QuestionQUESTION: I had my car repainted almost 3 years ago, and the clear coat is peeling off mainly on the front bumper, but also in other places. In some of the places it is about 1" to 2" space where the clear coat is gone. The paint job is still under warranty. I had to bring my car to the dealer 4 separate times for people to look at the problems. All of the workers stated that it should not be peeling like it is; however, the manager stated that it was not their responsibility, because it was due to rock pecks. The clear coat is not just gone in a pen point area were a rock would have hit it, but in large areas. Over the last 4 weeks I notice that the spots are getting worse. There are probably about 20 of these areas on my front bumper. Also when they repainted my car they put glitter in the clear coat. Someone told me that there were too many layers with the glitter. They should have not put the glitter in the clear coat, because it made the paint layers to thick, and would cause not only the clear coat to peel but also the paint. There is a spot on the bumper that there is no paint at all. Do you know if putting glitter in the clear coat will cause it to peel? Also should my clear coat be coming off in such large areas? Should the dealer take responsibility? Thank you and have a wonderful day.
ANSWER: Hi Marie,
I would request that they have the Paint Manufacturer's representative to come and look at the the finish and tell the shop you would like to be there when he/she comes. If all the workers agree that it should not be peeling then they may have more of a problem than just your car and they need to find out what it is. This is more of a strong arm tactic toward the body shop than anything else. I have been in the business for a long time and I know that the body shop is not going to want you to be there when the manufacturer's rep. comes if they suspect it's anything they caused and are not wanting to admit it to you. If it's truly rock chips (which I don't think it is) the body shop won't care that you come to the meeting. I would also go to another body shop and get an estimate and a educated guess as to what caused the peeling. My bet is the panel wasn't properly prepped before refinishing. In my opinion the shop should at the very least split the price of re-painting the area with you. The only reason I say split is because it's been 3 years since it was painted. Good luck and I hope this helps you.
Gary
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: Gary sorry to bother you again, but I wanted to clarify a few things. You feel that they should split the cost of repainting the area with me even though the paint job was warranted for 3 years? I brought it to the dealer before it reached 3 years.
Also, I brought it by another body shop and the man said he would not touch my car with a 10 foot pole. He is the one that stated that they should not have put glitter in the clear coat. He said that it was peeling worse because the glitter made the paint layers to thick. He said that not only will the clear coat come off but so will the paint. Do you know if putting glitter in the clear coat will cause it to peel? Thank you so much for your reply. Have a wonderful day.
AnswerHi Marie,
If you have a written warranty and the damage is found to be a application error of the paint shop then you should not have to split anything. Sorry I didn't catch the line "still under warranty" in your original question. The only way that it should cost you anything is if they prove to you that it was due to rock chips. As far as glitter in the clear, It depends on what type of clear that was used. Some clears are forgiving for the addition of custom pigments some are not.
Excessive film builds (thickness) can cause a delamination (peeling). The only way to know how thick the clear is would be to have it measured using a dry film gauge. The Paint Rep. will probably do this first thing. Clear-coat film build should not be over 3.0 mils maximum with an overall film build thickness from the bare metal up ( the sum of the e-coat, primer, sealer, color, and clear)should be at the maximum 11.0 mils for most refinish paints. if you have anymore question please don't hesitate to ask. Have a great day as well.
Gary
