excessive paint chipping on black 2009 focus sedan

maaltan · 01-24-2009, 08:31 PM

I finished washing my car today and realized that the bottom rear part of the rear doors right next to the rear wheel have excessive paint chipping. I realize that black shows damage the quickest and i am prepared for that. I have had the car for about 2 months and have driven it about 2500 miles on highways only. It did snow heavy and they did treat the road. This is one reason i was washing the car to being with. At this rate this area will not have any paint left in a year.

Unfortunately, I do not have a picture but i will try to explain it. the lower rear corner of the door(where it flares back out slightly) is speckled with white scratches/dots/pits/chips/etc where at the extreme lower rear part of the doors being almost solid white with this damage. Under close examination this is definitely damage to the paint (not just stubborn dirt). There is bare metal showing in the worst places. it looks sort of like someone took a wire brush to the paint. There is some places where i swear my fingernail is sinking into the paint, but it may just be snagging on one of the scratches.

There are also 3-5 other paint chips already over the rest of the car (i was sort of pessimistically expecting that many).

Is this normal wear for a black focus? If not do you think this is a big enough defect to get the dealer to fix it without a law suit? Even if so, is it normal wear for a black car? if its normal, maybe they should put warning on black cars that says "not for driving" and just go ahead and seal them in plastic bubbles for the user's convenience.

I traded a 2000 zx3 for this car. It was red, but when i was detailing it for trade-in I noticed maybe 3-5 paint chips total. When I say detailing that was probably the second time i washed it since i bought it 9 years ago. I gave that car hell. There were times it was so caked with road salt you couldn't tell it was red I also had it on dirt back roads quite a bit since they are so prevalent in this area.

Thanks

theoldwizard · 01-24-2009, 11:25 PM

It is not "normal" for any color car to have paint issues within the first 36 months. That is why there is a warranty.

If they are truly chips, they are likely caused by rocks, etc. hitting the body. Sorry, that is normal wear. Maybe more potholes in your area this winter ? I know there are in SE MI !

FTM1 · 01-26-2009, 11:24 AM

Sorry about your paint problem.
I have owned a black car for over 9yrs now no paint issue with it.

papac0rn · 05-12-2009, 08:15 PM

I have a blue 2009 Focus SEL that is about 8 months old and has 17,000 miles on it. Yesterday I clay barred it and saw the same kind of chipping that is described above. I guess I'll have to talk to my dealership.

fix it Jake · 06-09-2009, 04:34 PM

Take her in boys that's a common ford problem, repaint, repaint by the 3rd time it should hold! Lol!

mark v · 08-10-2009, 04:49 PM

Common Ford problem.... Give me a break!

Quote:

Originally Posted by fix it Jake

Take her in boys that's a common ford problem, repaint, repaint by the 3rd time it should hold! Lol!

scott04240 · 08-10-2009, 04:31 PM

Hello boys and girls. I have the same exact problem. The front of the rear quarters looked hazey. So, I grabbed some wax and gave it a light buffing. After all winter can be rough I thought, though this is a brand new car. Hmmm, that didn't seem to do it. Well, must need a good polishing then. As I got closer and actually looked at the paint I was horrified to find it was in fact the paint is falling off! In fact under the doors in the bottom coner of the door sills the paint is completely gone and rust is forming!!! So then I started to look more, and turns out paint is now doing the same thing on the hood as well. This on a car barely a year old? How could it be? I sold my 12 year old Mazda PU, also black, to buy this car. The paint looked as good as new on that truck when I sold it. I can't believe anyone could look me in the eye and honestly try to tell me this is normal wear and tear. I wonder if Ford will step up and do the right thing. If not, I will probably look at a foreign car. I want to buy American, but if this is what I will get, forget it. I will keep you all posted.

mfgs7 · 08-25-2009, 08:41 AM

I have a 2008 Focus SE Coupe with the same problems. I showed it to the dealer and they said warranty will not cover it, as it is stone chips. To me stone chips are random spots here and there. Not complete paint removal on both sides. I do not think the paint is the issue , more a design flaw that allows stones and other things thrown up by the front tires to hit there instead of under the rockers where it should and does hit on most other vehicles. As it is clearly a design flaw, Ford should be coming good for this. How do they expect a person to sell a vehicle like this, let alone drive it. It is to the point now I leave it dirty so people will stop asking what happened to the paint. With the amount of Focus's on the road, it shouldn't be too long before Ford has to respond to this.

I am curious as to what Ford is telling you guys about solutions to this problem. Please lets compare to see what solutions we are all offered to this problem. All they have told me is they will send the problem to engineering and to pretty much not expect any communication from them. Nice!!! As well as far as Ford is concerned, this is not there problem, and to deal with it as I see fit!!! Really nice!!! I am sure this is enough for some people to back down but not this guy.

It is hard to believe that in a time where car companies are fighting for every customer, they would handle a situation like this. Maybe the month where they had the most sales went to there heads, and they want to head down the customer service path GM went down, that ultimatly made them a joke of a company!!! Please lets hope not as I kinda liked Ford.

mark v · 08-25-2009, 10:54 AM

Tell them you want a Ford rep to look at it, if not tell them you will be getting a Lawyer.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mfgs7

I have a 2008 Focus SE Coupe with the same problems. I showed it to the dealer and they said warranty will not cover it, as it is stone chips. To me stone chips are random spots here and there. Not complete paint removal on both sides. I do not think the paint is the issue , more a design flaw that allows stones and other things thrown up by the front tires to hit there instead of under the rockers where it should and does hit on most other vehicles. As it is clearly a design flaw, Ford should be coming good for this. How do they expect a person to sell a vehicle like this, let alone drive it. It is to the point now I leave it dirty so people will stop asking what happened to the paint. With the amount of Focus's on the road, it shouldn't be too long before Ford has to respond to this.

I am curious as to what Ford is telling you guys about solutions to this problem. Please lets compare to see what solutions we are all offered to this problem. All they have told me is they will send the problem to engineering and to pretty much not expect any communication from them. Nice!!! As well as far as Ford is concerned, this is not there problem, and to deal with it as I see fit!!! Really nice!!! I am sure this is enough for some people to back down but not this guy.

It is hard to believe that in a time where car companies are fighting for every customer, they would handle a situation like this. Maybe the month where they had the most sales went to there heads, and they want to head down the customer service path GM went down, that ultimatly made them a joke of a company!!! Please lets hope not as I kinda liked Ford.

2010SES · 08-30-2009, 07:54 PM

Ford now has a TSB for this issue, and it will be fixed under warranty to those still within the guidelines.