Paint peeling, any advice appreciated.

[Spantney]

Good evening PH,

I have an Abarth Grande Punto and a little while back I noticed that the paint was starting to peel away from the bottom right hand corner of the drivers side door, revealing lighter coloured paint underneath. Not massively noticeable from afar but up close you do really notice it so I'd like to get it sorted.

The car was purchased second hand, from an Abarth dealership last year when the car was just over a year old (was originally a Fiat company car), its current age is approx 2 years 5 months. I know Fiat group cars have 3 years paint guarentee so I went back to where I purchased the car and they told me to get my local Fiat garage to have a look. I did so and they informed me that because the paint was thicker on the drivers door compared to elsewhere on the car, it has obviously been repainted and therefore not covered under the 3 year paintwork warranty. The dealership I purchased from said they had no record of it being repainted so they can't do anything to help.

I take it this is a case of just having to suck it up and just pay for it to get repsrayed myself but if there is any advice contrary to this, I would appreciate if you could share.

Thanks very much in advance,

Ant

[Spantney]

Anyone at all had any experience with this? Thanks in advance

Ant

[paintman]

Can you contact the previous keeper - details on registration document - and see if & where it was repainted?
If the door was repainted by a Fiat approved repairer then you should have a case against Fiat as I would expect it to be covered under warranty, if it wasn't then you would have to go after the repairer.

[SLCZ3]

It seems obvious the Abarth dealer is trying to shirk the responsibilities, SOGA etc and all that good stuff, visit with your local trading standards office and ask their advice, have you any service history with it, bills for painting???

[Spantney]

Thanks for the replies both.

I do indeed have full service history for the car and there is no evidence of it being repainted in there, nor any receipts for any work done. The V5 shows the previous keeper being Fiat Autocars based in Slough (from when it was a company car I assume) so maybe I will try and speak to them.

I was thinking maybe it was delivery damage that was covered up originally. Is it true that dealers can make certain repairs (like paint scuffs on delivery) up to a certain percentage value of the car and not actually disclose it?

Thanks again for your assistance on this.

Ant

[SLCZ3]

Any delivery damage will not be disclosed unless the buyer discovers it!!!!

[BUG4LIFE]

I think you have a right to be so pissed with the dealer mate, I mean how can they just fob you off, surely it's their responsibility? Shouldn't they have the skill and knowledge to know if the car has had paint before they sell it....buying cars can be such a bloody pain