Paint\Clearcoat Issues -- Anyone Else???

onydag

Member
Joined
Mar 17, 2010
Location
Taos, NM
TDI
2010 Jetta Sportwagen TDI
Splotches Under Clear Coat on JSW of February 2010

I just picked up my Jetta Sportwagen on Monday. When I got it home, there were two patches of whitish discoloration under the clear coat on the driver's side doors--just like the photos in this thread.:eek:

I drove it down to the dealership and my salesperson and the Field Operations Director took a look at it. They said the VW Rep would have a look at it on Thursday and fix the problem for sure. They said: "He's the guy that handles our BIG PROBLEMS." and "We've never seen this before."

Well it's Wednesday and there is NO SIGN of any discoloration anymore. Tomorrow morning, I'm going to take it through the hand-wash again and see if that changes things.

Best case scenario, the Vegas heat cured it like the hair-dryer fix and those spots are gone forever.

Hope that helps.

Anthony
 

clewis

Member
Joined
Mar 4, 2010
Location
Ontario Canada
TDI
Golf highline
clearcoat

securityguy said:
I had a friend of mine in the car business for ever tell me many, many years ago...NEVER buy a Silver car...Silver paint has more problems than any other color. I have never bought a silver car in my 30+ years of buying cars and never plan to. Folks car argue that they have had silver and never a problem but this isn't the first time, nor will it be the last that I have heard from many different owners of many different makes and models that Silver is a problem and should be avoided. Why? Have no idea but I'm not one to take chances with expensive purchases;)
I never have a car clearcoated. Why not do a good wax job twice a year?
Clearcoat, undercoat etc. are in large part extra income for the dealership and adds very little value to the car. People buy cars the colour of dirt so they won't show the dirt so why clearcoat it?
 

mysql

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 19, 2010
Location
United States
TDI
Jetta wagon
clewis said:
I never have a car clearcoated. Why not do a good wax job twice a year?
Clearcoat, undercoat etc. are in large part extra income for the dealership and adds very little value to the car. People buy cars the colour of dirt so they won't show the dirt so why clearcoat it?

clearcoat is part of the normal painting process. You get the base coat then a clear coat on top of it.

I can't think of any vehicle sold today that wouldn't have clearcoat on it.



Maybe the problem is that these cars are in such high demand they don't spend any time on the dealer lot in the sun :)
 

OklaVolks

Member
Joined
Sep 27, 2009
Location
Oklahoma City, OK
TDI
2010 Jetta TDI
I have a 2010 Jetta TDI with black paint which doesn't seem very resistant to bird poop. On the only two occasions when the birds have left deposits, I've removed them with cool water within a hour of discovering them, only to find a cloudy haze and some moderate blistering of the paint. I've never had this problem on any of my Toyota or Acura vehicles.

Two questions: 1) anyone else having this kind of problem on his/her VW paint? If so, any suggestions about a wax or other protectant to help avoid the problem?
 

40X40

Experienced
Joined
Feb 12, 2006
Location
Kansas City area, MO
TDI
2013 Passat SEL Premium
OklaVolks said:
I have a 2010 Jetta TDI with black paint which doesn't seem very resistant to bird poop. On the only two occasions when the birds have left deposits, I've removed them with cool water within a hour of discovering them, only to find a cloudy haze and some moderate blistering of the paint. I've never had this problem on any of my Toyota or Acura vehicles.

Two questions: 1) anyone else having this kind of problem on his/her VW paint? If so, any suggestions about a wax or other protectant to help avoid the problem?

Any wax is better than none. Put something on it ASAP, even if it is what the automatic touchless car wash puts on your car.

Bill
 

OklaVolks

Member
Joined
Sep 27, 2009
Location
Oklahoma City, OK
TDI
2010 Jetta TDI
40X40 said:
Any wax is better than none. Put something on it ASAP, even if it is what the automatic touchless car wash puts on your car.

Bill
I keep the car waxed, both with paste wax and in between with wax at the automatic car wash but neither seem to prevent the clouding and blistering problem. Thanks for the suggestion though. Too bad the wax isn't preventing the problem.
 

