Black paint problems again / repaint vs. "refinish"

[Svashtar]

I have never been happy with the paint on my '03 Marauder. I have just had it since late July, but the paint has always felt rough and had thin spots, etc. It also looked pitted on the trunk lid. The lying, lazy so-n-so salesman told me they would "acid wash" the car as it had sat outside for 20 months before I bought it, but he just had his guy wash it down and wax it. Even after using a claybar and 4 coats of Zaino car show polish it still didn't look that great, especially the hood, roof and trunk lid.

Finally took it back and they had their body shop manager and head service woman look at it under flourescents, and it looked even worse. They gave me an option (?): either have them "refinish" the entire car, or leave as is. Well, duh! They told me the downside to refinishing is that every month or so the car would show swirl marks in the black and have to be waxed, but hell I do that anyway. I was really happy they didn't just give me the BS "acid rain" story that I read about from some of you.

So I made an appt. and asked about the repainting and was corrected: they are NOT repainting the car, even with the thin spots. They are going to sand out the clear coat only in the worse areas (according to them), and reapply the clearcoat. This should fix the bubbles and other clearcoat problems.

Question: did those of you who had this same problem, (I remember 1 thread where a member took his car to the dealer and the dealer said "yes, seen it before; Ford has a problem with their black") did you have your cars _repainted_ or _refinished_? Seems like a big difference to me.

The manager told me my car had a lousy paint job, was thin in parts, even on the doors, had an "orange peel" look to the paint, and had a very sloppy clearcoat job.

As I said, I'm grateful to them for not blowing me off, but don't know if this "sand & refinish" option is just a halfway measure, or if I should insist on a full repaint, or if in fact it's a good and fair solution for my particular problem. My last experience with auto-body paints was before clear coat finishes became so popular.

Thanks to all for any info, and thanks for posting your experiences with the problem in the first place. If I had not read it here I wouldn't have known to bring it to their attention so quickly.

Regards,

Norm

[Patrick]

Hey Norm sorry to hear about this. The only prob I have had is the paint inside the rear doors. A bit thin in a few spots but is barely noticable so I havent even mentioned it. Just me but I would ask for a full repaint. Have them get it right the first time instead of keep going back again and again.

Patrick

[Tallboy]

i would also insist on a full repaint if the paint on the car was as bad it sounds. i've worked in dealerships for 10 years. if you yell loud/often enough, you'll get what you want. also, if a repaint is done, insist on talking to the guy who will paint it. expain to him that you want the paint to be the nicest part about your car, and you'll tell everyone you know who shot it. then press a couple hundred dollar bills in his hand. you'll be amazed at how nice it'll come out. i have done this myself and it worked for me. dealership body-shop techs hate warranty work. your money will be well spent and will drastically improve his attitude.

[Bigdogjim]

Norm: Marauders that were built in early Aug. '02 were the paint problem cars:mad: I think the first two weeks they had problems with anything black at the plant in St.Thomas.
I had lots of paint issues and very, very poor clearcoat. 300A built 8/13/02.

I just got a factory repaint by my local Ford dealer this last June. Took almost 5 weeks and cost just under $8,200. Lot of money. My Marauder looks great. Night and day differance from what it was.

Mercury dealer that sold it to me just gave me the run around.

Good luck:)

Feel free to pm me any questions.

[hdwrench]

were there any paint issues with the 04's? I like black but i dont want to deal with a bad paint job.

[hitchhiker]

I had major portions of my car repainted under warrarty and I have no complaints since.


Best Regards,

David

[hdwrench]

I had major portions of my car repainted under warrarty and I have no complaints since.


Best Regards,

Davidi REALLY hate to hear that. one reason i want to get rid of the car i have now is that it the roof was repainted due to a tree limb falling on it. They also reshot clear coat on all 4 doors. I have taken it back 2-3 times and it is still not right.

When I first saw the "repaint" is was orange peel city and I couldnt believe the guy actually thought it was acceptable. So he "buffed it out" or something. You can see differences in the clear coat very easily. I dont know if he buffed to hard in spots or what. Then the clear coat started peeling in a few small areas. I also took it back when bumps from the body work started appearing on the roof. That was supposedly because it did not dry right the first time. Well what a surprise after I had them re-do it, it is happening again.

[hdwrench]

were there paint issues with all colors or just black?

[Patrick]

I belive just black. I havent heard of any probs with other colors.

