Paint Blisters

[Ash_t6]

Just as a follow up to you and anyone else in a stand off with VW regarding this exact issue.

I found it far more effective to politely reply to the official VW findings and conclusion e.mail with the following response:

'As this is a definitive conclusion to my warranty claim in response to body defects i've subsequently found on my 15 month old Transporter, can I ask for any and all official reports and research that led Volkswagen paint and body technical to come to the conclusion of 'outside influences'
If this documentation proves to me the consumer that your conclusions are correct, and the corrosion is indeed a cause of 'impact damage' as you quote, listing the definition of the phrase 'impact damage' I will take on the responsibility to rectify the issue myself, and close the matter'

I went on in length explaining that i've been involved in paint and bodywork for nearly 3 decades in one form or another, including several official qualifications in this industry, and as VW's official conclusions directly contradict everything I had come to understand over this time. For my own education moving forward in this industry, it would be of benefit to myself to understand exactly what VW could see, that neither myself, or my bodyshop couldn't.

This seemed to kick start the whole process past the pre-written response that I suspect we all had from VW customer care.
Who knows if this will actually end up in my warranty claim being paid for in real money, but we will see.

Hi mate. I am having the same issue on my 3 year old Blackberry metallic T6. It’s been ongoing for ages now. West Yorkshire van centre got an independent paint specialist to look at it and he said it was down to stone chips from bigger wheels that were fitted to the van. (Bollocks!)
Customer care have told me to try another van centre, did that and they couldn’t go any further as it had already had a claim query risen against it. So now customer care have asked me to get and an independent report on the matter. Guess what, they’ve asked me to use the same guys as VW Clekheaton used? I’m reluctant to pay £180 for the inspection if it’s same guy. Unless their report is different this time as it’s not done at the VW site? What do you think? Should I just pay it and see if original report is different?

 

[Ash_t6]

After bouncing e.mails back and forth, with several pictures to PVWI, they are 100% sure that the blisters are caused by what's known as 'zinc inclusion'
A quick Google of this term brings up dozens of examples across all manufactures.
The inspector is amazed that just from the pictures alone, the claim hasn't been honoured, but after another chat with my dealer this morning, they inform me that the warranty department consists of 4 members of staff, in Milton Keynes that are sat in front of computer screens. No one gets to speak to these guys, and they won't budge on decisions unless you as a customer can prove 100% that what you're claiming for is within VW's terms and conditions, of which 'zinc inclusion' is part of this. Even the opinion of the dealer is totally irrelevant in these situations.
The inspector also mentioned if it's showing on several panels, it's likely to be forming on almost all of the panels, and their job is no inspect every inch of the van, which is very worrying, because the potential outcome of him finding this issue on all of my van doesn't bare thinking about for the future.

I've now paid and booked the official inspection by PVWI and if what he says is true, it's the single only way to get any further with this problem.

Hi mate, just out of interest are you running stock wheels? I’ve had same issue with my van but I put 20” wheels on it and stupidly didn’t take them off when I took in for inspection. They are now saying it’s down to stone chips from the wider wheels. Annoying

 

[Tourershine]

Hi mate, just out of interest are you running stock wheels? I’ve had same issue with my van but I put 20” wheels on it and stupidly didn’t take them off when I took in for inspection. They are now saying it’s down to stone chips from the wider wheels. Annoying

I saw your other post, but best thing to do is post a picture of the exact issue you are referring to. You can get a good image if it's a blister, and I will tell you if it's the same as my original problem.

 

[Ash_t6]

I saw your other post, but best thing to do is post a picture of the exact issue you are referring to. You can get a good image if it's a blister, and I will tell you if it's the same as my original problem.

Will do il get some pics tomorrow. It’s really bad now. Two blisters which have now gone rusty and many more blisters. There’s even a patch on the slide rail which is bubbling. Nowhere near the front wheels for from chips!

 

[Ads_Essex]

Funnily enough, before reading this post, I noticed these two buggars. Fortunately they’re on the inside of the door, but still..

