2012 Jetta paint problem

JCMoore

Active member
Joined
May 28, 2012
Location
Waldorf MD
TDI
2012 Jetta TDI
I have noticed my 2012 Jetta's paint has a strange look to it. It's the white gold and I have kept it very clean. I never go through an automatic carwash with it and only hand wash or power wash in the winter. I have noticed when you walk away from it, approximately 10 feet or more and you will see an up and down zig zag across the side of the car. It is on both sides of the car. At first I thought it was the light reflecting off the side of the car giving weird shadows. I had it parked next to another jetta that was the same color and it didn't look nearly as bad as mine. If you look at my profile picture you can see the car and you can make out some of the zig zag. Has anyone seen this before?
 

Dieselducky

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Joined
Oct 13, 2011
Location
Dunnville
TDI
88 Jetta Diesel - 2000 Jetta TDI - 04 BMW M3 - 06 Kia Rio - F350 Superduty - 87 Buick GNX - Mobile Cranes
Post some pics!
 

JCMoore

Active member
Joined
May 28, 2012
Location
Waldorf MD
TDI
2012 Jetta TDI
[/url][/IMG] Here is the picture again. hopefully it works this time. You can see the color change from the rocker panel to about halfway up the door. I will try to get a better picture later.
 
Last edited:

Softrockrenegade

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Joined
Aug 25, 2011
Location
Howellbama, NJ
TDI
None...2011 Golf DSG (replaced by VW W/) 2013 Passat SE 6M(bought back) Current 2017 sportwagen TSI 4Motion.
Most likely the way it was sprayed by the robot .
 

South Coast Guy

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Joined
Nov 17, 2010
Location
Mattapoisett, MA
TDI
2009 Jetta TDI wagon
Any detailer using a Porter-Cable buffer will improve the appearnce of your paint and probably remove the flaw you describe (which I can't see).
 

atw

Active member
Joined
Feb 28, 2012
Location
Sun Prairie, Wi
TDI
2012 JSW Platinum Grey Pano DSG
I have noticed my 2012 Jetta's paint has a strange look to it. It's the white gold and I have kept it very clean. I never go through an automatic carwash with it and only hand wash or power wash in the winter. I have noticed when you walk away from it, approximately 10 feet or more and you will see an up and down zig zag across the side of the car. It is on both sides of the car. At first I thought it was the light reflecting off the side of the car giving weird shadows. I had it parked next to another jetta that was the same color and it didn't look nearly as bad as mine. If you look at my profile picture you can see the car and you can make out some of the zig zag. Has anyone seen this before?
This was color I wanted when I ordered my JSW in Feb. 2012, but I was told they had stopped production on that finish. I wonder if they had production issues with that color? Have you pointed it out to the dealer? Your photo's not great but I can see the defect your talking about. See what the dealer says.
 

JCMoore

Active member
Joined
May 28, 2012
Location
Waldorf MD
TDI
2012 Jetta TDI
I talked to the dealer today. Im going to take it in monday afternoon for them to look at it. They told me that paint issues do not get resolved very quickly. He also said that they would have to have a VW factory rep come in to look at it.

I have to agree with the robotic arm pattern. It looks like the pressure was not right for spraying metalic. Maybe even ran out off paint. I found another light spot above the quarter pannels also. Both sides match perfectly.

I will keep you all posted. Thanks
 

JCMoore

Active member
Joined
May 28, 2012
Location
Waldorf MD
TDI
2012 Jetta TDI
He didn't look at it yet do to the winter storm here. I am going to meet the service manager on monday. The weather forecast is calling for clear and sunny. It really pops out then.

Since you say it is called "Saw Tooth", maybe this is a new paint effect they are going with!:D Nice Saw Tooth marks down the side of the car!
 

BarrieCommuter

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Joined
Oct 22, 2006
Location
Barrie, Ontario, Canada, eh!
TDI
2015 Jetta TDI Highline 6MT
Obvious from what I saw is a paint defect probably on the second coat. Kind of like the car was moving too fast on a conveyor belt or the robot arm moved too quickly across the car. I honestly don't know what they'd do unless provided you another car and VW eats the cost of taking it back, repainting and selling as a used vehicle. That would be the best scenario I suppose. Or they can sell it as is to a lumberjack.
 

