I just noticed a PAINT BLEMISH on the driver's door. It's not horrible, but I'm really disappointed that it escaped my initial inspection of the car, and that the dealer did not catch it. Worst of all, I cannot believe my car left the factory with this blemish. It's obvious that someone noticed the flaw because it looks as if someone performed a half-assed touch up job on it! Where's quality control when you need it?



It's only the size of a pea, but it is very noticeable once you know where to look. I wouldn't mind so much if the person who touched it up at least used the right color. It looks orange next to the Chili Red!

Now what should I do? Tell the dealer that I noticed the spot after I've already had the car in for another body-related complaint? (The bonnet scraped the passenger side headlamp, necessitating it's replacement.) Can they repaint the small area involving the blemish or would they have to repaint the entire panel?

 

Someone painted a big yellow hand on your door and no one noticed?!? That's quite a blemish!


Seriously, I'd bring it up to the dealer, with the understanding that you're not really in a position to force the issue if he refuses to fix it. Worst-case scenario, you can take it to a body shop and have it fixed professionally and blended into the surrounding paint. You're lucky in that Chili Red is non-metallic, so it will be easier to perform an undetectable repair.

 

It looks like touch up paint. You may have a difficult time proving it was there on delivery if it was not noted on the pre-delivery inspection. Worth a try though, let the dealer know.

 

I was hoping someone would say that the flat nature of Chili Red would afford me some latitude. That's very encouraging. Yeah, I know it seems fishy that I would just happen to notice the blemish after taking delivery, but no one was more disappointed than me. I thought I was more observant than that! The odd thing is the finish is pretty smooth. It's as if the repair job was done before the car was clear coated. Is that possible?

As particular as I am about my car, I'm astonished that I hadn't noticed it earlier. I was in the process of giving the car a final wipe down before my first set of "beauty shots" in a local park. Honestly, I felt like crying.







Oh, and I laughed out loud when you made that "yellow hand" blemish remark. Thanks! I needed that laugh after the kind of day I had!

Service will be closed until Tuesday, so I guess I'll have to wait and see what they say. I'll let you all know what happens...

 

That looks like something that happened off the boat or at the dealer and all they did was grab a bottle of touch up and dab it on. But if it's under the clearcoat, that's a factory flaw. [All the better for warranty coverage, I would think. Hard to deny it's a factory error if it's under the clearcoat on a new car.]

I'd take it to the dealer and insist on it being repaired. How long have you had it? Possibly this happened when you took it in for the first repair. Dealers are notorius for screwing up cars.

Most malicious thing is that if it happened at the dealer they said "touch it up and the guy [you] won't notice. Then if he does at some point, deny that we did it."

You can take it to a professional body shop, they will color match perfectly and repair the spot to where you can't tell at all that it was there. Should not cost much and NO WAY the whole door has to be done.

A pro would tape around the spot, spray it, then clear coat and buff. What you have is the result of a quickie bottle job. Unacceptable.

And I would not trust the dealer to fix it right, so I'd simply take it to a pro body shop.

There's also those door ding repair guys. Some of them do small paint touch up as a part of their service. They travel to car lots and repair paint chips all the time. Get one of them to look at it.

 

Yeah, flat [meaning non-metallic] reds are easy to match.

I had a friend who dropped his new Ducati red $600 helmet on concrete. Put a dime sized chip on the front.

I went to Kragen, eyeballed the red touchup paints. Turns out it was an exact match and the chip repaired nicely.

Since your car is new all the more likely the paint will match 100%.

 

Again, that news is very encouraging. Thanks! Granted, the car will not always look factory-fresh, but I was hoping it would look better longer. I've only had the car a week and it's only got about 127 miles on it!

I looked at photos of me taking delivery of the car on August 23rd, and I think it was there from day one. As I said, it's really strange because it almost looks as if there were a fisheye or a chip from the factory, because the damage appears to have been "repaired" underneath the clear coat. From every angle, the finish appears to be completely smooth.

I'll try to get better photos of it tomorrow. After noticing the damage, I felt sick to my stomach and decided to stop taking pictures. It really ruined my day. I know, "don't sweat the small stuff," right? But I was just so shocked and disappointed by what I discovered.

 

By the way, if you give me those Union Jack scuttles I will say more stuff to make you feel less depressed.

Need my mailing address?

 

I'm feeling much better, thanks! But I can't blame you for wanting the UJ scuttles. They're pretty cool, eh? Almost takes my mind off the blem!

I just installed those puppies yesterday. Took all of five minutes. Great addition to the "Wee Beast" as I've been calling her. I love the way they look. Really pop on the car. The high gloss black makes the chrome really sparkle.

