PDR spots rusting and blistering

[88CRX]

Anyone ever seen or heard of this happening?

We have maybe a dozen or so blisters forming on the roof of our 2012 Honda Fit. Some near the windshield are maybe from rock chips but there are some blisters near the rear wing and some blisters that haven't popped that don't have any visible chip.

We chatted with Honda because they're known for shitty paint recently and I thought maybe they were spot welds rusting out from below and they suggested it might be from PDR. And we had PDR work done 3 years ago from a hail storm.

https://i.imgur.com/n1b7hLm.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/ScpUC2I.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/hw6it4G.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/nPjU6QW.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/tqHqEtQ.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/jqevhk1.jpg

You can see the blisters are toonie sized, with bubbles all over the place. Car is washed often enough and these really only started showing up this past spring and just keep getting worse.

And if they were rock chips you can usually touch up with a sanding and paint pen, but these are huge!

[jaylo]

Along with Honda's impressive paint work, it looks like the paint layers has been compromised after the sheet metal deformed from the hail damage.

It probably had micro tears/cracks, moisture got in and oxidized.

[heavyD]

That's pretty shoddy paint but not surprising from what I have seen at the Civic Type R forums. What happened to Honda?

[88CRX]

Along with Honda's impressive paint work, it looks like the paint layers has been compromised after the sheet metal deformed from the hail damage.

It probably had micro tears/cracks, moisture got in and oxidized.

That is exactly what Honda's body shop said. I would have never thought of that but I'm pretty sure that is the cause. Now we get to "work" with insurance who did the PDR repair which I'm sure will be a total pain in the ass.


That's pretty shoddy paint but not surprising from what I have seen at the Civic Type R forums. What happened to Honda?

Yea its super disappointing. Car is in amazing shape when mid summer the roof panel starts showing random rust spots. There is also not a spec of rust anywhere else on the car, including the the rear quarters.

[AndyL]

That is exactly what Honda's body shop said. I would have never thought of that but I'm pretty sure that is the cause. Now we get to "work" with insurance who did the PDR repair which I'm sure will be a total pain in the ass.

Yeah, pretty sure most insurance repairs are supposed to be lifetime warranty. I was just going to say bring that up with your repairer.

But then you run the risk of the write-off too...

[vengie]

My 07 Fit has the same issue

[Mitsu3000gt]

GF has some hail damage on her 2015 Fit that we are getting repaired soon now that hail season is over. Most of the econo-box cars have garbage paint, Subaru is really bad too. Hopefully we don't have any issues as I assume it's going to be PDR'd. I might throw a ceramic coating on it just to help seal it up.

[88CRX]

My 07 Fit has the same issue

Any pictures? Do you think its from PDR or rock chips or something else?


GF has some hail damage on her 2015 Fit that we are getting repaired soon now that hail season is over. Most of the econo-box cars have garbage paint, Subaru is really bad too. Hopefully we don't have any issues as I assume it's going to be PDR'd. I might throw a ceramic coating on it just to help seal it up.

I'm not sure if its rusting from the exterior (micro clear coat issues) or rusting from the inside (damage/scratches to inside surface of roof panel from the PDR tapping). If the headliner wasn't such a pain to remove I'd have already popped it down to take a look.

If its coming from the inside its going to be a bad time that's for sure.

[vengie]

Any pictures? Do you think its from PDR or rock chips or something else?



I'm not sure if its rusting from the exterior (micro clear coat issues) or rusting from the inside (damage/scratches to inside surface of roof panel from the PDR tapping). If the headliner wasn't such a pain to remove I'd have already popped it down to take a look.

If its coming from the inside its going to be a bad time that's for sure.

No pics no, but I think its from rock chips/ shitty paint

[Mitsu3000gt]

Any pictures? Do you think its from PDR or rock chips or something else?



I'm not sure if its rusting from the exterior (micro clear coat issues) or rusting from the inside (damage/scratches to inside surface of roof panel from the PDR tapping). If the headliner wasn't such a pain to remove I'd have already popped it down to take a look.

If its coming from the inside its going to be a bad time that's for sure.

Ah fair enough, yeah if it's rusting from the inside out then it's a different story.

