The owner of a 2021 Chevy Tahoe was left disappointed after the vehicle was delivered to him with the paint peeling off in certain areas.
According to one of the owner’s social media posts, he took delivery of a brand new Summit White 2021 Chevy Tahoe Z71 on October 31st, 2020. Shortly after on November 9th, 2020, he posted photos showing some of the vehicle’s gloss white paint peeling off near an edge on the full-size SUV’s liftgate and said the paint was “chipping under the rear glass right in between where the plastic Tahoe plate and paint meet.” The photos appear to back this up, showing a small amount of paint chipping/peeling off near the seal on the edge of the window.
All major automakers take quality control within their plants seriously, but small defects like this can still happen when producing vehicles on such a large scale. Thankfully, the dealership corrected the issue for the owner, so they did not have to go to GM directly to try and resolve the problem. It’s not clear which dealership this particular vehicle was purchased from.
The 2021 Chevy Tahoe is built at the GM Arlington Assembly plant in Texas. This is the only plant where GM’s popular line of full-size SUVs is built, which also includes the Chevy Suburban, Cadillac Escalade as well as GMC Yukon and Yukon XL. The automaker has been running the plant at maximum capacity to help meet the demand for its new line of T1-based full-size SUVs, though COVID-19-related parts shortages have led to some minor production setbacks at the facility.
Pricing for the 2021 Chevy Tahoe starts at $50,295 for the base-model LS. The off-road focused Z71 trim, which includes a unique front fascia treatment, red recovery hooks and 20-inch wheels wrapped in Goodyear Wrangler TrailRunner AT tires, starts at $60,495.
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Comments
Ford has had major corrosion issues on their aluminum gates for years.
As long as this is an isolated issues no big deal. If this is wide spread then we have a problem.
With mass production there are no perfect paint jobs. Most don’t even hardly polish much below the side strip on cars to save money. Few notice the poor quality down low.
Time goes by. The loyalty that used to be has been eroded to the point of not caring so much. As it stands my next vehicle will be a Honda. I do not need anymore reasons to walk away from GM products. This paint defect should never have got past quality control. I cannot take their products seriously if GM doesn’t.
A shame because there are a few designs I do like. My money will be put elsewhere. Thankyou
Honda?!? LOL….Go buy your Honda, they have issues too, just ask my Aunt and cousin who are both having issues with their Honda’s
Really? Is this the last straw that breaks the camel’s back for you, a paint chip on one single example? Cars form from thousands of complex components and subsystems but you care about the most rudimentary, nonfactor element. I’m sure your cars never had a paint chip in contrast to 99 percent of the cars that older one week. You must be very simple man or seeking a pretext to move away from GM.
These are the stupid mistakes that keep General Motors from becoming the company they want to be.
They are NORMAL mistakes GM keeps making, that is keeping them from delivering what the consumer wants, expects, and demands!
We are what we want to be an..that’s great
Do not blame the workers! They do what they are told to do or get reprimanded. The managers will pass over many items to “ ship em out “. Unfortunately the managers are supported on this by their upper managers. GM instituted team build/processes in early 80s but never empowered the team members to control those issues. The workers at GM do a good job! They are frustrated with quality issues they are not allowed to fix. Realize that quality issues are not just superficial. Quality issues can also be structural, fit and mechanical. The CEO of GM had spoke of a commitment to rid their build process of this legacy. Perhaps a renewed effort is in order.
This is the lamest excuse in the book. It’s not the employees “it’s the managers”, seriously? That doesn’t even make sense. A manager should never purposely allow something like this to be delivered to a customer because that would mean they weren’t doing their job. That falls back on them, and awards them an email from their boss’s boss. It’s their job to manage the workers who are building the product(s), but it’s ultimately up to the workers to make sure that standard in quality is met EVERY DAY, every car, every TIME.
Johnny Appleseed, Culture in any company starts at the top. It is the Board of Directors and the CEO who are ultimately responsible for Quality. This is recognized by making those in charge of quality report directly to the person at the top. You are underestimating the role of leadership in a company. There is a reason why those at the top get paid so much more than the average company worker, the consequences of their performance are much greater.
This has absolutely nothing to do with the culture of the brand. This was a simple mistake that should have been detected way before the product left the plant. I’m not underestimating anything. I think you’re the one that’s underestimating the role of the assembly workers. Operations or management roles that are on the production floor AREN’T at the “top of the company” either. Far from it. That’s the management who are likely to take the blame for errors similar to this from the higher ups. So again, no manager who values their job is gonna want something like this to take place on their watch.
