Wrinkled paint on elevating roof

[JeremyHB]

Hi all,

Apologies if this has been covered before, please do direct me to a relevant thread if so!

We have a couple of patches or wrinkled paint on our elevating roof. Not the bubbling usually seem with the roof rot problem. These patches are in the middle of the roof and it looks like the top layer of paint is wrinkling up and cracking. The roof has previously had repair done work under warranty for roof rot on both parts of the roof.

Attached is a photo (excuse all the dust and dirt - it was taken on holiday in Spain).

I believe that when the warranty work was done to the elevating roof they stripped the whole roof back and repainted. Could this be the result of poor paint work? Or might it be another side effect of the roof rot problem.

Any thoughts appreciated! My initial conversation with the local VW dealer about it being a problem caused by VW's repair has been a bit evasive so want to get as much info as I can before pushing the point.

The van is a 2009 174se.

Many thanks,

Jeremy

 

[Sandyvan]

That looks like damage from bird droppings ?

 

[ArunAlec]

Looks like something corrosive has been in contact with the paint. Looks similar to what paint stripper does. How large an area is the damage?

 

[Sandyvan]

Looks like something corrosive has been in contact with the paint. Looks similar to what paint stripper does. How large an area is the damage?

Corrosive, as in bird droppings depends what they eat. Pesky gulls will eat battery's

 

[ArunAlec]

Just hand over the chips and nobody needs to get hurt, say seagulls

Put the chips on the ground and back away slowly, seagulls have confirmed today.

newsthump.com

 

[sensisuperstar]

How many years is the paint warranty, assuming this is a defect and not caused by guano corrosion?

 

[JeremyHB]

Thanks for your thoughts everyone.

I don't think it was bird droppings. Having said that we were on the road for six weeks and the van wasn't getting a loving polish everyday, hence the dust in the photo, so maybe possible. However, the roof was all clear before we set off and the van lovely and clean inside and out. As we were living in the van we looking at the roof and every other part of it regularly and I didn't spot any obvious points of bird attack.

When I first noticed the wrinkling, a few weeks into our trip, there was nothing other than dust from the road sitting on it. I would have thought the paint would be able to withstand this - surely not unusual use for what is essentially a decked out panel van. Most VW vans must experience worse than dust and rain?

I believe the paint warranty is 12 years but I get the impression people have had difficulty getting VW to honour unless the paint is bubbling - i.e. corrosion beneath the paint. Any experience/thoughts anyone?

 

[JeremyHB]

Looks like something corrosive has been in contact with the paint. Looks similar to what paint stripper does. How large an area is the damage?

There are two patches - the larger is maybe 2-3 inches, the smaller 1-2 inches in diameter

 

[ArunAlec]

I think the 12 year “paint warranty” is for corrosion/rust that perforates a panel only, rather than cosmetic.
VW extended the normal 3 year warranty to 6 years for roof corrosion which presents itself as more of a bubble from under the paint and is a slow process over months/years.
Might be worth getting a good body shop to have a look before approaching the dealer.

 

[GSX1300R]

Hi all,

Apologies if this has been covered before, please do direct me to a relevant thread if so!

We have a couple of patches or wrinkled paint on our elevating roof. Not the bubbling usually seem with the roof rot problem. These patches are in the middle of the roof and it looks like the top layer of paint is wrinkling up and cracking. The roof has previously had repair done work under warranty for roof rot on both parts of the roof.

Attached is a photo (excuse all the dust and dirt - it was taken on holiday in Spain).

I believe that when the warranty work was done to the elevating roof they stripped the whole roof back and repainted. Could this be the result of poor paint work? Or might it be another side effect of the roof rot problem.

Any thoughts appreciated! My initial conversation with the local VW dealer about it being a problem caused by VW's repair has been a bit evasive so want to get as much info as I can before pushing the point.

The van is a 2009 174se.

Many thanks,

Jeremy

View attachment 48983

Have a read of this about bird droppings....
There are basically two different types of etching that can occur on automotive surfaces: Topical Stain Etching, and Wrinkle Etching. Topical Stains are shallow dull spots resembling hard water stains on the clear coat surface. However these stains will be in the typical bird dropping shape (picture something splattering against the surface). In this case the etching is only taking place on the surface and can usually be corrected with compounding, buffing, or in difficult situations, wet sanding. Again, it is important to remember that time is of the essence. The quicker an acid etch is addressed, the more likely it can be corrected without too much work.

