Do our pandas suffer from such a problem? Been using some waterless wash on him today and noticed the whole bottom half of the tailgate (around the fiat badge) has a poor paint finish .I know the car is hpi clear so that rules out a massive bump,so that leaves a rust issue ( I can feel bumps under the paint) or just a bad job from the factory.

Opinions?

To my awareness the Panda is galvanised steel. Hot dip galvanising is actually very difficult so it's done on the steel roll before panels are pressed to prevent warping and panel shape issues. So I wouldn't expect any rusting if that's any help.

As for the paint finish, the 312 panda hasn't got the best paint finish from the factory. Its quite soft and I've seen a few direct of the transporter that I looked over where the paint was a little so so.

I would say either its a little bit of poor paint finish from the factory or the rear panel was repainted, however repaint often has other tell tales too if you know what to look for. If you open the tailgate, is the paint along the inside rim very shiny or quite dull?

Also due to the aerodynamic design of the car, you might have noticed the back gets filthy very quickly, where the underdraft is pulled up over the car, as a result the paint can get a lot of contamination and fallout stuck in it, that's something else to consider.

Hope this helps bud

It is not rust but most likely some kind of moister under the paint.
This is what has been told to people with bubbles under the paint of the inside rear doors.
No idea if this is the truth, or how it occur.

The Pretender said:

It is not rust but most likely some kind of moister under the paint.
This is what has been told to people with bubbles under the paint of the inside rear doors.
No idea if this is the truth, or how it occur.

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That's normally caused by excessive humidity or moisture when the car's been painted. I doubt that's an issue at the factory, though. It sounds like that particular area has been resprayed.

Modern car paint is water based, so the cause could be in there.

Alexiloki said:

Also due to the aerodynamic design of the car, you might have noticed the back gets filthy very quickly, where the underdraft is pulled up over the car,

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This is the first car I've ever owned where I actually see a point in having a rear window washer... and use it

Couldn't you take it to Fiat dealerships and ask them to inspect it? If the car is under its anti-corrosion warranty (8 years?) then you could dispute it and get them to resolve it free of charge?

Not to concerned as it's a cheap run around car just wondered if I need to treat it, best guess is it's a smart repair from the supermarket I picked it up from or the fiat paint guys were in a rush to go home when they got to mine!

Tom95 said:

That's normally caused by excessive humidity or moisture when the car's been painted. I doubt that's an issue at the factory, though. It sounds like that particular area has been resprayed.

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Hi,

sorry for ressurecitng old post,
today I noticed few tiny bubbles on my new panda on tailgate bottom from inside at the edge(by the way paint in this part is very poor/dim), I slightly scratch this bubble with plastic piece and there is some white paste/fluid/something coming out, bit of paint came off and there is no sign of rust or oxidizing, only silver metal with that white liquid residue.

Its really tiny spots hard to see, should I be worried about, considering warranty repair(if so, will they respray full tailgate or what)?
Iam happy with the car, I will probably leave it as it is, or maybe paint it with repair kit after winter (there will be plenty of stone chips in the front anyway), just dont want get rust there.

Thanks.

Diwiak said:

Hi,

sorry for ressurecitng old post,
today I noticed few tiny bubbles on my new panda on tailgate bottom from inside at the edge(by the way paint in this part is very poor/dim), I slightly scratch this bubble with plastic piece and there is some white paste/fluid/something coming out, bit of paint came off and there is no sign of rust or oxidizing, only silver metal with that white liquid residue.

Its really tiny spots hard to see, should I be worried about, considering warranty repair(if so, will they respray full tailgate or what)?
Iam happy with the car, I will probably leave it as it is, or maybe paint it with repair kit after winter (there will be plenty of stone chips in the front anyway), just dont want get rust there.

Thanks.

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I think you are describing the mastic (silicone) sealer used to keep water out from where to outer and inner parts of the tailgate metal are folded around each other. This is normal. The paint is applied after the sealer in the factory, and the sealer is over galvanised (zinc-protected, rust-proofed) metal, so nothing to worry about.

Will check our late 2013 panda.

My early 2013 punto had poor paint from the factory ( on plastic bumper..)

Herts Hillhopper said:

I think you are describing the mastic (silicone) sealer used to keep water out from where to outer and inner parts of the tailgate metal are folded around each other. This is normal. The paint is applied after the sealer in the factory, and the sealer is over galvanised (zinc-protected, rust-proofed) metal, so nothing to worry about.

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you make my day,

yes it will be that, its exactly at the edge where outer sheet is bend over the back sheet and that "white" could look like silicone compound,

fathers 2016 Panda (Blue Mediteranneo metallic) have similar paint defect at the same place(I checked it today), but much less and its still fine,

I dont think dealer will cover this by warranty or will come with some acceptable solution, anyway Fiat could make better job preparing the surface,

Thanks!

varesecrazy said:

Will check our late 2013 panda.

My early 2013 punto had poor paint from the factory ( on plastic bumper..)

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Beside this tailgate I found rough spot and drops of excess paint on the inside of left rear door, overall paint job is acceptable for a "cheap" car, anyway saving ink in engine compartment and back of bonnet still looks pretty ridiculous to me (not to blame only Fiat of course) .

made a picture of that for example:

Alexiloki said:

To my awareness the Panda is galvanised steel. Hot dip galvanising is actually very difficult so it's done on the steel roll before panels are pressed to prevent warping and panel shape issues. So I wouldn't expect any rusting if that's any help.

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An old post but worth pointing out that this is total nonsense, you can't galvanize metal on a roll, you also can't then press or shape the metal without damaging a galvanised coating and you can't weld it without taking off any zinc coating.

Galvanising is formidably expensive as a process to use on cars and takes a very long time as the shell has to sit in a galvanising tank for many hours to get an adequate coating.

All cars (made from steel) are Electrophoretic Deposition Coated, this process is not only cheaper and quicker but also leaves a much thicker layer of rust protection all over inside and out of the car body

AndyRKett said:

An old post but worth pointing out that this is total nonsense, you can't galvanize metal on a roll, you also can't then press or shape the metal without damaging a galvanised coating and you can't weld it without taking off any zinc coating.

Galvanising is formidably expensive as a process to use on cars and takes a very long time as the shell has to sit in a galvanising tank for many hours to get an adequate coating.

All cars (made from steel) are Electrophoretic Deposition Coated, this process is not only cheaper and quicker but also leaves a much thicker layer of rust protection all over inside and out of the car body

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The owner handbook just says "use of galvanised (or pretreated) steel sheets, with high resistance to corrosion." That makes it sound like the steel is treated before it goes in the press