[Schwalbster]

Owning our Ascent for a couple month now and I just happened to look down the doors on a recent camping trip.
I was quite surprised to see that the doors are not flush at the bottom. The offset is quite small, less than an 1/8", but it's clearly visible. The gap also looks quite big on the plastic trim pieces, but I think that is rather due to the design of them. I'm just wondering if this is quite normal and within tolerance and if others have that as well? Can it be adjusted perhaps? I peeked at others cars in parking lots since and saw doors not perfectly flush either, of course many are. Will point it out to dealer on my 6k service.

 

[Wildcrd76]

I believe this is normal for all Subaru’s. I noticed gaps at various places on the body and asked a service rep about them. He stated this is normal because how many trim pieces are clipped or uses adhesive to stay in place. So I don’t think there is much anyone can do unless you feel like replacing all the clips with anchors and screws and having a PITA time adjusting everything until they all line up. Depending on how OCD you are about stuff like can and will take forever because the slightest deviation will multiply down further along the body lines.

 

[SkiPro3]

I agree with Woldcrd76. I think so many parts are held on with clips and made of plastic, that there's plenty of room for 'adjustment'. If it bothers you, ask your dealer and see if they can adjust, otherwise, check yourself. I was mildly surprised when I installed my hitch and the whole rear bumper assembly that wraps around to the tires comes off with just clips and snaps. Same with the dash trim when I went to install the button for fog lights. No tools needed other than maybe a plastic trim removal tool you can get for a couple bucks or a flat blade screw driver with tape to keep from scratching anything. It's like the entire car is engineered by the LEGO corporation. Ha!

 

[Schwalbster]

I've long forgotten about it. Just revisited my forum activity and noticed these responses Thanks!

 

[hokiefyd]

Ideally, the gaps would be perfect. There are, of course, tolerances to parts sizes, assembly jigs, etc.

This is one of those areas where I think the risk of something being messed up is higher than the reward (of having straighter panel gaps). Presuming the very slight misalignment pictured is only cosmetic (and not causing increased road noise from a weatherstrip gap or something), I would definitely leave it alone. There is a risk when trying to realign doors...risk of it turning out worse than it already is, paint scratches or marks, etc. Trim clips may not go back on perfectly and could rattle or cause noise. If nothing is mechanically wrong, I would recommend against trying to fix it.

 

[Titanrx8]

Owning our Ascent for a couple month now and I just happened to look down the doors on a recent camping trip.
I was quite surprised to see that the doors are not flush at the bottom. The offset is quite small, less than an 1/8", but it's clearly visible. The gap also looks quite big on the plastic trim pieces, but I think that is rather due to the design of them. I'm just wondering if this is quite normal and within tolerance and if others have that as well? Can it be adjusted perhaps? I peeked at others cars in parking lots since and saw doors not perfectly flush either, of course many are. Will point it out to dealer on my 6k service.

One of the first things I noticed about the Ascent after taking delivery was that panel gaps and door alignment aren't as precise as on my 21 year old Lexus or 10 year old Mazda. Not that this would have been a deal breaker if I had noted it before taking delivery but, it is surprising since Subaru could adjust these relatively easily in the computer aided design phase before tooling for production. I am not going to ask the dealer to do anything about it because my assumption is that the factory did the build of the car using alignment jigs. The dealer is going to loosen any possible adjustment bolts and move things around by eye. They can make things worse as easily as they can make things better.

 

[Schwalbster]

Yes, definitively not trying to fix any of it. It was something I noticed when the car was brandnew. But now a year later, I don't even think about it anymore. There is nothing mechanically wrong, it's purely cosmetic.