JMG

The quick rundown of the story....

If you scroll down there was a thread about paint match on the bumpers of our cars. Especially Ibis White.

It so happens that I had already pointed this out to my local dealership and told them I would like to get it looked at by the regional service manager, as I felt it was unacceptable for our $70,000.00+ to have mismatched body panels, especially when new.

This originally started about a year ago, when the dealership put me on "the list" to see the regional advisor.

Today I finally got to see him...

If you don't want to read the whole story I will summarize now.

They are aware the panels don't match, but will do nothing about it. Not because they think the panels match, but the answer I got was...."That's just how it is"



Now the whole story...I show up, and the minute I stepped foot in the dealership I knew this guy wasn't going to do anything about it. He hardly said hello, and was very curt, cold, and generally uninviting. If politicians have "yes" men, car companies have "no" men, and he was defiantly one of them.

He was sent there to put down the situation, and send me on my way before he ever saw the car at all.

It started by us going out to look at the car, my car was a little dirty because it rained out here yesterday, and I hadn't gotten a chance to wash it. He says, "it's pretty hard for me to see anything, it's kinda dirty" I say, have the dealership wash it then. So he does....

A little backtracking; anyone and their blind 100 year old mother could tell the bumper doesn't match the panels at all, dirty or not, they are a far cry from close. I have had every service advisor at my dealership confirm they can see the dramatic different, more-so in shade than bright sun, but never-the-less all the time.

We go to see the car after it was washed, and I point out how dramatic the difference is, the head of my dealership service department says..."yeah I can see it in the rear and front bumper, and the side skirts," he then adds, "my wife's A6 is the same way" At this point I say to all of them, and what part of that is ok? It is obviously different, and has become worse over time." The regional advisor then says, "from what I see here there is nothing I can do" This did not at all surprise me, but I still didn't take it all too well. I look at him and say "so I am safe to assume you aren't going to do anything about it", he confirms.

I then say "so this is acceptable?," I get the answer that, it happen to all of them, it is just how it is. This upset me a little, and I made the statement "So when I bought this car I should have received a piece of paper that said, in 12 to 18 months your bumpers will no longer match your car, it's just what it is." Obviously I received no response to that.

I then let there regional advisor know that he shouldn't expect this to go away that easily, and I'm not going to accept that my paint, the most seen part of the vehicle isn't going to be covered under the "bumper to bumper warranty" because it is something that just happens. I wasn't irate but professionally let him know that I wasn't at all satisfied with his answer.

At that point he just turned his back and walked away, no sorry, no nice meeting you, nothing, the guy just went on his way like I didn't exist. I then turned to the service advisor that was there that I always deal with, and told him, you know that his answer was crap, he said that he can't really say anything, but rolled his eyes acknowledging that he knew I was in the right here.

One last note, comparing colors by the naked eye is a ridiculous test, no two people see color exactly the same, this is fact. Just as not everyone can discern the difference in colors the same. If this was to be a legitimate claim, the regional service rep would have had a colorimeter, they are made by kodak-minolta, and that is what they are used for. They exact calculation of the tone of colors, and they are also a difference meter between two colors. For some guy to just randomly eyeball it, is to me generally an insult to people who have the knowledge of how this should have happened.

basically the point is this, and it is something that I bet most of us already know. The car companies don't care what your problem is if it is going to cost them money above and beyond normal warranty items. Because if they fixed mine, like the head of the dealerships service department said, "if you fix his, you have to fix my wife's", they would have to fix everyones'.

A side point, my dealership had 5 or 6 different Ibis cars on the lot, a few A4's an S4, an A6 and another I don't remember, every single one of them had a mismatched bumper. But every bumper was a different color, some overly blue, some yellow, and some cream. It was way too obvious when you are looking for it at they were all right there to look at.

Bob W.

a repaint of the plastic parts will probably cost less than the small claims limitation, so you don't even need to hire an attorney (unless you want to).

if you want to get more involved, it sounds like there may be grounds for a class action suit against VAG.

daveak05

It's not particularly uncommon, even on other makes. Especially the white and light colors. Look at any Toyota/Lexus some time.

I think it may be due to painting over a black polyurethane bumper vs. painting over light colored body metal. Again, a problem for the light colors(white, yellow) that also have pigment. Not so much silvers and grays that have no color pigment.

It's a shame and it does affect the appearance of the car, IMO. I definitely think they should have accomodated you and agreed to a respray if you requested. A lot of people won't choose that and would rather live with a slight mismatch. So, it's not like it's going to break the Aud bank or anything.

Reggie

Matching whites in kitchens is very difficult in applicances

JMSIV

Even swap or close. Then just move on.

Or just forget about it. That's what I would do.

Life is too short to worry over this one, honestly. I feel your pain, I know it is easier said than done. But 99.9% of the people on the planet wont notice a thing. Even when you sell the car.

JMG

But that being said, plastics have come a long way especially for reasons like this...most bumpers now as made of a TPO or PPO type material. Meaning it is a propylene based material with fillers for certain purposes (flame retardant, paint absorption, etc...)

With that said, I also know what it takes to produce paintable/plate-able plastic parts (it is a different process than just normal plastic parts) Most paintable parts are made in either black like you said, or a very light gray natural color, sure there are many others, but a good majority follow that trend.

The problem is that formulation of paints must be changed (sometimes a great deal) to overcome the natural change they will go through on the plastic part, some absorption (at the microscopic scale), leaching of the plastic through the paint and vice versa, etc.. add into that the flex agent and I can see where it can become troublesome.

My main complaint though is it seems as if it is getting worse over time, almost now yellowing. When it was new, it wasn't so very bad, but its becoming all I see. (but obviously that's because I'm looking for it.)

The regional service tech did make sure to point out that Audi is so very well known for their paint quality, I was quick to rebut with, "but poor color coordination skills," I didn't even get a smirk.

medpilot105

Wow! Bob W. for the killer RS4 sig pic. Very dramatic. Love it.

JMG

but with hopes of keeping the car for a legitimately long time, I just want it to be "perfect", again a life's too short argument, but I guess I have to much spare time to stare at it.

and there is no way I would sell it for another color.

JMG

I just got an eye roll and a disapproving shake of the head.

I don't really want it to get that far, but like was said above would it have killed them to say, ok sure we'll take care of it for you?

daveak05

the unfinished bumpers are still black, to the best of my knowledge. So, once again, even if a primer coat is used(and not always), you're putting a white over a black.

The aspects of the plastic material(leaching, flex additive, etc) is a very good point.

A couple other possibility would be that the bumpers are not painted in the same location(paint booth, paint batch) as the other body panels. That would not be good, even though it's possible.

Well, did you let the regional rep know your background in plastics? If so, that must have gone over well, LOL.