Hello,

I am new to this forum and have a quick question. My vehicle is only 10 months old and I take great care of it. Yesterday when washing I was washing the bugs off of the front like always and the paint came off. Not all the way to the actual car but it is pitted and noticable.

I am furious. I have another vehicle that I have had for 8 years and never has that happend. Could the paint be faulty? Should I contact the dealership? I am afraid to wash the car in the places the bugs are at now.

Any advice would be helpful..

Thanks,
Heather

 

Heather,

First and foremost, welcome to f150online.com. We're glad to have you.

As for your paint issues, when you say 'pitting' I'm not sure exactly what you're saying.

Does it appear that the place/places that your paint has flaked off that they had been hit by a rock or was it strictly bugs? The reason I ask is because I had a little spot that had been hit by a rock and the paint didn't flake until I washed it (aka: added an abrasive force to remove the flake).

Any pictures that you may have would be very helpful.

Let us know...

RP

 

Heather,

Welcome to F150online. You will find this site to have a lot of good information. It sounds like your describing that the clearcoat was chipped and not the actual paint itself.

I think most of us that don’t use any type of bug deflector have the same problem with rock chips, where it chips some of the clear coat off but not the paint itself, and some do get chipped down to the primer.

I don’t think your truck necessarily has defective paint per say, but that the quality of the newer paint process in the past years it not what it use to be. By all means you should see your dealer with it so they can take a look because you could indeed have a problem and they may be able to correct it.

However, if it’s just normal like most of us see you can touch up the clear coat. I would give you directions but not sure of the best way and there are others on here that know how to do that much better then I.

Another thing that “may” help to reduce the problem at least with bugs possible causing some damage to the paint is to keep a good coat of wax/polish on the paint, especially the front of the truck. If anything it makes it easier to remove the bugs when washing.

 

Here are Heather's pics.... I think she has a valid issue on paint...






Notice how it looks like the paint flaked where the bug splattered...

To me, it doesn't look like the paint has properly bonded with the aluminum hood however; I might be wrong.

I've never seen a bug (and what is OBVIOUSLY a bug) cause that much damage.

RP

 

Yeah that sure looks like damaged paint. Your truck is only ten months old, right? Definitely take it back to the dealership because, as RockPick stated above, your paint probably never setup properly. It probably never cured, but in any event, something is wrong with it. Good luck!

 

I agree with these guys, that is NOT normal and IS a defect with the paint.