Peeling paint

[jaffajim0]

When I was waiting to buy my car the salesman told me it was taking longer than normal due to a bumper being cracked on delivery to the preparation centre and needing replacing. It was over a bank holiday weekend and they needed to wait for confirmation that the insurance would pay out before they could order the part and then spray and fit it. 1 week on and there is an area of paint, about an inch long, which has peeled off the rear bumper!!

I don't know if it was the rear bumper that was replaced but I'll be surprised if it wasn't.

Spoke to the salesman earlier and he is saying they can touch it up and that's your lot as it's a used car, wear and tear etc.

I've told him I'm not happy with that as it would seem to be poor workmanship and nothing to do with wear and tear. He also wants me to go back to his dealership (Lookers) which is over 2 hours away rather than letting me go to my local dealership (Vertu) but I have been told by another salesman that they can authorise repair anywhere and pick up the bill.

This is the damaged area.

What can I expect??

 

[ernie]

When I was waiting to buy my car the salesman told me it was taking longer than normal due to a bumper being cracked on delivery to the preparation centre and needing replacing. It was over a bank holiday weekend and they needed to wait for confirmation that the insurance would pay out before they could order the part and then spray and fit it. 1 week on and there is an area of paint, about an inch long, which has peeled off the rear bumper!!

I don't know if it was the rear bumper that was replaced but I'll be surprised if it wasn't.

Spoke to the salesman earlier and he is saying they can touch it up and that's your lot as it's a used car, wear and tear etc.

I've told him I'm not happy with that as it would seem to be poor workmanship and nothing to do with wear and tear. He also wants me to go back to his dealership (Lookers) which is over 2 hours away rather than letting me go to my local dealership (Vertu) but I have been told by another salesman that they can authorise repair anywhere and pick up the bill.
View attachment 113343
This is the damaged area.

What can I expect??

From the photo, it looks like a poor paint job. Although it is wet, there seems to be an underlying orange peel effect as well as the damage you mention. It also looks like more paint is bubbling around the damage, ready to peel off. If that is true, the dealer should return the car to whoever painted the bumper and have it redone. I don't think it has been properly etch-primed.

Although it looks to me like it has been painted, if you are concerned as to when, have a local bodyshop compare the paint depth on the rear bumper with the front and get their opinion.

As regards 'it's a used car'....if they painted it and it should be OK for years, not a week!

Ernie

ps: I once had a similar problem with a silver VW Passat which was actually out of warranty. The paint was peeling, but underneath it was white. It seemed that VW had had an excess of white bumpers as the model ended and they sprayed some silver. Mine was done under warranty without question.

 

[Petrol Pete]

Hi Jaffa , any more detail ? Age of car , mileage , main dealer or local garage etc ?

 

[oldguy57]

That looks like a poor spray can job! Never fails to amaze me that the likes of Lookers think that they can get away with rubbish like this. Tell them you're going to reject the car, which you can do, and I think they'll quickly change their approach.

 

[ioweddie]

Get them to buy and fit one of these
About £50 Delivered from eBay

 

[jaffajim0]

Hi Jaffa , any more detail ? Age of car , mileage , main dealer or local garage etc ?

Car is a 17 plate with 35k on the clock. It was bought from a main dealer in Kent but the bumper was replaced and painted at their preparation centre in Sussex.

 

[vijilants]

First of all there is no excuse for bumper paint issue if it has been replace and painted by the dealership or their authorised repair centre.

Secondly, stop dealing with the salesman and contact the branch manager directly and complain, and if that doesn't work, go higher.

The work is unnaceptable and you shouldn't accept the car with that paint defect.

 

[ernie]

That looks like a poor spray can job! Never fails to amaze me that the likes of Lookers think that they can get away with rubbish like this. Tell them you're going to reject the car, which you can do, and I think they'll quickly change their approach.

That's an insult to a spay can! I did a better job with an Electrolux Vac Bottle 55years ago on an Austin Somerset!

Ernie

 

[RAB36]

From my personal experience in the paint trade this can happen through a couple of ways.

1) The area hasn't been keyed up properly, generally the edges and crevasses are more prone to paint not sticking as there often over looked by lazy workers not doing a proper job keying the area.

2) If the bumper came to the body shop without a primer coat already sprayed on (cheaper to buy new) then they will need to key the bumper (properly) then coat every bit of the bumper with a good quality plastic primer then 2 coats of wet on wet primer before its ready for any kind of basecoat.

