SWVET

I purchased a set of Victory Red fuel rail covers from RPI about two years ago for my 07 vet and the paint as well as the lettering has bubbled and started to peel. I was wondering if anyone else has had the same/similar problem. I contacted the company and they would not replace but offered to sell me the same set at their cost. My concern is that it may happen again. If I pay the discount price including the original price paid the FRC amount to just under $500. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks

inner3

I guess the paint must be heat proof. The body shop would have painted mine for me but they were up front and said the paint was not heat proof. Guess you have to be careful with that.

ramon1367

Get mine painted 3 years ago in a local shop with HEAT PROOF PAINT no issues on it.

MThomas

You might take them to a local body shop and see what they would charge to re-paint them. I'm sure if this would have happen during the first year RPI would stand behind their product. It's hard to cover them if they are two years old. Good Luck!!!!

SWVET

What is upsetting is the car is rarely driven and has about 6800 miles on the clock.

inner3

Thats a shame, hope you get this resolved.

WAwatchnut

I had the same thing happen with a HalTech intake. About a year and the paint bubbled and peeled - no prep to the intake at all under the paint... they just shot it over their normal intake. Meanwhile, the DIY painted FRCs I did (propely prepping the FRCs and using adhesion promoter) are still perfect 4 years later, using normal auto paint. Seems a shame that RPI won't take care of them for you.

MThomas

wow, if you were the owner, how long would you be willing to cover issues. I believe RPI has always stood behind their products. We can't expect vendors to cover them forever. Just my 2 cents. Sorry

ButWhatDoIKnow

How long would you expect a GM paint job to last? One year? Two? Three? We would all be up in arms if it started to peal. If you sell a painted engine part, it should be able to stand up to engine heat for at least 100,000 miles.

schmegeggie

A good practice is to open the hood when you get home from a drive to release the engine heat.

SWVET

Thanks for all of the advice; however, at that price I would expect the product to be properly finished with heat resistant paint or at the very least inform the customer that it may peel. I do not mind paying top dollar for quality and the price of the FRC at $285 was not cheap. Thanks Again.

SanDiegoBert

I agree. Granted, it might have been sold with only a one-year warranty, and the buyer is probably screwed.

On the other hand, a latent defect like paint which is inappropriate for its intended use (i.e. non-heat proof paint on FRC's) could be a genuine grievance for the buyer. How could the buyer know the paint was inappropriate and therefore defective until it bubbled?

Small claims court, maybe?

WAwatchnut

I am often the first to jump in on threads where people have unreasonable expectations of warranty claims, so I understand where you're coming from. But my view on this one is: If the paint is bubbling after 2 years, it's not normal, and as the owner of the company, I would want to have it returned so I could see why. Most likely it's improper prep work, and not an issue with the paint, but regardless, I'd want to prevent it from happening again. Since I'd be making the customer go through the return process, replacing it as a goodwill gesture is a small cost to keep the customer, and get data on what went wrong.

Now I'm assuming that this is an unusual occurrence. If it's not, and it's a common issue, then I can understand not wanting to accept the cost of replacing them. But in that case... I would stop selling them!

Case in point - the HalTech intake I bought. When I contacted the owner, he said they had had problems with the paint, and that's why he had sold mine at a discount. Didn't need to see it, and didn't offer any resolution. That's the last product of theirs that I'll buy, and many others have seen the shoddy work, and will probably choose an alternate brand next time they're buying. Ultimately it's more costly to not deal with the issue than to keep the customer happy... Within reason of course.

So either this is a 1:100 occurrence, and they should want to see what happened, replacing it is a normal cost of doing business, and they should take care of it, or it's much more common, they don't need to see it, and the cost of replacing many of them makes it unprofitable so they should warn potential buyers or stop selling them.

If they can't be expected to last at least two years, they shouldn't be sold.

KRPTONT

So I just had mine done and it was done with body color paint. Is that paint not heat proof? It has several coats of primer on it plus body color paint and clear coat. For as much as I paid I would hope this does not happen to me.

Fly'n Family

Agree completely with this. RPI (and other vendors) know the environment these components are going in to, and the paint process should be such that it withstands that environment.

IMO, the vendor should stand behind the product - and replace these.

WAwatchnut

Mine are still perfect after 4+ years, using standard auto paint (Lemans Blue and Comp Gray paint). Except for extreme heat issues, the bubbling paint is most likely caused by improperly prepped fuel rail covers. Hard to say if yours were prepped properly, but if they were, I wouldn't worry too much.

timd38

I bought the factory painted ones in yellow, six years ago for $158, and they still look new, so I would buy the factory painted ones this time.

Rich Mickol

Had the same ones in silver on my 2007 for six years. Never had a problem. Every so often I'd wipe them down and coat with Zaino CS.

Just my 2cents, They should be expected to last for more than two years. Lets see if others start having the same problem.

Hope it gets resolved. Good Luck

Rayzzz

Sorry your having problems with yours. I also think they should Warranty them. I've owned my business 19 years and you have to eat stuff every now and then. Prep is probably the problem. I had a Friend paint mine Victory Red at his body shop about a year and a half ago and there bubbling up . Looking to replace them but I would like to get a set that will hold up. Who has the best set that are smooth and shinny? Also whats the right way to paint them.
THANKS RAYZZZ MY CORVETTE LIKES MY MONEY

wayback

Sorry to hear about this. Mine were painted by Steve Ray in 08. I have over 70,000 miles on them and they look new.

The trick is in the prep. Primer will not hold up to the heat so we used clear as a primer to smooth out the plastic.

They should stand behind their product!!

I had a problem with my intake paint not holding. Steve stripped it and redid the whole thing for free. I think he was more upset than I was. That is the way to treat your customers!!! This was one of Steve's first attempts to paint plastic. He has it all fiqured out now, so no more problems.