Flock me, paint lifted on my front bumper

M

MorBid

New member
Well I was out and about in the garage this weekend doing my winter prep detail session when I decided to go for the front bumper on my Brilliant Black '05 Audi A4 UltraSport.



It's a shame that this car is only a year old and that bumper looks like it's seen several.



Anywho I was putting down some OCP w/a light cut pad and my DeWalt 849 (rpm's at 1000)

and hit a spot where the paint just "ripped" up.



I've seen burns before at it's not brunt, you could even feel the rough edges where it ripped.



Well after I went to retrieve the polisher, I threw it clear out of the garage and onto the lawn, and calmed down, I went back to see what could have caused this.



I rarely polish the bumper and am wondering if the paint was lifting to begin with or was there a rock chip or something that caused this?
 
Flocking is that furry stuff that they line jewelry boxes with...it's chopped up stuff sprayed onto a layer of glue ("very short or pulverized fiber used especially to form a velvety pattern on cloth or paper or a protective covering on metal"). If you have ever seen an old Passport radar detector (1st Gen) they had a 3M flocking product sprayed on there called....damn...begins with an N...Nextel...apparently 3M sold this Nextel Velvet coating to someone else, but it was kind of like a fuzzy paint, used to create a low-reflectivity surface, or provide some texture for non-slip.
 
Setec Astronomy said:
Flocking is that furry stuff that they line jewelry boxes with...it's chopped up stuff sprayed onto a layer of glue ("very short or pulverized fiber used especially to form a velvety pattern on cloth or paper or a protective covering on metal"). If you have ever seen an old Passport radar detector (1st Gen) they had a 3M flocking product sprayed on there called....damn...begins with an N...Nextel...apparently 3M sold this Nextel Velvet coating to someone else, but it was kind of like a fuzzy paint, used to create a low-reflectivity surface, or provide some texture for non-slip.
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well my friend you are a wealth of information, I never knew that.



I'll used "fvck" on-line from now on so people know what I mean.
 
Sorry to hear what happened. I always stay off of bumpers with my rotary. There's too many curves...I just don't feel comfortable using the rotary on all those curves.



I'd guess you'll need to try your hand with touch up paint. I hope you can fix it.
 
Don't remind me, I scratched my rear bumper with one of those stupid mid height uniblocks as I was parking at a reception hall this weekend, spolied my night. :angry
 
MorBid said:
I've seen burns before at it's not brunt, you could even feel the rough edges where it ripped.
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Even if you had a rock chip it shouldn't have created a weak spot that would allow the paint to rip off like that. From your description it sounds like you've actually got paint peeling off the bumper, which tells me it is an adhesion problem. With the car being so new I'd take it back to the dealer ASAP and see what they have to say. Seriously, a rock chip should just be a rock chip!
 
MorBid said:
well my friend you are a wealth of information, I never knew that.



I'll used "fvck" on-line from now on so people know what I mean.
Click to expand...



LOL...I was just busting your chops a little. I dunno if I'm a wealth of information, maybe some useless information and too much internet search time available to back it up :nervous:
 
Mike-in-Orange said:
Even if you had a rock chip it shouldn't have created a weak spot that would allow the paint to rip off like that. From your description it sounds like you've actually got paint peeling off the bumper, which tells me it is an adhesion problem. With the car being so new I'd take it back to the dealer ASAP and see what they have to say. Seriously, a rock chip should just be a rock chip!
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I was thinking that very thought. I STF over at Audiworld to see if my car had as history of this happening and there were some back in 2002.



I'll give them a ring in the morning though. It's hard to get them to honor anything anymore. I may have to call AoA (Audi of America).



How could/would I prove it's a defect with the paint though. I've painted enough cars to figure it out, but they will be coming from the point of view as to not want to own up to anything.



Audi's have lifetime warranties on the paint.
 
MorBid said:
I was thinking that very thought. I STF over at Audiworld to see if my car had as history of this happening and there were some back in 2002.



I'll give them a ring in the morning though. It's hard to get them to honor anything anymore. I may have to call AoA (Audi of America).



How could/would I prove it's a defect with the paint though. I've painted enough cars to figure it out, but they will be coming from the point of view as to not want to own up to anything.



Audi's have lifetime warranties on the paint.
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This is a 2005, right? Well, with a lifetime warranty on the paint they'd better take care of you! Please tell me Audi customer service, even at the dealership level, isn't that bad! If they're dealing with vehicles in the price range of the A8 L W12 at around $120k they'd better be offering some equivalent customer service, and that service ought to trickle all the way down to the A3 even, let alone your car.
 
Mike:



You'd be suprised. My car was stickered at 38K and some change (I got it for 32K and change cause the force was with me and the salesman could'nt resist my powers :)).



Anywho there is a trend going on at Audi (and maybe other manufactuers) to reduce after sales maintenance costs. My warranty is



* 4 years or 50,000 miles, whichever comes first, no-charge scheduled maintenance. Oil changes, a tune-up, even wiper blades are included.