Not only is it completely unfair and ridiculous to point the blame solely at the supervisors of assembly workers, but it’s inaccurate too.
I’m not saying it’s ALL workers, I’m talking about the one that’s responsible for this defect in quality. I highly doubt management give paint jobs to products. Somebody was supposed to ensure a quality check was performed before this vehicle left the floor. Management doesn’t leave the office and perform quality checks by hand, the workers do that. They are trusted to ensure the quality of their own work EVERY TIME. Management shouldn’t have to do that, because then the culture of the company becomes micro-managing which isn’t a great taste for a worker to have in their mouths. No one wants to work under those conditions. But in order to maintain a standard in quality management has to either train workers to the best of their abilities and trust that workers do their job and ensure that standard in quality is met EVERY TIME, or stand over workers to make sure that quality is there.
An investigation should begin so that upper management can do their job(s) making sure something like this never happens again or at least much less. Management should try to prevent things like this from happening at all because it does come back on then and it can become the culture of the brand, but it’s not just their fault when it does.
You must not have been involved with managing quality or safety in a company. It always comes down to management. The culture is set from the top. I am not creating anything new here, this is Management 101. Management is responsible for training. Management is responsible for putting systems in place. Management is in charge of reviewing outcomes and improving them. Management is responsible for rewards. Management does the hiring.
As one management guru pointed out years ago, take two companies, each with 10,000 employees, drawn from the same general labor pool. When you get to those numbers you can expect that the working force has similar profiles when it comes to education, talent, motivation, and responsibility. One company thrives, gets exceptional results out of their employees, the other muddles along with mediocre outcomes. It is management that is responsible.
Your answer is entirely wrong. Management doesn’t train anyone… unless the original came into Management through the assembly line, then they know little to nothing about training someone much less doing the job themselves. The Employees are responsible for everything that happens on that assembly line, be it training, quality control, repairs, etc… they do everything. If tge Employees do their job correctly then we never have to see a Group Leader, or Superintendent at all. And that’s tge way we like it… all Management does is get in the way, from tge Employees to build the best quality product possible. Management is only their to react to a problem once Employees notify the of one.
Here is an example that may be out of date now, but was publicized decades ago when the first foreign auto companies started manufacturing in the US. At the time, plants of domestic manufacturers, plants of foreign manufacturers, and foreign plants of foreign manufacturers were compared for “output quality”. It turned out the most relevant difference was in the number of different options that were available. The fewer the options, the better the quality. This is a management decision, from the top a system is put in place that puts customer choice ahead of quality upon delivery. Once that lesson is learned it is management’s responsibility to find people who can design production systems that yield both.
This applies nowhere to today’s auto manufacturing at GM
I love this site but this is a lame post lol
Seriously. News flash: New car delivered with defect. Dealer repairs under warranty.
Anyone notice it’s on a white vehicle? Notice all the older white vehicles on the road losing their paint? White. Makes me think it still isn’t solved.
As the owner of an early 2000’s GM van I was thinking the same thing. Sure, this likely originated with damage, but so do a lot of the peeling issues…you get a little rock chip and after some time half the paint peels off of the hood. You can see the peeling starting from the edges of the damaged area in the pic in the article. A good proportion of the Express/Savana’s you see out there have this issue. Mechanically my van has been great but it seems that after 100 years or whatever GM should have been able to figure out how to apply paint that sticks. If Toyota ever makes a cargo van for the U.S. I will buy it. But since they don’t I will stick with my GM van, and keep after it with a rattle can!
Courts finally Force GM to repair Air Bag issues. I Called My local Dealer, says no replacement parts available. Same Story 3 Years ago. GM get you act together and do the right thing! Tired of waiting. I won’t be buying any of your products in the future.
They made a final court ruling YESTERDAY. GM has 30 days to come up with a schedule for notification and repair of the vehicles affected by the recall. Be patient, you will receive a letter from GM when parts are available.
It is Takata, not GM. With the extreme amount of replacements needed it will take a while for everyone to get them replaced. If you want to throw a fit and blame GM have fun with any of the other brands that are in the same boat…
Takata is a GM supplier. Seems to me the defect should have been detected during product qualification testing. Shame on GM. They’re responsible for determining the test requirements.
Ok. Shame on GM, we all expect better. Shame on Toyota too for experiencing the same issues in failing to detect defects pre-production. Lol smh
Sorry you fill this away .. Truthfully this happens everywhere Samsung did me the same way on my freezer .. stay blessed ..!! If u like a General Motors product by all means get what u want ..😊
Best paint in the industry is Lexus.
Best beer in Canada is Brador.
