Can anyone suggest a way to tackle the peeling finish on the plastic 'spoiler' of a red-topped 500C? The car's only four years old! Ironically it's probably a UV coating that's peeling off - no match for the Australian sun.

My black one is unaffected, but it's lived in the garage for the last year.

Cutting compound and a buffering wheel probably the only thing Likely the restore any sort of colour you want to be gentle with it thou and make sure you keep it wet while doing it to avoid burning the paint

I believe car manufacturers are now legally required to use water based paint, but can cover it in a solvent based lacquer to protect it. If you remove the peeling clear coat it will need replacing.
Looks like a paint shop job to me.

Piccolo Nero e Bella said:

Can anyone suggest a way to tackle the peeling finish on the plastic 'spoiler' of a red-topped 500C? The car's only four years old! Ironically it's probably a UV coating that's peeling off - no match for the Australian sun.

Click to expand...

That needs properly refinishing. Sand to remove all loose paint & lacquer, barrier primer to isolate any exposed plastic base material, then primer & topcoat followed by a protective lacquer.

I haven't looked to see how straightforward this is, but my first thought would be to remove the spoiler and either do it, or have it done, off the car. Experience tells me that dismantling generally works out better than masking when it comes to paint jobs.

TrevC said:

I believe car manufacturers are now legally required to use water based paint, but can cover it in a solvent based lacquer to protect it. If you remove the peeling clear coat it will need replacing.
Looks like a paint shop job to me.

Click to expand...

I agree paint shop job for a professional finish

Or how about getting it wrapped in similar colour or carbon fibre? May work out much cheaper and no dismantling.

Thanks all, for the advice. I always intended removing the spoiler from the roof for any work (masking fabric brings its own risks) and, in any case, from BigKev's posts of some time ago it's not difficult to dismantle.

The missus intends changing cars in the near future so it's really just to make it look good for trading. Wrapping sounds like the go, though I know nothing about that method.

All I would add (late for you) is that all new Fiats come with a 3 year paintwork warranty and 8 year corrosion warranty.

As your is 4 years old was there ANY signs of degradation in years 1 to 3. If anybody suspects *any* paint issue at less than three years old then bang your claim into Fiat and don't wait to see if things deteriorate from there on.

You may have a goodwill case claim against Fiat in that the deterioration is unacceptable and catastrophic in such a short period of time outside the 3 year paintwork warranty. If that fails then one could argue that the paint finish was "not fit for purpose" and an "inherent design/manufacturing fault". This latter point I believe may be your UK legal and inherent consumer protection right but you would have to pursue the merits of this with a legal expert.

As consumers we are all to often to be happy and in love with our purchases and at the same time consciously ignore "things" only to later find out that those little "things" turn out to be bigger issues outside of any warranty period.

You have to be "cruel" to them to be "kind" to yourself.

Vinyl wrap is easy and fun! I did my whole van roof in one piece:




Only a handful of wrinkles which is fine considering how big it is and that none of it's visible from normal viewing angles.

http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthread.php/chrome-wrap-your-roof-35655.html#post550531

Interesting concept, Doing a whole roof in chrome! My old vans were always white so it wasn't so critical.

Don't you have to use a heat-gun to 'mould' the stuff into shape?

On more curvy surfaces, yes, you'll need heat.

Wrap might cost you $10 on eBay so it's worth a try or two.

I'll have a look - thanks UFI.