Surly

Active member
Joined
Dec 6, 2009
Location
Bucks County, PA
TDI
2010 Golf TDI
Three Paint

Got my repainted car back today! The only bad part was that the first time I went to pick up my car it had dirt/dust in the paint and one of the tail lights was installed crooked. The second time they painted the hatch they got it right though. After a week with some weak loaners, getting the oil burner back has me ear-to-ear! :D Other than this issue my car has be great!
 

sgoldste01

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 14, 2010
Location
Webster, NY
TDI
None; Replaced 2010 Golf TDI with 2012 Subaru Impreza 5-door with manual tranny
Surly said:
Got my repainted car back today! The only bad part was that the first time I went to pick up my car it had dirt/dust in the paint and one of the tail lights was installed crooked. The second time they painted the hatch they got it right though. After a week with some weak loaners, getting the oil burner back has me ear-to-ear! :D Other than this issue my car has be great!
Why did your brand new car need to be repainted? :eek:
 

Surly

Active member
Joined
Dec 6, 2009
Location
Bucks County, PA
TDI
2010 Golf TDI
There was an issue with the clearcoat on the hatch (see pictures above). It was unable to be fixed with the heat method. Looks perfect now, though.
 

ruking

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Mar 27, 2003
Location
San Jose area, CA
TDI
2003 VW Jetta, 5 M, Reflex Silver: 09 Jetta, 6 Sp DSG, Candy White: 12 VW Touareg, 8 Sp A/T, Flint Gray
OklaVolks said:
I have a 2010 Jetta TDI with black paint which doesn't seem very resistant to bird poop. On the only two occasions when the birds have left deposits, I've removed them with cool water within a hour of discovering them, only to find a cloudy haze and some moderate blistering of the paint. I've never had this problem on any of my Toyota or Acura vehicles.

Two questions: 1) anyone else having this kind of problem on his/her VW paint? If so, any suggestions about a wax or other protectant to help avoid the problem?
The only real answer is in your trunk:

1. to carry a spray bottle of (a bit stronger) diluted car wash soap
2. 100% cotton toweling

AND ... as close to the offending action as possible, spray the area with dilute car wash, let soak and remove with the 100% cotton toweling
 

OklaVolks

Member
Joined
Sep 27, 2009
Location
Oklahoma City, OK
TDI
2010 Jetta TDI
ruking said:
The only real answer is in your trunk:

1. to carry a spray bottle of (a bit stronger) diluted car wash soap
2. 100% cotton toweling

AND ... as close to the offending action as possible, spray the area with dilute car wash, let soak and remove with the 100% cotton toweling
Probably some good advice. I'll give it a try. Any suggestions on brands of car wash soap?
 

dieselstein

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 1, 2010
Location
Canada/USA
TDI
2010 Jetta TDi (new) 2006 Jetta TDi (traded in on 2010) 1994 Golf TDi (dead) 2003 Jetta TDi (sold)
mostchillin said:
Let me start with I know this is a VW enthusiast forum and everyone here loves their VWs (for the most part...). I have a 2010 JSW TDI and this is not my first VW -- I've owned four VWs and an Audi during my 21 years of driving. Maybe it's luck, but I've had issues with every single one of them and was hesitant on purchasing another but decided too after doing a ton of research.

I purchased a Reflex Silver JSW back in October from the only dealer here in town. Within a couple of weeks of ownership I noticed spots appearing on the passenger door, passenger fender, drivers door and ultimately on the roof between the windshield and pano roof. It looked like the clearcoat was delaminating from the paint. Brought it to the dealers attention; they scheduled a meeting with VW. VW looked at the car and acted like they had never seen the issue before. The offered to fix the car by sanding and reapplying the clearcoat -- I told them unacceptable. Within a couple of hours I was offered a new replacement vehicle. I did some research on this the first time around and found a few issues and one resolution that a VW dealer took was to heat the area and the problem would "disappear"...