Related story - my dad had undercoat/rust inhib on a previous vehicle, and was one of the 1% of people who actually got it annually inspected (the warranty/guarantee requires this in the fine print). Even after following all the rules to a tee, the company would not honor the warranty when it did rust because they claimed it came from the other side - seemed like something they could just always say, and never have to honor a single claim.

[88CRX]

So after going down the road with Aviva (who was the insurer when the hail happened, who we are no longer with) they were 110% useless. Wouldn't return a single phone call to open a new claim through them so we went straight to the body shop that did the PDR work (Calgary Coachworks South).

Calgary Coachwork South was recently purchased/bought/sold to the Fix Auto group so I figured we'd be shit outta luck BUT..... they took a look at it and agreed to fix it! They did send us to the PDR company that they subbed the PDR repair to take a look and they adamantly denied it was from them and they "had never seen damage like that in 30 years of PDR work". Anyways Calgary Coachworks agreed to fix and respray the roof.

They asked us to kick in $150 for labour to fix all the rock chip rust spot that were near the windshield, which I agreed was totally fair as there were quite a few chips just above the windshield that I wanted fixed properly at the same time. They took care of the rest last week, in and out in 4 days and looks brand new. Swapped the windshield at the same time (firstly it badly needed one, and secondly they thought it would be a better fix if they could fix right into the windshield frame), they let us use whoever we wanted at our cost.

Done, good as new!
https://i.imgur.com/ShYLguZ.jpg

Really the bodyshop that subbed out the PDR repair shouldn't be the one holding the bag. IMO the insurance company who sent it for PDR and not paint repair when the repair was done should be the ones fixing it. Just glad its fixed.

Aviva :thumbsdown:
Calgary Coachworks South :thumbsup:

Based on my internet research be sure to keep on top of paint protection (ie: wax, ceramic or something) if you've had PDR work done. The wifes lack of car washing definitely sped up the corrosion process IMO.

[snowcat]

Who was the subcontractor for PDR?

[rage2]

That's pretty shoddy paint but not surprising from what I have seen at the Civic Type R forums. What happened to Honda?
Honda's always had shitty paint quality.

[LilDrunkenSmurf]

Honda's always had shitty paint quality.

Have you ever looked at a Subaru? They make Honda look premium.

[got_mike33]

Honda's always had shitty paint quality.


Have you ever looked at a Subaru? They make Honda look premium.

Mazda 3s would like to have a word with both of you...

[Mitsu3000gt]

Honda/Mazda/Subaru have all had garbage paint for as long as I can remember. I imagine the other econo-box cars don't fare much better either.

[Twin_Cam_Turbo]

Mazda 3s would like to have a word with both of you...

Weirdly enough my Mazda 3 has around 500k on the chassis and the pinch welds just finally started to show some rust.

[Maxx Mazda]

Weirdly enough my Mazda 3 has around 500k on the chassis and the pinch welds just finally started to show some rust.

Mazda’s have always had an extremely hard paint formulation. Spoke with one of the paint engineers at the factory in Hiroshima as a matter of fact.

The hard paint wears extremely well in terms of resisting scratches and swirls, which is great for Japan and Southern California. However in Alberta and most of Canada, where salt and or gravel is used on the roads, it doesn’t take much to chip that hard paint away and leave bare metal exposed below which will quickly rust in our climate.

Softer paint formulations will resist chipping more, but are very easy to scratch.

[Twin_Cam_Turbo]

I have to clarify I mean 500000km, not 500km.

[FraserB]

Honda's always had shitty paint quality.


Have you ever looked at a Subaru? They make Honda look premium.


Mazda 3s would like to have a word with both of you...

GM bedsides would like to congratulate the brands above on their runner-up status

[Twin_Cam_Turbo]

GM bedsides would like to congratulate the brands above on their runner-up status

Ford rockers and cab corners as well as Dodge fender and box bottoms are a close runner up as well.

[Mitsu3000gt]

So...the theme that seems to be emerging is pretty well everyone but the Germans have horrible paint haha. Or more broadly, cheap vehicles have cheap paint.

[ExtraSlow]

I've heard Bentley has okay paint.

[killramos]

I've heard Bentley has okay paint.

So... the Germans. lol