Paint issue

[Lackadocious]

Hello everyone. New to the forum. Purchased a 2025 Mach-e Premium back on Feb 20th. The attached photo is after washing my car at home. Called a local Ford dealership the next day. They didn't have any appointments until today. Dropped off my car about 30 mins ago. Was told by the service tech that Ford is going to deny the warranty claim because it isn't corrosive. I asked for an explaination. The guy told me that Ford denies 99.9% of claims they submit for paint issues. I explained, I have owned the car for 3 weeks. I washed the car at home with a chemical brothers car wash mit, Optimum No Rinse Wash and Shine car wash soap. You just touched it with your finger and more paint came off, how is that not a paint quality issue? He said, I'll submit it today but it will be a week before you get your car back. I said, well if Ford is going to deny it, I'll pick it up today and escalate it further.

@Ford Motor Company, help me make sense of this. Your techs are telling people before hand that its going to get denied before submitting a claim. This is a HUGE issue. If the car was older, I would understand. This is a new car. Please do not make me regret buying this car over poor service. If this does get denied, who do I talk to in order to escalate this?

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[DeusEx]

You'll find a wide variety of different experiences with dealerships. It's not a Ford thing, unfortunately. Some are better than others.

If it is paint issue and you can document by video that it's flaking off just by touching the spot with bare metal, I'd imagine it should be covered by warranty. Each model year has had some form of paint or corrosion issue though not all cars are affected.

If your car is driveable, I don't understand why they would keep your car for a week though. I had corrosion issues and got my car back while I waited for parts. Brian, who runs the Ford account that you tagged, has been helpful with this issue so hopefully this is taken car of properly.

Please post updates if you can!

 

[Lackadocious]

You'll find a wide variety of different experiences with dealerships. It's not a Ford thing, unfortunately. Some are better than others.

If it is paint issue and you can document by video that it's flaking off just by touching the spot with bare metal, I'd imagine it should be covered by warranty. Each model year has had some form of paint or corrosion issue though not all cars are affected.

If your car is driveable, I don't understand why they would keep your car for a week though. I had corrosion issues and got my car back while I waited for parts. Brian, who runs the Ford account that you tagged, has been helpful with this issue so hopefully this is taken car of properly.

Please post updates if you can!
[/QUO

The only time I've ever dealt with this dealership when I was looking to purchase a Mach-e. This is my first time dealing with there service department. He asked if I bought the car from them, I said no. It looked like he was going to tell me to take it to the dealership I bought it from. I told him I bought it in Arkansas and he said, "Oh. That would be a long drive to fix this."

The car is 100% drivable. The tech said that they would need it for a week to send it out to a 3rd party for the paint if its approved by Ford.

I'll update as I found things out.

 

[Lackadocious]

****UPDATE**** Dealership just called and told me to come pick up my car as Ford has denied the warranty claim on the paint.

 

[Lackadocious]

@Ford Motor Company help me out here. Attached is the paper work the service department gave me. What the tech put is not what I told him. I told him the paint came off when I was hand washing my car. The tech put "customer states there is corrosion on driver front fender."

 

[JohnFoxeSheets]

Wow, that's total BS that they said corrosion when that not what you told them. From your photo it looks like maybe a rock might have hit that spot...? Another photo would be helpful. Can you post a photo taken from a raking angle?

 

[Lackadocious]

Wow, that's total BS that they said corrosion when that not what you told them. From your photo it looks like maybe a rock might have hit that spot...? Another photo would be helpful. Can you post a photo taken from a raking angle?

Wow, that's total BS that they said corrosion when that not what you told them. From your photo it looks like maybe a rock might have hit that spot...? Another photo would be helpful. Can you post a photo taken from a raking angle?

@JohnFoxeSheets, I agree. Here are some photos I took this morning. Sorry not a camera person.

If a rock where to have hit it, it must have knicked it just enough that when a wash mitt went over it, the paint came off.

 

[Ford Motor Company]

Hello everyone. New to the forum. Purchased a 2025 Mach-e Premium back on Feb 20th. The attached photo is after washing my car at home. Called a local Ford dealership the next day. They didn't have any appointments until today. Dropped off my car about 30 mins ago. Was told by the service tech that Ford is going to deny the warranty claim because it isn't corrosive. I asked for an explaination. The guy told me that Ford denies 99.9% of claims they submit for paint issues. I explained, I have owned the car for 3 weeks. I washed the car at home with a chemical brothers car wash mit, Optimum No Rinse Wash and Shine car wash soap. You just touched it with your finger and more paint came off, how is that not a paint quality issue? He said, I'll submit it today but it will be a week before you get your car back. I said, well if Ford is going to deny it, I'll pick it up today and escalate it further.

@Ford Motor Company, help me make sense of this. Your techs are telling people before hand that its going to get denied before submitting a claim. This is a HUGE issue. If the car was older, I would understand. This is a new car. Please do not make me regret buying this car over poor service. If this does get denied, who do I talk to in order to escalate this?

Welcome to the forum—though I am incredibly sorry it is under these circumstances.

Seeing paint issues on a 3-week-old vehicle after a gentle hand wash (Chemical Brothers/ONR is good stuff, by the way) is definitely not the experience we want for a new owner.

