Body Panel Alignment: What to watch out for + Tips (with a happy ending)

[IPOGT]

I had no confidence in the dealer's on site body shop. I also had trouble getting a local shop to help me. They were reluctant to fix such a new car. COVID did not help trying to get someone to work on it either. I did it myself. Needed to take the inner fender well off, remove some sound-deadening foam, and loosen 8-10 bolts. I applied some upward pressure on the front fender and greatly improved the panel alignment. It's still not perfect, but at least I can walk by the car without getting that feeling of disappointment in the QC of a $50K new car.

The first pic below shows the start of the project. I did get the final alignment better than shown in the side view picture.

Still a shame that my son's Honda Civic has PERFECT panel gaps and everything lines up precisely and my "American Icon" looks like it was assembled by Ray Charles.

Thanks for following up!

Chris

Your car was probably built by the same person who built mine in 2016. Same color, same problem plus a door alignment.
All perfect now. They fixed it all.
Glad you were able to fix it yourself.
It's worth the aggravation, but it shouldn't have those issues.

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[Expat]

My August 2020 build had both front fenders and trunk misaligned. The passenger side front fender actually rubbed the door. Dealer fixed all problems, had a loaner for a week due to COVID-19 working issues. Now happy with the car. It is shameful that these problems still exist five years later.