[Arihant.EXE]

Hi Guys,

This thread is with regards to the specific paint issues that i am facing with my car, i.e. Ford FIGO.

Kindly give a look at the issues that are pertaining with the quality standards of FORD India and let me know the resolution that i should take for the same.

please note that the pics have been taken from all sides of the car and rarely in my car you would find which is not affected by this issue.

Pics taken by samsung wave in macro mode.

also check post no 2 for more pics of the same issue.

Request to mods:

I am quite new to uploading pics in Tbhp and also was not able to find the right place to place this thread. in case of any errors, kindly notify and help me rectify. i hope you`ll consider.

[Arihant.EXE]

Kindly Note:

The Car`s only 5 month old and the paint issue has been reported to FORD past 2 months, that makes all these happening within exact 3 months of purchase.

Please see and verify the bubbling, chipping, pinholing, rusting of the paint and the car`s body.

currently my car is under review by FORD.

kindly inform me about the steps that i must ensure that ford takes to rectify this problems from my beloved Figo

Pics continued (more 15)

[gavinimurthy]

Looks too bad. The pre treatment before the painting is the culprit. They have to strip the paint completely, do the pre treatment properly and re paint. Not an easy job in fully assembled condition.

I hope the problem will be resolved to your complete satisfaction. A simple repaint may look o.k. for some days, but you will get the problem again in a few months.

Murthy

[EARTHed]

I many places the paint seems to have chipped off because of your fault. Like the corners of the door. But what saddens me is the anti rust treatment seems to be not up to the mark.

[ghodlur]

@arihant

Thats very sad pictures man, my heart goes for you. Have you shown the paint peel off to the dealer, whats his view on this? I suggest you immediately write to Ford customer care and get an explanation for the same.

Normally the dealer would get the painting done at this workshop if Ford is at fault but this would not be any where close to the factory painting.

Pls do let us know what remedy action is thought/suggested by Ford/Dealer.

[EARTHed]

I am getting a strong feeling that these days all manufacturers are doing lots of cost cutting. Unlike previous years, I think we can use our news cars happily just for 4-5 years I guess.

Anyways, waiting for Arihant's Figo report.

[aargee]

@Dinesh - That's a poorly done paint job for sure, sorry to say, this is how my 6 year old WagonR looks at few places. The dealer or the manufacturer might not agree for the paint that has been chipped, for example photo0045.jpg & photo0106.jpg because they might feel, you might've had a slight knock somewhere; you may want to show some inferior paint jobs with interiors.

On the other hand on the first pic photo0039.jpg, I notice some kind of crack, could you post some more pics on that pls?

[rajeev k]

This is real bad stuff by Ford. The paint work is much worse than the paint works on Ambys during 70s which used to peel off like this.

One thing I have noticed in Kerala after this quite heavy rainy season is that a very high percentage of Figos looks much older and perhaps is attributable to shoddy paint jobs. Ford India is not experienced enough to manufacture large numbers like the Figo now.

Or is it that they are shipping unsold and old body panels from some other country into India. Some thread has indicated that similar Fiestas are made elsewhere.

Ford has to rise to the ocassion or else to get labelled as a quality 'unconscious' car maker.

[srishiva]

Looks horrible to say the least. Hope Ford can give you an acceptable solution. Just one good selling car and this is how they control quality.

[Arihant.EXE]

Originally Posted by gavinimurthy

Looks too bad. The pre treatment before the painting is the culprit. They have to strip the paint completely, do the pre treatment properly and re paint. Not an easy job in fully assembled condition.

I hope the problem will be resolved to your complete satisfaction. A simple repaint may look o.k. for some days, but you will get the problem again in a few months.

Murthy

i am keeping my fingers crossed, FORD is supposedly going to give me a solution for the same by tomorrow afternoon

Originally Posted by EARTHed

I many places the paint seems to have chipped off because of your fault. Like the corners of the door. But what saddens me is the anti rust treatment seems to be not up to the mark.

Buddy, you got to believe me. Here in mumbai when rains started i was able to see bubble of paint forming all over my car`s body.. later this bubble bursted making it easier for the rust and tear to spread

Originally Posted by ghodlur

@arihant

Thats very sad pictures man, my heart goes for you. Have you shown the paint peel off to the dealer, whats his view on this? I suggest you immediately write to Ford customer care and get an explanation for the same.

Normally the dealer would get the painting done at this workshop if Ford is at fault but this would not be any where close to the factory painting.

Pls do let us know what remedy action is thought/suggested by Ford/Dealer.

My Dealer sympathizes with me but at the same time says painting should be done only for the affected segment only, whereas i am dissapointed by the overall quality and finish of my FIGO`s Paint.