Wrinkle Etching, or Fracture Etching is more problematic. This type of etching is the result of the thermodynamic heating and cooling combined with acidic etching. Here, the paint and clear coat fracture as they expand and contract, causing deep fissures in the clear coat surface. At this point, the damage has usually penetrated the clear coat surface and is beginning to damage the paint layers. Etching that has reached this stage usually requires repainting.

 

[Frans_T5]

Thanks for your thoughts everyone.

I don't think it was bird droppings. Having said that we were on the road for six weeks and the van wasn't getting a loving polish everyday, hence the dust in the photo, so maybe possible. However, the roof was all clear before we set off and the van lovely and clean inside and out. As we were living in the van we looking at the roof and every other part of it regularly and I didn't spot any obvious points of bird attack.

When I first noticed the wrinkling, a few weeks into our trip, there was nothing other than dust from the road sitting on it. I would have thought the paint would be able to withstand this - surely not unusual use for what is essentially a decked out panel van. Most VW vans must experience worse than dust and rain?

I believe the paint warranty is 12 years but I get the impression people have had difficulty getting VW to honour unless the paint is bubbling - i.e. corrosion beneath the paint. Any experience/thoughts anyone?

Paint warranty in the Netherlands was 5 years, our Cali had more or les the same problem, this was a manufactures problem, there has been a factory recal Cali's from 2006 ... 2008,
We have done a re spray.. it is the aluminium that starts to corrode... and you need a specialist to cure this problem. It has been two years since the paint repair and it stil olay... so we keep our fingers crossed.. the repair costed 250 Euro...

Good luck.. getting it repaired..

Frans

 

[GSX1300R]

Paint warranty in the Netherlands was 5 years, our Cali had more or les the same problem, this was a manufactures problem, there has been a factory recal Cali's from 2006 ... 2008,
We have done a re spray.. it is the aluminium that starts to corrode... and you need a specialist to cure this problem. It has been two years since the paint repair and it stil olay... so we keep our fingers crossed.. the repair costed 250 Euro...

Good luck.. getting it repaired..

Frans

I would say that these ARE bird droppings 100%. I did my apprenticeship in Motor body repair and Ive seen enough of them in my lifetime.... You said that 6 weeks previously you cleaned and polished the van then this happens. Aluminium doesn't bubble up like this randomly in 2 places without a reason..Bird droppings can cause this type of thing in a matter of days unless its washed off straight away..Of coarse you can try VW just to see what they say...

 

[Frans_T5]

It could be bird droppings however, VW has admitted that they have made a mistake using a wrong primer on the aluminium. That's why they initiated the recalls for the 2006...2009 cali's

 

[GSX1300R]

It could be bird droppings however, VW has admitted that they have made a mistake using a wrong primer on the aluminium. That's why they initiated the recalls for the 2006...2009 cali's

You are telling me that VW ACTUALLY admitted making a mistake.... That leaves the flood gates wide open....
I had a new Red Mercedes SLK that had to have 2 Back to metal resprays under warranty yet they NEVER admitted it was their fault... What you see in the Picture is a Bird dropping gone horribly wrong....

 

[Frans_T5]

Yes there been a full 100% recall for paint problems with the cali roofs in the Netherlands. In most cases the whole roof bern replaced..in some case the spoiler the bottom frame been replaced...
For what ever reason the previous owner did not replied to the recall:-( so we ended whit corrosion problems, the spoiler we did a recoating and spaying... our roof top still badly corrode on the inside, paint falls of and lots of spots of paint bubbling...
The out side has spots but been treated. Our is almost 13 years of age... we own her 4 yaers. When we bought this cali we immediately took care about the corrosion.
We contacted VW and their answer was that the recall was only valid with in the first 5 year after buying...

 

[Frans_T5]

They admitted the factory build cali's had wrong aluminium primer...

 

[Frans_T5]

Regarding recalls, all 2005 and 2007 AXD engines cali, multivan had a oilcooler recall, due to spontaneous internal leaks endin in coolant mixin with you engine oil and engine mixing with your coolant.. happened to ua as well because the previous ownen dit not respond to the recall... funny enough.. the VW dealer did not execute this recall.. don't ask me why... these days you as a owner has to be 200% alert.. thats the new world supposedly..

 

[GSX1300R]

Like many people who own a VW California they have had problems with paint bubbling under the seal of the Aluminium roof. There was not a recall for this as I imagine not everyone was affected by it... All California’s are built in the same facility so I would have thought that the roof problems you talk about would be Worldwide or wherever the California is sold not just the Netherlands. VW will only warranty the vehicle for so long and when you go over 10 years that’s pushing your luck a bit..