3) Least likely option but if it was pressure washed just after a fresh paint job its easy to lift the paint off if you go to close this generally don't happen in the middle of a bumper although that's not impossible at all.

As for what to expect now well the bumper will just get worse the more you wash it the more you drive it, different weather ect ect your just find more bits bubbling, cracking and just generally falling off in places to the point your have no choice but to have the bumper removed all the paint blown off with an air blower and sanded back to raw plastic and start the process again, it will cost almost twice as much as its no longer a simple job and by the looks of that colour its more than likely a 3 stage pearl so don't be surprised if it will cost a good £500+ to remove strip and repaint the whole thing properly so id get them to sort it if possible.

Good luck.

 

[jaffajim0]

From my personal experience in the paint trade this can happen through a couple of ways.

1) The area hasn't been keyed up properly, generally the edges and crevasses are more prone to paint not sticking as there often over looked by lazy workers not doing a proper job keying the area.

2) If the bumper came to the body shop without a primer coat already sprayed on (cheaper to buy new) then they will need to key the bumper (properly) then coat every bit of the bumper with a good quality plastic primer then 2 coats of wet on wet primer before its ready for any kind of basecoat.

3) Least likely option but if it was pressure washed just after a fresh paint job its easy to lift the paint off if you go to close this generally don't happen in the middle of a bumper although that's not impossible at all.

As for what to expect now well the bumper will just get worse the more you wash it the more you drive it, different weather ect ect your just find more bits bubbling, cracking and just generally falling off in places to the point your have no choice but to have the bumper removed all the paint blown off with an air blower and sanded back to raw plastic and start the process again, it will cost almost twice as much as its no longer a simple job and by the looks of that colour its more than likely a 3 stage pearl so don't be surprised if it will cost a good £500+ to remove strip and repaint the whole thing properly so id get them to sort it if possible.

Good luck.

They have now agreed to respecting the bumper but they are doing a patch repair which he has explained to me as a large area around the area in question and not the touch up pen he first wanted to do. That’s progress but now you’ve raised concerns about potential future problems I’m worried. If I accept the patch repair and it still fails how long after the repair could I claim they’re responsible??
Another point is how long should I leave the bumper without washing it?? My daughters friend had a respray (not sure how much) and she was told not to clean it for 90 days. That sounds excessive and I can’t imagine not cleaning it for 3 months over summer. The paint came off this bumper when I wiped it with a wet cleaning cloth. I didn’t scrub it so I was surprised but maybe that backs up the 90 days advice.

 

[jaffajim0]

First of all there is no excuse for bumper paint issue if it has been replace and painted by the dealership or their authorised repair centre.

Secondly, stop dealing with the salesman and contact the branch manager directly and complain, and if that doesn't work, go higher.

The work is unnaceptable and you shouldn't accept the car with that paint defect.

Funny you should say that. I rang and asked to speak to the salesman and was told he wasn’t at his desk and could they take a number. I said no and if I couldn’t speak to him I needed to speak to a manager and explained what it was about. 10 seconds later they had found the salesman!!!

 

[flowrider]

All newer Mercedes cars suffer from orange peel effect paintwork so it may not have been the fault of the dealer.

 

[jaffajim0]

Just an extra question if they do the patch spray job how long should that take, a few hours or an overnight loan car job??

 

[Spider10]

Personally I wouldn't except a patch job its only going to do the same again.
Full respray is the only option i would be happy with

 

[RAB36]

They have now agreed to respecting the bumper but they are doing a patch repair which he has explained to me as a large area around the area in question and not the touch up pen he first wanted to do. That’s progress but now you’ve raised concerns about potential future problems I’m worried. If I accept the patch repair and it still fails how long after the repair could I claim they’re responsible??
Another point is how long should I leave the bumper without washing it?? My daughters friend had a respray (not sure how much) and she was told not to clean it for 90 days. That sounds excessive and I can’t imagine not cleaning it for 3 months over summer. The paint came off this bumper when I wiped it with a wet cleaning cloth. I didn’t scrub it so I was surprised but maybe that backs up the 90 days advice.

I wouldn't accept a "patch repair" that's a slightly nicer way of saying a bodge job your best bet from now is to get some kind of discount/money back and have a reputable shop repair the bumper yourself, as for washing you can wash a car a day or two after painting even same day if its painted early enough, only advice id give you is don't jet wash the painted panel if you do need to stand right back and let the water just gently spray over the panels to get the soap gone, and never use a squidgy, you shouldn't use one on paintwork anyway but defiantly avoid fresh paint, whoever said 90 days is a fool lol.

