Chip paint off with finger nail.... normal?

[berni29]

Hi There

I just want to solicit opinion on this please.

Someone hit the rear bumper of my new to me car (1hr and 5 miles after I bought it) and this necessitated the rear PU being replaced. The approved bodyshop did so and issued a lifetime guarantee. 4 months or so later I noticed a small mark on the bumper and on picking at it with a fingernail some paint chipped off. I was very surprised and out of curiosity picked a bit more and sure enough I can pick it off. So I picked off about 1 cm worth in total just to be sure.

I sent the bodyshop some high rez pics and they said it would need to be inspected by a rep from the paint company. So cue much f'ing around and they finally pick the car up on a low loader on Wednesday. I get an email saying that they will deliver the car back while waiting for the paint report.

Is this normal? It seems like a lot of effort and buck passing just for the sake of repainting a rear PU which comes off and goes in an oven.

Is there any chance that they will blame me and say I should not have picked at the paint? Surely it cannot be faulty paint and must be poor application/preparation or too hot an oven?

I am just after a reality check here.

Many tks.... Berni

[Stu R]

If it came off as easily as you imply it sounds like it hasn't been keyed properly so it's not been able to get a good bond. I'd certainly be expecting them to foot the bill. If you could pick it off very gently, a pressure washer would surely obliterate it!?

[berni29]

Hi

I wouldn't say it was easy to pick off, just not very difficult. I do not have particularly strong nails. I was thinking about trying the jetwasher but thought better of it. My gut feeling is that the pressure washer would not do the trick.

Berni

[Pig Skill]

No it shouldn't do that at all.

They will have done a localised colour with the rest of the panel scotched (rubbed down to create a key)and re lacquered over the entire bumper. If not keyed correctly (ie done a lazy ass job of the prep) this will happen.

[Anatol]

Is the clear delaminating from the paint layer of the repair, delaminating outside the repair area from the clearcoat below it, or the paint and clear (and possibly primer) delaminating as one layer from the substrate?

It's very rare with WB for the paint and clear to separate from each other - pretty much only using clear beyond its pot life, messing up the mix, or applying it way outside the right temperature window will do that. With the old solvent paint systems, leaving the paint too long before overcoating could cause this.

If, very sensibly, your repairer has faded the colour out from the repair area, so that the colour match at the panel gaps is not affected, and the separation is at a clear-over-clear area, as has been suggested above, this is down to poor preparation. Half-hearted deglazing with a piece of scotchbrite is likely the cause. A thorough repair would involve either use of a matting compound, or not hand deglazing at all, and using a fine DA disc, wet.

Clear-over-clear application would be very unlikely if the repairer had in fact replaced your PU though. Unless they painted it once, and a defect was then noticed requiring a spot repair. More likely the original has been repaired. Check the bill - was a new panel paid for?

A new, factory primed panel should provide a *really* good base for fresh paint, with minimal prep needed.

Edited by Anatol on Friday 26th November 07:13

[berni29]

Hi Anatol

It is a new rear PU which was taken off the car and painted. The paint comes off and underneath is a greyish cream substrate that looks very smooth to my eyes.

Thanks for the response

Berni

[Anatol]

Sounds like a primer coat. Could be a factory coat, or maybe a coat of wet-on-wet used to prep the panel.

If the paint and clear are still adhered together but flaking off the primer, the test would be - can the edge be sanded back to feather in smoothly? Unfortunately, it's a destructive test, but if a bit of say, 600 grit wet and dry (wet) feathers in the edge, then the adhesion is adequate for a substrate. If sanding it causes it to flake back and recede, then the adhesion is likely not satisfactory.

If your paint shop is professionally regulated, ask their professional body to get involved and inspect/arbitrate? Won't cost you anything and keeps everyone honest. It's a big plus of using a regulated repairer (though I would say that, to justify the subcription fees to myself ;-) ). Their VM approval may enable you to arrange something similar from the manufacturer - but I've no real knowledge of the ins and outs of being a VM-approved shop.

Edited by Anatol on Friday 26th November 08:36