[Andyk]

My Antara is 5 years old now and running well. When I bought it a year ago I knew there was slight signs of rust bubbling under the paint on the tailgate. I have finally got round to looking at it over the weekend. You may have noticed this seems to be an issue on older Antaras and Captivas (look on the Chevrolet forum), where rust bubbles appear under the paint around the chrome strip on the tailgate.

On removal of the chrome strip you can see why. On mine you can see marks on the paint where the strip seems to be rubbing against the paint where it touches on its edges. The rust is starting from here.


After rubbing down and painting as required, I think I have come up with a solution to resolve the problem. I have run two strips of electrical tape (top and bottom) under the chrome strip by sticking it to the tailgate. This stops the chrome trim touching the paint and is invisible when the trim is replaced.


For you guys wanting to keep your Antara longer than 3 years, I would recommend doing this. The trim is easily removed to do this. Two 10mm nuts on the inside of the tailgate to remove. Then gently pop out the trim fasteners along the trim. These pop out quite easily but it may benefit with a little easing out with a non metallic tool (wooden spatula or similar) It is really a 10 minute job that may keep you pride and joy in good nick for many years.


Andy

 

[Grumps]

Thanks for that Andy.

I agree and was going to post something similar.
I gave my Antara a wash, clay and polish at the weekend and noticed a small trace of rusty water on the inside of my tailgate next to the nut that holds the trim on. After removing it as you said i had a small spot of rust on the inside of the hole where its bolted through.

I cleaned the very small spot of rust and painted it. I also spotted marks where the trim was rubbing and put some tape on them. I also tried to protect the paintwork around the hole by wrapping some ptfe tape around the threads. Not ideal but the best i could do at the time.

So two fairly simple fixes for something that could lead to big problems if not treated early.

The bottom line is though its badly designed. Nearly all new cars these days use sticky pad type fixings for trim.

 

[vexorg]

.
Edited by: vexorg

 

[HoneyMonster]

Just got mine back from dealers all resprayed under warranty, would hope so as pointed it out at 6 months old.

Speaking to the garage, they said yes it is the chrome strip rubbing as it flexes. So as well as painting they used double sided tape and a clear tape along edges of the chrome. They also took off and checked and did same to plastic centre panel under wiper and above rear numberplate as that apparently does the same. so another area to keep an eye on.

 

[Andyk]

thanks for the heads up
Andy

 

[♠ChumBucket♠]

Just got mine back from dealers all resprayed under warranty, would hope so as pointed it out at 6 months old.

Speaking to the garage, they said yes it is the chrome strip rubbing as it flexes. So as well as painting they used double sided tape and a clear tape along edges of the chrome. They also took off and checked and did same to plastic centre panel under wiper and above rear numberplate as that apparently does the same. so another area to keep an eye on.

Who did it Iain, Tustain?

 

[HoneyMonster]

Yep down at Alnwick it had to go for the job

 

[♠ChumBucket♠]

Yep down at Alnwick it had to go for the job

Think I passed you in Berwick at the weekend, I was just coming out & you were going in.

 

[HoneyMonster]

probably heading back from Duns as went to tidy the van at its storage yard

 

[♠ChumBucket♠]

It was one of the rare occasions I get to drive it!!

 

[Wingman]

After seeing a number of posts about the issues of rust on the tailgate when I first got my 6 month old Antara in July 2015 I determined that I must have a look at my chrome strip and see if I had a problem. I got hold of some clear protection film as recommended by Grumps with the intention of using it to stop the strip rubbing against the paint.Well finally got round to looking at this today!! Was prompted by the amount of grot I could see along the top edge of the strip, this despite the vehicle being regularly washed every week!!
As grumps and others indicated removal of the strip was easy. I used the plastic trim removal tools that another forum member had flagged up on here and they made the job very easy.
I was pleasantly surprised to find no sign of rust and that the strip had already had a protective strip of body tape applied to it. Absolutely no sign of any respraying so can only surmise that this tape was applied at factory. Cleaned everything up, applied a liberal coat of wax around back and edges of strip recess and refitted.
However my query is regarding the plastic housing that contains the number plate light and the potential noted by Grumps (and others) for this housing to rub grit against the paintwork and cause rust. I can see grot lodged in the sides of this housing but the gap(s) is so narrow that it is impossible to clean it out. I want to take this housing off to clean and protect the paintwork area behind and to the side of it. Has anyone done this and if so how did you get this housing off??
Any advice appreciated. TIA

 

[Andrewberry]

I've had the plastic trim off which houses number plate lights and boot switch to fit my reverse camera, you have to remove the whole of inside of boot lid to get to fixings, when I fit camera 18 months ago there was slight rub marks but nothing too alarming, I did intend on removing all again and cleaning up but life's got in the way not got round to it yet, good luck and keep us posted

 

[Victor]

The rear number plate on mines was touching the rear door slightly so I took out the screws and put a couple of spacing washers in keep it clear of the paintwork. Problem is the rear door comes to a Vee in the middle which is where the number plate was touching.

 

[Bigjohnsparky]

My rear number plate is only stuck on with number plate double sided sticky pads x4 from Halfords

 

[jon]

My rear number plate was stuck on with sticky pads, lots of them, direct from the dealer. It's now sitting at the side of a road somewhere between Luxembourg and Frankfurt...

 

[Bigjohnsparky]

Yep you said it fitted by dealer lol
When I fitted my plates myself nearly a year ago I made sure both surfaces were clean and dry before sticking plate on and to date it's still fixed good and strong

 

[volrider]

Yesterday, armed with my eBay trim removal kit I got the rear chrome tailgate trim off and had a look at the paintwork, all good, but then on closer inspection I saw a bubble on the paint near the left side, then I noticed three others, three on the left and one on the right. All very small. Looking at the rear of the trim you can see that it has a soft spongy type of tape that has started to degrade. After cleaning and polishing the channel I put black plastic tape on the rear of the trim and after tackling the rust I put it also on the channel where the trim sits.I had the choice of going to dealer, losing the car for a couple of days or sorting out the minor issue myself. I went for the latter, cleaned the tiny bubbles off to bare metal, treated metal with K-Rust then enamel paint in black the tiny spots.
All put back and I will check it in a few months time to see if the tape is doing its job.
Pic below shows the three spots (cleaned of paint/rust) on the left of the tailgate.

Edited by: volrider

 

[Bigjohnsparky]

Nice job plus I like the red garage door lol