New paint chips soooo easily

[Alex100]

I had a minor incident a month ago, which resulted in my car's bumper and hood being repainted by a body shop (Honda body shop, partners of the insurance company).

I have been driving my car less than 3 weeks after the paint job, and the newly painted areas chip very easily. Additionally, now the fenders chip easily as well. In these past three weeks I have more rock chips (a lot of small "white dots" mostly) than what the car had before going to the body shop (2013 model). This doesn't seem normal to me.

Most of the chips are small "white dots", which means that the paint chips even from very small particles. Check the attached pictures (right side of the car, bumber and fender), you can easily see the entire milky way on the black paint. I looks to me like a bad paint job, maybe the clear coat wasn't thick enough. What do you think?





Moreover, I'm a bit surprised that even the fenders, which were not painted (at least I don't think so, since they didn't have any damage), are showing the same kind of damage. My guess would be that, even though they didn't paint the fenders, they had to buff the fenders in order to blend the color with the newly painted parts, resulting in a thinner clear coat. I know for sure they did some buffing out on the fenders, because when I first picked the car up there were some areas of the fenders where the color was not shinny (it was kind of... "foggy"), and they fixed it in 15 minutes when I took the car back to them.

Anyway, what do you guys thing judging by the pictures? Their paint job is supposed to have a lifetime warranty, so I'm seriously thinking of taking the car back and have them fix the problem (probably by respraying, not sure if they will accept the responsibility though).

[mjfloyd1]

More than likely they blended the fenders when they painted the adjacent parts.

[bakedziti]

^agreed on the blend of the fenders.

OP, if I were to guess, it sounds like you may have geico as well based on the "lifetime warranty". I had a similar issue with my car last year, and was sent to a Chevy dealer in a similar insurance circumstance. Same sort of thing happened, and I used the warranty; IMO, they did some shotty work around the vertical slats just under the grille and it began to peel. To make things worse, they were also unable to clear the codes they triggered throughout the process (headlight leveling & airbags stuff), so I had to do it both times with Carista. I learned my lesson, because I am pretty sure a standalone body shop would have done a better job, and could have cleared the codes.

Make them redo it until its how you want it. If it happens multiple times, I would try to talk to my insurance company and request that we use another shop on their dime due to the repeated issues.

[RVJ]

^This

Finding a really good paint shop can be a crap shoot. Sometimes it is tough to avoid "feathering" into the adjacent panels but it can be done. Also, baking the paint on helps a lot. Otherwise, your paint can take a month to fully cure and is susceptible to being damaged more easily.


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[AllroadCorbin]

They definitely didn't mix it right or bake it well. Have them try again.


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[kelseysautobody]

Could be a number of things. My guess is a low quality clear coat was used. If the hood was replaced or repaired in a large enough area the fenders were blended (painted for color match.) When a car is buffed it is usually sanded with ultra fine sandpaper to take out orange peel or any dirt in the paint, reducing the thickness of the clear. Ask your shop what brand and type of clear coat was used on your car.


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[Wake]

I always use a reputable shop when a vehicle or part of a vehicle is painted.

The previous A6 I owned had the nose repainted prior to my owning it. After 3.5 years of highway driving the front end looked like it was sandblasted and had started peeling. Not much I could do with it since the paint was prior to my ownership.

I've had 4 vehicles hit and each time I went to my chosen shop over the insurance recommended shop. When the insurance partner estimates came in at 1/3 of my chosen shop I knew there was something fishy, shortcuts or substandard job with unhidden damage maybe not repaired. I always had to fight the insurance company but in the end, sometimes after a long fight I would win out. My worse was when I Corvette was hit, taking six months of fighting the insurance company before they caved and I took it to my chosen shop. It was worth it as they found hidden damage the other shop wouldn't have fixed for 1/3 the estimate.

[Alex100]

Thanks for the input guys. I, too, think that the paint job is not good. I'll take the car back for them to check, and see what they have to say.

br,
Alex

[Hy Octane]

another factor is that paint shops cannot use the same factory Audi paint and chemicals here as they do in Germany due to environmental restrictions. I had a fender bender and had to replace the front right one. had it done at a hi end shop here in LA I have used for 20 years so I know the owner well.... its more complicated than this but basically they have to use a water based formula here as compared to an oil based formula there.. fades faster, is less resilient and harder to match..

[HMS]

Thanks for the input guys. I, too, think that the paint job is not good. I'll take the car back for them to check, and see what they have to say.

br,
Alex

this and what other members on here have said. Audi's paint from factory is actually incredibly hard according to my local detailer (Unique Car Care Boston), and these guys know their stuff. Looks like the Honda shop did a shoddy job (to no one's surprise).

[superswiss]

Nothing is a good as the factory paint job, but why did you go to a Honda body shop? You have the right to select the repair facility. Audi lists their authorized collision repair facilities on their website. These facilities are properly trained and use factory approved repair procedures.

https://www.audiusa.com/help/collision-repair

You may also wanna consider putting a paint protection film on it afterwards.

[Alex100]

Nothing is a good as the factory paint job, but why did you go to a Honda body shop? You have the right to select the repair facility. Audi lists their authorized collision repair facilities on their website. These facilities are properly trained and use factory approved repair procedures.

https://www.audiusa.com/help/collision-repair

You may also wanna consider putting a paint protection film on it afterwards.

I did go to the certified audi repair shop, but they told me that I had to leave the car to them 2-4 days just for the initial estimate, without them providing me a rental/loaner. Given the fact that i don't have a second car, and I need to commute to work, I had no choice but go to the Honda repair shop (which had already given me an estimate, and the process with the insurance company would be hassle free for me anyway).