Microblistering In Paint (Pics)

[Richie 32]

Hi guys.

 

I had my 205 resprayed in July 2011, and i was really pleased with the job (considering i paid around £1200). Anyway, fast forward 15 months, it has started to mircoblister quite badly in places. I think its only going to get worse. The change in weather has made it much worse.

 

 

 

 

Anyone had experience with this before? What do you think would be the best thing to do? Its kind of annoying, i know my respray was at the cheaper end of the scale but i expected it to last longer. I was going to head back to the bodyshop next week and see what they say, thought i'd ask on here first.

 

Part of me wants them to sort it, part of me wants it fixed by a more competent bodyshop.

 

[pugpete1108 62 1 Cars]

I'd take it back mate, ok it's cheap but it's still 1200 notes.

 

It's not something that comes with age it's bad prep that's caused it.

[johnnyboy666 195 1 Cars]

I would assume you'd be covered legally somehow, giving that a paint job should be expected to last longer than 15 months.

[Baz 421]

Cheap or not, it wasn't prep'd properly in my opinion and is reacting underneath, not a simple fix, i'd be absolutely gutted.

[Richie 32]

Yeah I agree with you guys. i'll take it back next week and let you know what happens. I am pretty gutted about it to be honest. Especially as it took them almost 7 bloody weeks to paint.

[Miles 331 1 Cars]

Yep bad prep, Mind I do see this allot these day's, One reason why I would never buy a re-sprayed car until it's gone past 2 years

[SurGie 54]

As said it looks like bad prep, could possibly be silicone or the usual water in the air line, i also notice some orange peel which frankly should not be there for the price you paid. The first sign of a good sprayer is the prep and clear coat finish, if they have to polish it back to rid the orange peel then i would not get it done there unless it was a cheap job that was wanted.

 

When it comes to getting someone to spray your car, ask to see some of their previous work. I would go for the consumer rights laws, goods and services act 1981/83 iirc, where things still have to be in a good workable condition within a reasonable amount of time even after the usual 12 months has gone by. This would be part of the 'services act'.

 

If anyone wants to spent a good amount of cash on anything, research is your best friend.

[matt.f 16]

As said take it back,looks a bit flat to me aswell

[Slo 283 1 Cars]

Thats paint (and the primer) reacting to the steel I imagine whoever painted it didnt use acid etch primer on the bare steel which is the main thing that prevents this, has it been clear coated? Its not always obvious or even needed but if it has It could also be the clear that started it off.

[toddydal 1]

it will be moisture in airline when painting the car.,you use etch primer on bare metal but for 1200 this car wont be a bare metal respray and it looks like its all over the car,did you get it done in a propper bodyshop?but whoever did the job for you its a bigger job now for them to put right but once they sand it down again they will know the cause,,,,,like i say it could be moisture in the airline or if they primed the car in a damp garage that could cause problems too...it looks like a s*ite paint job for 1200 mate and i dont just mean the blisters

[Richie 32]

I have a feeling it was prepped in a damp garage. It was done in July but i remember it being particularly rainy whilst my car was in. It is a proper garage though, they usually do insurance jobs. They painted my neighbours show car which looked pretty amazing. Not sure what happened with mine. I think they had a lot of work on and had a couple of random blokes working for them to help with the workload. I believe it was clear coated. Looking forward to having a chat with them anyway!

[toddydal 1]

do you know if they primed most of the car of did they just rub it down spot prime and paint,,,with primers they soak in moisture if left a while before top coat,soon as you rub a blister down you will know right away what the problem is.have you picked at one to see whats underneath like water or primer blistered,has it happend more in the freezing weather?

[Richie 32]

do you know if they primed most of the car of did they just rub it down spot prime and paint,,,with primers they soak in moisture if left a while before top coat,soon as you rub a blister down you will know right away what the problem is.have you picked at one to see whats underneath like water or primer blistered,has it happend more in the freezing weather?

 

It's water underneath. If I touch them you can feel it moving. Cold weather has definitely accelerated it. I have a feeling they left it a while with primer in that case. I'll post some more pictures later of the rear quarter. Seems worse on one side.

[Richie 32]

Well I went to the bodyshop earlier today. They were quite helpful and are taking the car in Monday to have a look at it further. I have a feeling the entire thing will need painting again. Apparently they've never had a car come up with microblistering before. Whether or not that's true I can't say. At least they are doing something.

 

I will keep the thread updated as it gets repaired.

[pugpete1108 62 1 Cars]

good news mate, hope it gets sorted

[Richie 32]

Well I picked it up this morning!

 

They think the reason the microblistering occurred was due to the paint mix they used (from another company) and also the new equipment they had just started using.

 

They think it's isolated to just the paint rather than the primer, so they have cut back the laquer and resprayed half of the car. They are taking it in again in January to examine the paint before doing the rest of the car. The area's of remaining microblister are the roof and the boot. Both sides of the car look mint again.

 

So far so good. Hopefully it just needs the roof and boot cutting back in January then all is sorted. If the microblistering appears again or it starts to lose its shine in the repainted area's, i'm afraid it'll need everything doing again though.

 

They have been really helpful and being car enthusiasts themselves I think they know its a bit gutting. I'll upload some pictures when the weathers better.

[Tom Fenton 1,542]

I'm glad you have got a positive result from the bodyshop, I would just make sure that if there are further problems that they know you will be coming back knocking the door again. I don't quite understand why they have done some of it and not the rest as well?

Also would it not be better to see if you can put the rest off for a couple of months until the weather warms up again?

[Richie 32]

Thanks man. The reason they did half of it is because they didn't want to do it all then find out its micro blistering again, so they've done half as kind of an experiment before doing it all. They should be able to tell if its deteriorating by the colour, or if its grainy/lacking shine. He did tell me other technical things but it went a bit over my head.

 

They know i'll keep coming back because I work over the road. They aren't trying to fob me off or anything, I spent half an hour chatting with them this morning about it, they seem keen to fix it up for me. They showed me another car they painted with the new equipment (member of staff's car) and said my car should look the same in quality which is wasn't.

[GilesW 41]

Sounds like avery good garage.

Most wouldn't want to know for the £1,200 they got in the first place. So thumbs up to them.

[pugpete1108 62 1 Cars]

good result mate, nice to see they care for their customers (rare commodity these days)

[Richie 32]

Quick update on my situation.

 

It's in the bodyshop right now, it's being stripped back to bare metal and completely started again from scratch.