Evening all.

 

I’ve had my car for just over a month and noticed a very small area of raised paint (approx 5mm x 5mm) on the boot lid when washing at the weekend. There looks to be a couple of slight marks/rust showing through.

 

The car is MY20 so just out of warranty for paint. I’m guessing the likely cause is a stone chip or similar which I doubt would be covered anyway.

 

Anyone with more experience than me in this area willing to share some advice regarding a cause and repair would be much appreciated.

 

 

 

Edited 27 November, 20232 yr by CookieMonster87

The Body shop or painter you get to repair / paint it can check and see if that is the factory paint or there has already been work done there. 

@Rooted that’s a good point. I hadn’t thought about any previous work that may have been done.

 

Would you say that’s a good sign it has had previous work as there’s no evidence of anything else to suggest otherwise?

 

Edited 27 November, 20232 yr by CookieMonster87

If it was done properly there should be no sign of work done.

I was a car sprayer.

So a measurement of the paint helps.  But that can just show that after the production line there was maybe a Factory repair or from an 'In transit' incident and Kerb Side Autos did a job at a dealership.  No records of such.

 

Anyway, this is now & the Paint Warranty is gone.  The Corrosion warranty not relevant.   So maybe talk with a Mobile Painter / Man-Woman with a van, or a Body Shop.

Not an Insurance Repair so maybe a 'nudge and a wink', No VAT.    (Only fools and horses,# theme song'.)

Had a quote of £200 +VAT from a reputable body shop. No experience in this area so I don’t know if that’s good or not.

 

Granted that quote is generated from the photos/description I sent.

I'm very particular and recently had a small dent removed at a Coach Finishers. It involved a full panel (tailgate) respray, and came in at £400 plus VAT.  With a similar level of experience to you, and going by my case, I'd be happy with £200.

 

Gaz

 

Damn cheap since through the books (+VAT) & if respraying the boot and an invisible repair /match.

 

Still OK if a SMART repair IMO.   If rust removed and spray in undetectable.     Lots of 'If's'  

How you react to minor paintwork damage is up to you.

I think trying to keep paintwork perfect is understandable, and you can keep your car looking pristine, but you have to take the hit on the cost of doing that.

Or one can take the touch-up paint approach, and accept a spotty car.

Personally, I've managed to come to terms with my car having mild acne.

I remove any paint over the rust, degrease with white spirit, then isopropyl, prepare the bare metal with Karust as a rust treatment, and them apply paint to finish.

It produces a finish that might make @Rooted wince, but it'll do me. As I have a white car, such touch-ups are hard to spot as it's quite a forgiving colour, but I appreciate you might want a perfect finish in that lovely metallic blue.

Bear in mind, you WILL get stone chips and other minor paint damage if you drive your car, so if you can get some expertise in touching up paintwork well yourself, that's likely to be a good investment rather than £200+vat to keep sorting out blemishes as you find them.

Personally, I have learned to accept that so long as it's not going rusty, I'm happy enough with the touch-up dots on my car, here and there. But I accept that others may have higher standards than me in this regard.

 

Solid White is a favourite of mine as is Black, Red & Grey.   Just for being easier to do Kerb Side Auto,s tart ups. 

3 hours ago, Rooted said:

Solid White is a favourite of mine as is Black, Red & Grey.   Just for being easier to do Kerb Side Auto,s tart ups. 

My car's getting a treat with proper colour code touch-up paint.

Previously I've used "close enough" Hammerite" smooth for stone chips, which was fine on white and silver cars.

Absolute animal, but I figured if it ever got bad enough, I'd get the panel resprayed. But it never did! 😄

@EnterName thanks for your reply. I can see both sides of your argument. The car is in excellent condition with marks appropriate for its age that I can live with.

 

My issue with the boot is that it appears to be blistered with rust underneath. Yes it’s very small but I’d rather get this addressed asap so that it doesn’t get any worse.

 

There are a couple of stone chips on the front bumper I’m happy to take care of myself but the rust on the metalwork I’d rather leave to the pros.

 

Can’t get in until the NY but will update on the repair when it’s done and what the body shop say once they have seen it.

On 06/12/2023 at 12:10, CookieMonster87 said:

@EnterName thanks for your reply. I can see both sides of your argument. The car is in excellent condition with marks appropriate for its age that I can live with.

 

My issue with the boot is that it appears to be blistered with rust underneath. Yes it’s very small but I’d rather get this addressed asap so that it doesn’t get any worse.

 

There are a couple of stone chips on the front bumper I’m happy to take care of myself but the rust on the metalwork I’d rather leave to the pros.

 

Can’t get in until the NY but will update on the repair when it’s done and what the body shop say once they have seen it.

Funnily enough, I was mooching about under my car yesterday (I want to claim I was rust-proofing the rear subframe, but I'm not convinced it'll be particularly effective), nevertheless, I discovered a gap between the plastic rear valance/splitter/whatever and the car's bodywork, and looked up between the gap to see body-colour sheet metal (some part of the boot I assume) with a lot of surface rust on it. I'll try and get a pic of it, but I was actually quite surprised at how much there was. Beyond that, I'll have to get some sort of waxy spray to inhibit further rusting.

Incidentally, if you don't like rust on your car, it's always worth having a look underneath.

When my car was on ramps getting the gearbox serviced, I noticed what I felt was a little too much rust on the rear subframe and suspension arm for my liking, and I decided that, when I could be bothered and the weather was nice enough, I'd do something about it.

Here are before and after pics of my faffing around "rustproofing" some of the underside of my car yesterday, on what was a perfect day for faffing around on a car.

On 30/04/2025 at 08:45, EnterName said:

I discovered a gap between the plastic rear valance/splitter/whatever and the car's bodywork, and looked up between the gap to see body-colour sheet metal (some part of the boot I assume) with a lot of surface rust on it. I'll try and get a pic of it, but I was actually quite surprised at how much there was. Beyond that, I'll have to get some sort of waxy spray to inhibit further rusting.

Good as my word, here is the rusty part in question. I think it's the crash bar behind the bumper, but it's not at all appealing.

I've painted it with some Owatrol to keep the worst of it at bay, but I didn't take off the bumper, so access was limited but I got what I could see plus a bit more, which will have to do for now.

Additionally, I sprayed Dinitrol in my sills and subframe cavities, so I've got that job out of the way for a bit.

Incidentally, I'm always amazed at how rigid the Mk3 Octavia. Jacking my car up on the front jacking point will raise the back wheel as well. Very impressive, IMO.