Roof rust - possible bodged repair?

Roof rust - possible bodged repair?

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aterribleusername

Original Poster:

322 posts

70 months

Sunday 4th June 2023
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My sister bought a 2015 Citroen C4 Picasso just over 4 months ago and when visiting her today I spotted two peeling and rusty patches on the leading edge of the roof, behind the panoramic sunroof. Both her and her husband are too short to see up there normally so don't know how long it's been like that but it definitely wasn't there when I saw the car the week after they bought it.



Does this look like a botched repair to anyone? Does to me as you can see sanding marks in the metal that go through the galvanizing. The rust also looks quite advanced too. She is going to give the dealer a call on Monday and see what they say, it's from a local firm that have a good reputation of a few decades so not expecting to be dicked about by them but I worry about how that would be repaired satisfactorily. The rest of the car is in good nick for the age and it's average miles too. Mot history has a lot of fails then passes for basic items so I do wonder if a previous owner(s) has run it on the cheap. The car cost £8.5k so a big repair could be close to the dealer getting nervy about a repair? I wouldn't have bought it personally but the husband doesn't take to listening to advice very well sometimes!

Iceblue

115 posts

38 months

Sunday 4th June 2023
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Definitely a bodged repair doesn't seem like its been prepared properly advanced rusting with no sign of a primer, unusual place for corrosion to start aswell as somebody tried to prise the sunroof open for some reason?

aterribleusername

Original Poster:

322 posts

70 months

Sunday 4th June 2023
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Guessing something like that or possibly damage originally from strapping something down as both rust spots are the same width and equal distance from each rail. My main worry is how far down below the glass does the rot go? If it was my car I'd be wanting the glass removed and possibly fresh metal patching in, not a treat with a chemical, filler and a blow over.

V8covin

7,860 posts

200 months

Sunday 4th June 2023
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That's been rusting for more than 4 months.
Could be original and the rust has caused the paint to lift and eventually flake off.
Could have been an old repair.
Is there any signs of masking/overspray around the aerial ?

The only permanent repair will involve removing the panoramic roof which won't be cheap and I can't see the dealer coughing up for that

ChocolateFrog

28,585 posts

180 months

Sunday 4th June 2023
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Even from that low res picture it looks like the roof has been resprayed.

No way that's original. You can get bad stone chips but I'd expect something the size of a 5p at worst.

aterribleusername

Original Poster:

322 posts

70 months

Sunday 4th June 2023
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Here's a better close up picture (the uploader really does lose the quality!) and it really does look nasty. Agree on it having been badly repainted beforehand, easy to hide when it's a relatively tall car and you don't really see it walking around. Couldn't spot any signs of overspray etc but then the car is a bit dusty and I didn't get a chance to take a good look as the kids were jumping around inside it and ready to go out.

Debating whether to show these responses the my sister as she'll be gutted to have bought a duff car, especially as it was partly paid for using inheritance money.

Is the timeframe too long to go down the rejection route? I know there's the 6 months thing in law but it's always about getting that enacted by the dealer that's the issue.

Skyrocket21

778 posts

49 months

Monday 5th June 2023
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I personally don't think it's been resprayed, I think it's been damaged, starting with the panoramic roof, the glass is out of place (bottom right), there is a big difference in the gap between each side, I'm not even sure if the rubber is supposed to be there, because the newer ones look seamless from that era.

My guess is a bodged repair for a leaking panoramic roof, it could be loose, and has rubbed through the paintwork and rain / water has seeped into that gap lifting the paint and causing the corrosion, it might not even be fitted correctly. And also impact damage from something heavy that has also moved the seal away from the glass.


aterribleusername

Original Poster:

322 posts

70 months

Monday 5th June 2023
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I'm not sure if the glass panel is on a mechanism and tilts/slides, haven't been in the car myself. I didn't notice a big difference in the gap either, possibly the camera playing tricks with a slight fisheye?

Will see what the garage says today but it's good to have my suspicions about it confirmed by a few on here. Definitely can't find anything online about it being a problem point in any other ones out there and as it's a relatively old model any issues will have come to light by now.

aterribleusername

Original Poster:

322 posts

70 months

Tuesday 6th June 2023
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The garage have come back to my sister and offered to get it repaired at cost price for her but she'll have to pay. Not acceptable in my eyes as it will be a costly one to do correctly and I still think the dealer should be fixing it at their cost.

What next steps are open to her?

blue_haddock

3,859 posts

74 months

Wednesday 7th June 2023
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aterribleusername said:
The garage have come back to my sister and offered to get it repaired at cost price for her but she'll have to pay. Not acceptable in my eyes as it will be a costly one to do correctly and I still think the dealer should be fixing it at their cost.

What next steps are open to her?
I would say thats older than 4 months worth of damage and so it was almost certainly there when they purchased it, just because they didnt see the damage doesnt mean the dealer must now put it right.

Belle427

9,738 posts

240 months

Thursday 8th June 2023
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just make surs its done properly because if they do it on the cheap which they might it will just come back through.