JCMoore

Active member
Joined
May 28, 2012
Location
Waldorf MD
TDI
2012 Jetta TDI
I talked to the service Manager today. He took a look at the car and was surprised to see the paint effect on both sides. He said that it looks like the robotic arms had started to run out of paint while shooting the metallic base color. He said that it doesn't look like it is in the clear coat. They are calling in a factory rep to take a look at it. I told them that I will clean the car up again and bring it to them on a sunny day for pictures.

The dealer hinted that VW will probably repaint the car at the dealership.
 

nois

Veteran Member
Joined
Feb 4, 2005
Location
IL
TDI
2013 Passat SEL
I have noticed my 2012 Jetta's paint has a strange look to it. It's the white gold and I have kept it very clean. I never go through an automatic carwash with it and only hand wash or power wash in the winter. I have noticed when you walk away from it, approximately 10 feet or more and you will see an up and down zig zag across the side of the car. It is on both sides of the car. At first I thought it was the light reflecting off the side of the car giving weird shadows. I had it parked next to another jetta that was the same color and it didn't look nearly as bad as mine. If you look at my profile picture you can see the car and you can make out some of the zig zag. Has anyone seen this before?
My Reflex Silver Jetta (2012) had the exact same uneven paint look to it. It wasn't quite as pronounced as yours. The other day on the highway, I also noticed a NMS Passat (not sure what year but I bet 2012) in the same color with the same uneven paint job. However, the Passat I have now in Reflex Silver does not seem to show this defect. I like the color. It seems, as others have posted, that the car did not get enough, evenly distributed paint at the factory.
 

JCMoore

Active member
Joined
May 28, 2012
Location
Waldorf MD
TDI
2012 Jetta TDI
Update to my paint problem

I droped my Jetta off at the local service center. The Service Manager had a Factory rep fly in to take a look at it. The Rep looked at it on the 26th of April and the 29th. He first said that He couldnt see anything wrong in the pictures. He looked at the car and said to the Service manager that he couldnt see anything wrong with it. The Manager had him walk around the car (parked in the sun) about ten feet away from it. The Factory rep said " Oh yeah I see it now! Its on both sides". He agread to push the issue to the next level. I called the Service manager around the first to get an update on the status of my car. He said that the factory wants more pictures but he is having trouble geting the paint to show the problem in the pictures. He said he would keep me posted.

Does VW normally Micro Manage their dealers like this?

Also I saw a few more newer VWs with this type of paint problem. I noticed that they all had metalic paint.
 

gforce1108

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 2, 2006
Location
Newburgh, NY
TDI
04 Jetta GLS BEW, 14 Audi A7 V6 TDI, 13 Porsche Cayenne V6 TDI
I could see it clearly in the picture - why can't they? Offer to lend them your glasses :)
 

JCMoore

Active member
Joined
May 28, 2012
Location
Waldorf MD
TDI
2012 Jetta TDI
Thats funny you say that! The Service Manager said the same thing. I think the Factory Rep just wanted a free trip.
 

JaredC01

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 20, 2011
Location
St. Louis, MO
TDI
2015 Passat SE - 6MT
I still can't find a properly-sized picture to see what you're talking about JCMoore.

Edit: Nevermind, the picture in the third post was linked to the larger one.

Yeah, that's... Odd.
 

JCMoore

Active member
Joined
May 28, 2012
Location
Waldorf MD
TDI
2012 Jetta TDI
Quick update. The dealer had a local bodyshop paint the sides of my car. They painted the sides, drivers side mirror, drivers side pass window, drivers seat, scratched the drivers door pannel, cracked the aft drivers door pannel, deep scratch (into the metal) in the paint in drivers side aft door inside, scratch in the pas side door. The dealer had the body shop fix all the problems.

I got the car back again. The service manager has been awesome to deal with. He was very sory that I had to go through all this. He said that the owner of the body shop left me a gift in the car. He also had the car fully cleaned. I found a card in the vissor. the owner said he was very frustrated with the poor work that her guys did. Here is two gift cards to a local stakehouse to show you how Sory we are. No gift cards! Someone took them from the car sometime between when it left the bodyshop and me picking it up. The Service Manager was Pissed.

I took the car to work the next day. I parked it at the back of the parking lot. When I went out to get it to go to lunch, I noticed that the body shop painted the car a diffrent shade on the sides than the rest of the car. It was realy bad around the rear quarters to the bumper. The hood and the front bumper was bad to.

I dropped it back off at the Dealership. Vw is now involved. We will see how long this will be.
 
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