Hello - I have an RLX and just yesterday, noticed some pretty serious bubbling up on what is called "B Pillar". I've included a link to some photos below. Any idea what could have caused this? It almost looks like someone took a blow torch to a specific spot. Any idea on replacement costs? I hope it is not too much as maybe it is just the piece of plastic, but my goodness. I've inquired to the dealer, too, and I hate to sound overly paranoid, but I just got my car back from the dealership after a couple of days of work and I didn't notice this before. Granted, I don't spend a lot of time on passenger side of my car and maybe my daughters would have said something (or maybe they wouldn't). In a dealership, they would have the equipment that could do such damage. Or maybe it was a chemical? Anyway, it's a little bit of a mystery to everyone so I welcome anyone's thoughts.


https://www.dropbox.com/sh/gsiy0rywc...qJHmXQ-ya?dl=0

 

It's on both of them, and the forward one is exactly the part involved in the 2nd wind noise TSB.

I doubt that the dealer's going to try to claim that you did it, so unless you have 50,000 miles on your car, I'm thinking they'd just fix it for you w/out too much fussing.

With the focus on those black covers in the TSB's, I wonder if they weren't mishandled somehow in the manufacturing process.

If your dealer *does* say it was external forces, I would like to know what it is they think would cause that.

I can think of things...but they're very unlikely things.

 

Looks like someone melted that area. Maybe it was by accident while your car was at the dealer? Unless there are hooligans in your neighborhood running amok with blowtorches....an awful lot of work for a prank. I agree with you getting it checked out.

 

tchannon...Wow, that looks bad! It looks like your RLX has psoriasis!!

I am sure the dealer will look after you unless they feel it was vandalism.

 

See no reason why that wouldn't be covered under warranty. They *might* claim it's not a defect, but external damage instead, but if I were you I'd remain steadfast that if it's something other than a defect it was done by them.

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Is it resolved? Does it peel away (is it a film)?

 

Where was the car parked when this happened? It looks like you live in a warm climate. This damage could have been caused by the sun reflecting off a surface that focused the sun's energy on the car and melted the B-pillar plastic. The plastic is melted in a line which may be indicative of the Sun's arc. If there were no burn marks, only melted, then I can't see how this was done by a blow torch or a lighter. People have had their siding on their house melted in a similar way by the sun reflecting off a window.

Take the car back to this exact spot at the exact time of day (when the Sun is out) and look for reflective surfaces where the sun is shining on the car.

Not saying this is the case, but don't rule it out. It is rare but possible.

Also, it looks like it was partly cloudy that day, but it seems the sun was out intermittently. That could explain the discontinuous melting. Someone with a blow torch or lighter would not have made these starts and stops.

https://www.google.com/search?q=sun+...ed=0CAcQ_AUoAg

 

Read this article. It is specific to a building that "melted" parts of a Jaguar.

BBC News - 'Walkie-Talkie' skyscraper melts Jaguar car parts