Clearcoat failure already on my 2004 Mustang

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Evenflow

New member
Ive been noticing it for a while but it seems to be getting progressively worse. I KNOW this car has been repainted before and they didn't even tell me before I bought it BRAND NEW off the lot with 40 miles on it. It really urks me that the roof clearcoat/side pillar clearcoat is already starting to fail.



Now I know that various body panels of this car have been repainted because under the sun some panels look black with a hint of brown to them.



Anyways you can see the clearcoat here failing, it looks brownish



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Wow that sucks:( Is this just a venting post, or do you have a question? I have a couple questions, did you and the dealership discuss whether it was repainted when you originally bought the car? And do you plan on taking it back to the dealership now? I'd assume that kind of thing would still be under waranty, how many miles do you have on the car?



And can you please take some more pictures(maybe from a longer distance) because all I can really see is brown/brown trim/waterspot looking things, and the more pictures the better other members can comment as well.



Good luck man, hope your car gets fixed up nice:xyxthumbs Those Mustangs look really awesome..
 
Honestly I am just looking for some advice. Ive had the car for three years and I am pretty anal about keeping it in tip top shape. It only has 13,800 miles on it right now.



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I noticed its been repainted about a year ago. I was taking pictures and the lighting from my camera is good at showing different colors. The whole car is black yea, but under the light it has a brown hue to it. Even other people just standing around it can tell its been repainted. Should I go to the dealer? If so who should I ask for?
 
i guess you are saying the whole car has been repainted....i do know for a fact under a certain amount a dealership DOES NOT have to tell you a car has been painted....depends on how much was done and a certain amount of money
 
I feel your pain. The GTOs are known to have a lot of factory paint issues themselves. I'm just trying to be as preventative as I can. A lot of the goat owners have paint peeling on certain areas, especially the door handles. :(
 
Yeah.. dealerships are sneaky like that. It would be nice for us to know what has happened to the car after dropping down so much money.
 
I think Mustang roof drip moldings are painted by suppliers, not on the paint assembly line at Ford. They get delivered to the assembly plant (Ford Rough Plant) and get snapped on after the body gets painted. It's pretty cheap to have these moldings repainted.



What makes you think your car has been re-painted? If it's because the moldings don't match the body, that's normal. None of the trim on cars do.
 
I think your in for a long battle. I assume that you are still under the paint warranty. What you need to do is contact your dealer and have them look at it and see what they will do. If they blow you off then call Ford. I assume they will send a regional rep to look at it and decide from there. But I see a lawyer and lawsuit for you to get it corrected.



I dont know if the lemon law applies in your case. I worked for a VW dealer for about 6 years as a master tech and have seen people pulling hairs to get their car exchanged(buy back) or repaired under the lemon law. In 6 years only 2 customers that I know off had their vehicle replaced. One for electrical problems and the other for a water leak that I could not find.



Good luck.
 
autocare said:
I think your in for a long battle. I assume that you are still under the paint warranty. What you need to do is contact your dealer and have them look at it and see what they will do. If they blow you off then call Ford. I assume they will send a regional rep to look at it and decide from there. But I see a lawyer and lawsuit for you to get it corrected.



I dont know if the lemon law applies in your case. I worked for a VW dealer for about 6 years as a master tech and have seen people pulling hairs to get their car exchanged(buy back) or repaired under the lemon law. In 6 years only 2 customers that I know off had their vehicle replaced. One for electrical problems and the other for a water leak that I could not find.



Good luck.
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I believe Ford's paint warranty (like most manufacturers) is only 1 year from the time of delivery. Why would someone get an Attorney involved for a couple hundred bucks? You're kidding right? Just because the finish on a piece of trim is starting to have problems doesn't equate the car to be a lemon? Your thinking is a little extreme.
 
I can't exactly understand what is going on there, but if it is an issue at the edges of the roof...many Mustangs (I have an '03 Cobra) have very light paint in that area. It looks like it was sprayed too dry.



If I am looking at these pictures correctly, the paint looks lighter at the edge of the roof where the pillars meet the roof. This is exactly what my friend's did, and Ford paid for the roof repaint.



That said, a friend's '99 GT had the roof repainted under warranty just before the 3/36 ran out so you may still have time. You'd have to check your in service date.
 
You deff need to start complaining...start with the dealer, then go to Ford directly. Too many just deal with issues on cars and dont try to hold the dealers/manufacturers responsible for their actions...or non-actions. Start now, it maybe be a long road but the louder your "scream" the faster you get taken care of. Plus dealers love it when your in the showroom complaining about paint failure on a relatively new car in front of other potential costumers...it seems to get their attention really fast!
 
havok666 said:
Yeah.. dealerships are sneaky like that. It would be nice for us to know what has happened to the car after dropping down so much money.
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Often time the dealership doesn't know as many of these cars come into a common port and then prepped and sent out to the dealers. I use to sale product to one locally here and was amazed the cars they had in their shop and the repaire being made for damage that happened during transport or unloading. To me the damage should be dislosed to the dealer and the buyer and a discount made on the car.
 
David Fermani said:
I believe Ford's paint warranty (like most manufacturers) is only 1 year from the time of delivery. Why would someone get an Attorney involved for a couple hundred bucks? You're kidding right? Just because the finish on a piece of trim is starting to have problems doesn't equate the car to be a lemon? Your thinking is a little extreme.
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Hey David

The failure is not on a piece of trim, is it? He does state its the clearcoat. I see this paint failing completly in a couple of years. So no I dont think I am being extreme at all.



If I recall correctly a vehicle paint warranty for failure was for a couple of years, rust I believe was up to 10. Ive been out of the USA for a while now and dont remember. But again, he should call Ford or see his dealer and complain. Like I said before I have seen cars be bought back by the manufacturer, and they kicked and yelled all they could, but at the end a savy consumer will have their problem resolved.





This is for paint peeling but you might find it of help.



The Center for Auto Safety





Let us know how it turns out.



In my search to educate myself on paint warranties I found something that might help out.



Legal Advice From Phil Edmonston
 
autocare said:
Hey David

The failure is not on a piece of trim, is it? He does state its the clearcoat. I see this paint failing completly in a couple of years. So no I dont think I am being extreme at all.
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After you clarified this, I went over the pictures again and made a mistake on the location of the problem. Sorry. I thought it was on the trim next to the roof. Here's what I've experienced on 1 of my Mustang's in that location. By the way, that trim piece is painted basecoat/clear.



1998MustangGT038.jpg




What strikes me as odd is that it's gotten worse over time. The brown really looks like the primer that wasn't covered with enough base. That shouldn't bleed through more as time goes on? I've seen alot of cars with similar condition. The only way to fix it correctly on this vehicle is to remove both the front windshield & the back glass and also both trim pieces on each side so that there won't be any shabby tape lines. That sucks.
 
Ford should atleast cover their cars for 3 years. If the dealer won't do anything, the Ford should.



I know Chrysler was covering their cars for 5 years, then went to 3...If I'm not mistaken they are back up to 5 year coverage with the life-time powertrain.



Just start bitching...The squeeky wheel gets the greese.
 
I just check with my local Ford dealership and here's their warranty:

1 year on acid rain

3 years on paint defects & failure

5 years on rust-through
 
What would one do in this situation if they are out of warrenty? Asside from a repaint. Could I just aplpy lots and lots of polish and wax (carefuly applying)???



My poor car :(
 
The polishes and waxes are designed to be applied on clear coats, not paint.



Unfortuneately the areas are only going to get worse.
 
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