I don’t always drink beer, but when i do its Brador.
This is NOT peeling paint. It was chipped during assembly. I’ve worked in body shops forever and know exactly what happened.
General Motors didn’t learn a thing back in the 80s and are doing the same thing now I guess they’ll be asking the government for another loan pretty soon cuz I can’t sell none of their cars
I have had many chevy suburbans my last one was 08 ltz1500.burned 2qts of oil in abou1500 miles! No recall by gm!I’m done with gm junk!will look into toyotas
Middle bench seat in my telluride ,on the back there is a piece of metal under the fabric so first time I laid the seats down to haul some light boxes the metal not being flat poked a hole in the fabric of the seat.
Our 2021 Tahoe, with 972 miles came to a stop while at a restaurant drive-thru, wouldn’t shift or drive. Towed to local dealer and had a bad transmission valve body. After 12 days in the shop we finally got it back. We bought it right off the truck with 3 miles on it. Very frustrating.
This is why my next SUV will be a LEXUS GX…Ive been a die hard Chevy guy for 40 years…Not Anymore!!
Thats a 82 Honda, how dare you!
My 2021 tahoe has a service safety restraint system alarm that goes off and on the dealership can’t fix it and gm has done nothing for me so disappointed with gm
escalade, Yukon Denali is on the same assembly line How much more quilty is one getting on the high end $75-$100k just buy the base will do the same as a $80k so no leather 3 sunroof s self drive as with most high end luxury heavy depreciation in the frist 2-4 yrs
My 2021 had this as well and My local dealer replaced a harness under one of the seats. Issue was fixed.
That is safety related. If they don’t fix it, Lemon Law it.
No surprise here. I work at a GM factory and they assemble garbage. Quality control is a joke. It’s no surprise this Tahoe has paint issues. GM uses watercolors for their paint.
Chevy lost the war to Ford a long time ago. FORD is far superior even if they have their own issues.
That obviously got hit with something
I have a 2017, Chevy Silverado, delivered with a scratch, I tried 3 times to get it fixed, they wanted the vehicle for over a week, I asked for cash instead but got nothing. I bought it in Newark, Delaware new.
The owner has some of that great GM feeling.
The Heartbreak of America, today’s Chevrolet
😡
I just bought a 2021 Tahoe Z71. Bought in CA with 40 miles on it. I live in ID and was driving it home. Got at about 60 miles…light came on….issue with seat belt or something. Took to my awesome dealer in ID…some electrical issue the ordered part for. Hopefully fix issue when I take it in next week. Trial Onstar and Sirius worked fine on 1200 mile drive home. Went to set it up OnStar….they said something malfunctioned in electronics of truck and its got to got back to dealer. Now my Sirius doesnt work either. I had a 2011 Tahoe brand new. Not once did I have an issue. So far Chevy is not scoring points on the 2021 especially since dealer is over an hr away. Wont even go into dealer issue in CA. Two strikes …boo
I purchased a 2010 blizzard white Toyota four runner in 2011. My paint was separating from the primer, and started to peel and blister. Well this year in 2020 they recalled my vehicle and repainted my entire 4 runner. It totaled ninety five hundred dollars, with no charge to me. Way to go toyota.
You won! Play the Lotto & hope for the best.
Ill take it. I mean peeling paint thats nothing. Ill put a big old chevy magnet on the side to for advertisement.
One of the few reasons I’ve considered switching to Ford. I have had nothing but Chevrolet and GMC since I was 19. (I’m 32 now.) Fords vehicles are cheaper, with the right engine, produce more towing power than chevy/gmc trucks, still get better fuel mileage, and to top it off….*drumroll* … Chevy/GMC have been slacking on the interior of their trucks for years. The difference in interior rating between ford and chevrolet at this point, is like the difference between a square body Chevy and a cat eye chevy. Its horrible. Ford is so much more comfortable. However I keep waiting, hoping that the next year will be the year they update the interior, because to be honest, chevy engines can make a lot of power with aftermarket upgrades, and their transmissions (aside from the junky 8 speed over the past couple years.) Its hard to beat. But dang how hard is it to put a bigger touch screen, better supportive seats, and a new spice to the interior with newer options in your vehicles?
The Texas G.M. Plant is only an assembly facility. All the parts are stamped, fabricated and painted in Mexico and then shipped to America for assembly.
No one knows what’s going on in Mexico with their labor at $3.14 Hr.
