I just came back from my dealer, where they performed the additional PTG tests.

 

Their conclusion is that the car's been painted. Literally (but translated):

 

"Secondary rear mudguards in the vehicle have been found to be painted. The thickness of the varnish surface on the rear edges of the wheel arches around 140 microns"

 

Needless to say, they are not planning to cover for any repairs.

Edited 8 June, 20205 yr by gnaklers

If a Skoda dealer supplied it to you and you know no paint repairs were done when you have owned it then it is time for a test of the paint on the car.

 

That is to see if it is factory paint and done at the factory after the car was built, or maybe by the dealership or transporters.

The paint spec can be tested not just the thickness.

 

Worth commissioning having that Paint Inspection and report done by an independent expert. if it is a Factory paint then Skoda Poland can pay for the report.

Edited 8 June, 20205 yr by Roottootemblowinootsoot

3 minutes ago, Roottootemblowinootsoot said:

If a Skoda dealer supplied it to you and you know no paint repairs were done when you have owned it then it is time for a test of the paint on the car.

 

That is to see if it is factory paint and done at the factory after the car was built, or maybe by the dealership or transporters.

The paint spec can be tested not just the thickness.

 

Worth commissioning having that Paint Inspection and report done by an independent expert. if it is a Factory paint then Skoda Poland can pay for the report.

 

I found some a car appraiser centre part of some official motor association where they can prepare a written report about the car's paint, but it's not exactly cheap.

 

I'm wondering if it's worth or I'm just wasting more time and money.

 

I don't have the impression that Skoda is willing to pay for any report.

The last reports i looked at in the UK were £180 plus VAT.

But then Skoda had to pay that as the reports supported the car owners.  & as it was Skoda had told the owners if they had and inspection and report done and it showed that 'bad repairs' had been done it would cost the owners £260.

So is it rust pushing through the paint or something like bubbles trapped in an E-coat layer of the factory finish?

 

If it’s not rust, I would be inclined to leave it well alone regardless if a repair was offered or not as messing with the paint in that area won’t be unnoticed and could lead to issues later on. 

I’d be still upset if it was rust, though. 

20 minutes ago, BigEjit said:

So is it rust pushing through the paint or something like bubbles trapped in an E-coat layer of the factory finish?

 

If it’s not rust, I would be inclined to leave it well alone regardless if a repair was offered or not as messing with the paint in that area won’t be unnoticed and could lead to issues later on. 

I’d be still upset if it was rust, though. 

 

I'm pretty sure those bubbles weren't there when I picked the car at the salon. If you take a look at the close-up pictures I posted earlier, those bubbles have a shiny metal-ish color. I have no idea what exactly they are, but they definitely seem to come from underneath the paint. I was at a bodywork shop asking for opinions, and they told me they had never seen anything like this

I have submitted a claim to Skoda's customer services in Poland.

Didn’t Skoda have problems with zinc layers..

Hi,

 

Another update after a long time

 

My claim to Skoda's Customer Services in Poland was pretty much ignored. Initially they wrote back they would contact me back within 14 days..

After a few months of waiting, I contacted them to remind them, and they told me the only way to submit a warranty claim was through some authorized center. So I was back to the starting point :/

 

So I did that, I found a different authorized center not far away from my home and started the claim process from zero.

 

Initially, it went pretty well.

 

The people who checked those "bubbles" were surprised that my original authorized center rejected my warranty claim.

They prepared all the documentation and sent it to Skoda in order to accept the costs for the repair.

 

The new warranty claim process took a very long time.

 

Skoda would take long time to respond, and rejected the documentation several times based on different technicalities about the documentation format, so I had to go back several times to have new photos taken etc.

 

In the end, once Skoda had no more arguments to reject the documentation, they decided that the bubbles were not caused due to corrosion. Instead, they claim they are made of some sort of air/gas bubbles trapped while applying some sort of bitumen protection layer in the factory. They claim these are completely harmless and, needless to say, the warranty claim was rejected. Those bubbles are to stay as they are :|

 

Due to the amount of time, effort and stress put so far, I'm really temted to just let it go and just cover the eventual repair.

I guess that is their plan anyway.. sad.

 

What else can I do?

 

Cheers,
Juan

Edited 24 April, 20215 yr by gnaklers

Go back to your dealer where you bought the vehicle, explain that Skoda have rejected the claim, but harmless or otherwise, the bubbles are unsightly. If the dealer won’t get it repaired, suggest you get the job done a submit a bill and as a gesture of good will they should pay it. I had scratches on my rear door, car was second hand. Dealer had it painted or so they said, but they actually only had time to mask the scratches. They came back after a decent car wash. I complained and they had the whole door painted by a local paint shop. Paint shop submitted the bill to the Skoda dealer, job done. As you have had the car from new, I think that’s the least they could do for you.

Edited 25 April, 20215 yr by FrankNicklin

18 minutes ago, FrankNicklin said:

Go back to your dealer where you bought the vehicle, explain that Skoda have rejected the claim, but harmless or otherwise, the bubbles are unsightly. If the dealer won’t get it repaired, suggest you get the job done a submit a bill and as a gesture of good will they should pay it. I had scratches on my rear door, car was second hand. Dealer had it painted or so they said, but they actually only had time to mask the scratches. They came back after a decent car wash. I complained and they had the whole door painted by a local paint shop. Paint shop submitted the bill to the Skoda dealer, job done. As you have had the car from new, I think that’s the least they could do for you.

 

Hey, good for you.. Problem is, it's my original dealer where I initially went with my warranty claim, and they dismissed it claiming I had had the car repainted  Thin chance they will agree to pay a bill after pulling that...

Hi 👋

 

Update 2 years later.

 

I managed to get Skoda to acknowledge it was a factory defect (Skoda initially claimed I had had the car repainted!).

 

At the same time they informed me that those bubble were not caused by rust, so it would not get worse with time. Needless to say, they refused to fix it.

 

At this point I decided to stop wasting time with them.

 

Two years later I can confirm it has not got any worse, so most likely those bubbles were there from day 1.

 

The lesson learnt is to check very careful the day you pick a new car from the dealer's salon, as there may be hidden surprises. 

 

Some detailing workshops will agree to accompany you and inspect the car for you for small fee or for free if you purchase some of their services, like wax or ceramic coating.

 

Cheers

 

 

Edited 1 August, 20232 yr by gnaklers

Mine dont seem to have gotten any worse, like any scab it's not a good idea to pick at them.

 

Zinc Inclusions that is!