Stone chip paint blister

sbmcd · Apr 12, 2015

Hi I was giving my van a good wash and polish when I found a little paint blister in front of the OSR wheel arch. Warranty defect was my initial reaction but VW have advised me this has been caused by a very small stone chip and sent me some supporting documentation showing how these develop.

I have asked VW for a quotation for a repair that will retain the paint warranty, no sign of that yet. In the mean time I have burst the bluster and repaired it myself as you would any other stone chip, it was only going to get bigger if I did not.

The van has had a tough time on winter roads in Scotland, too many ski trips up the A82! which has resulted in a number of stone chips. But the Cali is for using to the max and the only way it won't get chips is parked on my drive so I'll just have to live with them.

I suppose the lesson from this is a good wash and polish lets you see any damage as it occurs so you can deal with it before it gets worse.

Info sent by VW

snowy55 · Apr 12, 2015

sbmcd said:
Hi I was giving my van a good wash and polish when I found a little paint blister in front of the OSR wheel arch. Warranty defect was my initial reaction but VW have advised me this has been caused by a very small stone chip and sent me some supporting documentation showing how these develop.

I have asked VW for a quotation for a repair that will retain the paint warranty, no sign of that yet. In the mean time I have burst the bluster and repaired it myself as you would any other stone chip, it was only going to get bigger if I did not.

The van has had a tough time on winter roads in Scotland, too many ski trips up the A82! which has resulted in a number of stone chips. But the Cali is for using to the max and the only way it won't get chips is parked on my drive so I'll just have to live with them.

I suppose the lesson from this is a good wash and polish lets you see any damage as it occurs so you can deal with it before it gets worse.

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Info sent by VW

View attachment 7796

Have you seen this? http://vwcaliforniaclub.com/threads/roof-corrosion-latest-updates.9000/page-102#post-82023
Seems to suggest known fault and was repaired under warranty.

sbmcd · Apr 12, 2015

The roof corrosion thread shows blisters with no stone holes, there was an obvious small hole which is why vw are claiming that is what caused the blister, the info Including pictures of similar blisters with holes they have sent me seem to support their position.

snowy55 · Apr 12, 2015

Ok, just pointing it out :thumb

sbmcd · Apr 12, 2015

snowy55 said:
Ok, just pointing it out

Thanks anyway

motacyclist · Apr 12, 2015

"... areas susceptible to stone chipping"? Odd place to get a stone chip as that part of the van doesn't face forward (unless you've been drifting it

).

That hole could have been caused by whatever was inside bursting the blister. As it's only one isolated blister at present it's probably not worth the hassle of chasing them, but at least you have it logged down in case more appear. Have a look for any in the door shut areas because they wouldn't be able to say they've been caused by stone chips.

sbmcd · Apr 12, 2015

I have a stone chip on the font os wheel arch, no blister just lump out of the paint, our roads have suffered from our winters, pot holes spilling rocks over the road surface, chips can be caused by on comming traffic, I have none on the nearside!

pjm-84 · Jul 15, 2015

How did you get on with the repair?

I have a similar problem on my recently arrived vehicle and struggling to finds someone to repair a paint chip on the sliding door caused by the Dealer (Dealer has held his hands up) . A local VW bodyshop want over a £1000 to repair it which seems a little unreasonable.

sbmcd · Jul 16, 2015

VW Edinburghs body shop in Fife failed to get back to me with a price despite a request by phone and e-mail, I ended up treating it as a stone chip with a VW paint kit from Halfords. Colour match is not perfect but at least I know it has a good thick paint cover done in layers.

I did consider a full pannel repair but I had one of those done on a 3 month old Audi I had and the repair blistered in just under 3 years, so I decided to keep the disturbance of the original paint to a minimum.

WelshGas · Jul 16, 2015

You could try here. Nationwide
https://www.chipsaway.co.uk/services/paintwork-scratches/

GrannyJen · Jul 16, 2015

Albert is a regular visitor to chips away. Sadly stone chips are a hazard of using any vehicle to the mac, even my bicycle is vulnerable ...

well, in a terribly geriatric way it is ....