 

[Ash_t6]

Hi all,
Just wanted to get a broad range of opinions please....
So I noticed a few small paint blisters on the rear wheel arch...as the van was going in for it’s first service thought I’d give her a good clean...
In the end I’d noticed enough blisters to cause real concern. Some of the blisters are in the middle of side panels, but most are on lower sections of wheel arches and doors!
I noted down their locations and spoke to Vw when the van was in for its service..
They quickly dismissed these blisters as “out side influences “ and stated not a warranty claim as caused by stone chips....
Now, I’m not disputing there are stone chips on the vehicle, but it’s the reaction the paint has had to blister so easily. Some blisters have no visible stone chip on them(unless so small they are not visible to naked eye)
There are bigger, deeper stone chips on the bonnet/front wing and they show no signs of blistering....
Vw approved paint shop stated they had grave concerns over the quality of the paint and hadn’t seen a new vehicle with blisters like on mine...
Obviously VW customer services are sticking with the comments of the Warranty guy at the dealership where I bought the van...
Next step is to pay for an independent paint warranty expert to examine, at my own cost!!

Any one else got blistering paint, or have I really spent 30k on a lemon/Friday

Hi all,
Just wanted to get a broad range of opinions please....
So I noticed a few small paint blisters on the rear wheel arch...as the van was going in for it’s first service thought I’d give her a good clean...
In the end I’d noticed enough blisters to cause real concern. Some of the blisters are in the middle of side panels, but most are on lower sections of wheel arches and doors!
I noted down their locations and spoke to Vw when the van was in for its service..
They quickly dismissed these blisters as “out side influences “ and stated not a warranty claim as caused by stone chips....
Now, I’m not disputing there are stone chips on the vehicle, but it’s the reaction the paint has had to blister so easily. Some blisters have no visible stone chip on them(unless so small they are not visible to naked eye)
There are bigger, deeper stone chips on the bonnet/front wing and they show no signs of blistering....
Vw approved paint shop stated they had grave concerns over the quality of the paint and hadn’t seen a new vehicle with blisters like on mine...
Obviously VW customer services are sticking with the comments of the Warranty guy at the dealership where I bought the van...
Next step is to pay for an independent paint warranty expert to examine, at my own cost!!

Any one else got blistering paint, or have I really spent 30k on a lemon/Friday after paint job...

Hi there, just wondering if you ever got anywhere with the paint defects? I have the same issue with my 2017 T6. Vw got PVWI to inspect the paintwork and said it was due to larger wheels fitted causing stone chips. (bullshit) Customer care said i have to get the paint inspected myself but the pvwi will not check again because of a conflict of intrest with vw!!

 

[Ash_t6]

Update

Got a phone call from VW Customer care today , they have been advised by the warranty department that this is from 'Outside Influence ' and they will not honour the warranty claim in this case , she said that 'the warranty department have final say and that it ' she said to go to another Van centre to put in another warranty claim and see how it goes -I told no doubt i am wasting my time .....so the call ended with her telling me to go to The Motor Ombudsman | Motor Industry Codes of Practice and see what I get from a complaint against VW ..........totally pissed off and will be going to my dealer tomorrow and speak to the Dealer Principal !

What was the outcome in the end? im having exact same issues with mine. The vans f***ed now, blisters and rust all over it from (stone chips) yeah right!

 

[Ash_t6]

Just as a follow up to you and anyone else in a stand off with VW regarding this exact issue.

I found it far more effective to politely reply to the official VW findings and conclusion e.mail with the following response:

'As this is a definitive conclusion to my warranty claim in response to body defects i've subsequently found on my 15 month old Transporter, can I ask for any and all official reports and research that led Volkswagen paint and body technical to come to the conclusion of 'outside influences'
If this documentation proves to me the consumer that your conclusions are correct, and the corrosion is indeed a cause of 'impact damage' as you quote, listing the definition of the phrase 'impact damage' I will take on the responsibility to rectify the issue myself, and close the matter'

I went on in length explaining that i've been involved in paint and bodywork for nearly 3 decades in one form or another, including several official qualifications in this industry, and as VW's official conclusions directly contradict everything I had come to understand over this time. For my own education moving forward in this industry, it would be of benefit to myself to understand exactly what VW could see, that neither myself, or my bodyshop couldn't.

