abs350

I noticed this weekend that it looks like the clearcoat may be peeling away. Car still has a couple months left on bumper to bumper warranty, so if it is the clearcoat, I assume it would be covered.

Any thoughts or suggestions? Would you trust the local dealership's body shop to fix this, or does it need to be replaced?



A little easier to see without the flash:

KneeDragr

Is there a protective film on the car? It looks more like there is a plastic film there and its losing its bond.
Usually when the clear fails, it looks like a different color underneath because the clear changes the color. I cant tell if thats the case here. Is paint actually flaking off?

dgrant3830

I think it is covered under the normal warranty as long as there's not been any damage to the area caused by the owner or whatever. It needs to be a defect in the factory paint job for them to warrant it.

redzone

This......

Look underneath the front fascia & make sure there are no really bad scrapes. If there are,they can/may say that the impact caused the damage when the fascia flexed during impact.

They do put a flex agent in the paint,but I'm not sure about the clear.

Good luck,and let us know what they say.

talon90

These....

abs350

No protective film that I am aware of (I am not the original owner). I thought the same thing as you and looked for any seam or some indication that there was a protective film, but couldn't find anything. It is hard to tell from the pictures though, but it is actually flaking off as well as bubbling.

The actual paint is not flaking off here, but when I bought the car there was some paint flaking off of the passenger side rocker panel. I am not sure how that happened (not cracked like would happen from improper jacking), but I brought it to the dealership and had the rocker panel repaired under warranty. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of that now.

abs350

Interesting... There are some minimal scrapes underneath the front fascia. But those would have been from over 7 months ago before I bought the car. Could flexing have a latent affect? Or would it be expected to have an immediate affect?

redzone

It would be immediate.

Gearhead Jim

Is it posible the car had some minor damage from before, and the repainted areas are failing?

You might get a body shop to look at it, so you can go to the dealer with something besides your own opinion.

Good luck!

Xedes

I work for a automotive manufacturer and have been in the paint department for 19+ years. I've seen just about everything you can imagine as far as defects and such. I can't tell much from the pictures you posted. Show it to a reputable body shop and let them make the call.

If I had to guess, it looks like some kind of contamination fell on that area and ate away the clear.....but like I said, the pictures don't show every angle to make an informed decision. Good Luck!

P0234

If its not protective film, it certainly looks like clear coat failure. Since you were not the first owner, chances are it could have been repainted.

abs350

I suppose it is possible that it could have been repainted. The carfax report was clear and no other evidence from my un-trained eye suggested otherwise, but I guess that is the risk you take when buying used.

I plan to bring it to the dealer bodyshop first to get their opinion.

Swiftrider08

I can see a line going out in both directions from that spot. Looks to me like a major flex. Almost like someone put their big foot on that area and stood on it.

torquetube

It's not common. I suspect it was repainted by the previous owner.

Xedes

JMHO.... Take it to a different (ie:independent) body shop first. Let them give their opinion ( the cause and why they came to that conclusion) so you have someone elses opinion in hand when the dealership gives theirs. They might agree but if they don't, you can at least point the things out that the other body shop did that led to their conclusion.

Swiftrider08

In the end, it really does not matter why it happened. If the dealer is willing to fix it then great, if not, it will cost you a bit to make it right. That really does not look like a factory paint defect. Since we seem to have to post here why we know what we know, I have have 30+ years in the OEM paint finishing business. No one of this forum can match that. Am I bragging? Yep!

P0234

A clean carfax only means that no accident WAS REPORTED TO CARFAX. I've seen plenty of cars with frame damage that had a clean carfax. A family members car was in a severe accident, they did nothing shady, went by the book. Clean carfax.

The only use for a carfax is when you are browsing ads on Autotrader/Cars.com, etc. You look, you see accident/salvage/flood, and you steer clear. That is the only value. You still need to inspect a "clean" car like you would before carfax existed.

I'd take it by a good body shop before you took it to the dealer, for a second opinion.

Joe F

I had the exact same thing happen to my 2010 GS at 11,500 miles. No accident, don't know of any other reason (wife drives it alot so any hard hits unknown), no visible damage underneath. Dealer sent me to the body shop they use. Was told clear coat did not have enough flex agent in it. Repainted the clear, now 25,000 without any other issues. Paint shop manager said he had never seen on a new corvette before, only repainted ones. Car bought new, so unless dealer painted it before I purchased it, it came that way. (It was obtained by my dealer via a dealer trade, so if the first dealer had it repainted I don't know.)