Any paint experts out there?

[monkeyhanger]

I feel a bit cheeky for posting here, but I know there's a fair few knowledgeable people here...

I looked to do some sealant application  on our Aurora Blue Cupra Born today and came across something I've never had on 15 prior VAG cars bought new. The paint feels weird, it feels consistently rough, like frosted glass and I don't know why. Anyone else come across this on a new VAG car?
The Aurora Blue is called a "special paint", although I suspect its special by virtue of its price only (£850, vs £565 for the other metallic shades), so I really don't think it's meant to be that way.

I'm thinking it's been a lazy/piss poor PDI and either:-

There are transit film residues that should've been removed with alcohol or a similar solvent to give a silky finish.

Or

Most cars arrive in that state and they should get a full basic machine polish.

Any thoughts?

[mcmaddy]

Have you used iron x and tar and glue remover?

[monkeyhanger]

Not yet Chris. Its the first time I've really touched the paintwork on it and was amazed how rough it was. It looks glossy, but just running your hand across it, it even sounds a bit scratchy, again, like the frosted side of some privacy  glass.

[Carlosfandango]

It may be worth going over a small area with a clay bar and seeing what comes off, I’d suspect it to be transport contaminants as you say, maybe wasn’t cleaned as well as one would hope a new car would be, and whatever they washed it with didn’t have the muscle to remove it.

[MaggotsRus]

If this car is new monkeyhanger straight back to the dealer for the paint to be examined. I had a slight paint imperfection on my clubsport 45 on the offside rear quarter when it was PDI, that was sorted out under warranty. The job has been done as per VW approval and was fantastic. Perhaps as they are built in Spain they have added a little sand and sangria !!!

[MaggotsRus]

If this car is new monkeyhanger straight back to the dealer for the paint to be examined, they have all the depths measured gauges and other such items to determine whether this is correct. I had a slight paint imperfection on my clubsport 45 on the offside rear quarter when it was PDI, that was sorted out under warranty. The job has been done as per VW approval and was fantastic work. Perhaps as they are built in Spain they have added a little sand and sangria 

[monkeyhanger]

Did you buy from Seat Woking ?

Yep, SMC Woking. Does it have a crap reputation? I had to pick it up from their crappy little used car place half a mile away from their main dealership, maybe that's where they do all their PDIs?

[SRGTD]

@monkeyhanger; sounds like the rough feeling paintwork is likely to be embedded contaminants (e.g. iron fall out). I currently have some on my car - I can feel it but can’t see it - and need to find the time to do a decontamination to remove it. Is the rough feeling on the Born on all panels? Assuming Cupra wrap their cars in a similar way to VW with protective sheeting when they leave the factory (bonnet, roof and tailgate), then those panels should be pretty much free of embedded contaminants - at least much less affected than the vertical panels which are less likely to have been wrapped / covered. 

As others have suggested, I’d try some iron fall out remover and a tar / glue remover first and if that doesn’t work, I’d try a fine grade clay bar and plenty of suitable lubricant. I’d try an inconspicuous area first before moving on to larger sections. I personally would only go back to the dealer as a last resort - I’ve read many horror stories (I know you have too) of dealers poor new car prep and subsequent rectification of issues such as this; there’s a good chance if left to the dealer to sort it, you could also end up with a free scratch and swirl treatment!

[monkeyhanger]

If this car is new monkeyhanger straight back to the dealer for the paint to be examined, they have all the depths measured gauges and other such items to determine whether this is correct. I had a slight paint imperfection on my clubsport 45 on the offside rear quarter when it was PDI, that was sorted out under warranty. The job has been done as per VW approval and was fantastic work. Perhaps as they are built in Spain they have added a little sand and sangria 

Back to the supplying dealership is unfeasible, it's 283 miles away. The Cupra Born is built on the same line as the ID3, in Zwickau, Germany.

I don't think this car has had a full respray (seeing as 90% of the car's paintwork surface feels like this and the Born is brand new out - not enough time to have done it) and a guy in warranty for my local dealership group already checked paint thickness when he looked at a sill extension gap (which has been resolved locally) - spot on 110 microns. These days, automotive paint from the factory is so thin, when they check paint thickness, the giveaway of a respray is that the paint is too thick rather than too thin!

I suppose I'll have to take it to BMW Vertu bodyshop in Sunderland as they're my local Seat Dealership's approved bodyshop for an opinion (they don't have their own).

[monkeyhanger]

@monkeyhanger; sounds like the rough feeling paintwork is likely to be embedded contaminants (e.g. iron fall out). I currently have some on my car - I can feel it but can’t see it - and need to find the time to do a decontamination to remove it. Is the rough feeling on the Born on all panels? Assuming Cupra wrap their cars in a similar way to VW with protective sheeting when they leave the factory (bonnet, roof and tailgate), then those panels should be pretty much free of embedded contaminants - at least much less affected than the vertical panels which are less likely to have been wrapped / covered. 

As others have suggested, I’d try some iron fall out remover and a tar / glue remover first and if that doesn’t work, I’d try a fine grade clay bar and plenty of suitable lubricant. I’d try an inconspicuous area first before moving on to larger sections. I personally would only go back to the dealer as a last resort - I’ve read many horror stories (I know you have too) of dealers poor new car prep and subsequent rectification of issues such as this; there’s a good chance if left to the dealer to sort it, you could also end up with a free scratch and swirl treatment!

The passenger side doors are less affected than the rest of the car, including the roof. I Iron X'd our other Born (white) that I got a week prior and there were very few points of fallout indicated. The panels are too consistently rough across the whole panel to be a few embedded particles here or there on the panel. The car will gave been wrapped the same as an ID3, they're from the sane Zwickau line I'm guessing it's protective film adhesive residues that have lost their tack but still feel rough because some lazy arsenal didn't remove them with a suitable solvent as part of their PDI.

No way I'm going at a brand new car with a clay bar or solvents, and at my expense - I want Woking to pay for local rectification. I will have to send a firm email to them tomorrow after I have had BMW Vertu's opinion.

It is galling that you pay £39025 for a new car, the sill extension needs refixing, the paintwork seems to have undergone no preparation and you have to pick it up from their scruffy little used car place down the road from their main dealership. Very poor customer collection experience.