I took delivery of my FX4 in December of 2003. Recently I just noticed the paint underneath the passenger door was starting to chip, and I figured it was just from driving on gravel roads. Well, it got a little muddy this weekend and I washed it off. Just by pressure of the WATER HOSE, the paint underneath the door started peeling off. One it was wet, I could remove the paint with just fingernail pressure.

Now - I took it to the dealer I bought the truck from. They immediately told me they would repaint the bottom portion of the 2 tone. However, I am not so sure that I am happy with the thought that my $30k plus truck is going to have the bottom portion of the 2 tone sanded down and repainted. Is this something that will show up when somebody runs a car fax on the vehicle? Will it end up RUSTING or the damn paint falling off again in 10 more months?

Will it be able to be repainted to match the original paint specifictions? Does anybody know if this could be covered under the Georgia Lemon Laws? I've not had a lick of trouble out of this truck until this started to happen.

Here is what is happening:

 

first off it wont show up on any car fax thing , only thing it would show up on is your service done to your vehicle on the ford site, 2nd, its under teh truck, you wont notice any paint difference, 3rd, once its painted again, it wont rust, unless you scrape it down to metal, as it is now, i doubt that all the paint came off, probably just down to the next level, primer or base paint...

 

One of two things happened there:


1) It's a 'friday' truck. They painted it on friday and let it sit over the weekend before laying down the 2nd color. Whatever the case the 2nd color doesn't bond to the layer underneath it.

2) Dealer-done two-tone with bad surface prep; they didn't scuff.

Either way, to do it right I would insist on all of the two-tone be removed down to the layer of paint underneath it and reshoot it.

The real thing to look out for is the clear coat peeling. I don't know how ford does their clearcoating but you generally need to clearcoat a car within 24 hours after basecoat or things don't work right later on.

-Jeff

 

that sucks....not a biggie since its under the car.

 

You think you have it bad. I took possession of my truck back in April, and took it straight to a paint protection and detail place. When i went to pick it up i noticed what looked like dust above the rear passenger tail light, only problem was it wasnt dust, it was the primer showing through. Upon closer inspection it turns out 2/3 rd's of my truck had to be repainted due to primer showing through.
After numerous attempts, about 8 trips to and from the body shop, and allmost 2 months total time, my truck was finally finished at the end of October.

Now i have to take it back to the detail shop to get the paint resealed.
By the way, when i contacted Ford they had very little to offer, and actually told me it wasnt there problem, and that it was a dealership problem.
Thats my bad paint experience.
Trev

 

I have a white with DSG trim FX4 and we took it back the day after we bought it cause paint was "missing". They fixed it, but there are still a few spots they missed. I cant see unless I look underneath, but it still bothers me.

~Colby

 

Just so you know, theres a few of us here that have or have had paint issues. I'm pretty sure every one of them has been taken care of (except mine, but thats a different story) and everyone is happy. If you want to read some more do a search and you will find some posts. Look or my thread titled "washed my truck today and look what I found" Anyway, I cant say for sure, but I highly doubt you will get the Lemon Law on your truck for a minor paint problem that I am sure Ford will fix for you. Im sure your pissed as I was, but if it makes you feel any better I have to have the entire side of the bed stripped down and repainted. Some guys have had a side of there bed replaced. I would just take a deep breath and then go talk to your dealer and have it fixed. I think you might be going overboard right now talking about the lemon law. Just my .02.

Good luck

 

Thanks for the advise guys. I should have mentioned that the dealer is being very cooperative; however, I have never had a problem like this before and that is why I posted here - I simply do not know what to expect. I wanted to know if this is something that, while aggrevating, should just be left to be fixed by the dealer - or if I should inquire about state Lemon Laws. I agree that is a bit much, but I figured it was at least worth asking about.

They did say though that they would have to paint the entire bottom portion of the 2 tone paint (to do it right). Can anybody offer any tips on how I can know if the painting is done properly?

 

Had the same problem on mine (nowhere near as much), they said they would have to do the whole side, on both sides. Body shop had it a week and turned out they did not have to strip down the whole side - to my relief at the time. However they did it it looked fine after. Don't forget that lower portion is covered in the rock proof rubberised paint which then has base color then two tone put on it so there is a LOT of paint to get off and lay back on. I will have to see how it is doing after the next wash. Mine looked like it was scraped when the running boards were put on at the factory as both patches were right near the mounting holes on both sides.

Rich.

 

Rich - thus far are you happy with how they fixed it?

 

Im having the grey along the bottom Line Xed. It helps with chips and rock noise on gravel roads.

 

Georgia_Boy, so far its looking good, even after the gulley washer rain we have had down here this year, no sign of yellow coming though again. I will have a better look when I do a full pre winter wax in a couple of weeks.

Rich.