Holy cow! Any pics? Would like to see this.

 

Here's the pictures, 1st one is the current car 2nd one is the first car. Only thing I can think of is they did not get the plastic preped correctly and paint is not bonding.

 

I have a small "chip" on the lower side of the front bumper right in front of the wheel arch.......flecked off over a year ago and didn't spread so I assume that, in both vases, an assembly line worker must have touched the molded plastic front clip and not cleaned it off properly....this is an anomaly, this is not new technology, paint does adhere if properly prepped, primed and painted.

Dealer needs to get you another car BUT as importantly, I'd give SOA a quick call asap and tell them what happened.........they'll get in touch with the dealer AND the factory..........better for you to call SOA so you can establish a direct relationship with them, above and beyond the dealer's following thru....

It sucks, to be sure, BUT this stuff happens across brands, sometimes as the last model year of a car is being produced.......they need to know to correct this as it affects customer perception and satisfaction.

Steve

 

Thanks toysbyus, I have confidence that the dealer will take care of us on this one, I was curious if this was a wide spread issue and it is something that can show up as a problem down the road. Both cars where built a month apart First car in November 2017 the second in December 2017, I think all outbacks are built in Indiana.

 

If it happened in the same place, it could be a robot OR a technician leaving some spot poorly prepped...ESPECIALLY in that the area is close to identical in both circumstances.....

Even if there was a decent time period between the two production dates, it almost speaks to a mistake by the same robot......if robots even contact that specific area of the car....could also be a worker who's consistently making a mistake........

Good luck, I'm sure that you'll be okay BUT do call SOA and emphasize that the dealer is being responsible in his handling of the issue, don't want the dealer to get some pressure when it's a production problem. I'll bet that SOA might appreciate your call by sending you something for your trouble......as they should.

Steve

 

Looks a lot like this one from a few years ago:

http://www.subaruoutback.org/forums/138-gen-5-2015-present/245977-paint-peeling-off-rear-bumper.html

 

Once repaired or replaced, try a different car wash. Better yet, wash your car yourself. Car washes are notorious for inflicting paint damage.

 

^This. I once had a two-week-old Honda that I took through a car wash. The spinning brushes scraped the paint on both front doors. Since then, I only wash the car myself.

 

I'm in shock! They gave you a new car for what should be a simple, inexpensive repair?

 

I thought the same thing. Pretty straight forward to prep and respray when there is no body work needing repair.

I'm sure that is all the dealer did with the first car. Most likely used it as a customer loaner and will sell it a CPO after 3-4k miles.

 

Personally, had the paint peeling happened to me, I would have worried about what other areas of the paint prep had been done incorrectly. The dealer did what is only reasonable........take the new car back, give the customer his/her choice of a new one and send the car into the loaner/rental fleet after being repaired....

When you plunk down this money money for a new car, it's only reasonable to expect/hope that the first months with the new car will be a positive experience.....repainting the car under who knows what conditions at the body shop is not something I'd be happy with.......

Just my two cents!

Steve

 

If this is a process problem I would bet it would at least be limited to just the plastic bumper covers. I doubt it is a prep issue or a matter of the area either not being cleaned properly or someone touching the area before it was sprayed. Most likely the delamination is a chemical bonding failure between the primer and the base coat. There is no "fixing" the existing paint on that bumper cover. It isn't just a matter of feathering out the peeled area and painting over what is left. There is no way of knowing if the delamination will be limited to that small spot. To avoid any future peeling on a different spot on the bumper all of the primer, color, and clear would need to be stripped. On a plastic bumper cover that is a tough job. Many chemical strippers can damage the plastic underneath, and doing it by sanding is very labor-intensive. Places that recondition bumper covers have good process to remove paint but most body shops don't. For Subaru the best option would be to just start with a new bumper cover and paint it to match.

Is that likely? Probably not. A dealership with a body shop would probably just go with the quick fix and just repair as small of a spot as possible and hope there isn't any further peeling.

