Paint work

Lunar · Mar 16, 2015

Just picked up my long awaited Beach on Friday and I am disappointed with the overall paint job. We opted for Olympic Blue. The bonnet and front wings look great but the larger flatter panels towards the rear, hard to describe, but they look pitted. Clearly the paint work is perfectly smooth but it just doesn't look quite right.

I do wonder if I am expecting too much from a....ahem....commercial vehicle.

I would be interested to hear people's thoughts and in particular if anyone else has had similar issues. I know there have been numerous paintwork issues over the years but these seem to be with particular features rather than the whole vehicle.

Going back to the dealer next week for an inspection.

WelshGas · Mar 16, 2015

Does it show on a photograph?
Personally I've not had any problems. I've seen many other T5's and paint problems you have mentioned are extremely rare if at all.

storma63 · Mar 16, 2015

My advice is to go to a reputable auto repair paintshop and ask their opinion, then you'll have a professional view of what has caused the poor finish and will tell you what remedy is needed, so you won't be fooled or fobbed off when you meet the dealer....... Forewarned is forearmed!

Hope it all works out well.
Steve.

snowy55 · Mar 16, 2015

First off the Vw dealer will say, "we haven't seen that before"
As suggested above, get an independent opinion to arm yourself with.

hubert72 · Mar 17, 2015

That sounds strange for a new vehicle, I have had some experience with a poor finish on a new Nissan Pathfinder we had a couple of years ago, after complaining we found out that the side of the car had been damaged on the transporter and then repaired at the local garage before handing over to us as new. I am now very wary when taking a new vehicle. After talking recently to a dent master guy he told me most of his work is at dealerships repairing transporter damaged paintwork. Hope you get your problem sorted, don't be tempted to accept a poor finish, it will bug you every time you see it.

Lunar · Apr 12, 2015

Thanks for the advice - off to the body shop for an inspection on Tuesday.

rod_vw · Apr 13, 2015

Try taking various pictures at different angles with a digital camera. I have noticed that pictures taken this way and viewed on a good monitor often show up discrepancies in painting where repairs have been done better that the naked eye.

Rod

Lunar · Apr 13, 2015

Thanks Rod, the quality is clearly visible across the whole vehicle, except the bonnet which is perfect! I believe the term for the issue is orange peel, seemingly most modern cars suffer to a degree, particularly due to water based paint.

Will be interesting to see what the outcome is tomorrow. I suspect its within specification :thefinger

hubert72 · Apr 13, 2015

Lunar said:
Thanks for the advice - off to the body shop for an inspection on Tuesday.

Hi, was just curious if you got anywhere with your paintwork issue.

Lunar · Apr 13, 2015

Inspection is tomorrow, I will let you know what the outcome is. Given the rest of the problems I have hopefully they will scrap it and start again.

owen_h · Apr 13, 2015

Google orange peel paintwork, does it look like that?

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

rod_vw · Apr 13, 2015

I'm going to be a bit controversial now!

Your Cali is the evolution of a commercial van which was painted (covered with metal preserving coatings and a coloured surface) to provide it with longevity and a bodywork warranty. Maybe it was never intended to be have a concours paint finish??

Yes I realise that when we spend £40k - £50k on a vehicle and we expect high quality but does the paint finish feature in the manufacturers idea of what we are paying for? Or are we back to simple form and function of what was developed as a high mileage long living commercial vehicle?

Oops, sorry about those comments but are they the reality of the situation?

Rod

Lunar · Apr 16, 2015

Hi Rod,

Not that controversial from my perspective, its pretty much the question I was asking in my original post. As it turns out I don't think we are far from the reality. When I visited the body shop and inspected various other T5's, combi's and 2 Cali SE's + a myriad of high end BMW's, Merc's, Porsche & Audi I came away rather satisfied that things could be a whole lot worse. Don't get me wrong the consensus seems to be that modern paint works is 'pants', that was the pro's words not mine, and I don't consider mine to be particularly good. But it turns out its a whole lot better than some.

rod_vw · Apr 16, 2015

I'm glad that you have come to a conclusion that the finish of your vehicle is by no means the worst and maybe run of the mill average.

As for having anything 'improved' I would consider all of the implications of body shop work unless it is absolutely necessary as very few body shops can match original finishes 100%. Repairs will almost always show up under certain lighting conditions, see my comments about digital photos above.

I remember organising the concours competition at the British Volkswagen Festival at Malvern many years ago and having to move the judging inside due to the weather. The artificial lighting showed up things that could not normally be seen causing some considerable discontent amongst the entrants!!

Rod

storma63 · Apr 16, 2015

In my opinion modern paint is poor. I thinks its with the emergence of water based paint system, as opposed to earlier Two Pack systems that were a lot more durable. Basically modern paint is just fancy emulsion!!