[Mike Poore]

were there paint issues with all colors or just black?
Hey guys, this "issue" didn't just start. The story with our black '93 T-bird was word for word, exactly the same as Norms. The clear coat re-do was a disaster and eventually came off in sheets. It sounds as if you have a good dealer to work with and hopefully, you can get a total repaint. I don't see anything wrong with "$ talking $" to the paint guy, as you're gonna be far better off, in the long run. Here's another option. If there's an '04 availible, you may be able to get a very sweet deal on a swap. Ford has a program called customer satisfaction award or some such, and will work with you. I can share the whole story if anyone's interested.

[hitchhiker]

i REALLY hate to hear that. one reason i want to get rid of the car i have now is that it the roof was repainted due to a tree limb falling on it. They also reshot clear coat on all 4 doors. I have taken it back 2-3 times and it is still not right.

When I first saw the "repaint" is was orange peel city and I couldnt believe the guy actually thought it was acceptable. So he "buffed it out" or something. You can see differences in the clear coat very easily. I dont know if he buffed to hard in spots or what. Then the clear coat started peeling in a few small areas. I also took it back when bumps from the body work started appearing on the roof. That was supposedly because it did not dry right the first time. Well what a surprise after I had them re-do it, it is happening again.

Some dealers use better shops than others. Hansel FLM sent mine to a good shop. This makes all the difference.

[Smokie]

You are being lied to, I had my car repainted correctly under warranty, sanding an already thin and crappy paint job is TROUBLE. I document my experience with pictures: HERE (http://www.mercurymarauder.net/forums/showthread.php?t=7487&highlight=repaint)

[Svashtar]

Swell. Thanks for all the great info. They told me I would not have the car for several days, but did not offer a loaner. I need to ask them if they will provide alternate transportation, as not having the car I have no choice but to rent a car for the interim, and that will really cost.

This really sucks; they admit the paint job is lousy and now just want to essentially do a quick sand to smooth out the already super-thin paint and then re-clearcoat. My choice is a lousy looking car or weeks without it and without transportation if they do repaint it.

I love this car, but seriously if I had known about all this garbage I would have just bought the stupid Chrysler 300 box and put up with that ridiculous looking grill. At least Chrysler knows how to apply paint...

Norm

[67435animal]

were there any paint issues with the 04's? I like black but i dont want to deal with a bad paint job.

No problems with the 04s that I have heard about; just the early 03s.

Bob

PS-I had all the upper surfaces and my rear bumper repainted under warranty and I am really pleased with my paint now.

[rayjay]

I wanted a 04 DTR. The dealer I used located three. He had the closest one delivered. Instead of picking up my car I got a phone call that they were sending the car back to the original dealer due to a really substandard paint job. I never saw the car, but my salesman said it was really bad. The car they sold me came from a small FLM dealer up north that kept it on their showroom floor. The paint is perfect.

[jstevens]

Norm, of course being nice is always good, but the only time my dealer jumped was when I explained that this is not turning out to be a 36K car and that I am this close to buying a cadillac as I'm not satisfied.

They jumped a little but I'm still disappointed with the overall experience.
Sorry, but I don't have anything to offer on paint and didn't mean to hijack your thread.

Carry on folks.

[marauder307]

Question: did those of you who had this same problem, (I remember 1 thread where a member took his car to the dealer and the dealer said "yes, seen it before; Ford has a problem with their black") did you have your cars _repainted_ or _refinished_? Seems like a big difference to me.

Thanks to all for any info, and thanks for posting your experiences with the problem in the first place. If I had not read it here I wouldn't have known to bring it to their attention so quickly.

Regards,

Norm

Svashtar, that was me. Took mine to Sunset Ford in St. Louis; talked to the bodyshop manager there. The quote above is attributable to him...I've got an appointment the first week of November to have my trunk, roof, and hood redone; I'm going to try and convince them to go on and do the whole car because I don't honestly think they can color-match those areas to the fenders, the tops of which are also pitted and slightly washed-out due to a combination of bad paint and the local "atmospheric conditions"---I work right across the street from the Anheuser-Buesch Brewery.

Really sucks. I'm gonna be out of the car for a week, and they're gonna remove my MartyO/Logan fender badges for the job. :shake:

[hbarrett]

My silver '04, 4 months old, is slowing many pits on the front end, hood, and side of the car. It seems that the clearcoat is too thin to protect the paint. My '00 CV HPP didn't have this much pitting after 4 years on the same roads, but it seems to me that the clearcoat may have been thicker as well. With this MM they made such a great looking car, but why didn't they do a better job with the paint? Maybe it's a weight issue, or shoddy workmanship at the factory. Soon, I will be discussing my complaints with the dealer to see if there is some kind of repair available.
Howard
were there any paint issues with the 04's? I like black but i dont want to deal with a bad paint job.