Unusual Paintwork Problem?

[YETIFIRST]

I was collecting my new Steel Grey Yeti last week when I noticed a few lighter grey streaks just above the driver's door handle. After some time going through the "just some dry polish/we'll fix it when you can spare the car/never seen that before" routine with the salesman, the service manager was summoned to give an opinion. The streaks seemed to be between the clear coat and the colour coat and could not be detected by touch. I agreed that they weren't very easy to see but pointed out that, if all three of us could see them, it should have been possible to spot them during the PDI and fix things before the customer turned up.

Anyway, having refused to accept the car as seen, 'photos were taken and e-mailed to Skoda. The car is now at the body shop after a diagnosis of "damage caused by water trapped beween the plastic shipping film and the clear coat which had found its way between the paint layers". The dealer's staff acted quickly and efficiently and I'm content at the moment. Interestingly, the problem is, apparently, known to Skoda. The old Toyota is back in service for a few days and I'm hoping that all will soon be well with the Yeti. I'll let you know how the story ends.

Richard T

[jrw]

So water made its way between the protective film and then from there, penetrated the clear coat?

Somehow I don't think so!

[Babs]

Hmm... seems highly unlikely. Possible if there was a problem during the paint process though. I'd be worried about the rest of the paint on the car, to be honest...

[abarth_1200]

If it were my car I wouldnt want it resprayed and then given to me, I sold my last car because it had a respray, albeit a very good one I still knew the paint was different

[cheezemonkhai]

So water trapped under a layer of plastic, got through the layer on top of the paint that protects the car from water....

Oh is that a pig I see fitted with wings and a rolls royce merlin?

[TeflonTom]

Er guys... Sorry it is possible for water to diffuse through a clear coat, you see it quite often on cars that have vinyl stickers or graphics/livery applied to them, but i don't think that this is the problem with this car, it would normally be quite cloudy and the lacquer would probably rub off if you waxed or polished it. It's more iikely to be a something that has happened after the car left the factory, could even be caused by the dealer using a shampoo with a high salt content.

personally I wouldn't want to accept a vehicle that has had a door resprayed before it has even driven off the forecourt, to fix that permanently it would possibly need to be scurfed back to the bare metal, give that 4 or 5 years and that will have holes in it with rust even if it's done to a very high standard.. With metallic and pearl paints they don't just touch up little streaks, they need to paint the entire panel because due to the composition of the paint.

[curleybar]

When I collected my Steel Grey Fabia there appeared to be some areas of painwork with blemishes, I mentioned this when the car was returned to the dealer when it expired after 1 1/2 days and it was resolved when I collected it a week later.

In my case it seemed to be poor new car prep, your issue seems a lot more complex...?

Good luck.

[KenONeill]

I agree with Tom. All gloss paints are slightly porous, which is why we (should) polish cars.

[fordfan]

The diagnosis is correct, moisture trapped between the protective transit film. Had a similar one a few years back on a brand new vehicle (not VW group).

Attached is one of the photos which were submitted for the warranty claim. On taking advice we initially tried to resolve it by applying heat, it partially worked but didn't completely sort it. It was finally repaired by having the panel repainted, the bodyshop which we use does alot of high end cars and made a perfect job of the repair.

[cheezemonkhai]

Er guys... Sorry it is possible for water to diffuse through a clear coat, you see it quite often on cars that have vinyl stickers or graphics/livery applied to them, but i don't think that this is the problem with this car, it would normally be quite cloudy and the lacquer would probably rub off if you waxed or polished it. It's more iikely to be a something that has happened after the car left the factory, could even be caused by the dealer using a shampoo with a high salt content.

personally I wouldn't want to accept a vehicle that has had a door resprayed before it has even driven off the forecourt, to fix that permanently it would possibly need to be scurfed back to the bare metal, give that 4 or 5 years and that will have holes in it with rust even if it's done to a very high standard.. With metallic and pearl paints they don't just touch up little streaks, they need to paint the entire panel because due to the composition of the paint.

I do agree Tom that there can be problems with clearcoat, but from the streaks mentioned it sounds like a poor repair or just marking on the paint before the final coat was applied.

If it was my new car, I'd be refusing it and asking for them to order another.

A pain yes, but as you say, there is only so long this can last if they've take then steel protection off.

[YETIFIRST]

Thanks for the comments. The local VAG approved body shop tried the 'heat application trick' and it seems to have worked a treat. I received a full tank of diesel for my trouble. Guess who will be inspecting the paintwork very closely on a weekly basis?

Richard T