Hi guys,

After detailing the Clio (see other thread) I've found LOADS of stone chips in the front bumper and bonnet. The car has only done 7k miles and is 6 months old. I was told by the dealer that it was a demonstrator but surely a vehicle that new shouldn't have so many chips in the paint? My Clio had 75k on the clock and was quite bad at the front but that was due to the mileage and the amount fo motorway miles I did. The Merc has 18k ont he clock and has a few chips but nothing major and that is mainly used on the motorway. but the furby looks a right mess and after going to the dealer today they booked it in to be inspected. If the paint is found to be too thin or soft then they will respray it.

What's everyone opinions on this? Has anyone else found their cars to be this bad after such a short time? It's hard to take photos and describe the damage but it is quite a lot. My friend has a Bora that has done 70k and it's just as bad as my car, even though it is much older :confused: What are my options in terms of getting the car sorted? I would have thought that a car should be able to last more than 6 months without the front of it being damaged so much, especially as it was a demonstrator? It's the only bad thing about the car, the rest of it is great!

What just popped into my mind reading that:

Maybe you could take pics of these other cars with higher miles and less chips on them, and show them to the dealer as examples to support your case? Take them with you when you go in for a chat. Ok the Merc is a much more expensive car so they'll bear that in mind, but even so the car has to be of a certain quality whatever the price.

Also, it may be that in your case after they check it out they find that the paint is a bit thin, maybe this bonnet slipped through paint QC or something. Speculating a bit here, best let them have a look.

Mine is 7 months old, and now has 18000 on the clock. It is battered, there must be over 20 chips on the bumper and the bonnet. I have never seen a car look so bad so soon.

At least they are respraying the bumper (Flakey paint) next week.

This is certainly worrying news for all us new owners!

It would be useful form somebody to give a little advice on what we can do to maximise the protection of the paint work and keep the chipping to a minimum?

Anybody?

My Octavia has only covered 8k, and is also a bit worse for wear. Don't know why? I only drive slowly

Simple truth of the matter is that you can get stone chipping within a few miles - if you get hit by a stone it will chip.

The paint is fairly soft, it's made worse on a black car by having the white paint or primer (whatever the term) underneath it. On the plus side you can see it easily and thus sort it out.

I've done 42k now and there are several chips in my paintwork, it's likely it will just have to be repaired once a year or something if the price isn't too bad.

Windscreen is another area where the chips kick in unfortunately :( - get those repaired straight away though as it will be a lot easier to make it a good repair job

i'm glad the paint work on my car is not as bad as the windscreen , the amount of tiny marks you can see on the glass when the sun is on it is unreal , no big chips though thank god , touches wood/head

Car Bra anybody:lol:

This is certainly worrying news for all us new owners!

It would be useful form somebody to give a little advice on what we can do to maximise the protection of the paint work and keep the chipping to a minimum?

Anybody?

Keep your distance from the car in front!

Mine has 48k on the clock and is just over 2 yrs old. Do loads of motorway riving and despite having a relatively light colour (storm grey) the bonnet and front panels are chipped. It's just something I have to live with despite the fact it spoils what is otherwise an excellent car.

I think the paint warranty on Skodas is only 3 years which is poor compared to other marques.

Problem is, the paints used are lead free and now have to be environmentally friendly. I think they are water soluble which means a covering that is relatively thinner than you expect.

The roads are in such a mess and full of chippings, dust, mud and stuff that you're going to be lucky to avoid getting any chips whatsoever.

I just resign myself to making sure that I keep the car as clean as possible and keep the interior immaculate to make up for the exterior's shortcomings.

After only a week of getting my car last June some muppets decided to resurface the A6 in Market Harboro (a road i drive up and down most days) using cheap stone chippings. As a result both of my fog lights were smashed within days of owning the car and there are loads of marks on the windscreen/bonnet.

After about 9 MONTHS the chippings settled down a bit and no furthur damage since. Far from being a Skoda paintwork issue i think it's just down to which roads you drive on and the method of resurfacing.

For instance, the top half of the A6 at Market Harboro was resurfaced last week, this bit is in Northamptonshire and not Leicestershire and it was resurfaced without using stone chippings, not possibility of stone chipping damage there, and a smoother finish!

Keep your distance from the car in front!

Good suggestion, and yes it's the right thing to do. However it meant my windscreen got chipped instead

Can't win I suppose

When my car was valeted the valeter actually commented on how chipped the front bumper was. I guess I've been lucky with my fog lights (so far?) but it cannot be avoided I suppose.

Might have to get it resprayed at some stage, funds permitting :(

Don't get me started on stone chips, I've spoken to skoda uk about it and the line is the paint warranty won't cover damage from stone chips unless i can prove the paint is defective.

I don't hang about, and have done 31k now, and I have 3 chips on the front, one on the spoiler and one on the drivers side back door. Pretty good going imho.

The main thing is to keep a good safe distance on the motorway.

I don't hang about, and have done 31k now, and I have 3 chips on the front, one on the spoiler and one on the drivers side back door. Pretty good going imho.

I'm the same and considering I do 20-25k a year, my cars on have one or two chips on them (in fact the Mondeo ones were there when I bought it ). Even my windscreens have been chip and crack free too

Chris

unless i can prove the paint is defective.

How do you go about doing that ?