[harry yarnell]

Placing the top up, the driver's side sail panel/window didn't slip down into the fender slot where it's supposed to, but hung up on the gasket on the body. The alignment wasn't correct, sticking outward, so it pulled the gasket down into the slot with it. When the door window was raised, it aligned, INSIDE the sailpanel's front weatherstrip, so you couldn't open the door without lowering the window.The sail panel can be manually guided into its slot as the top is raised, so there may be some way to 'adjust' this correctly. I havn't had the time to take it to the dealer; frankly I'm concerned they don't know the car and its uniqueness well enough to effect a repair.

This MAY be similar to Mswaim's exploding panel, except mine didn't hang on the fender.

 

[mswaim]

Hopefully Allen will see this post and make sure the right people get involved from the beginning. Allen's involvement really helped with my problem, since the GM engineers as well as the top's manufacturer were in the loop early on in the process.
Once they talk with your dealers service staff, they can guide them through the diagnostics and effect the repair without any guesswork on their part. So far mine is working flawlessly, hopefully they can find the problem with yours and get you back on track.

No disrespect to the dealers, however very few of them are getting enough hands-on time with the XLR's to be really comfortable with repairing them.

 

[Mr XLR]

A lack of hands on service, thawarts expertise

Mswaim,
Thank you very much for the positive thoughts in some of your recent threads. Im glad I was able to help. I have said to many clients, that when you eat, sleep & breathe something you should know it intimately.

I feel you last comment hit the issue on the head, out of the 950 XLR dealers almost 600 sold 2 or less XLRs, another 200 or so sold 3 or less for the 2004 model year. What does all that mean? well almost 90% of the total amount of XLR dealers in the United States basically averaged 1 roadster for every 6 months.

These small dealers could never attain the level of expertise to know many of the XLRs systems. This is no way a slam against them, it is just a matter of hands on experience. There are many of these dealers that sold 1-3 vehicles last year and may have never worked on any repairs.

I have said this many times in the past, a surgeon that does many procedures will be proficient at that given task. An attorney that handles many types of divorces, should be very proficient in that area of law. Where as my XLR technician "Mike" has serviced well over a hundred various service issues at our dealer should also be very proficient in almost every area of the roadster.

No training or schooling will ever work out well if the knowledge is not used in a practical arena. So I would say it is normal when someone brings there XLR to any dealer that does not sell many, have a few bumps in the road during the repair process simply because that dealer may have a lack of practical experience.

As long as I can continue to build my nationwide client base of XLR owners, I would hope to be able to be here to assist in answering questions or simply giving a helping hand for years to come.

www.Cadillac-XLR.com

Thank You
Allen