 

Can't disagree........thermoplastic bumpers have always been a challenge to paint, starting back with Pontiac's 1968 GTO all the way to the Euroflex bumper covers on their 1973 Grand Am....the one with the squeeze-me/squeak-me clown beak.......cool idea to me when I was in design school but always wondered about durability as the car aged.......especially in the sun.

My roommate's 68 GTO had a devil of a time trying to keep the entire bumper painted at one time......as soon as one part had been painted, the other side started peeling. It drove him nuts........as he was an *******, it was great fun for me.

Steve

 

Thanks for the feedback, I guess my reason for posting was to see if this was more than an isolated incident or if I was just that lucky to get the only two. I will keep you posted on the outcome.

 

We recently purchased a 2018 Subaru Outback also white in color. Two weeks later we have paint chipping from driver side real tire area as well. Contacted dealer, they offered to repaint bumper. We refused, we checked other outbacks on the same lot,and found others with same issue. Contacted corporate and they spoke to dealer. Offered to replace bumper but not willing to give written guarantee form future issues related to this problem. Clearly a quality control issue that subaru is not owning up to!! Disgraceful.

 

That’s enough for me...I’ll wait for a 2019 or go Acura.

 

We have the same problem

Our 2018 Outback is "Tungsten Metallic" in color. Paint peeled off on the driver's side as you described. Our dealer repainted it for us and said to wait 30 days before washing it. We waited the 30 days, washed it, and now paint is peeling from the same spot on the passenger side. We're waiting to hear back from our dealer. I'm going to try to contact SOA to see if they are doing anything about this problem.

 

I just discovered a couple days ago that my 2015 3.6 (White) has the paint chipping very similar to your pictures. I noticed it after I went through automatic car wash here in Maine. I took the car to a dealer in Portland but they offered absolutely no help. I then went to a local body shop and they stated basically that it was an inferior paint job from factory. Just one more of the many wonderful experiences with the Subaru. The body shop will put touch up paint on and I will never again go through an automatic car wash.

 

I am on a "detailers for dummies" forum and keep hearing about how soft the paint is on new cars and how the dealers almost ruin the paint before delivery. I just hope the paint holds up on mine.

 

I used to have a neighbor who was well known for his "tall tales" and seemed to even embellish his stories that did have truth to them. He would tell people that when he ordered his truck from the factory he special ordered it with two extra coats of clear so it was extra-durable. I wasn't ever sure if he was BSing or if he had really been sold a bill of goods at the dealership. They probably put one of those overpriced gimmick waxes on it and convinced him he had something special. I think I even remember him telling someone that they had to pull it off the assembly line to run it back through the paint area again to get the extra clear on it. :laugh:

 

My 15 had it. The dealer repainted the bumper and it looked like a golf ball with all of the orange peel in the paint. I complained and they pulled a bumper off a new outback that didn't have the issue. I eventually traded it in on a 16 with eyesight and it had the same issue but very minor. I covered it with the fender flares. Both were crystal white pearl.

 

Wow this is interesting. Knock on wood my pearl white 2015 hasn't peeled anywhere yet, (though it does have some rust bubbling inside the doors jambs) but this almost certainly can be attributed to poor prep at the factory. Especially being that it is right on the break where the paint stops.

 

I have the exact same problem! I bought a 2018 Outback in January 2018, sometime in February, with less than 1500 miles on the car, we noticed the paint peeling from the same area, behind the driver's side wheel well. I took it back to the dealer in early March and they said they would file a claim with Subaru, took pictures, etc. I had not gotten any response after six weeks, so I called back this week - still waiting on an answer! The dealer say their Subaru rep asked several times if we were sure something hadn't hit or scratched the car. Paint is now peeling from the other side in the same area. I can't believe I paid that much for a car that has paint peeling already. My first new car purchase ever To make it worse, the brakes also squeal.