This seemed to kick start the whole process past the pre-written response that I suspect we all had from VW customer care.
Who knows if this will actually end up in my warranty claim being paid for in real money, but we will see.

Any news on the warranty claim mate? Im having similar issues, feel like Im getting nowhere fast. My vans a real mess now, covered in blisters and rust.

 

[Tourershine]

Any news on the warranty claim mate? Im having similar issues, feel like Im getting nowhere fast. My vans a real mess now, covered in blisters and rust.

Mine was rectified ages ago bud. All the information is in this thread.

 

[bar933]

Discovered these two little rust spots in my paint work On my 67 plate VW T6. These are on the Kombi near side door, about halfway up and no way are they from stone chips, it is obvious these have corroded from the inside causing the paintwork to bubble. still under warranty and booked in with VW for their opinion and what they are going to do to correct the paintwork.

 

[Ash_t6]

Discovered these two little rust spots in my paint work On my 67 plate VW T6. These are on the Kombi near side door, about halfway up and no way are they from stone chips, it is obvious these have corroded from the inside causing the paintwork to bubble. still under warranty and booked in with VW for their opinion and what they are going to do to correct the paintwork.

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Hi mate, I hope you get somewhere with it. I’ve reached a bit of a dead end. Be refused to repair it as they believe my paint blisters are caused by external influences. (Ie larger 20” wheels that every other van on the toad has!) if you’re running 20s I’d suggest swapping back to your stock wheels before you take it in for inspecting..

 

[bar933]

Hi mate, I hope you get somewhere with it. I’ve reached a bit of a dead end. Be refused to repair it as they believe my paint blisters are caused by external influences. (Ie larger 20” wheels that every other van on the toad has!) if you’re running 20s I’d suggest swapping back to your stock wheels before you take it in for inspecting..

I am running 20s, however these marks are clearly not from stonechips as there is no break in the paint, the rust bubbles are under the paint work and haven’t broke the clear coat.

 

[Ash_t6]

I am running 20s, however these marks are clearly not from stonechips as there is no break in the paint, the rust bubbles are under the paint work and haven’t broke the clear coat.

Many of mine were the same but they still refused it. I’ve been to 3 other garages who have all said it’s Zinc inclusion but the paint inspector that VW got said it was stone chips. Just pre warning mate, don’t want you to find yourself in the same position as me...3 year old van that pretty much needs stripping and respraying

 

[bar933]

Many of mine were the same but they still refused it. I’ve been to 3 other garages who have all said it’s Zinc inclusion but the paint inspector that VW got said it was stone chips. Just pre warning mate, don’t want you to find yourself in the same position as me...3 year old van that pretty much needs stripping and respraying

Cheers Ash, I will try them and see what they say, I work for a coatings company and have had them inspected and been told the roughly the same thing. I will let you know how I get on

 

[bar933]

Been into VW Marshalls body shop for an inspection and they have told me it looks like i have a warranty claim, however the inspection has been sent off to VW warranty dept who make the final decision.

 

[Ash_t6]

Good luck mate, it’s the independent paint inspector who will know doubt come back to you with the final decision. Hope you don’t get same guy as me. Looks like I’m paying for mine out of my own pocket.

 

[bar933]

Received a welcome phone call from VW body shop after 2 days and they have agreed to repaint my Kombi door under warranty

 

[iDixonn]

Hi All, just sent an email to VW about paint bubbling in my 68 T6. Any guidance on what to say or do?

 

[mopardave]

Hi All, just sent an email to VW about paint bubbling in my 68 T6. Any guidance on what to say or do?

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Christ..........I'm no expert but that looks like zinc inclusion!! Mine had it......got done under warranty. Thought they'd have sorted it by now!! All I can say mate is persevere!!