Originally Posted by aargee

@Dinesh - That's a poorly done paint job for sure, sorry to say, this is how my 6 year old WagonR looks at few places. The dealer or the manufacturer might not agree for the paint that has been chipped, for example photo0045.jpg & photo0106.jpg because they might feel, you might've had a slight knock somewhere; you may want to show some inferior paint jobs with interiors.

On the other hand on the first pic photo0039.jpg, I notice some kind of crack, could you post some more pics on that pls?

might have missed that one while clicking pics :P

the chipping thing was not normal, earlier it was a bubble of paint and later it just started chipping. the paint in my car has turned into something like it is with iron grills that have gone through lots of torrential rains (sad)

Originally Posted by rajeev k

This is real bad stuff by Ford. The paint work is much worse than the paint works on Ambys during 70s which used to peel off like this.

One thing I have noticed in Kerala after this quite heavy rainy season is that a very high percentage of Figos looks much older and perhaps is attributable to shoddy paint jobs. Ford India is not experienced enough to manufacture large numbers like the Figo now.

Or is it that they are shipping unsold and old body panels from some other country into India. Some thread has indicated that similar Fiestas are made elsewhere.

Ford has to rise to the ocassion or else to get labelled as a quality 'unconscious' car maker.

May be what u are saying is right. FORD to generate sales in volumes and maintaining low price (not sure if they really are low anymore after bearing the torture of owning one) have gone out of its way in getting inferior treatment for FIGO

Originally Posted by srishiva

Looks horrible to say the least. Hope Ford can give you an acceptable solution. Just one good selling car and this is how they control quality.

I wish the same bro, wish me luck !

[sohail99]

I would do a paint chip repair and carry out a full body detail.

If possible, get a underbody anti-rust spray(available with Wurth and 3M).

Sand down the rust and spray it on the underbody areas.

The 'bubble' formation is a real pain. Its called 'solvent pop'.
Only solution to that is repaint.

Has the rear hatch been repainted??
the paint flow is generally seen in repainted panels!!

And the pitting seen in the last pic of 1st post is the aftermath of 'solvent pop'(has it been repainted?)

I guess the car(most panels) were repainted at dealership level maybe due to some mishap.(and it was a shoddy coverup job rather than a full repaint!)

The paint marks on the interiors show that the car has seen paintbooth! Painter might have touched the dash while he was painting the car.

You can check whether any dent correction was carried out or not by looking on the inside of the panels!!

(like if you remove the fender and see that its been beaten from the inside = repairs carried out at dealership level before purchase!)

Most others are rock chips and reminders of some seriously crappy roads the car has seen!

And in case your car's metal is exposed due to any reason, always try to cover it up with touch up paint or some clearcoat so that it doesn't undergo rusting!

[funkykar]

This is terrible! For any car less than a year old even in any trying weather conditions in India, this is too much. Have any other Figo owners experienced such an issue? If not, this could be a lemon of a car. Do prove to the dealership that this is a lemon and check out what options are at your disposal. Stripping and repainting would never result in the same quality as of factory paint. Most of the times, not even close to it. The repaint lasts only for around 70-75% time of what the original paint can last for IMO. Frankly speaking, my Premier Padmini which is 20 year old has lesser signs of rust and paint damage than this Figo (mind it that I have parked for atleast 2 years on the streets and a regular user).

See if by any means, you can get a replacement, even if you have to shell out a few thousand ruppees.

[DerAlte]

Aiyaiyaiyaiyaiyo! Terrible, to say the least.

Beyond the usage nicks and scrapes from usage and misalignment, this is the result of bad painting practices. I am not too sure if the fault is that of Ford at production time time (the panels are dip-coated and baked; the QC inspector would lose their job if such things go past them) - this seems to be something that the dealer might have done to fix something that has gone wrong during transit, storage or even worse - demo car!

Why didn't you contact the dealer and register your protest the first time you saw chipped paint? You should anyhow talk to Ford and send them the pics.

[vishnurp99]

This is a very sad thread for me. Especially because i also have a Figo. I feel that even if the state of the car is the dealer's fault (which it probably is), Ford will have to take responsibility. I guess this will be a good test of Ford's customer focus.

[Captain Slow]

Arihant.EXE
In some of the photos problems highlight by you seem to be that of paint chipping off. This could have happened when some stone brushed against the car. This has happened to me on my older car.
.
Agreed the paint job isn't the best compared to cars in the segment. There has been a lot of cost cutting.
But I wouldn't go that far as to blame fords painting just yet.

photo0053.jpg
and
photo0094.jpg
seems to have been caused by dirty shoes/feet and mud while getting in and out of the car.

But in some pictures it your concerns look genuine. I'm not defending ford but I feel that you might have got a dealer repaired/repainted car.

Could you explain whats wrong with the AC vents?