is this normal, chip protection coating?

utajoker · 29 Jul 2019 at 13:11

Took delivery of my new car today.

Instantly spotted this finish along the bottom of the car. It is even on both sides.

Is this something the manufacturer would have done? or with it being a leased car, something the lease company have had applied?

Delivery driver said its to protect against stone chips.

I've never seen it before

acemastr · 29 Jul 2019 at 13:13

My truck had it, the manufacturer puts extra layers of paint on for protection. It's normal.

AiiR · 29 Jul 2019 at 15:47

Normal? That looks awful, no way should that be acceptable?

Raymond Lin · 29 Jul 2019 at 16:01

That looks like my mum’s attempt with a paint brush at the kitchen door.

weathmatth · 29 Jul 2019 at 16:16

I thought it was to protect against rust, some kind of PVC coating which is then painted over by manufacturers. Fairly common practice on most cars i thought (maybe not high end cars).

Jokester · 29 Jul 2019 at 16:18

That’s awful.

ScoobyDoo69 · 29 Jul 2019 at 16:18

Side skirts would normally hide it on other cars.

I've seen this on a few cars - definitely not pretty.

lordrobs · 29 Jul 2019 at 16:28

Totally normal, as is the slap dash attempt at the pre delivery wash

RedvGreen · 29 Jul 2019 at 16:43

Normal. Missus' 2yr old VW has this, whilst my BMW does not.

grudas · 29 Jul 2019 at 16:53

Normal. Most cars will have it covered with sideskirt etc but since yours doesn't have them it's exposed sill that constantly gets hammered with stones/rocks and "normal" paint would flake off in no time and cause rust.

Many Japanese cars have it for e.g.

My MK1 mx5 had it, my s2000 has it..

Clarkey · 29 Jul 2019 at 16:56

It's just stone chip, lots of cars come with this. Hardly that noticable when it's on the bottom of the sill.

Lopéz · 29 Jul 2019 at 17:04

Completely normal.

Kenai · 29 Jul 2019 at 17:50

Totally normal, I don't think I've owned a car that doesn't have it

Rroff · 29 Jul 2019 at 17:55

I would say normal but I've not seen it that obvious before - it looks more like a half arsed job at hiding rust :s

Kenai · 29 Jul 2019 at 17:58

Rroff said:
I would say normal but I've not seen it that obvious before - it looks more like a half arsed job at hiding rust :s

It looks worse because of how low the photo is taken, from normal eye level 90% of it won't even be visible, it's mostly under the car.

mjt · 29 Jul 2019 at 17:59

Most of my cars have had that, but you only notice it when washing the car and feel the rough paint when washing under the sills.

What car is that?

paintguy · 29 Jul 2019 at 20:38

Polo?

Looks completely normal to me. Many VAG cars have a much heavier stonechip on the sills than other manufacturers. It's a real pain in the backside to remove when you need to repair them!

jpaul · 29 Jul 2019 at 20:46

The increasing use of this cheap chipseal road repair technique does seem to put a lot more projectiles on the bodywork ... so you maybe better off with heavy duty stonechip
... unbelievable they did another cambridge section of the a10 last week ... it's a bloody main road !

DanTheMan · 29 Jul 2019 at 20:51

I hope it's completely normal as the past 3 cars we've owned have had it (fabia, astra, fiesta).

utajoker · 29 Jul 2019 at 20:56

Its an Octavia VRS, i only noticed it as it was delivered on a transit recovery so it was up at waist height almost.

you don't notice it when the car is on the ground, the bit that is painted is sloped under the car.

i have never seen it before but i have never actually looked for it i guess, you would not notice it unless you where below the car or specifically looking for it.

I'm going to be looking for it on more new cars now though