07 V8 Vantage - Paint blisters

[EvolutionChris]

Hi All, Just entered the world of AM ownership after years of thinking and regretting not having bought one 5 years ago.
I got myself an 07 4.3 with.....13,250 miles on the clock and full AM history. So I am a happy man.
However, I have noticed the dreaded paint bubbles on the passenger door around both the handle and the bottom edge. There also appears to be some on the drivers door around the handle too.
I went to AM works in Newport Pagnell as its only around the corner from where I live, and they have agreed to pay a contribution to the repairs. However, they still need me to pay £2343 (inc Vat) for the respray. *gulp*
I am going to a nearby specialist paint shop to see what they will quote, but was wondering what advice you could offer and any recommendation of what to do or where to go.
Most of the comments I have seen have been from a few years ago, although it could be that I have not been looking hard enough.

P.S. Loving the sound and the experience so far

[V8Andrew]

Welcome! Great choice of car, I have the same model year only higher miles. I also have the same paint bubbles and they are pretty bad and annoying. I've asked the AM dealer network wether they would consider contributing to having it fixed which they have declined. I've read stories on here of people managing to get AM to pay for some or all of the work without them admitting it is covered under the anti corrosion warranty. I may have one last try to get them to pay for part of mine before I stump up the cash. The quote you have is high, but depends massively on where you are in the UK, and also the fact that is an 'official' paintshop. You may well find you can get all the work done for cheaper than your contribution by a good independent.

[TBW]

That quote is very high. Had both my doors done for around £1500 at a local high end body shop.

[SL500UK]

If you recently bought the car from a franchised AM dealer, I would have thought they would sort you out with a hefty contribution, if not all of it.

If not, then whatever AM have offered is a bonus but the quotes you received do look as if they're on the high side.

[EvolutionChris]

SL500UK said:

If you recently bought the car from a franchised AM dealer, I would have thought they would sort you out with a hefty contribution, if not all of it.

If not, then whatever AM have offered is a bonus but the quotes you received do look as if they're on the high side.

I bought this privately, so there is no comeback, but I also bought the car at a good price, so there is some wiggle room before I regret the purchase! I will see what the specialist repairers quote. Not sure a spray can from Halfords would do the trick!

[BigMig]

I had a similar issue with paint blisters on my vantage (2009) last year. The supplying dealer wasn't interested in getting involved, possibly something to do with the distance between me and them. My local AM dealer at least entertained me by obtaining a quote from their bodyshop (approx £1900 for both doors and the roof) and forwarding details of the issues to AM. The initial response was that AM would make a small contribution as goodwill. I then called AM directly and expressed my displeasure at this offer, they said they will look into it again, I didn't hold out much hope. But to my surprise they came back within a day and said that they would cover the full costs.

So based on this I would say that try the dealers initially, as I think you have to do this to log it on to the system, and then don't be afraid to call AM directly and push for more than their initial offer, if you don't ask you don't get.

[EvolutionChris]

Thanks - will see what the quote is after Thursday then have a chat.

[J12KJR]

As others have said, try talking direct to the factory. I was very pleasantly surprised with how helpful they were on some problems that I had. I think they are looking to build a better relationship with their customers than they have perhaps had in the past.

[OLDBENZ]

As you are local I recommend you try Lone Pine in Olney for paint. A long-established family business that has prepared cars for Pebble Beach and Salon Prive. Also used by Works Service.

[EvolutionChris]

OLDBENZ said:

As you are local I recommend you try Lone Pine in Olney for paint. A long-established family business that has prepared cars for Pebble Beach and Salon Prive. Also used by Works Service.

Thanks for that,- I've got my appointment with them on Thursday. It will be interesting to see what their quote is.

[wotnoburgers]

Try Also AV Classics near Dunstable. They have painted my 06 vantage to perfection!!, previous to this they have completed other AM work. I know they have some ex Chiltern and works guys there now as well. Aiden owns and runs the business. Make sure that if you use them Joe paints the car as he is simply brilliant.
I have had them paint some of my concours classic cars as well.
10/10 for them!!

[rossyl]

So Chris, how did it go?

[EvolutionChris]

Hi All, Just been away for the last 10 days, so apologies for not posting sooner. I went to Lone Pine and met with Michael. He was a font of knowledge and picked up several bubbles that I had not even spotted. Upshot is that he can happily do the work for £1,000 + VAT for both doors. It will take about a week. I am going to talk to AM and see if they will help with this and go from there.
Will keep you all posted with further progress, but it may be a while as I'm about to get married and evidently, playing with the car should not be my priority
Chris

[CraigRankin]

Hi all
I've recently got a very nice V8 Vantage Roadster and it has a couple of the dreaded paint blisters on the doors. I wondered if these posts were 2016 as it just says August???

Olney isn't far from me so I wondered if you ended up getting Lone Pine to do it??? I was recommended that mine would need 'blowing in' either side of the doors to match. Has anyone else needed this or did you just have the doors painted. It's light silver in colour.

Also interested in finding out if AM actually gave a contribution to anyone and if so how to successfully go about it?

Craig

[Manwhoneverwas]

I have had my V8VR for 4 years now (2008 MY Titanium Silver) and here is my personal experience regarding paint blisters.
Please note the following is based on hard facts from my own experience

1 - AM will offer a standard £250 contribution

2 - In 2013 I managed to get a larger contribution from AM by getting Ulrich Bez involved when he was CEO at AM.

3 - My paint blisters (on both doors) were fixed by an AM approved bodyshop.

4 - The doors now have smaller paint blisters in different locations from the original ones.

5 - The doors cannot just be painted in isolation, generally they blend the new paint in by painting the front wing and rear wheel arch

6 - The standard locations to look out for (and very common, even on newer cars) are surrounding the door handles, the top edge of the door below the door mirror mount and the bottom edge of the doors at the front of the door.

7 - AM talk about a new improved paint process from a certain date, but a friend of mine bought a 1 year old V8 Vantage in 2013 and he had two blisters in the classic locations ( door handle and below the mirror mount)

8 - Don't let this issue deter from your enjoyment of the car, I have learnt to just live with it as it is more common than you think

[IanV12VR]

They do not appear to have resolved. Our V12VR MY12.5 had paint blisters on the doors within the original warranty period. The dealer did not seem surprised but I was told I was unlucky!!!

[bogie]

My Jan 06 car had blisters on the doors for years and traded in recently, no doubt they are being sorted for re-sale.

I really thought they had fixed this issue years ago, my MY12.5 car so far has immaculate paint, so will be keeping a close eye on it whilst its under warranty !