Lex Talionis Posted August 21, 2009 Report Share Posted August 21, 2009 It has been covered many times here, the bad quality paint job some of us get, and I have been pretty vocal about how bad I think it is. As I have said in other posts on the topic, the worst paint job on a car I have ever had. I have dozens of spots of grit, debris, contamination, missing paint and exposed primer. In 1 case, so bad they replaced my entire hood since I had a huge open hole with no paint/primer that formed rust. Anyway.. check this out. Cleaned my car and discovered this. A HUGE piece of missing clear coat that is expanding and getting worse on the passenger side front fender well. The worst part... is that I paid extra for this paint job as it was/is a tri-coat! adding insult to injury they say. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
igcitng Posted August 21, 2009 Report Share Posted August 21, 2009 Yikes. Is there any chance something got spilled on it or someone put something on it? Paint should not just fall off of the car. Sorry that happened Lex. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lex Talionis Posted August 21, 2009 Author Report Share Posted August 21, 2009 it is just a defect. like all the other shoddy paint job issues mentioned by me and many others. when I first got the car, I noticed, around the inside edge of the wheel well on the front, the clear coat was real thin and splotchy in places like they clear coated the quarter panel and then barely made it around the lip. it was plain as day. but, since it was not a problem per se, nothing could be done. well, clearly now, enough has pealed or come away from the wheel well to turn the corner over the lip and into the quarter panel. so, now, water is pushing up under it and viola... I am happy to announce, I found a quarter sized spot on the drivers side today I missed yesterday :angry: I have an appt with the dealer monday - I am trying to mentally prepare for the fiasco no doubt to come. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
igcitng Posted August 21, 2009 Report Share Posted August 21, 2009 What are your thoughts on it being an issue with the tri coat method of application? Or is this with all colors? I do remember the thread with the dark blue one. I have a regular color, and I have only noticed one odd spot of paint on the hood corner where it meets the windshield on the drivers side, it seems to be a slight different color in the right light, maybe 2x2 inch irregular area. I am going to wash it tomorrow and do a good check on the whole thing, even though the paint seems to look really good. I obsess about stuff like that and everyone laughs at me because I notice the smallest things. So if there was something I think I would have found it already. Good luck at the dealer, update us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lex Talionis Posted August 21, 2009 Author Report Share Posted August 21, 2009 my thought... simple they try to save money and set the robots to spray just their predicted exact amount - and not a drop more - to cover the surfaces in both paint and clear coat. and in doing so, the tolerance is so tight, no room for error, bad results like this happen. period. maybe saving a gallon of paint and clear coat per car adds up to huge savings in the end.... but comes back to haunt them 10x over when they respray my hood, front valance.. and now some quarter panels. there are enough examples of these results posted here - more with paint than clear coat - to see a trend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
igcitng Posted August 21, 2009 Report Share Posted August 21, 2009 And the cost to you is lost time to get it fixed and pieced together paint job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MKX2007 Posted August 23, 2009 Report Share Posted August 23, 2009 Once the clear coat starts peeling, it will progress rapidly. If you bought new, this certainly must still be under warranty? It looks almost as though something happened there & was fixed poorly. Wouldn't hurt to get a Carfax for the heck of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lex Talionis Posted August 24, 2009 Author Report Share Posted August 24, 2009 Once the clear coat starts peeling, it will progress rapidly. If you bought new, this certainly must still be under warranty? It looks almost as though something happened there & was fixed poorly. Wouldn't hurt to get a Carfax for the heck of it. no need for a carfax.. this car was ordered and built just for me by Ford. I ordered it. it is cheap paint job quality and cutting corner. period. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted August 24, 2009 Report Share Posted August 24, 2009 no need for a carfax.. this car was ordered and built just for me by Ford. I ordered it. it is cheap paint job quality and cutting corner. period. Isn't it also possible the paint robot simply had a problem? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MKX2007 Posted August 25, 2009 Report Share Posted August 25, 2009 Isn't it also possible the paint robot simply had a problem? This is what I was thinking or repaired tranportation damage like I had happen to a truck I bought. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lex Talionis Posted August 25, 2009 Author Report Share Posted August 25, 2009 Isn't it also possible the paint robot simply had a problem? In my opinion, no. with the quality of paint job I personally have and others have reported, I think cutting corners to save cost is the honest reason and a reasonable speculation given the number and variations of paint issues seen. if it is a problem robot, seems they have a fair amount questionable robots. This is what I was thinking or repaired tranportation damage like I had happen to a truck I bought. up underneath the wheel well between the tire and quarter panel? nope. as I said, when I bought the car, I could clearly see the thin to non-existent clear coat in that area, pointed it out, but since it was not an issue at the time, it was not addressed. now, it is being addressed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted August 25, 2009 Report Share Posted August 25, 2009 So you think it's far more likely that Ford is risking all of their recent quality gains just to save a few pennies per paint job as opposed to a much simpler explanation of material or equipment malfunction? Especially since we don't see these paint problems on other vehicles from other plants? Mmmm-kay........ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lex Talionis Posted August 25, 2009 Author Report Share Posted August 25, 2009 So you think it's far more likely that Ford is risking all of their recent quality gains just to save a few pennies per paint job as opposed to a much simpler explanation of material or equipment malfunction? Especially since we don't see these paint problems on other vehicles from other plants? Mmmm-kay........ though you simplified the scenario a bit to make your point. pretty much.. yeah. are you really so shocked this could be a reason? uhhh, I am not. though I admit your reason has plausibility just like mine, I tend to go with mine given what I have seen/read/heard with these paint jobs. cutting corners to save some money does add up and they are simply playing the odds it will not come back to haunt them. but whatever.. it is as the dealers now, they saw the notes about my concern when I first bought it - not that it really mattress as it is in warranty - and so lets hope they get it right the first time as I told them not to bother calling me unless it is perfect and looks like the rest of the car - clear coat finish that is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted August 25, 2009 Report Share Posted August 25, 2009 cutting corners to save some money does add up and they are simply playing the odds it will not come back to haunt them. If that were the case they'd be doing it everywhere. And this is the only Ford vehicle that I've heard of in the last few years to have this problem on more than one individual vehicle. There is some recurring problem with the paint sprayers at the Oakville plant. No more, no less. