Help! New '12 Focus back from minor paintwork leaves me with major worries

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pakeane

New member
Thanks for taking the time to review my questions!



I have a two week old 2012 (Race Red) Ford Focus that was received from the dealer with a very minor dent on the pass side rear wheelwell (looks like a door ding). I agreed to simply bring the car back when an appointment could be made with their paintless dent removal contractor to have the issue corrected. I've worked with the dealer in the past and have a good relationship, so there was not an issue about having the small defect corrected.



Fast forward to last week when the car was dropped off for the dent to be pulled - The body shop manager quickly took one look and stated that the dent was not only affecting the lip of the fender, but required the bumper cover to be adjusted as well. This would require a more involved repair including a small respray. Again, no issues with the dealer, they were committed to making things right without question.



Friday afternoon I stopped in to pick the car up. I had a very quick look at the car before heading inside to retrieve my keys and noticed what looked to be a darker paint colour surrounding the repair area. Upon entering the dealer's facility to retrieve my keys I asked the body shop manager to have a quick look with me to be sure of what I was seeing. He quickly confirmed that the repair area has not been matched correctly, and that the tech likely did not notice while the car was under artificial lighting. Again, it was not an issue as we quickly booked a date to have the issue resolved and I ventured back inside to retrieve my keys.



Before leaving the property I gave the car a much better inspection and noticed what looked to be very thick clear overspray along a four foot section of the roof (directly above the door frames) as well a minor overspray on the rear passenger door. When my attention turned to the rear sail panel I was greeted with what looks to be a very heavy wave in the clear (not sure if this would be considered orange peel) and a surface sheen MUCH lower that the adjacent panels. I trotted back inside to again have the manager review my findings.



The manager had a quick once over and said that the overspray and and sail panel would be gone over with "the wheel" when the car was back in to have the mismatched colour corrected. He informed me that the panel would have been "blended" explaining the additional clearcoat present on the sail and quarter panels.



Over the weekend I managed to remove 90% of the roof overspray with clay (had spend the first ownership weekend applying multiple z5/z2 coats). But I have not touched any of the other areas.



I am scheduled to drop the car off on Wednesday morning, but needless to say I am VERY concerned about what will take place when the car is returned to their care. What specifically should I be asking the shop to do? I've been in touch with my contact at the dealership who was blown away that this could have happened and again has promised to fix any issues, but I would feel much better if I had definitive action items that I could request.



I've attached a few quick photos taken directly after picking the car up (didn't include paint mismatch as it is a cut and dry issue)



Roof area:

CSC_4866.jpg


CSC_4860.jpg




Notice difference in finish from untouched trunk and uppermost corner to that of sail and quarter panel

CSC_4861.jpg


CSC_4868.jpg




Your assistance is greatly appreciated!
 
I recommend that you have that body shop manager read Ford's policy on warranty repaints for cars still under paint warranty.

I believe he will find that "blending", such as he is promoting is not the correct repair procedure.

Grumpy
 
Thank you sir,

Where would you go from here? Should I be requesting that the "blended" areas be wet-sanded to match the finish on the other panels, or are you implying that there is a larger issue at hand?

I'm really at a loss as to what i should be requesting & worry that simply returning the vehicle to the dealer's body shop without concrete action items will result in a greater mess.
 
Excellent - Thanks for the detail, I will be sure to repeat the instruction.



Now how do I ensure that the resulting finish matches the orange peel level on the rest of the car? I've got a detailed deficiency list that I plan on presenting when I arrive in the morning, and only plan on leaving the car with the dealer when all parties understand the requirements...but in reality if this is the level of work the dealer's shop considers standard where do I go from here?
 
pakeane said:
Excellent - Thanks for the detail, I will be sure to repeat the instruction.



Now how do I ensure that the resulting finish matches the orange peel level on the rest of the car? I've got a detailed deficiency list that I plan on presenting when I arrive in the morning, and only plan on leaving the car with the dealer when all parties understand the requirements...but in reality if this is the level of work the dealer's shop considers standard where do I go from here?
Click to expand...



If they fail to complete the repairs properly, I'd start chirping about lemon law or a buyback... see if they'll work with you on getting a different car that doesn't have the issues this one does.



