because they forgot the tint install...Sucking this up is a hard swallow, and even the "take responsibility" ethos that typically dominates for me is rebelling, simply because at the very least they should have said "FYI, be very careful as exposed down there are some bits that are very expensive if you fuck up."...Had that been said I probably would have refused driving it off the lot until installed.

threads like this need to have pictures, i cant read through it all to picture what it might look like