 

This post is a continuation of my original Post #19. Our dealer replaced and repainted the rear bumper. We again waited the required 30 days before washing. Paint peeled from both sides behind the rear tires. The peel always begins at the edge of the paint next to the black bottom part of the bumper. It seems Subaru should either not have that paint gap, or should epoxy/clear seal it somehow so there is not a raw paint edge for car wash water and/or brushes to get under. I called Subaru of America back in March, but have never heard back from them on what they are doing to correct this manufacturing problem. I emailed SOA June 2nd as follows:

"We bought our first Subaru (an Outback) on January 12,2018. We were extremely upset to havepaint peel from the rear bumper when we had it washed. The dealership (65 miles away) said bring itin and they would repaint it. We broughtit in Feb. 15th, and it was ready Feb.19th. As instructed, we did not wash it for 30 days. When we did wash it, the rear bumper peeledagain in a different spot. We"Googled" 'Subaru Outback paint problems' and discovered we were notalone. Our dealership has painted it again,and it has peeled again. I am 65 and myhusband is 70. We have owned Toyotas,Buicks, a Cadillac, an Audi, a Chevrolet, and a Volkswagen - and we keep themfor many years. We moved fairlyfrequently prior to retirement, and have used many different car washes. This is the first car we've owned that peeledpaint anywhere due to being washed. Subaru must fix its rear bumper issue, and provide a decent rear bumperto every owner. I have not spoken withan attorney, and I sincerely hope it does not come to that."
(I forgot that we also owned a Ford)

 

Fingers crossed you get some resolution. I'm in the same boat with my 2018 2.5i Premium Crystal White Pearl. I got it on 8/2/18, noticed issue on 9/2/18, with just over 1k miles on it. Taking it into the dealership today.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

 

I have the EXACT same problem in the EXACT same place. 2018 Outback Limited, Tungsten Metallic.

I'm taking it to the Dealer this afternoon - wish me luck.

UPDATE: Dealer is going to repaint the bumper!

 

I have the EXACT same problem in the EXACT same place. 2018 Outback Limited, Tungsten Metallic.

I'm taking it to the Dealer this afternoon - wish me luck.

This has to be a problem in production. Not sure how automated their paint process is. Could easily be in cleaning, sanding and masking stages before paint. We all know the one piece bumper is painted black and body color? Correct?

 

My '17 is silver and has no paint problems.

 

My 2015 OB, purchased new in 2015, also has a small spot at one mud flap.....it's never gotten bigger over the years and I am careful NOT to wake a sleeping dog when I wash the car....I never point the spray nozzle directly at sheet metal anyway simply to avoid driving surface grit into the paint before it gets rinsed off.....before any scrubbing.

I agree that this is definitely a paint prep issue at the factory. My guess is that the bumper prep was never corrected to include the adjacent areas right behind the mud flaps......not sure why QC never picked that up over 5 years of production BUT it was missed and never revised.....

That being said, all of any other manufacturer's QC problems should be so minor AS LONG AS the flaw is stable and doesn't spread......

Steve

 

My 2015 OB, purchased new in 2015, also has a small peeling spot at one mud flap.....it's never gotten bigger over the years and I am careful NOT to wake a sleeping dog when I wash the car....I never point the spray nozzle directly at sheet metal anyway simply to avoid driving surface grit into the paint before it gets rinsed off.....before any scrubbing.

I agree that this is definitely a paint prep issue at the factory. My guess is that the bumper prep was never corrected to include the adjacent areas right behind the mud flaps......not sure why QC never picked that up over 5 years of production BUT it was missed and never revised.....

That being said, all of any other manufacturer's QC problems should be so minor AS LONG AS the flaw is stable and doesn't spread......

Steve

 

I have a '17 OB Limited with pearl white paint and haven't seen any paint issues anywhere. However, the vehicle has never seen an automatic wash, always hand washed with a bucket.