I learned the hard way that taking delivery of a brand new car that has issues such as this can become a hassle; from now on if it doesn't pass my own personal pre-delivery inspection, I'll refuse delivery and look for a different unit that does pass muster.
 
Bottom line: You got a piss poor paint job. I 100% question shop's ability and integrity when they pull this kind of crap. Burning the clear, mismatch color and texture is disgraceful in my book and I have zero tolerance for shops that put out this kind of crap. Especially dealers when they are the ones who shoulde really know what they're doing.
 
They need to sand down that paint and refinish it from edge to edge. And make sure they remove every piece of trim on the panel as well including the glass, bumper, tail light and roof molding. The roof molding will probably need replacing seeing that it's taped on and not reuseable. If they won't do this, get Ford involved and report them.
 
Funny you mention the trim - As I was putting my deficiency list together and taking a few additional photos, I noticed that the D pillar trim has also received some minor damage.

CSC_4880.jpg
 
Oh god, that is awful. Ford really needs to fix that. Sucks that you buy a brand new car, and that happens. Good luck with it, and keep us updated!





Sent from my iPhone 4 using Tapatalk
 
Hmm.... yeah, if they won't replace the parts they messed up and do the job RIGHT, definitely bypass the dealer and get Ford involved.
 
pakeane said:
Funny you mention the trim - As I was putting my deficiency list together and taking a few additional photos, I noticed that the D pillar trim has also received some minor damage.

CSC_4880.jpg
Click to expand...



And that is a classic example of why you should detrim a panel. Snap another picture of the front section of that 1/4 glass. The molding butts up really tight against the paint and it's super hard to lift it up to paint around it. I bet there will be an overspray/tape line?
 
No tape line as the molding looks to have been pulled (more like yanked) away from the body panel - It now will not sit flush against the quarter(untouched driver side is quite tight) ...There is some nice sanding residue under there though!
 
pakeane said:
No tape line as the molding looks to have been pulled (more like yanked) away from the body panel - It now will not sit flush against the quarter(untouched driver side is quite tight) ...There is some nice sanding residue under there though!
Click to expand...



Sounds like they just used aperture tape to hold it back instead of having a glass shop come in and R&I the captured glass from the quarter.
 
Here is a partial exscript from the deficiency list I intend to present in the AM:



Deficiency List - All items relate to passenger side of vehicle. List is follow up to initial photos and email description forwarded on 7 September.

  1. Mismatched colour on wheel well. Darker colour on direct repair area.
  2. Mismatched texture on quarter panel. Finished texture does not match directly adjacent panels. Much heavier “orange peel” or wave like effect.
  3. Light damage to D-Pillar/Quarter panel window molding. Trim appears pulled and has light scratches and scuff marks.
  4. Heavy overspray on roof rail. Beginning from B-Pillar and extending to D-Pillar.
  5. Fender liner not re-secured post repair..Liner pulled away from repair area and bolts left loose on studs.



How should I word my requested remedy? Thanks again for all the assistance - As mentioned in my initial post, I have a good relationship with the dealer and believe that with full and concise list of requirements they will lean on the body shop to make things right.
 
Keep in mind that doing a 3rd refinish on this panel is a no-no per warranty paint concerns. According to most paint manufactures, the panel will need to be stripped to an adequate level. This could mean that additional adjacent panels might need to be blended.
 
What may be taking place is that the Body Shop manager, who knows what the time/materials is that is allowed for the repair under warranty, may just trying to make an extra few bucks for his shop.

He just may have decided, "I can slide this one by and pick up a couple of hours of warranty labor and reduced material costs if I just push it off on the owner."

Not saying that is what he is doing, however, some thing stinks on this issue.

Grumpy
 
I bet it's the fault of the painter. They're usually the ones in control of the end results in these kinds of scenarios. They cut more corners then imaginable every chance they get. The people in the office beg and fight to get every last dime, but the guys in the back are getting extra fat by blowing jobs out as fast as possible to double up their hours.
 
I've busted so many shops when doing supplement inspections when I see the final job and it's nothing close to what I paid for. They're counting on the customer not knowing any better, which most don't. And when the repair fails, the chances are even greater they won't come back for warranty.
 
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