Regarding what the tech told you: It sounds like there might be some confusion between the "Corrosion" warranty (which usually requires rust-through/perforation) and the "New Vehicle Limited Warranty" (Bumper-to-Bumper). Paint adhesion issues or manufacturing defects on a brand-new vehicle are typically reviewed under the latter.

I recommend reaching out to our Customer Relationship Center (CRC) directly so they can document this immediately, review the claim the dealer is submitting, and assist you with the process.

You can call them at 1-800-392-3673.

 

[Lackadocious]

Welcome to the forum—though I am incredibly sorry it is under these circumstances.

Seeing paint issues on a 3-week-old vehicle after a gentle hand wash (Chemical Brothers/ONR is good stuff, by the way) is definitely not the experience we want for a new owner.

Regarding what the tech told you: It sounds like there might be some confusion between the "Corrosion" warranty (which usually requires rust-through/perforation) and the "New Vehicle Limited Warranty" (Bumper-to-Bumper). Paint adhesion issues or manufacturing defects on a brand-new vehicle are typically reviewed under the latter.

I recommend reaching out to our Customer Relationship Center (CRC) directly so they can document this immediately, review the claim the dealer is submitting, and assist you with the process.

You can call them at 1-800-392-3673.

Doing that now. Thank you.

As for the dealership. The tech came out, look at it and said, "Ford is going to deny this." I asked why. The tech said something about corrision. I told him, it happened when I was hand washing the car. There isn't any corrision issue. It should be covered under the bumper to bumper. The tech said, "we'll see"

 

[Lackadocious]

Spoke to Luis at Ford. He said to find a different dealership since the original misdiagnosed the issue.

 

[Sawdusty]

The Ford paint is garbage. I had one of those oval magnets (which probably a few million cars on the road have) on the right rear fender over the wheel. I removed it before I took the car through a car wash, and when I got home and was about to put it back, I saw there was a big paint chip missing right where the magnet had been. When I took it to Ford they blamed it on the magnet. I said there have to be millions of magnets on millions of cars on the road; if magnets were the cause of paint chipping, it would be a widely known issue. Long story short, I got the runaround between the dealership's service department and Ford Corporate; they both said to deal with the other about it. Of course ultimately Ford didn't take any responsibility and I had to pay for the repair myself; it's a lease so I have to return it in good condition.

Out of all the cars I've owned in the past 25 years that have had magnets on them, this is the first Ford and the only one with a paint issue. And it's the last Ford for me.

 

[MoonDogg]

I also agree the paint is garbage. I also have a 25' and it almost immediately started loosing paint. Everywhere. Hood, bumper, fender, roof, lift gate, etc. I ran across this looking for touch up options. I did not even bring it to the dealer because I have dealt with this before and was denied. So I did not bother.

 

[Lackadocious]

***UPDATE***
Took car to different dealership per Ford's request. Took two days to get a response from Ford. Dealership advised not to take the car until they had a response. When looking over the paperwork, at least this dealership listed the reason I told them what happened when the paint came off. It was again denied. This time I got paperwork as to why. Ford stated "Peeling or cracking occuring from stress due to impact or flexing of substrate are not warrantied." From my knowledge, nothing has hit the car to cause the paint to peel or crack.

I asked the service tech, explain how this happens with soap, water and a ultra soft microfiber washing mitt? He said it shouldn't happen.

@Ford Motor Company, what next?

 

[Lackadocious]

I also agree the paint is garbage. I also have a 25' and it almost immediately started loosing paint. Everywhere. Hood, bumper, fender, roof, lift gate, etc. I ran across this looking for touch up options. I did not even bring it to the dealer because I have dealt with this before and was denied. So I did not bother.

That is insane. My wife as a 2023 Subaru and we have had multiple body shops tell us that the paint used for most of the vehicles from 2020 to current is garage paint. Paint is not something I would want to cut cost on but apparently this is common now. Its sad.

I found a few different places that sale paint patch kits online. Scratches happen, they have a few different kit options depending on how small or large your paint issue is.

 

[Ford Motor Company]

***UPDATE***
Took car to different dealership per Ford's request. Took two days to get a response from Ford. Dealership advised not to take the car until they had a response. When looking over the paperwork, at least this dealership listed the reason I told them what happened when the paint came off. It was again denied. This time I got paperwork as to why. Ford stated "Peeling or cracking occuring from stress due to impact or flexing of substrate are not warrantied." From my knowledge, nothing has hit the car to cause the paint to peel or crack.

I asked the service tech, explain how this happens with soap, water and a ultra soft microfiber washing mitt? He said it shouldn't happen.

@Ford Motor Company, what next?

Hi there. I completely understand why you are frustrated right now. Having paint peel off after a simple wash with a microfiber mitt is definitely not what you expect, and seeing that warranty denial paperwork has to be incredibly annoying.

First off, I am sorry for the delay in getting back to you. I was actually looking into this with our team behind the scenes to get a better understanding of how these specific "substrate flexing" denials are handled before I jumped in here.

When you have a second, can you send me a DM with your information? I'll get a case open for the team to further investigate this.

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