My car is barely 2 years old and the paint is cracking

[arod0619]

I went outside this morning to get something out of my car and I noticed two small sider web patterns on the roof of my car. I ran my finger on them because I had never seen anything like it before, and the paint came right off. It went straight down to the sheet metal. Is there anything I could do about this? Should I take it to my local dealer? I got my car in May of 2010 so it is barely two years old. :(

[menendez1293]

Couldn't hurt to take it to the delear see if they can do anything out of warranty. Paint is one of those effy subjects for warranty work. Sometimes they approve it sometimes they don't.

[Rhyder]

Those are odd shapes, almost like something was spilled on those spots, also I see some long scratches to the left. Not saying this is the case here, but I’ve seen similar spots when brake fluid was poured on a hood as vandalism.

My guess is they will say this was caused by something outside the paints normal wear. But as stated, couldnt hurt to take it to the dealer and see.

[StangKiller-SS]

Yeah, I would agree with the poster above, even then I'd still expect better paint quality. I'd take it to see if the warranty will cover IMO it should, but doesn't mean it will.

[Hec_45th]

If you have bumper to bumper warranty it will the paint is covered through the warranty, I spoke to the dealership about paint wear and they have me that answer and if anything is wrong with the point to just bring it in and they will fix.

[arod0619]

Thanks for the posts. Hopefully it will be covered. A lot of dealerships give different answers to the same questions which is really frustrating so I'll just have to wait until the one by my house is open tomorrow. I was researching it and I read that if the cracks go down to the sheet metal, it may be an imperfection in the sheet metal rather than the paint. I guess I'll just have to wait and see.

[SSizzlin']

That looks like something that has etched into the paint, not the actual paint quality.

[nighttowl]

the paint next to the blemish is discolored. is that missing clear coat? if the clear coat is there, and the paint is actually discolored, id suspect that an acidic solution was on your paint and ruined it. ive seen brake fluid do this to paint before also. it looks as if the paint is lifting off the panel like it was brake fluid.

[arod0619]

Originally Posted by SSizzlin'

That looks like something that has etched into the paint, not the actual paint quality.

I don't think so. I also haven't heard many good things about the paint GM uses on these vehicles to say the least. From what I've read, it's mediocre at best.

It looks like it's dried out. Apparently this happens after long periods of time in hot or freezing temperatures. I was taking a closer look and I found a light "spider web" pattern just above the window on my passenger side door. That's three in total. It is not as bad as the two that I have a picture of, but it looks like it is headed in that direction. I wish the dealer was open today...

[sycraft]

looks like environmental, not paint defect. May want to contact insurance company, I seriously doubt warranty will cover, not a manufacturer looking defect.

[arod0619]

Originally Posted by nighttowl

the paint next to the blemish is discolored. is that missing clear coat? if the clear coat is there, and the paint is actually discolored, id suspect that an acidic solution was on your paint and ruined it. ive seen brake fluid do this to paint before also. it looks as if the paint is lifting off the panel like it was brake fluid.

That's not discoloration, that is light cracking around the big blemish. It is hard to tell in the picture because it is not very high quality, but it is definitely cracking. If it is braking fluid that means it was vandalized, which is a perfectly believable explanation in today's world, unfortunately.

[Infinite-T]

It certainly looks like something corosive did that like others have suggested. Maybe even bird poop. However with the crappy paint on these cars, Aquafina would damage it. You can try talking to the dealer, but chances are you wont get far.

There are hundres, if not thousands of us dealing with actual premature paint wear (chipping, flaking etc.) and very few of us have gotten any reasults dealing with a dealer or even Chevy/GM corporate. Just search this forum and youll find endless threads about that...

Anyway,

I hope you can get something worked out to get it fixed! Like someone else said, maybe contact your insurance company.

[nighttowl]

Originally Posted by arod0619

That's not discoloration, that is light cracking around the big blemish. It is hard to tell in the picture because it is not very high quality, but it is definitely cracking. If it is braking fluid that means it was vandalized, which is a perfectly believable explanation in today's world, unfortunately.

see attached. at teh end of the arrow, it looks like bubbling.

[L99CAMA2011]

Originally Posted by StangKiller-SS

Yeah, I would agree with the poster above, even then I'd still expect better paint quality. I'd take it to see if the warranty will cover IMO it should, but doesn't mean it will.

If I had a dime for every one who stole my AVATAR.