Paint Bubbles or Bad Finish?

[R8VBV]

Hoping someone might be able to advise me.

I was polishing and waxing the Vantage today and noticed something strange on the drivers side rear wing. It was very hard to spot, but because I was polishing I noticed it.

It felt like a rough bit of paint. When you look closely it either looks like a bad bit of top coat or very tiny bubbles under the paint. Would it be normal to have the paint blister, in the middle of the rear wing? It's a 2010 car.

Here are some pictures, zoomed in:

[paddy328]

Possible smart repair?

[R8VBV]

Hi Paddy, what does that entail?

[t400ble]

He means its been painted before. Badly.

SMART. http://www.automotiverepairsystems.co.uk/what-is-s...

[R8VBV]

I see. I plan on machines polishing the car towards the spring, so hopefully that'll level it out.

So it doesn't look like the dreaded bubbling paint?

[mikey k]

I'd say not so smart repair

[R8VBV]

is this the general consensus then, that perhaps it's a repair? Does it look like the start of the bubbling others have experienced?

[Bincenzo]

Rob, difficult to say given the unknown scale of the pictures, but it seems unlikely to be bubbling, as it looks to be quite a large area. The bubbling I've experienced starts as one or two and gets progressively worse. Yours looks like a fair amount. Might be worth checking with the previous owner/dealership if there is any history of repair - fairly unlikely given the poor result but you never know. How long have you had the car? Where did you get it from?

[AMArchie]

Rob,
The attached image is of bubbling I had on my V12V bonnet leading edges. It covered quite a small area on both the right and left hand side of the bonnet's leading edge.

Thankfully this gas now been sorted under the AM anti-corrosion warranty.

[R8VBV]

The area isn't big, it only looks that way as I've had to really zoom in to show it. It's about an 4cm by 5mm and I found another area slightly higher on the panel which is even smaller. As I said it is hardly noticeable and I am someone who really sees these things.

I bought it from a dealer 6 weeks ago where the one only previous owner had bought it from, and I was told there was no record of any repairs.

If it is corrosion, I gues the warranty will cover it.

[michael gould]

That looks to me very much like the car has had paint at some point.......it doesn't look like corrotion and its certainly would not have left the factory like that. I would suggest you get an opinion from a decent local body shop .......i would be surprised if the supping dealer would want to know about it, but you can ask......but have your facts right before you go into battle ....i.e get the advise

[Neil1300r]

R8VBV said:

If it is corrosion, I gues the warranty will cover it.

If its outside the 3 year factory warranty it won't.

[paddy328]

Without seeing it up close, that's what I think it is. If that's the case and going by what it looks like, machine polishing won't shift it. I'm not even sure wet sanding it would do anything either, as it looks to be under the lacquer too.

[R8VBV]

OK, as long as it's not corrosion I'm not fussed because as I mentioned, you can't see it. I tried to show a friend today and it took me 30 seconds to find it, by having to feel the paint, and I know where it is! If it is corrosion, the warranty is longer I believe and this is the route I'd pursue. After all, it's the root cause for the paint failure.

Edited by R8VBV on Monday 1st December 18:32

[JohnPM]

I had corrosion paintwork done under warranty when the car was four and a half years old (big blister at bottom of passenger door).

[Grant3]

Rob if you have only just purchased the car 6 weeks ago I would pop back to the dealer and ask for them to look over the issue rather than try and mess with things yourself. If they are a good dealer they will sort things for you

[AMArchie]

JohnPM said:

I had corrosion paintwork done under warranty when the car was four and a half years old (big blister at bottom of passenger door).

Same in my case above....

[terenceb]

Looks very much like a repair that has 'sunk', ie the materials used during the repair were either not compatible with the original finish or quite simply not dried out enough beween coats.As said,machine polishing will not remove it and there is the risk of going through the 'edges' of the repair.

[michael gould]

R8VBV said:

OK, as long as it's not corrosion I'm not fussed because as I mentioned, you can't see it. I tried to show a friend today and it took me 30 seconds to find it, by having to feel the paint, and I know where it is! If it is corrosion, the warranty is longer I believe and this is the route I'd pursue. After all, it's the root cause for the paint failure.

Edited by R8VBV on Monday 1st December 18:32

you will always know it's there....kick ass with the dealer