Hi,

 

I picked up my Fabia Monte Carlo Tech Estate on Monday from the dealer, Its done about 100 miles now and on Friday I gave the car a wash and noticed paint bubbles on the roof.  They are in a channel at the front of the car and next to the roof bars.

 

There is around a dozen of them, they are very small, the biggest bubble is 1.5 mm in diameter, they are definitely paint bubbles and one has burst revealing a white/grey undercoat beneath.

 

The bubbles are very small and are not noticeable as they are hidden on the roof but my last car had some paint bubbles which got bigger over time and then water started to get underneath the paint work and caused extensive pealing.

 

Any advice on what I should do, the car is a week old and I'm going to contact the dealer next week, is this going to be a long term problem and what solution should I look for?

 

Hello, I would contact the dealer at earliest opportunity (just to give them the heads up) and inform them that you have an issue with your vehicle. Make an appointment and ask for the car to be inspected and any paint flaws rectified under warranty. I have found the dealers to be helpful and accommodating with the issues with my Monte. Just out of interest does it have the 'tug' to the left? Hope this helps Paul

You will have to very very closely inspect the vehicle and be sure the Dealership has a Qualified Paint Specialist check,

 

Not just someone at the Dealership that says

"a fault in Preparation in the Factory and we will have a Bodyshop roof respray".

 

Any other faulty paint application on the Body is enough to reject that car,

and they can have then get it Repaired at a specialist shop if they like. But you should not need to worry about any future pain problems.

 

If you are happy to have the Roof Resprayed, then fair enough, but you reaaly need to be sure the paint is professionally checked all over the Body shell,

& that is not by a Workshop Technician, Workshop Manager or Service Advisor, with an opinion.

a Paint Technician/Sprayer/Refinisher needs to do the report.

 

What the picture shows in Minor IMO and easily rectified,  but what it shows is that it was missed on Inspection at the factory,

& why the complete body shell needs checking.

(I am a Qualified Spray Painter, Vehicle and Industrial.)

 

 

george

The dealer looked at the car today, just standard technicians not paint technicians, they have photographed the area and sent it to Skoda but they seemed to think the roof would need a partial respray which would be covered under warranty as the paint problem is from the inside.  When they inspected it they opened up the bubbles so there is now a larger area of undercoat showing through so I assume they will have to do a repair now.

 

I had a very good look at the car after I washed it and I couldn't see any other paint issues anywhere including the body work under the bonnet and boot.  There were a few marks which I suspect happened before delivery but apart from one they are very minor.

 

The car is only 10 days old with 200 miles on the clock so its disappointing it needs the roof resprayed.  We intend on keeping the car for a number of years so I hope this doesn't effect the longevity of it.  I'm wondering if they will have to remove the roof bars to respray the roof section and if so if they will have to remove the roof interior?

 

The car drives perfectly, no tug to the left.

Is it solid red in colour?

 

I would not want a part panel paint in red as it can be very hard to match up.

Looks ok in daylight but under yellow street lights it can really show up.

Nonsense. IMO   As being hard to match.

 

You should no difference as to if it is part sprayed or fully refinished, it should be as good or better than factory finished when returned to you.

But it is a new car and i would want the roof completely sprayed,

and there is no need to be disturbing the interior.

They should be Professionals doing the Paint exactly to Skoda Specification, and the roof rails coming off is no big deal.

 

If the car was collected by you and had any other damage of any kind, it is a  pity you never picked up on that,

but still point it out, if you are sure it has not happened in the week or 2.

 

There was and no doubt it was a Paint Warranty Issue, and that they will be getting the work done,

but the Painter will need to check the undercoat, and the colour coat,

incase there was an Issue in the Factory, not just on that crease.

*Some cars are damaged in Transport,

and the paint on the car can have had a repair before a new car is 

delivered to a customer.. So what you see is not the Factory Paint sometimes*

I used to do the paint on those a few years back.

I had a similar problem with my new Octavia vRS (along with a weird shading in the paint on the tailgate) and rejected the car. No way I was paying so much and getting a respray in the first week!

But.... Skoda did do warranty work (the dealer is swapping the car for me) and I can't see where it's been done.

I was concerned that the paint and body warranty would be useless if it wasn't fixed properly.

i would properly cop the hump if i bought a new car and it needed a respray after just 10 days. i'm interested to see how they deal with this warranty claim

Nonsense. IMO   As being hard to match.

 

You should no difference as to if it is part sprayed or fully refinished, it should be as good or better than factory finished when returned to you.

 

 

 

I have seen many red cars that have had part and full panels painted and in daylight you would never know.

Park under a yellow street light at night and you can see the difference.

So have i seen many over many years,

but are the many you have seen Red Fabia Monte Carlos sprayed in the Water Based Paint?

 

That is why it has to be done to Skoda Spec and not by Kerb Side Motors Spray Shop.

Because you would normally say 're-finish to factory standard'.

 

But since it is Factory Standard or as is, poor factory standards that started this post,

maybe that is now out the window.

I must admit I was thinking that George, what's the point of finishing it to the factory standard? The factory standard allows cars to leave with bubbles in the paint, although I will say that I agree with others on here that it will be a very skilled job to match that, near on impossible without redoing the whole panel.

Well if someone trained is not Skilled enough to do that job in Solid Red,

you would hope they do not do much work with Metallics or Pearlescents.

Latest Update.

 

The dealer was quick to get the approval from Skoda for a partial respray and I was given a date of 2 weeks for the work to be done from the approval.  It is going to a VW approved body shop and they are going to paint just a section of the roof.  I can't see any other bubble on the car and I have given it a close inspection.

 

I didn't know rejecting the car was an option; it had 200 miles on the clock by the time they inspected it and its now got 500 miles on the clock.  The dealer has told me the work will be done to factory quality.

 

Its going in next week and I'm told should take around 3 days.

Glad to hear of a very reasonable dealer experience.

Keep checking it from time to time if and when the British summer gets to it's peak, doubt it will be affected by our usual heat but you never know.

JRJG