500 (Abarth) Draigflag's ABARTH 500 (new thread!).

[DraigFlag87]

Sun came out this afternoon so gave mine a good seeing to! Wash, dry, Polish with G3 Superwax Resin, wheels with custom wheels by AG followed by an electric toothbrush style brush and Tar remover as they were caked, Amourall tyre spray, AG vinyl and rubber care for the black trim, think that's it!

See pic below, no idea what i hit here, initial thoughts were maybe a May Bug due to the brow/black stains, but i think it could have been something a bit more hardcore as it's dented the bonnet too! Not bothered anyway, the more character the better!

Also noticed she is starting to rust, 2 year old Fiat, typical! It's where the stones and road debris have chipped the paint away, same thing happened on my bro's Stilo (Red car pic) i think Fiat use soft paints!

 

[grimwau]

Have to admit the paint coming off so badly on a two year old car is somewhat worrying and wonder if yours is "unique" as I haven't seen or heard of any others with this problem.

I suppose that if there is a lot of loose material on your country roads as opposed to town/city/motorways that could explain it but even then it would still be disconcerting.

Maybe in this situation some mud flaps might be the answer if you get the areas repainted or if indeed you get another A500.

 

[306maxi]

Tbh when you go driving a car on the beach, on gravel roads and then driving on more minor roads which tend to be covered in loose chippings at speed then you're going to get stones flying around and they take paint off.

My 500 has a few chips behind the front door and on the bonnet, but nothing especially bad tbh.

 

[DraigFlag87]

It's just the roads, when i drive on sand and gravel i keep the speed to 10 MPH maximum. The estate i work on also gets a lot of abuse form 20 ton + lorries so there are a lot of loose chippings. There is another Sottish owner with similar miles to me who also had this issue. I've sanded it down now and put waxoyl on it, not the tidiest job but better than seeing rust!

 

[xFaz]

I have an 8 year paintwork warranty with my Punto, so why not try to claim it under that?

Rust in those chips is very, very bad, because it will spread underneath the paintwork and essentially rot away the metal. I would look into getting that sorted.

 

[306maxi]

I have an 8 year paintwork warranty with my Punto, so why not try to claim it under that?

Rust in those chips is very, very bad, because it will spread underneath the paintwork and essentially rot away the metal. I would look into getting that sorted.

The warranty doesn't cover you when stones damage the paintwork.