Soft paintwork MK7 ?

[GTI7me]

I'm tempted to complain to VW about the state of my front bumper. Stone chips everywhere and the bottom splitter actually feels like sand paper its got so many chips.

Surely thats not normal? I've never had a car have chips like this, if it is like that after 3.5k miles what is it going to be like after 30k miles?!

J

[JoeGTI]

That's mad. I have 6,500 miles up and there isn't a single chip on the bumper or bonnet. I did get a small one on the driver's door though flicked up by an oncoming car.

[Maka344]

I must say my MK7 is 6 weeks old with 2.5k miles and I have a handful of stone chips on my front bonnet.

Looks like if the stone hits and bounces around it leaves 2-3 chips next to each other.

The paint on my Carbon Grey is ultra soft and it's driving me crazy.

Full bonnet resprays will be required at 20k or so and this fact alone will stop be buying another one because my OCD drives me crazy.

Did anyone take out dent protection? What colour would show up the least blemishes from slight chips and marks?

My MK6 GT TDI was candy white and that showed everything.

[SRGTD]

The paint on my Carbon Grey is ultra soft and it's driving me crazy.

Maka344, as GiT1984 posted earlier in this thread (see below), VW paint is actually hard rather than soft. Many of the professional detailers on the various detailing sites have commented on this when they've detailed VW cars.

I may have been fortunate with my Carbon Grey mk6 GTD, but in 3+ years and 22k miles - mostly on 'A' roads - I have very few stone chips; far fewer than I had on my DBP mk4 and mk5 (also DBP), and I've sorted them with my Chipex stone chip repair kit as soon as they appeared.

Maybe there have been changes to the paint formulation for the mk7 that means it's more environmentally friendly, but as a consequence, it's become more susceptible to stone chips?

It's not that the paint is soft - quite the opposite. The two pack paints of yesteryear were soft enough for some stones to just bounce off .... Modern, water based paints go very hard (read brittle) when dry and hence the chipping is worse

[gazmondo35]

Comparing my old tornado red mk5 against my new mk7 tornado red golf, I have realised not only is the paint softer (ie stone chip ) but after a good 3 hour detail it will not pop like my old mk5.

[VWcezGTI7]

I miraculously haven't had any visible stone chips since I got the car (4,200km now) as I tend to drive at least 6 meters behind any car in front of me. Surprised to read all the troubles other people are having on here but then this happened to me.


I'm not even sure what to make of this or what caused it. I'm assuming it's a really big stone chip but some said that it's been keyed. The paint completely came off and when I saw it, there was a very thin layer of paint hanging loose and as soon as I swiped across it, it peeled off even further. Should I take it to the dealer or fix this issue on my own? I'm not sure if the warranty covers it or not (I have the 2 year extension if that makes any difference). Also, I'm thinking of plastidipping the mirrors so should I fix it before I do so or will it not show?

[GrahamFR]

It will show if you plastidip over it unless youre an expert that can build up the layers right, suggest you just wrap instead

[Pigpen]

Looking at a new 'R'.  The roads are dreadful in the Southwest and my current ST is starting to have a bad case of acne not helped by the fact Ford in their wisdom used white under dark colours and black undefined light colours.  Always had good experiences with German paintwork hence the move to VW but then I read this thread
Is there a recommended colour from the 'R' range that would be better or show them up less?  I wax looking at oryx what is the under colour of this?  Is BMW / Audi paintwork any better?

[monkeyhanger]

Maybe we need a poll to confirm, but solid colours seem to suffer far more from deep chips. Pearl and metallic paints are by nature less  opaque than solid colours, so it would seem that VW in their infinite wisdom put less paint on the solid colours than they do on the metallics. My dad's car has a deeper chip than any of mine taht have fot to the primer and his is still in the colour zone.

Poll to confirm how many "primer deep" chips we've had vs paint colour? I don't know how to set one up.

[GrahamFR]

Problem with a poll is that it would need to reflect journey types, ive stopped doing motorways every day and my stonechips are much better than my Leon as a result, but that's not a difference between metallic black and solid white, just the route to work.

Also, most stonechips are usually from being an inch off a type r's rear bumper so if you drive like a bellend you're going to have more than if you bought your golf for leisurely Sunday driving only.