 

So sorry to hear about the "B-L-E-M-I-S-H"(sp), but don't talk in front of your car, you could give him a complex. Does he drive any differently? No. Does he handle any less nimble? No. Is he any less fun? No. It is just a spot and it can be fixed. I know how you feel however. When I took MINI to work, the first week I had her (I will explain the gender switch later) the car next to me hit her three times and left black streaks on the door. Fortunately I was able to polish them off. But none the less, I was horrified and angry.

I know your MINI can be fixed as good as new and in the meantime, don't let him see you upset. They are very sensitive.

Now for the gender switch. I have been calling my baby "he" because all of my prior cars have been of the male persuasion and the MINI website refers to them as "he". Well when COOP got home tonight and he and MINI settled in together in the garage, there is no way my baby is a "he". She is the little sister. She is more petite and looks like she fits the little sister role to COOP's big brother. I have called her MINI from the very beginning so I should have just listened to her and ignored website peer pressure. COOP makes a great big brother.

Need to go, I can hear the two of them out in the garage still talking and it is way past their bedtime. Don't let the dealer push you around Avid, make the dealer make things right. But, don't forget, your MINI is still special and all yours!

Bitzie and I have been very fortunate with our dealer (Crevier and our MA Christian Banks). Friday when Bitzie picked up COOP, he pointed out a snag on her driver seat that we did not even see. He is ordering a replacement. Once again he spent detailed time with us going over COOP's features and then checked with me to see if I had any questions about MINI. Mind you, Friday was his day off, but he came in just so Bitzie could pick up her car. Christian and Crevier have been fantastic.

 

I take your advice to heart, Kikimowse. It sounds as if you've been through this before. I knew that I would freak out the first time I noticed a scrape or a ding, but I guess what bothers me is that I seem to have accepted damaged goods!

I already feel better knowing I can probably have the spot fixed, and it will probably be a cinch for a body guy. Truthfully, it's really not that big of a deal. As I said, what freaks me out is that someone actually thought their repair job was satisfactory. It's pretty awful!

The irony is that I'm always one to say that chips, dings and dents lend character to cars. At least to some degree. So maybe I should just chill and love my baby, warts and all.

 

Allow me to sound in with some experience in automotive paints and finishes.

Item: OEM paint is just that, OEM. It can never be recaptured after the bare body has left the factory paint booth.

Item: All aftermarket repairs will age, fade and UV degrade at a different rate than the surrounding OEM paint. They may look good at first but they will become noticeable as time passes.

Item: There is one paint repair system that stands above all others, the BASF Glasurit Ratio-Spot-Repair:

http://www.glasurit.com/Products/Pas...rs/SpRepa.html

Best for you to contact Mr. Gordon Erdelean (gordon.erdelean@basf.com) at Glasurit in Southfield, Michigan and find your nearest Glasurit Ratio-Spot-Repair certified shop.

If you intend to keep your car longer than 2 years and you wish to avoid resale problems do not let anybody talk you into anything less.

 

well your MINI is very nice looking!! I just wanted to pop in and tell ya.. "I know how you feel!!" I just picked up my MINI from the dealer this past Saturday - it was POURING and I couldn't inspect (didn't have umbrella and didn't want to sit soaking wet in my new Mini and travel 80 miles home). I looked it over in the garage sat. night, under fluorescent lighting - looked good. Pulled it out yesterday and found about 4 small scratches on the black roof!!! boo hoo... I know dealer won't accept responsibility.. I am going to try Scratch X and hope that helps, but there is nothing worse than finding a defect on your brand new MINI!

 

Thanks, Ian for your advice. What you said makes a lot of sense and Mr. Erdelean will most definitely be hearing from me!

I just want to give my baby a good start, is all. Not asking for much, really. I know road rash and damage is a fact of life; I'm just disappointed that I didn't start out with a "pristine" car.

tinker06, thanks for your comment. I truly appreciate it because you know how I feel and you probably have that sick-to-your-stomach feeling of futility that I experienced yesterday. It's hard to explain to someone who hasn't felt it. That botched-up "repair" job to my door almost makes me feel like I was the victim of vandalism. (I know how extreme that sounds, but I don't have a better word for it at the moment.)

Perhaps the dealer is affiliated with Glasurit Radio Spot Repair. Hopefully! I wonder if they can repair what others have attempted to repair...

 

Possible to the former and yes to the latter.

 

Well, my OCD really kicked into high gear today! I snapped a better quality photo of the blemish, and added a little scale for reference. It provides a rough idea of it's size.

