Good afternoon all,

First time poster here, so apologies if I'm repeating anything that's already been discussed!

I upgraded to a late 2014 plate Fiesta back in January of this year in colour Deep Impact Blue.  It had a couple of very minor chips upon purchase but nothing standout for the 12,000 miles it had covered.  I've now owned the car for just over 8 months and covered around 6000 miles, but the paintwork damage seems to be deteriorating rapidly, with the paint seeming shockingly soft.  I've been meticulous about handwashing the car - so it isn't subjected to any sort of jetsprays - and I have waxed and sealed the paintwork every couple of months.  It's covering around 120 miles a week on a combination of motorway and city road driving.

The main problem seems to be a massive amount of bodywork chips; the car is literally peppered to the point where it now looks dull and unwashed in areas.  A large number of these chips have also gone straight through to the metal underneath. I've paid close attention when driving, and at no point has the car been showered by stones or taken any hard hits.  If anything, I'm driving ultra-carefully because I'm so aware of the problem.

I've had a smart repair guy come out to touch up the worst of the chips as I'm conscious of the salt on the roads over winter doing more damage to the exposed metal.  He's done what he could, but stated that he absolutely would not polish my car as the paint would lift right off it!  He reckoned that the paint hasn't been cured properly between coats, but that's his opinion and nothing concrete that I could take up with Ford, I don't think.

From reading other people's posts, everyone on here seems to be very well informed and informative (thank you!), so I wanted to see whether anyone else had suffered such issues with the MK7.5 Fiesta paint, or whether anybody has got anywhere with Ford complaints when out of warranty (unlikely, I know)?  I know that a large part of it is the water-based paint, but I'm looking at having to respray my whole car within the next 6 months or continually shell out for chip repair if it continues like this, which is pretty gutting for a car that's two years old, especially when it's brilliant in so many other respects

A big thank you in advance for any advice that anyone can give.  Having arrived at work this morning to find another deep gouge in the door panel, I'm getting to my wits end with it now, so all answers are very gratefully received!

Did you buy the car new or used? Has it been resprayed?

Could be bad preparation with moisture under the paint and this is flaking off.

The paintwork will still be under warranty, take it too ford and explain and see what they say and report back.

Hi DieselPig and dave_k,

Thanks for the replies - they're much appreciated.

I did buy the car used from Evans Halshaw at just over 15 months old.  There was no mention of any incidents or it having been resprayed, but it wasn't exactly the best experience, dealing with them, so they most likely have not disclosed any respray if there has been one.  Looking at the paintwork aside from the chipping, there do seem to be small bubbles and flaws in the paint, almost as though they have sprayed over dust particles?

The car is now just over two years old and I think that the paintwork guarantee was only for a year, which would mean that it was out of warranty by the time I bought it.  Not too sure what options that leaves me with, sadly.  I would try to take it up with Ford, but it doesn't seem like others with complaints have got very far, aside from tweeting Ford customer services, which can provoke a reaction.

 

So frustrating!

Hello and welcome Nicola

You could always take your car to an independent spray shop and ask their advice about the paint. They should be able to take readings to measure the thickness of the paint.

That may give you a clue as to has the car been resprayed at some point.

Do you have any good close up pictures of the paint work Nicola ? if so post them up  so we can see.

Depending on what the spray shop says. Will help guide you as to what your options are.

Do come back and let us know

you wont get far with ford customer services, my focus in the same colour is the same, ive not known a car to chip so easily as mine, ive had plenty of cars over the years to(36yrs) .

when you look at it , its like its been sprayed with tiny speckles of grey dirt. mostly front bumper and front edge of bonnet. no paint guarantee will cover this unfortunately

its stone chips so nothing other than touching in can be done

1 hour ago, iantt said:

its stone chips so nothing other than touching in can be done

not so , :-) 

clear / transparent vinyl wrap can be applied to vulnerable areas such as bonnet . lower front wings and door sills , done by a pro you wouldnt know it was there and can absorb most stone hits.

 

in reply to the O.P though. , take your car to a good detailer , they can advise on general paint protection , they can apply nano sealants much more powerful than whats available to the public , and they can even carry out a paint depth measurement which may indicate whether a respray has been carried out in the past.

 

but unfortunately , if you want a diamond hard paint finish you need to buy german - audi / bmw are renowned for it.

i have a candy blue fiesta, and find it chips incredibly easy, ive done everything i can to keep the car clean as a whistle. but chips are starting and its doing my head in

On 10/4/2016 at 6:04 PM, iantt said:

 

you wont get far with ford customer services, my focus in the same colour is the same, ive not known a car to chip so easily as mine, ive had plenty of cars over the years to(36yrs) .

 

when you look at it , its like its been sprayed with tiny speckles of grey dirt. mostly front bumper and front edge of bonnet. no paint guarantee will cover this unfortunately

its stone chips so nothing other than touching in can be done

I bought a brand new kuga 66 and have exactly the same issues and got no where with ford , they say it’s due to crap on the roads. I had paid extra to protect paint work but they said it only protects  from bird poo!!! Rip off!!!