Bizarre chemical paint damage help

LionelHutz

New member
Hi all,



I picked up a 2010 S4 about a month ago and had to drive it through a couple weeks of nasty winter conditions before I had a chance to detail it. It has some strange damage on the rear of the trunk and the rear bumper.



The paint looks very dull and has an appearance similar to hard water damage, but not as pronounced. The damage is fairly uniform across all the affected areas. I tried to buff it out with relatively aggressive compounds with no luck. It is at a good pro detailer today. As of now, he hasn't been able to buff it out either and tells me that on magnification the paint looks severly etched and pitted.



Any idea what the holy heck happened to the paint? Could this be a result of defective OEM paint or some chemical contaminant? Am I going to have to respray a month old car?
 
If the damage is only on the rear my money is on a bad repaint, if the condition was caused by road chemicals it would seem to me that you would have the same thing on the sides also (and hood/roof if you were on a highway in traffic).
 
It could have been resprayed. I assume you purchased new, but that doesn't mean something did not happen in transport/at the dealer.



Honestly I would stop doing ANYTHING else to it at take it to the dealer. See what they say.



Also remember, this is an Audi, that have crazy freaky hard clear coat from the factory. Maybe ask your detailer what combos he is using. Also see if he has a PTG, see if he can pull a reading, maybe that would show a respray.



OT, but AMAZING car you have:) My brother just picked one up, and needless to say I am jealous with my A4....
 
Finally got a chance to take a pic. This is clean, polished and waxed paint. Any thoughts? Audi says they will repaint but won't speculate on the cause.



816188797_4UzU4-L.jpg
 
Oh, and I forgot to mention: My detailer tried some very aggressive polishes (and I think even wetsanding) on a portion of the trunk. It is probably 70% better, but the clearcoat is deeply pitted.



The pattern of the damage isn't consistent with driving through something... it is only on the back of the trunk and part of the rear bumper. Wheels, fenders, hood, etc are 100%.
 
It looks like the glue from the shrink rap they put on the cars when they ship them. like the clear was wet and they rapped it. The clear is very hard. Good luck with the car.
 
LionelHutz- Welcome to Autopia! Sorry to hear your S4 already has paint issues.



Tusin said:
If the dealer is offering to respray, might as well take them up on it. At least it is just a bumper.



But I'd sure make certain that they do it *right*....bumper off the car, no surrounding areas messed up, parking sensors not "bridged" with paint, etc. etc. I'd be OK letting *my* Audi dealer do it, but I know they'd do an OK job and that's more than I can say for most dealerships (and most bodyshops too). This shouldn't be some quick little job that they think they can knock out in an hour or three.
 
Looks like paint failure to me. The supplier that painted it probably screwed up. Definately under warranty. Make sure they remove the bumper when they refinish it.
 
Car's at the bodyshop right now. Truck, rear bumper and fenders all needed respray. The shop seems to be pretty good, so I'll hope for the best.
 
looks like contamination in the paint from poor cleaning process when sprayed. May have been resprayed before sale
 
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