New car paint defects

[JDC]

Having a bit of a dilemma with a brand new, MK7.5 pure white Golf Alltrack and looking for opinions.

This was the delivery condition of the paintwork photographed in full sun...





After some back and forth with the dealer (who is located approx. 6hrs from home) they agreed to cover costs for a two stage paint correction that I organised through an experienced local detailer. The detailer had the vehicle for a day and a half and has managed to remove the lighter swirl marks but says that the deeper defects would involve removing more clear coat than we should be removing from a new vehicle.

Photos below are typical examples of the heavier scratches. These are evident across the roof, the bonnet and about half way down the quarter panels, doors and front guards. Being white the paint colour does a fairly good job of masking the defects, it'd look horrific on any other colour.



This photo of the door pillar trims shows just how badly they've marred the car pre-delivery, our almost 5 year old MK7 doesn't even look this bad...



We've been updating the dealer and apparently they now have to progress our issue to their area manager. We're not quite sure how we should be proceeding, to say we're fairly disappointed would be an understatement.

[dgp]

Looks pretty bad. The car has obviously been poorly washed with no attention to using correct washing methods.
Just curious, if you bought it brand new, how long ago was it built? It may have been subjected to multiple poor washes whilst in the car yard.

[Kachingg]

I had a similar experience to you many swirls in the paint from the dealer
Fortunately I was getting paint protection and a paint correction from new so the detailing took care of it
But that is unacceptable from new for sure

[JDC]

Looks pretty bad. The car has obviously been poorly washed with no attention to using correct washing methods.
Just curious, if you bought it brand new, how long ago was it built? It may have been subjected to multiple poor washes whilst in the car yard.

Absolutely, the detailer described the paint as "looking like it had been washed with a brick". It's a 02/2019 build, compiled 06/2019. It hasn't been sitting that long but I'd say you're on the money, there has to have been more than one careless wash. Almost looks like it has been dry wiped.

I had a similar experience to you many swirls in the paint from the dealer
Fortunately I was getting paint protection and a paint correction from new so the detailing took care of it
But that is unacceptable from new for sure

That's no good and I agree mate, it's totally unacceptable on a new car and it's literally and metaphorically taken the shine off the whole experience. Glad yours was sorted with a professional paint correction, I'd have been happy with a similar result.

It's at a stage now where I just don't know how far we should be pushing this, we've got the detailer saying he can't remove the remaining scratches without compromising the clear coat so it's now a case of either looking for some sort of compensation in the form of dollars/servicing or pushing for a replacement that I imagine will be an absolute battle to get.

[JDC]

It's also worth adding that the detailer we used is literally the only real detailer we have in our local area. For a second opinion we'd have to venture to Canberra (2hrs+)

[dgp]

You need some data from the detailer. Has he run a paint thickness gauge over different panels and determined how many microns thick the paint is? You will never have any luck getting it replaced in my opinion. The best you can hope for is to respray the panels where the paint is too thin to cut.

[Transporter]

Having a bit of a dilemma with a brand new, MK7.5 pure white Golf Alltrack and looking for opinions.

This was the delivery condition of the paintwork photographed in full sun...





After some back and forth with the dealer (who is located approx. 6hrs from home) they agreed to cover costs for a two stage paint correction that I organised through an experienced local detailer. The detailer had the vehicle for a day and a half and has managed to remove the lighter swirl marks but says that the deeper defects would involve removing more clear coat than we should be removing from a new vehicle.

Photos below are typical examples of the heavier scratches. These are evident across the roof, the bonnet and about half way down the quarter panels, doors and front guards. Being white the paint colour does a fairly good job of masking the defects, it'd look horrific on any other colour.



This photo of the door pillar trims shows just how badly they've marred the car pre-delivery, our almost 5 year old MK7 doesn't even look this bad...



We've been updating the dealer and apparently they now have to progress our issue to their area manager. We're not quite sure how we should be proceeding, to say we're fairly disappointed would be an understatement.

To be honest, it was much easier not to accept the car and leave it with them until all fixed and looks like new. The paint on yours looks worst than on our also white 2010 Tiguan, which had many washes.

[JDC]

You need some data from the detailer. Has he run a paint thickness gauge over different panels and determined how many microns thick the paint is? You will never have any luck getting it replaced in my opinion. The best you can hope for is to respray the panels where the paint is too thin to cut.

Yes, definitely. As far I know the detailer took thickness readings, when I dropped the car off I did ask whether he'd be measuring paint thickness and he said yes. Coming from an inspection/QA background (oil and gas industry) I imagine it would take a fairly advanced gauge to be able to measure the clear coat thickness. I assume that most of the generic paint thickness gauges will be measuring basecoat + clear? Either way I'll be getting in contact on Monday morning to find out what readings he obtained. As for getting a replacement, I tend to agree and to be honest while we wouldn't say no, it would be a logistical nightmare for us. If it came to chasing the scratches all the way out and then having a respray, I think we'd learn to live with them and push for some sort of monetary compensation (the dealer delivery fee refunded as a minimum). It'll be interesting to hear what the dealer comes back with on Monday.

To be honest, it was much easier not to accept the car and leave it with them until all fixed and looks like new. The paint on yours looks worst than on our also white 2010 Tiguan, which had many washes.

I totally agree and in hindsight we simply didn't inspect the vehicle as well as we should have, it was parked in the shade, as an absolute minimum I should have had them move it out into full sun. It was a mammoth road-trip to collect it and after fussing around for a few weeks to secure one of only two cars in the country we just wanted to get it home.

I drove past another VW dealer this afternoon and popped in for a look at their while cars, white almost all of their stock had paint defects from poor washing practices, the swirling was light and much finer than what we've got on this car. A single stage correction would have have their cars looking 95%.