Hi, has anyone experienced a "bubbling" of the black trim on the pillar between the front and rear doors.

Thanks.

Geoff.

Me too

hmm - the Mk3 used to suffer from splits there (maybe started as bubbles???), so possibly an inherited problem if they carried over the same materials and manufacturing?

Yes that happened to my Panda on the near side. I had the trim replaced under warranty but it's not a great finish. I'll try and upload some photos at the weekend.

Checked mine, and it's bubbled too. Very slightly on passenger side, but quite a lot on the drivers side.

Yup. Drivers side much worse than passenger side.

Geoff.

Fiat recall?

javnas said:

Fiat recall?

Click to expand...

I doubt they'd go to the expense of a recall for what is just a piece of vinyl stuck to the door.

mine is bubling from both sides on the edge ,I think from day one ,I spoke to dealers about it they told me to rub it off

Nigel, that's not it. It's on the outside of the door.



The stuff you've pictured is like residue from masking tape. It is on my car too. It does rub off. A pencil rubber may work but I've not tried yet.

Thank you for posting your photo Deeyup, I couldn't figure out how to do it

That is exactly how mine looks except that it's a bit longer and that's after it was replaced. The original problem on mine started off like that and then there was an almighty 'bang' when I was driving one day and a large part of the centre of the trim became a big bubble.

I think that it's caused by water getting down the gap at the top of the indented bit (i.e. where your bubble is, if you follow it up to the top there's a gap and water can get in).

I suppose I ought to complain and get it changed again but it's such a nuisance keep having to drive 30 odd miles to the dealer and back again, not to mention finding something to do while you wait for your car to be fixed.

Oh oh, seems lots of us experiencing the same issue. I don't want to get it replaced now but will pinpoint when it'll be due for its first service.

Has anyone got to the bottom of what to do about this trim problem. Mine is like it on both sides, worse on drivers. Does the trim need replacing or is there a simpler solution?
Thanks

I'd have to say looking at our brand new Panda that whoever applies the vinyl in the factory is c**p. I had a look at our pillars and it has bubbles from the outset. Also the top where it folds around the pillars is not stuck flush. This will allow water to run down and make the problem worse! GASH!

This is utter pi*s poor. A mate had a Panda Easy hire car a couple of weeks ago and his door vinyl was bubbling too. I think you should all contact Fiat UK on mass to express your disappointment with this. It's not exactly a revelation in terms of trim design so they ought to be able to manage it by now.

That factory doesn't have the best reputation with Alfa's it used to build but you'd think they'd at least try to show willing when so many cheaper countries are already doing a better job (like Poland with the old Panda and 500).

So there I was thinking that all of you guys had been unfortunate to suffer from this probl....oh

Our car also has the bubbling issue. Just as bad on both sides of the pillar, but it runs all the way down the entire length. There are six or seven separate parts on each side that look like the photo deeyup published.

Is this just purely a cosmetic thing or are there other effects which mean it is worth replacing? I am in a similar boat to Caroline62, it's not all that convenient to have to go to the dealer.

However I'd definitely be willing to raise it with FIAT - perhaps we can turn this into a sticky and all users who suffer from this problem can (a) be added to the sticky and (b) can maybe update the thread as and when they contact FIAT CS?

FWIW, I do think it would be a good idea for those who are going to complain to do it within a week at the most. That way there would be a "spike" in the number of complaints received by FIAT and maybe something will get done about it?

Quite happy to join in with the complaint. How do we do it? Currently my 4x4 is also having all its wheelarch trims replaced for a second time! They aren't sticking on properly. Not good enough in this day and age!

deeyup said:

Nigel, that's not it. It's on the outside of the door.



The stuff you've pictured is like residue from masking tape. It is on my car too. It does rub off. A pencil rubber may work but I've not tried yet.

Click to expand...

sorry for taking the wrong pics , just had a Look and theres 3 small bubbles along the drivers side but could not see any on the passengers side, I had not notice it before

I checked my eight months old Panda and I have none of this bubbling problem. Is this something it will eventually show up because of the weather conditions or is it present or not present on new car?

Has anyone got to the bottom of this problem yet? My car (4x4) has had a lot of exterior trim issues. The dealer said they had sorted the bubbling trim out with a heat gun. They haven't- it looks exactly the same. Has anyone had the trims replaced and if so, was it a good job?