[gearhead]

Hi all, when we bought our Terrain in September, we noticed it had a patch, same colour as the body (black onyx) on each rear door close to the rear fenders.
They are approx. 6" square (guessing right now).
The dealer said they'd be hard to remove so we'll probably get new doors.
They had 4 new Terrains on the lot, different colours and all of them had the patches.
Would this have been a flaw in the paint or something like that?
The dealer has no clue (so he says).
We're not worried about it and they're barely noticeable, just curious.
Thanks for any feedback.

 

[cheddar11]

No offense to yourself, but your dealer is a couple tools short in the tool shed. Those "patches" are clear (not coloured) protective pieces to help prevent rock chips and road debris. This part of the fender flares out, making it the most vulnerable area to be chipped. DO NOT remove these. A lot of vehicles have these near rear fenders that flare out. My grand am has them. If you take them off, you'll notice paint chips fairly quickly.

 

[gearhead]

No offense to yourself, but your dealer is a couple tools short in the tool shed. Those "patches" are clear (not coloured) protective pieces to help prevent rock chips and road debris. This part of the fender flares out, making it the most vulnerable area to be chipped. DO NOT remove these. A lot of vehicles have these near rear fenders that flare out. My grand am has them. If you take them off, you'll notice paint chips fairly quickly.

hmmm, thanks for the info and advice.
you'd think the designers would take that vulnerability into account and modify the styling so the patches wouldn't be necessary?
maybe we'll put some mud flaps in the front as well.
the rear flaps integrate for a fairly seamless "factory designed" appearance, IMHO.

 

[mkaresh]

Anti-chip patches like this are quite common. Some people pay hundreds of dollars to have this material (usually 3M's "clear bra") applied to the front of the car.

 

[gearhead]

Anti-chip patches like this are quite common. Some people pay hundreds of dollars to have this material (usually 3M's "clear bra") applied to the front of the car.

thanks for the useful info, mkaresh.
perhaps best to just leave well enough alone.