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lex Talionis Posted August 28, 2009 Author Report Share Posted August 28, 2009 Any body repair experts out there? would I be assuming correctly that the method for this repair would be to wet sand down the clear coat and respray in that area & blend versus totally stripping and repainting and clear coating the entire quarter panels? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
igcitng Posted August 28, 2009 Report Share Posted August 28, 2009 I know nothing about bodywork, but my experience having things fixed is that they paint the entire piece, your quarterpanel, and blend it into whatever it is next to, like the door, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lex Talionis Posted August 28, 2009 Author Report Share Posted August 28, 2009 I would tend to agree for body type damage - dings, accidents, dents - where the actual paint is involved. but with just the clear coat lifting, I wonder if this still applies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
igcitng Posted August 28, 2009 Report Share Posted August 28, 2009 I would worry about how it would look where old meets new especially since there are many layers that make up this color. Is it a sparkly color or a flat color? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlazedUp Posted August 28, 2009 Report Share Posted August 28, 2009 They would have to sand the entire quarter panel down, prime it, sand it, shoot it with color, shoot it with clear. Blending should not be an issue since the whole quarter panel is being redone, and the rest of the paint on the car has not had enough time to oxidize and change color. Clear coating is one of the most important steps........Some shops spray 6 coats of clear and wet sand about 3 coats off to rid the surface of "orange peel". The paint on my Edge is okay, but there is quite a few pieces of dirt under the clear coat. That sucks man, I hope it all gets sorted out for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lex Talionis Posted August 28, 2009 Author Report Share Posted August 28, 2009 we will find out tomorrow as I got the call it will be in.. I am such a skeptic and have such questionable luck with dealers, I assume it is going to be bad outcome. either the job will be bad, or the job will be good BUT they will ding anther part of the car or forget to reinstall my splash guards or something.. I just know it will be something. I was 'told" they took it to their off site body shop they use up in Oceanside - who did my front spoiler they screwed up. I was hoping they would not have to reshoot and redo the entire quarter panels, paint and all, just becuase that paint seems to be a to match given the whole tri-coat non-sense. thus, it is just more layers of complication. ugh! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MKX2007 Posted August 28, 2009 Report Share Posted August 28, 2009 I would tend to agree for body type damage - dings, accidents, dents - where the actual paint is involved. but with just the clear coat lifting, I wonder if this still applies. I would think they would sand the edges & fog in another clear coat & then buff it out. I have a friend with a collectable car that had a new headliner installed in his car. The shop guy managed to hit the roof with a staple & made a good sized ding from the inside out. They repaired it & fogged the paint on & after buffing, you would never know it happened. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lex Talionis Posted August 30, 2009 Author Report Share Posted August 30, 2009 okay.. got my car back, mixed results as expected. that is, better repair of the affected areas than expected, BUT as kind of expected, 1 kind of corner cutting move the body shop made. It clearly seems as though they left the quarter panels on an did the work similar to how MKX said they would. and, I admit, it looks perfect at this time. surprised at how well it does look actually, from what I can see, I cannot see anything was ever done. so that is good. tell tail signs lead me to believe they left the panels on. So, the corner they cut was that I had installed the front splash guards - see elsewhere here on my write up - and when I did, I used black RTV to make a better surface connection than the screws made alone and to keep water and debris from getting behind them. well, they took the passenger side off and did their job - as we know, RTV comes right off when rubbed free with a finger. but clearly, they started to take the drivers side off, didn't fully do it (?), and tried to work around it. in the end, the original affected area is fine, but just around the corner lip where the splash guard attaches, they stopped the paint and clear coat at the RTV residue, which could have been easily rubbed off like the passenger side. thus, I have this odd paint line and some paint was on the splash guard. so, the dealer saw it, agreed it was a lame way to go, and wrote in the notes that no matter what, if that becomes an issue in the future, they will fix it. as it is, the splash guard, when reinstalled correctly & overspray removed and sealed back with RTV, hides this imperfection really. you would not even see it. so, I accepted it because of that and because they documented the issue in writing and I know I can get it addressed. I could post a photo if anyone cares, but I made sure to photo document it as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
igcitng Posted August 30, 2009 Report Share Posted August 30, 2009 Remember the commercials that had the catchphrase about people not even trying anymore? If they did that to me I would have a court date for my reaction. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lex Talionis Posted August 30, 2009 Author Report Share Posted August 30, 2009 Remember the commercials that had the catchphrase about people not even trying anymore? If they did that to me I would have a court date for my reaction. had it not been easily camouflaged by the splash guard and they not put it in writing they will address it in the future if needed, it would have been a whole different ball game. but, because of those 2, I decided to save my self the stress and hassle and loss of use of my car for another week as I got them on the hook if needed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roblectric Posted August 31, 2009 Report Share Posted August 31, 2009 The wifes blue Edge goes in the shop tomorrow for rust in the drivers sidefront quarter panel, Same loacation as your's Lex. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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