PAINT DEFECT 2015 FIESTA

[isetta]

I have a black fiesta which is 1yr 8 months old. Just washed it and noticed blistering of clear lacquer on roof. Car has 3yr paint warranty. It is in for service in 2 days time so I will mention this then.  Has anyone else had this kind of defect appear on their car at such an early age. Photo below, hard to take good photo due to reflection. The area containing the defects is about 6inches by 6 inches.  If any of you have had this problem did Ford deal with it without hassle or did they try to argue something external had caused it. (and how long did the car have to go in for, was it done in one day? )

 

[Jethro_Tull]

How long the repair takes depends very much in what is required to correct it.

[Bobr]

I've had a few Fiestas and I've never seen anything like that.

[CREED]

It looks like bird mess or some other contaminant has been left on the paintwork for long enough to eat into it?

Fords paint warranty is very limited in what it covers, definitely worth mentioning but unless you can prove its a factory defect etc. they may refuse to pay out.

[biff55]

chemical burn from bird ***** is usually just 1 or 2 big blobs , not scattered small marks like that

either way , that part of the clear coat has failed and will almost certainly require a wet sand & re-lacquer for a proper fix.

whilst ford are scratching their arses deciding on whether  or not they want to do anything about it , i'd be trying a hand polish of the effected area to see if the defect can be reduced or improved , worth a go anyway

[isetta]

I shall report back on what happens when I mention it tomorrow when the car is serviced at main ford dealer

[Luke4efc]

Ford are pretty well known for using thin paint layers. I take it you have already tried to T-cut it out?

[isetta]

I have not tried tcut because I wanted ford to inspect it before I do anything because I don't want them saying I have affected it in any way. The photo does not really show what it looks like in real life. The paler bits in the photo are where the lacquer is missing - like a hole in the lacquer with quite a step on the edges of the holes. The lacquer is loose around the edge of the holes, like it is not adhered to the black paint underneath.

When I dropped the car in for service this morning they said they can not look at this because they are not a ford approved body shop (it is a ford main dealer that sells new cars and does mechanicals only).

So now I need to find a ford approved body shop that is convenient to get to.

[Jethro_Tull]

If they're a Ford franchisee they should manage the paint claim, and arrange themselves to take it to a Ford approved bodyshop.  They sell the products with the warranty, as the official retailer they can not simply ignore you because they won't make any profit out of Ford for the work (although they will try).

[biff55]

9 hours ago, isetta said:

.............. they said they can not look at this because they are not a ford approved body shop (it is a ford main dealer that sells new cars and does mechanicals only).

how convenient  ( for them )

at which point i would have pulled the rug from right under their feet and said " ok then , cancel my booking as i might as well get the car serviced at a place that has an approved bodyshop so both elements can be dealt with by a single franchise "

and watch their faces drop as you walk out the door lol.

like JT said , they cant have it both ways and fob off the jobs they dont want to deal with

[isetta]

Yes, i am not very happy with how I was dealt with. I drive about 70 miles each day and there was only 80 miles to go before the car was overdue on  the service mileage so refusing to let them service it would have been tricky for me from a warranty point if view.

I think I might try to contact Ford directly and ask them for their view on this (who should handle it and if the servicing dealer - Hendy - were right to refuse).

I probably won't do anything for a few days as it annoys me just to think about it and I have plenty of other things to do