water leakage problem with 2014 cruze eco and GM

Hello all, thanks for this informative website. I live in Victoria, British Columbia Canada and have been a Cruze owner since December 27th. I first have to say that I love this car, it runs perfectly and is a delight to drive, I have never owned a GM in my life but here I sit with this 2014 Cruze eco. Here is the problem.... I was driving the car about a week ago and noticed a sloshing sound in the back of the car, I lifted the cargo area hatch that hides the spare tire and found about 6" of water sitting in the spare tire well. I also noticed that the sealant placed in 4 locations around the side of the wheel well was brittle and had started to break away from the metal. There is no visible water above the wheel well and the carpeting is dry in the trunk. It is apparent that the water has been leaking for some time and I probably would never have had occasion to look under the cover unless I had heard the water sloshing or had a flat tire. I have been checking regularly now and there is always water in the wheel well.

I have stopped at the dealer and they tell me that since the car is 8 months past the 3 year warranty period (even though only 55,000 km) that they will not help me in any way and will charge me $140 an hour to find out where the leak is. I called GM Canada to ask for assistance and they told me that they have made a ruling that they will not help me in any way as the vehicle is out of the 3 year warranty period. I asked them about good will assistance given the circumstances and low K's and they simply continued to state that "the car is out of the warranty period" I am of course tempted to take GM to small claims arbitration but first want to see if anyone here knows what might cause the leak down in the well and if it is a quick and easy fix? I traded my 13 Kia Rio GDI for this car and now I'm thinking it was perhaps not the smartest move I have ever made.

I am of course more than disappointed by the dealers lack of respect and assistance in this matter and the simple dismissal by GM is galling to say the least. Any help in this matter is very much appreciated.