Now that I've been able to look at it a little closer, I'm pretty certain that this was a manufacturing faux pas. It looks as if there were a fisheye in the paint, as the paint is VERY thin in this area, and somewhat "lumpy" looking, but it's all underneath the clear coat! The touch up paint was applied on top of the clear, and as I indicated earlier, it looks somewhat orange. It's a terrible match for the Chili Red and now my eye goes right to it whenever I look at the door.

 

That's pretty bad :(
This should be a reminder to everyone taking delivery to not let excitement get you, and Eyeball the car thoroughly, and attempt to pick it up during daylight if possible. I work at a port and while I am not involved personally in RO/RO operations (roll on/roll off) I do see them being driven daily with the protective strips on the edges; the roads around most ports are the worst you can imagine, they get an immense amount of truck traffic. So there is always loose asphalt and litter there to ding your paint. Check carefully and do not take the car until they do right.

As for your case I would get them to fix it ASAP, adamantly. That's an unacceptably bad touch up job. I've done better than that with touch-up paint and a toothpick.

 

Exactly what I was thinking. I was excited to take delivery, and to me, after the long wait, all I wanted to do was hop in the car and go! It never occurred to me that the car would be "damaged goods" from the factory! Go over your cars from top to bottom, front to back and don't assume anything is perfect.

Indeed, this thread should be called "Don't Let THIS Happen To YOU!"

I'll email the dealer tomorrow and see what can be done. Hopefully, I'll have good news to share with y'all.

 

Hey Chris, it turns out that my scratch ISN'T a scratch after all! I went and purchased some Scratch X in attempt to make it less noticeable, but upon further examination in the clear outdoor light - it is small BUBBLES in the clear coat! I can feel it with my fingers. Good Luck with your repair.. it's awful to have to get it fix so early in the purchase phase, but if you don't it will bug you forever!

(I guess it wouldn't hurt for me to email my MA as well)

 

I wonder then if you can just have someone wet sand your clear coat and buff it out. That might be a relatively simple fix, tinker06. They call the process "cut and buff" and body shops do it all the time. So it's actually encouraging! Let me know what your MA and/or service advisor (do they call 'em SAs? ) have to say. It will be interesting to see how different dealers handle paint issues.

I definitely got a good feeling for my service department when I got my headlamp replaced. Once they see my blemish, I'm sure they'll agree it was a factory goof. It's pretty obvious. As Ian said, that Glasurit repair procedure sounds as if it may be my best bet for getting satisfactory results. I hope I have the option!

I certainly don't want to cry "Wolf!" by hounding them over every little thing, but I think this issue is worth addressing.

 

I'd like to make a suggestion if I may. Over the last 25 years, many customers have brought cars in to my bodyshops and they would have a blob of touch-up paint on their car.

What I can't tell you is how many of those didn't need it. Even last week, I had a customer bring his white BMW into the shop. He was complaining that we "blobbed" some white paint (about the size of a dime) on the left windshield pillar. (we painted the right fender/door)

I assured him that even if we had chipped his car, we (or any bodyshop) wouldn't put a big nasty blob of paint on their car.

Point is, I wiped it down with laquer thinner and lo and behold, the tinyiest scratch was there. I was able to wetsand and buff it out.

Anyhooo, if I were you, I would point it out to the dealer but I would take it to a reputable bodyshop and let them look at it. I'd hate to see you go through all that work only to find out it was a buffable scratch.

My .02 worth...


Mark

 

I appreciate your feedback! This forum is very inspiring, and I've got some great ideas from you all.

It's hard to describe what I'm dealing with here. Perhaps I'll attach a video clip that shows the blemish from various angles. A photo just doesn't do it justice. I agree, it wouldn't be as noticeable if it had been left alone! Removing the poorly-applied touch up paint is the first order of business.

 

Well, I did it. I just dropped my baby off at the dealership. They're going to repair the blemish under warranty. My service advisor looked at it yesterday, took photos, and exchanged emails with his superiors, and everyone agreed that it was in fact, a factory goof and needed to be repaired under warranty.

Given the nature of the blemish, they'll have to take the finish down to metal. At least in the area of the damage. It looks as if the paint never fully adhered in that spot for whatever reason. Perhaps it was a fisheye caused by a greasy fingerprint. Who knows? But whatever the cause, it will be repaired. I was disappointed that I couldn't use the "Glasurit Ratio Spot Repair" procedure; the nature of the damage would not have permitted it.

The dealer will have my car for a couple of days, but I should have it back by this weekend. The separation anxiety has already begun...

 

THAT'S A MAJOR FLAW. Butt ugly. Considering the door is one big panel without door guards, I would home in on that every time I saw the car.

 

Well that's good news. I wonder who slapped on the touchup paint? Boat crew, dealer? Regardless, seems someone tried to slip one by you.