Anyway, I had hoped it was an isolated issue... My second Silver Reflex JSW is now developing the same spots. I called the dealer yesterday and told them of the discovery after washing my car. He called back and asked me to put a hair dryer to one of the areas as he was made aware of situations of water getting behind the clearcoat -- isn't that the purpose of clearcoat??? :banghead: I told him that I had seen this on forums and it's an unacceptable fix. He said he wasn't saying it was a fix but wanted me to try which I did -- the spot went away. Great -- but the water already penetrated the clearcoat -- not good.

So I'm scheduled to meet with the dealer early next week but I'm seriously regretting my purchase at this point. :mad:

My purpose of this post is to see if anyone else is having issues as I certainly cannot be the only one. There is obviously an issue with the painting\clearcoat process and frankly it's unacceptable in my humble opinion.

Chime in with any other similar issues. The issue can happen over time as I closely inspected the current car and there weren't any spots at delivery. Beware! :(

Thanks in advance for any insight into similar issues and any resolutions.
I understand you're pissed but I don't think you'll get another car. They may try to deflect this one. I'd try to go with another color or live with it if at all possible.
 
Last edited:

Cogen Man

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 4, 2011
Location
Kingston, Ontario, Canada
TDI
2011 Golf TDI DSG.
I have the 2011 Golf blue graphite pearl I believe it's called. Had it since end of July. The clear coat failure is on the roof spoiler and about 1/3 the way up from the back on the roof. Also on the flat plastic bumper tupperware below the hatch. Took it to the dealership and they took all kinds of pics. They told me to take it to a paint shop they use and have them evaluate it. The owner took one look at the spots and said, "Yes the clearcoat is failing". He will be getting back to the dealership with his evaluation and estimate as to cost to fix. Then the dealership will be submitting that to VWoCanada. Who knows how long that process will take. They can't get the fix done until VW Canada gives the okay as it is a warranty issue. Understandable. The service manager did mention he had seen the same on a 2011 Jetta. He mentioned the white plastic transport wrap as the reason.

Update, Nov.10/2011
Paint shop started the fix this past Tuesday. Wednesday evening had a message on my machine from VW dealership. Said paint guy had called them and said clearcoat can't be fixed and that the car needed a new paint job. They authorized the work. Hope he's good.

Update #2
Got the Golf back from the paint shop. They did a super job in re-painting the entire car. Even did all the door jams, underside of hood and hatch. Literally everywhere there was blue paint they did. Warranty covered it 100%.

http://www.bodyshopbenjaminclement.com/#!__page-1/gallery

Above is before paint and clearcoat.
 
Last edited:

mommo1953

New member
Joined
Jul 30, 2014
Location
New Jersey
TDI
2013 Jetta TDI Sportwagon & 2000 Jetta TDI
I have a 2013 Jetta Sportwagon TDI with similar paint issues with the reflex silver. Took delivery end of May 2013 by July a I noticed a dark spot the size of 2 quarters side by side on the top edge of my driver side quarter panel. I took it to the dealer who at first could not see it but I pressed the issues & after pointing out on the angles, it was lighter in one direction darker in the other, the service manager & some of the shop guys could see it. I was told to try & get a picture. I did try but camera does not pick up the color difference as easily as the eye. Eventually by end of August I could not see it. It seems to have vanished. At the time I kept telling dealer I was concerned that there was a problem with the clear coat. Come forward April/May 2014, not even a year old, I now have clear coat peeling off my front bumper & another dark/light spot on the hood & the upright driver's side vertical by windshield. VW has agreed to repaint those 2 sections, in shop now being repaired, however when I went to drop the car off last week I found another dark spot on my passenger front door & 2 smaller white marks on my passenger rear door area. Manager wasn't there when dropped it off when I saw the spot, manager seems to think it is a ding in the door, I did find a flaw in the sheet metal that was obviously there before it was ever painted but my issues is no where near it. My concern is am I going to be seeing more of these spots showing up & is the end result going to be more issues with clear coat peeling on other areas of car if it happened on one.

Hopefully pictures posted. The passenger door was taken when I stopped by dealer after dropping it off for the front repair the dark spot is in the light area near the door jam up near the chrome.
 
Last edited:
Top