* 4 years or 50,000 miles, whichever comes first, new vehicle limited warranty

* 12-year limited warranty against corrosion perforation

* Audi 24-hour Roadside Assistance for 4 years



and the paint warranty is included therin.



A couple of years back A4's were having this issue with the coil packs. Well I mean to say, dealers weren't replacing them cause Audi of America wasn't paying for it. Or you had to leave your car with them and wait for the parts to come from Germany (days turn into weeks). As it turned out after about 6 months to a year of this going on Audi in Germany fessed up and said the coil-packs were bad in the first place and did a recall.



What I'm saying is that when you bring the car in for a probelm, they will only do warranty work on that which Audi will pay them for, and Audi sends out a notice requarly to dealerships informing them what they're not paying for anymore under warranty.



The Service dept is nice about it (at least mine are) but they're hands are tied by the manufactuer. Visit Audiworld or Audizine and STF on warranty work and you'll see what I mean.
 
MorBid said:
What I'm saying is that when you bring the car in for a probelm, they will only do warranty work on that which Audi will pay them for, and Audi sends out a notice requarly to dealerships informing them what they're not paying for anymore under warranty.



The Service dept is nice about it (at least mine are) but they're hands are tied by the manufactuer.
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The laws might be different where you live, but in many places the dealership is responsible for fulfilling the terms of the warranty. If you check the wording of your warranty, it probably says as much.



Wether or not the dealership gets reimbursed by the manufacturer is their problem, not yours. They often need to be reminded of this fact, however.
 
MorBid- Sorry to hear about this, must be a real drag. Yeah, it sounds like a chip somehow affected the adhesion of the paint in that area so I wouldn't blame myself if I were you- I don't thnk the polishing *caused* the problem, it just uncovered it.



See what the dealer says about it. I'd even offer to pay part of a repaint since the chip is, IMHO, what started the whole thing. Try to find a middle ground, just get it done and move on. I think you'll be glad you did.



Note that the dealer's hands aren't *really* tied by Audi, they can do whatever the owner wants to do. My Audi dealer has eaten thousands of dollars worth of repairs to keep me happy. This is one reason why it pays to be a customer they like to do business with, rather than a PIA ;)



Reshooting a bumper cover (make sure they take it off the car, this will cost a little in labor but it's worth it) isn't that big a deal. It's just the sort of thing that needs doing now and then when you drive 'em in the real world, yours just happened sooner rather than later.
 
It might really be a problem out of the factory...it sounds like the bumper wasnt preped right before painting...idk but good luck... :dance
 
MorBid said:
My warranty is



* 4 years or 50,000 miles, whichever comes first, no-charge scheduled maintenance. Oil changes, a tune-up, even wiper blades are included.

* 4 years or 50,000 miles, whichever comes first, new vehicle limited warranty

* 12-year limited warranty against corrosion perforation

* Audi 24-hour Roadside Assistance for 4 years



and the paint warranty is included therin.
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And that is why they need to honor it. My understanding regarding the scheduled maintenance at no cost is because manufacturers saw so many cars coming off lease that hadn't been properly maintained, they determined it was actually cheaper to take care of a car for the buyer than to "refurbish" at trade in.



SpoiledMan said:
...and that would certainly keep me from buying one/another one that's for sure.
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Dig deep enough and you'll hear similar stories from almost every manufacturer though. Mazda had a manufacturing problem with the #4 bearing in the engines of 1999 & 2000 Miatas that caused many engines to fail in less than 20k miles. Even knowing it was a manufacturing defect (this has been proven time and time again) Mazda will fight you over a replacement engine. Some folks have gotten lucky and Mazda paid for at least part of the cost. Like I said, these stories go on and on.
 
They pretty much all would fight you over a replacement engine or any other major component failure. It's up to them to prove that you abused it to make it fail however. It wouldn't take the threat of anything more than the BBB to get it taken care of.



If Audi sells a car with a warranty and then want to pick and choose what they'll fix then I'd find another car to like and buy. Having had my first actual Honda branded car in my 2000 Odyssey and having been spoiled at the Acura dealer for the last 15 years I don't like the way that "Honda" treats me when it comes to warranty issues as opposed to "Acura." It's not really likely that I'd buy another "Honda" unless it's an S2K.
 
MorBid, I'm really surprised to hear about your experiences with your Audi warranty. I had an Audi TT until about a year ago. I drove that car for 5 years and while it was under warranty (3 years 36K miles at the time) I had many and I mean many repairs done under warranty. My car was constantly in the shop. As it was an entirely new model and I got one of the first ones, I don't think they knew how to put it together yet when they made mine. So, I got a lot of experience with my dealer's service department. I think I had the car a week before I made my first visit. I can honestly say the post-sales service I got from my dealer was excellent and they definitely good-willed one or two repairs after the warranty was up. The battery in my remote key was even replaced under warranty a couple times.
 
Mike, that's how it should be. When there are warranty issues whatever manufacturer should step up to the plate and take care of you! I'm glad that they at least tried to help you.
 
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