 

[RAB36]

All newer Mercedes cars suffer from orange peel effect paintwork so it may not have been the fault of the dealer.

What makes you say that? Having worked for two Mercedes approved bodyshops all the cars we've had in all have good factory paint I've never noticed any orange peel issues and Mercedes them selves are ruthless when it comes to being an approved shop and what they expect/want/force a bodyshop to have to meet there standards so ive never seen or heard of orange peel issues on new Mercedes? And there's defiantly no excuse for the image the op has given that's no where near factory standards, not even close, if quality control seen that in a proper bodyshop and a painter tried getting it out the door you'd be given a verbal warning.

 

[Spider10]

I can remember when I collected my car from the detailers he had a brand new i think it was an sl 63 cab £172,000 car just bought it from MB to be told by the detailer it had had a complete rear end shunt and tbf the paintwork was shocking so were the shut line's to say the least MB denied all knowledge of it he went through murder trying to give it back so some MB shops are shite i never did find out the outcome

 

[jaffajim0]

All newer Mercedes cars suffer from orange peel effect paintwork so it may not have been the fault of the dealer.

They told me it had to have a new bumper which needed spraying before they could sell it used approved so I think it was definitely down to them.

From my personal experience in the paint trade this can happen through a couple of ways.

1) The area hasn't been keyed up properly, generally the edges and crevasses are more prone to paint not sticking as there often over looked by lazy workers not doing a proper job keying the area.

2) If the bumper came to the body shop without a primer coat already sprayed on (cheaper to buy new) then they will need to key the bumper (properly) then coat every bit of the bumper with a good quality plastic primer then 2 coats of wet on wet primer before its ready for any kind of basecoat.

3) Least likely option but if it was pressure washed just after a fresh paint job its easy to lift the paint off if you go to close this generally don't happen in the middle of a bumper although that's not impossible at all.

As for what to expect now well the bumper will just get worse the more you wash it the more you drive it, different weather ect ect your just find more bits bubbling, cracking and just generally falling off in places to the point your have no choice but to have the bumper removed all the paint blown off with an air blower and sanded back to raw plastic and start the process again, it will cost almost twice as much as its no longer a simple job and by the looks of that colour its more than likely a 3 stage pearl so don't be surprised if it will cost a good £500+ to remove strip and repaint the whole thing properly so id get them to sort it if possible.

Good luck.

that’s a great reply and very helpful. My problem will be if I quote that I would expect MB to ask me who gave me that opinion and did they look at it. I don’t expect they’ll accept a forum quote. Don’t really know what to do to be honest. I suppose you don’t get if you don’t ask but as the first offer was a touch I don’t expect much. Then again, that was the salesman so maybe a manager will be different??

 

[flowrider]

What makes you say that? Having worked for two Mercedes approved bodyshops all the cars we've had in all have good factory paint I've never noticed any orange peel issues and Mercedes them selves are ruthless when it comes to being an approved shop and what they expect/want/force a bodyshop to have to meet there standards so ive never seen or heard of orange peel issues on new Mercedes? And there's defiantly no excuse for the image the op has given that's no where near factory standards, not even close, if quality control seen that in a proper bodyshop and a painter tried getting it out the door you'd be given a verbal warning.

Just my observations when looking a paintwork on cars. Rarely do you see a mirror like smooth finish unless the car has been through paint correction.

 

[RAB36]

All newer Mercedes cars suffer from orange peel effect paintwork so it may not have been the fault of the dealer.

What makes you say that? Having worked for two Mercedes approved bodyshops all the cars we've had in all have good factory paint I've never noticed any orange peel issues and Mercedes them selves are ruthless when it comes to being an approved shop and what they expect/want/force a bodyshop to have to meet there standards so ive never seen or heard of orange peel issues on new Mercedes? And there's defiantly no excuse for the image the op has given that's no where near factory standards, not even close, if quality control seen that in a proper bodyshop and a painter tried getting it out the door you

Just my observations when looking a paintwork on cars. Rarely do you see a mirror like smooth finish unless the car has been through paint correction.

Yeah totally understandable you always get a small level on orange peel but in the op’s situation that repaint just isnt good enough by normal standard let alone the paint falling off.