How to deal with design flaw in new car?

[Bestwifeever]

Gorilla glue

 

[splitwdw]

Is it the gap between the top of the plastic trim that curls around the seat or the 90 degree bend at the bottom of the trim piece that's catching your pant leg? Wonder if you can use a heat gun to curl the top piece of trim into the seat cushion. You would have to take the trim piece off before heating. If you could get a junk trim piece to practice with that would be better. If it's the bottom of the trim, what about cutting and filing it on an angle so it's not hanging straight down.
Maybe switching to skinny jeans??
Hope you find a solution because that has to be frustrating.

 

[jazz4cash]

That trim around the seat memory controls looks very similar to many other GM models. Maybe if you look at some other GM and non-GM makes you'll see what makes similar designs less troublesome. I'm wondering if some industrial grade velcro might help keep it attached well enough to avoid snagging your pants leg. A lot of these trim pieces just snap on so you could also find a nice finishing screw and maybe that would help ( or rip your pants leg instead of snapping off.) It's a shame you have to deal with this on a new car. I see tons of those Encores around.

 

[Jerry1]

Wonder if you can use a heat gun to curl the top piece of trim into the seat cushion.

I bet the collision shop could find a way to mold that into the seat better. Not sure if they’d use heat, but I bet it could be done.

A simple fix would be to trim the plastic to 2 inches to the left of the electrical controls, to just before it curves around to the seat front.

That was my original thought. Might even be able to do it in a way that looks “right”.

 

[Mr._Graybeard]

The spot where the trim piece is cracked, near the switch, looks inherently weak. Could it be that the weak point allows the leading edge of the trim to hang out in harm's way? Maybe it could be reinforced there to keep the trim piece clamped closer to the upholstery.

 

[jazz4cash]

We have 2011 Chevy Equinox. The seat trim piece looks very similar (no memory controls). Here is the view looking back from the pedals. The torx screw on the right attaches the trim piece to the seat frame.

 

[Lakewood90712]

Send a nice , polite , and detailed complaint letter

Mary T. Barra , Chairman & Chief Executive Officer
General Motors
300 Renaissance Center,
Detroit Michigan 48265-0001

 

[JoeWras]

I have the same problem with a Subaru!

Not that it helps, but can I say you are not alone? I have the same problem on a Subaru! I think it is one reason I like wearing shorts.

It constantly bugs me. No bell bottoms required. Just something about your pant leg bottom getting caught on it.

I ended up drilling a hole in the broken piece and using two twist ties to mechanically reconnect where it broke. There is enough "give" when I constantly catch this such that the fix has lasted a few years now. See picture.

I like the car, but frankly this problem is maddening. Although my fix stops it from completely flapping out (and taking the seat controls with it), the problem remains that there is a gap because my fix doesn't return the trim to proper close contact with the cushion.

 

[Badger]

It appears that even if you were to make the hard plastic piece stationary it would still present a corner for your slacks to catch. bjorn2bewild seems to have to best solution. The edge of the hard plastic needs to be covered. A temporary fix that could be easily removed with no damage might be to use a wide nylon strap with a quick release like you find in camping equipment stores (like REI)to wrap around the entire seat to cover the front edge. May not look great but it would be quick to remove if you don't like the look or results.


Other ideas include going bearfoot and wearing shorts. But then you don't live in Florida.


As you said it is clearly a design flaw. They could have not wrapped the plastic around the seat front and stopped the plastic a few inches behind the front of the seat and solved the problem.



Cheers!

 

[ERD50]

Thanks again for all the replies.

To be clear, I'm not clear (wait, does that help?) if it was my pants catching or my shoe. I think my shoe though, right between the top and the side of my foot, the inside right foot, would seem to make sense.

I'm sure I can rig up some kind of fix, but it just doesn't seem right to have to kludge up a new car. I will take the polite approach with the dealer first, "gee, thanks for fixing that for me, but it broke again, is there anything else you can do to help, I really like the car"... and get more aggressive step by step, and I have that vehicle safety page bookmarked.

I'll do some more searching for info on a car forum, so far haven't found much.

edit/add: I don't think I can cut that part away, it covers wiring and other stuff. I think I need something like the strapping or a filler panel that was talked about - something to make a flush surface from left to right, so there is nothing to catch on.

