Class VI

Hey Everyone,
Without going into full details (if you want them - search for my post about valet damage from a year ago) I had a new rear bumper installed last spring at a Porsche approved body shop, I'll leave their name out. This was a brand new piece, instead of a repaint on my original bumper. Fast forward six months and I'm washing it and notice little black pieces on my wash mitt. I look closer at the bumper and notice it's starting to peel in both wheel wells. I contacted the shop that did the work and sent in photos since I'm 1.5 hours away. I was told to hold tight while they consulted with a manager on what to do. Then there was no contact and no responses for quite a while, even after leaving repeated voice messages and emails. I eventually learned that my contact there had left and obviously my messages weren't being forwarded on. I finally arranged a time to take it in which brings us to last week. I took the car in and got a huge runaround about how this was wear and tear caused by stone chips, it's normal, and that they don't consider it to be a warranty issue (BTW - Stored indoors, no winter use with this bumper, hand washed, no dirt/gravel roads) After a long "discussion" they agreed to do a one-time repaint of it. I guess I should be happy they're doing this, but I was floored that I had to fight to get it, as it seemed to me to be very obvious that this was more than just stone chips.

See the attached pics and video link at the bottom and let me know what you think. Am I crazy, or should a 6 month old paint job by a top-tier shop on a brand new bumper not be able to hold up better than this?

jumper5836

I am no expert but no paint job will be as good as the original from factory but it sounds like shoddy work. The rear wheel well get a lot of sand blast from dirt kicking up but it should have stood up to more wear then that though maybe not enough flex in the paint mix.

Christien

I agree with Greg, looks like poor workmanship to me. Here's the rub: they're probably just going to at best give it a quick hand-sand then paint over it. Wouldn't surprise me at all if you saw this again in another year or 2. Chances are you'll need to get it redone. The upshot is that even though that sucks, it's a bumper which can be easily removed, prepped and painted. Much better than a door panel or something like that.

If my prediction comes true, definitely post the shop's name. And mention it to the dealer who recommended them. They'd probably want to know about that.

993GT

bumper wasn't prepped right or primer/paints were bad/mismatched...job done wrong

Freakhead

Looks to me like the plastic surface was not cleaned and prepared properly. I would take it to another body shop and have their painter look at if for a second opinion.

theiceman

painting plastic and having it adhere aftermarket is tough , but this definitely looks done wrong. i would not even go back , just take it somewhere else and pay to have it done right. yes money out of pocket, but if he does not stand behind his work and eagerly wants a chance to fix it, then i would just not take my car back there.

Mumbles

Being a new bumper it would of been painted off the car. Maybe they had a paint issue, but probably the prep wasn't done right

Class VI

Thanks for all the responses, glad to hear I'm not alone in thinking this is unacceptable. My thought was bad prep too since everything is peeling right down to the bare plastic. I had left it with them and it's my understanding it's being done right now. I agree with a few of you that another opinion would be beneficial, but I honestly thought once they saw it they'd own up to it, so had planned to leave it with them right from the start. I'm in Niagara, so trips to all the approved shops around T.O take time.
I'm going to give them this one chance to redo it properly, but if it does happen again then I'll be posting up who it is and I think a lot of people would be surprised.

ronnie993tt

Real shoddy. Looks like they sprayed over dirt. Should out 'em anyway. They don't deserve our business.

Turbodan

poor quality prep or not enough flex in the paint. Get it redone but try to leave the car for as short a time as possible in the body shop. Body shops are the worst place for your car to be as they often get scratched, oversprayed etc..
Good luck.

theiceman

Not much surprises us anymore

BIG smoke

x2 - not proper prep and not enough flex agent.
If the original shop is redoing the work, painting over the incorect prep will just have the problem reapear.
Most likely needs to be stripped and started again from scratch.
I like my parts painted off the car, if possible.