A warning on "paint wrinkle"!!!

[Setec Astronomy]

It totally looks like that section of the bumper was repaired before. Looks like some semi-thick plastic filler was used and it failed. Have your Dad lool into that because OEM paint film isn't that thick.

^What he said^



The bumper might have been replaced/refinished at some point. And the owner

might know. Regardless, having it repaired for him is the best thing to do.



Checking for repairs aren't always easy. And, especially with older vehicles,

it might be good to ask the owner. Or anytime.

Dang, Rasky, that just sucks... It doesn't even look like it's heat related damage to me. I'd be inclined to think that David Fermaani is on the right track; it looks like a case of the paint not bonding correctly.

Yeah, IMO that's definitely filler...that's not a "wrinkle", it's a crater! You say it's a new car, but it had "overspray" on it...new cars can have repairs, it can be done at the factory, or if it's below lemon-law dollar threshold, the dealer can screw it up on the lot and repair it and still sell it as new. I think here in NJ it's $1500, it used to be something like $5000, so a car could get pretty messed up and they would fix it and sell it as new.

 

[RaskyR1]

There was no real signs of it being a repaint...hard for me not to spot since I pretty much grew up in a body shop. I agree it does look rather thick but it could just be the compound on the edge making it seem thicker. :nixweiss

 

[David Fermani]

Seeing that a vehicle from the factory will typically have between 4 – 7 mils (100 – 180 microns) of total paint thickness, and considering a human hair is only ~2 mils, I'd have to say that this "wrinkle" appears to be close to 15+ mils in the picture. As soon as the body shop preps the surface for repair, they'll be able to confirm if filler was ever used.

 

[Setec Astronomy]

There was no real signs of it being a repaint...hard for me not to spot since I pretty much grew up in a body shop. I agree it does look rather thick but it could just be the compound on the edge making it seem thicker. :nixweiss

If you grew up in a body shop, you know paint isn't that thick, and it can easily be seen that the defect is 1/16" or more deep. That's melted Bondo, man.

 

[imported_rydawg1]

That bumper is loaded with body filler from looking at the picture. It looks like a poor patch job done on a budget. Make sure you have your bodyshop inspect it.



I can't see a rotory doing this much damage with your experience on stock oem paint.

 

[RaskyR1]

If you grew up in a body shop, you know paint isn't that thick, and it can easily be seen that the defect is 1/16" or more deep. That's melted Bondo, man.

I will agree that the paint does look rather thick, but this was OEM paint. The body shop confirmed, and the owner said he took delivery of the vehicle right off the truck...so if there is any filler there, it was done at the factory.









This thread has gone a little off track...



I messed up, simple as that and I'm not looking for a reason to lesson the fault on myself. The point of the thread was to warn others how easily this can happen and to use extra caution when working on bumper covers and other plasic panels.

 

[Phishy4]

I own the Element in question. While in my possession, no paint/body work of any kind has been preformed on the car. I took delivery of it directly from Honda new. I've buffed it multiple times with a PC and various optimum products (OHC, OC, OP, etc) and never had an issue, but that's a PC of course.



I think part of the issue with the picture is the perspective and the fact that there is a layer of sealant on it. I can't see anything other than black plastic under the paint in person, and while it does look like thick paint (which I've been told is very common for oem, flex type bumper paint) I have no reason to believe it's anything other than oem. And the "overspray" issue is from white road paint, it was all over my mirrors and windshield as well.



All that being said, I don't really care one way or another because Rasky was good enough to get it fixed for me by one of the best body shops in the area. Plus, my car looks absolutely ridiculous. Dude is amazing.

 

[Flashtime]

Even if the vehicle is brand new, damage can happen during transport.

Anyhow, plus 1 for RaskyR1!

 

[Setec Astronomy]

Even if the vehicle is brand new, damage can happen during transport.

Yeah, that is the point I was trying to make, is that sometimes the job is redone at the factory (they don't get every car perfect the first time), sometimes a car is damaged in transit or while the dealer has it, and can be repaired and sold as new if the damage is below a certain dollar amount (if the repair is done at the factory, of course the car is still new by definition).

 

[RaskyR1]

Yeah, that is the point I was trying to make, is that sometimes the job is redone at the factory (they don't get every car perfect the first time), sometimes a car is damaged in transit or while the dealer has it, and can be repaired and sold as new if the damage is below a certain dollar amount (if the repair is done at the factory, of course the car is still new by definition).

I'm well aware of that, my father serviced all the body work for a local GM and Dodge dealership when he had his own shop. But there were no typical signs of repaint (dust specs, tape lines, texture...)



The over spray appeared to be white road paint BTW.

 

[Flashtime]

I'm well aware of that, my father serviced all the body work for a local GM and Dodge dealership when he had his own shop. But there were no typical signs of repaint (dust specs, tape lines, texture...)

Not to get too nit picky...but, entire bumper covers get replaced without typical

signs of a refinish.

 

[RaskyR1]

Not to get too nit picky...but, entire bumper covers get replaced without typical

signs of a refinish.

True, but a new bumper shouldn't have filler in it either...I also don't recal ever seeing a black filler before.

 

[David Fermani]

Regardless if this was repaired or not, it's common sense to take extreme care when buffing plactic parts. I'm not saying you didn't do this RaskyR1, (you probably did) but because this bumper was repaired (most likely improperly) there was no way for you to know ahead of time.



On a side note, I recently had my ceramic tile roof powerwashed. The powerwash guy stepped through my roof and my roof starts leaking. His insurance company property apprasier comes over to inspect it and notices that the roof was poorly repaired prior to this (which ended up rotting out my wood decking) and caused the PW guy to fall through. The adjuster ends up denying the claim rightfully so. The powerwasher didn't do anything wrong and couldn't avoid it while doing his normal scope of his job.

 

[cjbigcog]

When body shops refinish a bumper cover, surely they use a buffer at some point following the paint process. I'm wondering how they avoid heat problems on plastic parts.

 

[Jason M]

When body shops refinish a bumper cover, surely they use a buffer at some point following the paint process. I'm wondering how they avoid heat problems on plastic parts.

It's not something that's very common. Thousands of plastic parts have been buffed (on this site alone) with no issues.

 

[RaskyR1]

When body shops refinish a bumper cover, surely they use a buffer at some point following the paint process. I'm wondering how they avoid heat problems on plastic parts.

It's not something that's very common. Thousands of plastic parts have been buffed (on this site alone) with no issues.

Exactly. The thread was just to serve as a warning as to what can happen if you let the paint get to hot, which was likely what happened in my case.



In fact the body shop buffed on the bumper before delivery...





Just use caution on them.