Unless they did a paint repair in the plant & muffed it… repair person should have caught that before he shipped it with his stamp of approval on the build ticket…
That’s not peeling. That’s damaged paint – more than likely from assembly. *The more you know*
I have a 2012 silverado that peeled all the way to the metal cost me 1400 dollars dealer or manufacturer refused to correct
I see this all over the place, I will not drive any other vehicles other than General Motors, Please fix this Problem!!Clinton
Iarro55 is right. I only read the comments looking for someone else that has noticed white paint seems to peel more than any other color. I also realize white is probably the most popular color on the road but I still think it’s the white paint that is to blame. I can’t think of any other color that I have seen peeling for many years now. The next car you see with peeling paint will be white…I guarantee it! Although the paint in this case may indeed be damaged by some kind of contact, it’s chances of peeling are much higher than any other color.
Thats why Mopar is the way to go! Dodge 1500 for 2020 the best made by news and world report. Check it out!
If I could order a Durango with a split – bench front seat and no console, I’d buy one. But, it is not offered. The GM RWDs are the only makes with such an option.
Like I posted yesterday, GM has their problems !! And it seems to be within quality control.
My brother 2018 Sierra sle(I believe, almost like Denali) has paint chips all over the front hood, pillars, roof, doors and even tailgate, had 32k miles and they blame road rocks lol, mine 2017 2500 Denali has zero chips, I guess they used more expensive paint lol
As far as problems with new vehicles, it’s the “luck of the draw”!
Pays your money, takes your chances.
What the manufacturers say in their commercials/ads versus what happens on the assembly line, is not always matched.
Best just to buy a good used vehicle, go through it & fix existing problems & run it till it cries UNCLE!
I had the same issue on.my 2014 Ford Expedition. Tailgate is aluminum and takes proper surface prep and primer for paint to adhere properly. I had to pay to get mine redone. That was a few years ago. I notice its starting to bubble again around the edges in a few places.
Having same issue in same location..2021 tahoe Z71 black in color. Vehicle is 2 weeks old. Frustrating
It’s hard to tell from the pics but I’ve worked at a GM dealership for 15yrs as painter and we have pretty much no paint warranty claims this could have been something that was worked on at the factory but if it’s a factory defect GM will pay to do the repairs needed the only way they wouldn’t is if it appears to be damaged meaning not a factory defect.
I have this going on on my 2012 GMC Sierra 1500 above the windshield it’s white pearl almost looks new till you look above the windshield sucks because I love my truck I don’t want to trade it in yet.
Quality control starts at the top of the organization. I don’t know what GM’s goals and priorities are, but if “the fewest delivered with defects in the industry” is not one of them, they will suffer in comparison to Japanese brands. GM is not the worst in the industry, several English, French and Italian brands can’t really get off the ground in the US because of quality issues. It would be nice though if they did show consistent improvement, year after year.
Come on GM Arlington Local 276 you are better than this 😡
GM isn’t the only 1 using Takata
Possibly painted on a Monday or Friday!!! Reminds me of the movie 🍿 “ ghung-ho”
Came online to research this issue as we just notice our Summit White had paint peel in this exact location and found this article. We are working on making an appoint with dealership to have this fixed.
Just noticed today that we have the same issue in the same location on our 2021 Suburban Z71 in Summit White. We purchased it just shy of 1 month ago. Dealer has been notified so we can work on a solution.
Same paint issue on my 2021 Z71 Tahoe. I also have a broken step that has been ordered but is back ordered as well as “service safety restraint system” code that a part had to be ordered and fixed today. So aggravating!
I took ownership of a tricoat white 2021 suburban premier around the same time and have numerous blems on the car as well as a honeycomb looking blemish widespread on the tailgate. Sucks to look at when spending $80k on a truck.
What are the long term effects of a dealer repair on a brand new cars paint? I am really hesitant as it could appear on Car fax or the fact that it is just as bad as an accident due to a plant defect. The only looser is the consumer. I am looking for some positivity in this situation.
Dealer will repair for free. Document it with photos, show them this post & be nice but firm if they don’t want to do it at first. Just tell them you want a Zone Manager to look at it. GM knows about this I’m sure, also send a frank personal letter. Address it to the Plant Manager at the GM Arlington Assembly Plant, which is where your truck was built. Explain the condition, alert him/her to this thread & I bet you get a reply and 1 of the above situations will work for you. Good luck
General Motors Assembly Plant Arlington
2525 E. Abram St.
Arlington, Texas
76010
I’m retired from that Assembly plant btw 👍
I have a white 2021 and it’s now been in the shop twice for paint flaking off. First the right side of the plastic trim and now the left side. Chevy dealership is trying to claim that it’s caused by the plastic trip being too tight. I’m calling BS.