Paint is messed up!

[rkj082000]

Washed my Ex this weekend, was drying the truck and noticed thousands of tiny little cracks all over the hood, the roof, and rear pillars. My truck is garaged every night and has been waxed every 3 months since I bought it new. I searched around the web and see this seems to be a common problem to which Ford will do nothing to correct. My question is, does anyone with a 97 have any similar problems, and if so, have you brought it to a dealer to look at? I am planning on bringing it to a dealer this week to see what they think. I expect to hear "sorry your factory warranty ran out 64k miles ago (I have 100,063).

 

[MONMIX]

Yeah, there is a lot of peole here, my self included, who have cracks in their paint. Nine time out of ten Ford paint sucks. There is no way to FIX what is wrong out side of stripping and repainting.
You could make it less noticible with a good wet sand and buff job.

 

[rkj082000]

Thanks, that's what I was afraid of. I will look at gettting repainted if the paint actually starts peeling. It's depressing that I spent alot of hours taking care of the paint only to be rewarded by tiny cracks all over.

 

[rkj082000]

Just an update: I went to a local dealer today and had the body shop take a look at the paint. The guy told me it would have to be stripped and repainted (as MONMIX said) to the tune of $4,200. I called Ford Customer care and they told me sorry your out of warranty and there is no recall for the paint on that year. I continued to tell them I bought this Ex new and is has been taken care of meticously since I got it, and that I felt this was bs, as my buddy has a 94 and the paint is fine. They said "sounds like it has been a great truck for you if it has over 100k on it"! I said, funny, I thought the truck was made to last well over 100k, seeing how they bragged when I was buying it about how the first real tune up is at 100K (spark plugs and such). To which they replied, you should expect to go well over 100k if it is taken care of. Then continued to say there is nothing they will do for me. I aksed to talk w/ the supervisor, and got the same bs. I then told them I was going to be purchasing another car soon and if Ford does not stand behind their products, I will NOT be buying a Ford again. Their response was sorry to loose you but who cares (basically). So next time you hear "have you looked at a Ford lately" come look at my crap paint

 

[MONMIX]

The thing is it makes no differance how much care you take of your Ex. This problem comes up from the bottom.

 

[Perry]

This is not just a Ford problem. There are different years of all brands that have had there problem with paint.

 

[rkj082000]

I understand that other makes have similar problems with paint. However, doing a search here and on the world wide web, it seems that 97 was a bad paint year for Ford. I hope everyone with similar issues calls Ford customer care, maybe if enough people file a complaint, a recall will be considered.

 

[MONMIX]

Originally posted by rkj082000
maybe if enough people file a complaint, a recall will be considered.

Don't hold your breath.

 

[rkj082000]

Don't hold your breath.

Yea i know, a little wishfull thinking on my part. But what do I do, I planned on keeping this Ex for a few more years, then selling it and upgrading to something newer. I am afraid the value is going to be seriously reduced if the paint gets any worse. It just p***** me off because I have taken extra care of this truck (not just the paint, but mechanically as well) for the purpose of having it last a long time. The truck is only worth about 6k, and I need a 4k paint job. I was really hoping Ford would step up and at least pay 2/3's of it. I am thinking of taking some pics and sending them to Ford, just to see if I get a different response. I don't want to sound like I am Ford bashing, this Ex has been extremely reliable, and I have owned 2 other Fords that have been more or less, good cars, I was just expecting a different stance from Ford.

 

[MONMIX]

Just paint the problem areas.

Sounds to me like it is, for the most part just your flat surfaces.

Hood, roof, blend into the rear pillar won't be as expensive as an all over. If your Ex is garage kept, the fresh paint should match up nicely.