-ERD50

 

[Scrapr]

Naa , nothing wrong with the car you are probably wearing a pair of old bell bottom pants ant they got caught on it .
Or possibly go to You Tube like a Corvette , they have a demo video how to get out of a corvette correctly . LOL

I think you are on to something

https://youtu.be/uqWz_3ABZYM

ftr my 05 Volvo had a recurring issue with this

 

[travelover]

I'm tellin' ya......10 Duct Tape DIY Upholstery Disasters

 

[KenZ71]

Watched the YouTube linked above - I've been using similar process for getting in / out of my Escalade & Suburban prior to that.

Main reason for me was to avoid the worn edges seen on many other vehicles as described in the video. Just saying...

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

The "letter to the CEO", "I will call a lawyer", "I will let the NHTSA know about this" will most likely yield you NOTHING. There are lots and LOTS of similar stories about different cars that have flaws that THOUSANDS of people have complained about, but the manufacturer has done NOTHING about it.

A few examples: Older Ford Explorers...the trim piece below the back window cracks. EVERY SINGLE Explorer I have seen of that era, they are cracked. Ford did NOTHING. F-150, the most popular vehicle on the planet...has a new transmission that does crazy stuff and makes crazy noises. THOUSANDS of people complain...and yep, nothing is done about it, Ford just says, "it's a common, normal occurrence". Many of the trucks have brake controllers that are installed, but they don't work because they failed wire them into the fuse box...it has taken months to get that figured out, and Ford is taking their sweet time fixing something that people PAID FOR. Infiniti has an engine that was used in almost all of their vehicles for several years that used a paper internal gasket that if it fails, costs many thousands of dollars to repair...guess what those folks have to do? Yep...suck it up.

If you go to any make/model specific forum, you will see threads like these for DAYS AND DAYS. It is what it is. If you want it fixed, you need to figure it out on your own. If GM comes up with a solution, it will most likely be years.

 

[ERD50]

The "letter to the CEO", "I will call a lawyer", "I will let the NHTSA know about this" will most likely yield you NOTHING. There are lots and LOTS of similar stories about different cars that have flaws that THOUSANDS of people have complained about, but the manufacturer has done NOTHING about it. ...

You are very probably correct.

But I'll still go through some of these steps, and give them the opportunity to do something for me.

I might end up just asking them for 3 spare trim pieces, so I can try a fix on my own, and if I screw up, I can try again with an extra spare.

Better than nothing. I will get this fixed one way or another, it is potentially dangerous, or at least inconvenient if I catch my shoe, trip and fall in a mud puddle, even if I don't get hurt.

-ERD50

 

[MRG]

You are very probably correct.

But I'll still go through some of these steps, and give them the opportunity to do something for me.

I might end up just asking them for 3 spare trim pieces, so I can try a fix on my own, and if I screw up, I can try again with an extra spare.

Better than nothing. I will get this fixed one way or another, it is potentially dangerous, or at least inconvenient if I catch my shoe, trip and fall in a mud puddle, even if I don't get hurt.

-ERD50

When Ford bought our Escape back it wasn't really about safety. The vehicles seals leaked dirt at every seam. We did live on a dirt road and that made it worse but the vehicle was safe.

I was really surprised how their dispute settlement process was managed. Very fair and staffed with knowledgeable folks.

I'd definitely recommend trying.

 

[samclem]

Some companies do make iterative improvements to future products (even if they won't fix ones they've already sold). I like to encourage these improvements, and I'm one of the loudest complainers when companies don't do it. In my view, my end of the bargain is to let 'em know that a problem exists.

 

[ERD50]

The only design flaw I've ever dealt with resulted in Ford buying our Escape back after a year. We went through the dispute settlement process outlined in the owner's manual.

When Ford bought our Escape back it wasn't really about safety. The vehicles seals leaked dirt at every seam. We did live on a dirt road and that made it worse but the vehicle was safe.

I was really surprised how their dispute settlement process was managed. Very fair and staffed with knowledgeable folks.

I'd definitely recommend trying.

Thanks, I will check the manual and familiarize myself with the process.

My thinking now is to keep the "give me some spares so I can fix it myself" as a backup plan. Before I get to that, I'll offer up having a professional body shop propose a 'fix' that would be acceptable to me, and let Buick pay for it.

I need to look at that passenger side closer too. I think it's similar. Will get them both 'fixed'.

-ERD50