Discussion
JohnG123 said:
How olds the car ?.
Not good but an easy fix ….. till it appears somewhere else on the car … which be in no doubt it will.
Easy fix? Painting both wings on a volcano red car? By easy you meant take it to McLaren bodyshop and ask them to paint the whole front end for £5k?Not good but an easy fix ….. till it appears somewhere else on the car … which be in no doubt it will.
As I understand it, it's an issue at the contact surface between aluminium panel and paint, but it's not possible for it to go all the way through the panel and make a hole, as seen on a 70's Lancia or 90's Merc. Hence 'rotten' feels a bit of a misnomer, it's a surface defect only and can't go deeper. It's closer to a paint defect than 'rotten' IMO.
However, it's a worry when looking at buying a Sports Series car, because it seems rather widespread, if one panel suffers it then others likely will, and the factory won't cover it after 5 years old.
Seriously wonder how much it'd cost to get an independent paint shop to strip the whole car down, re-primer the surface properly for ali, and paint in something like Mazda Soul Red. Do all the painted panels come off, or not the roof ? That way you'd fix the problem once and for all, and escape McLaren's monopoly on paint for any future scrapes too.
targarama said:
Not sure it would fix it permanently, the same issue has returned on some owners' replaced panels too. These were not painted by the factory, but the highly skilled approved bodyshop.
Hmm, maybe the requirement of being an 'approved' bodyshop is being constrained to using the same materials and process as McLaren used originally?Concorde, Spitfires, Audi A8s, A2s, Jag F-Types and XJs... all in painted aluminium, yet you don't see this sort of corrosion problems on them.
That's why I interpret this as a McLaren problem that could be prevented by re-doing it properly, and not an inherent unavoidable issue with aluminium panels on a car. Unless McLaren have used some kind of special aluminium alloy that is super-reactive that's never been used before?
Unfortunately it's a problem that affects most Macs at some point and is due to poor panel preparation.
I bought mine from a main dealer at 2 years old and they replaced both front wings and both doors to get the car up to scratch.
I assume the car the OP viewed isn't with a Mac dealer, otherwise they'd sort it out.
And it's not just Macs - I had similar issues on a 2010 Aston, as was very common with Astons of that era.
I've also had "corrosion" issues (although not aluminium) on a nearly new Porsche.
I bought mine from a main dealer at 2 years old and they replaced both front wings and both doors to get the car up to scratch.
I assume the car the OP viewed isn't with a Mac dealer, otherwise they'd sort it out.
And it's not just Macs - I had similar issues on a 2010 Aston, as was very common with Astons of that era.
I've also had "corrosion" issues (although not aluminium) on a nearly new Porsche.
samoht said:
Hmm, maybe the requirement of being an 'approved' bodyshop is being constrained to using the same materials and process as McLaren used originally?
Concorde, Spitfires, Audi A8s, A2s, Jag F-Types and XJs... all in painted aluminium, yet you don't see this sort of corrosion problems on them.
I can’t speak for the other planes and cars that you’ve listed, but the Jaguar X350 / X358 XJ’s ‘oxidise along the very bottom of the doors.Concorde, Spitfires, Audi A8s, A2s, Jag F-Types and XJs... all in painted aluminium, yet you don't see this sort of corrosion problems on them.
There’s guys on the Jag forums who’ve had there’s re-done 3-4 times by some very good bodyshops, but the problem always reappears after a few years.
From what I understand the issue is caused by a reaction during the manufacturing process, using steels presses / rollers to shape and form aluminium panels.
I can only assume that McLarens suffer from the same issue for the same reasons?
^ very helpful, sounds like the issue is indeed more widespread than I thought. Unfortunately.
So you're saying it's an issue with the aluminium panel that's caused during pressing/rolling of the panel itself? Such that however it's subsequently painted/repainted, the issue will keep recurring?
davek_964 said:
TBCReece said:
How old is the car as this is covered under a 5 year warranty.
I think it used to be 10 but believe McLaren have changed the definition of the issue.
Or, an alternative view is that McLaren used to fix it under goodwill for cars over 5 years old, and rarely does now.I think it used to be 10 but believe McLaren have changed the definition of the issue.
TBCReece said:
davek_964 said:
TBCReece said:
How old is the car as this is covered under a 5 year warranty.
I think it used to be 10 but believe McLaren have changed the definition of the issue.
Or, an alternative view is that McLaren used to fix it under goodwill for cars over 5 years old, and rarely does now.I think it used to be 10 but believe McLaren have changed the definition of the issue.
Plenty of McLaren owners that disagree with my view though.
samoht said:
^ very helpful, sounds like the issue is indeed more widespread than I thought. Unfortunately.
So you're saying it's an issue with the aluminium panel that's caused during pressing/rolling of the panel itself? Such that however it's subsequently painted/repainted, the issue will keep recurring?
Yes. That is what I understand.So you're saying it's an issue with the aluminium panel that's caused during pressing/rolling of the panel itself? Such that however it's subsequently painted/repainted, the issue will keep recurring?
From my limited knowledge of metallurgy, it would make sense.
davek_964 said:
I'm not sure anybody other than McLaren could really confirm. However, the warranty booklet says - and has always said - that the paint guarantee is 5 years and the bodywork guarantee is 10 years. And it very clearly states (and always has) that the bodywork guarantee covers perforation. This is very clearly not that, so personally I think that previous fixes of cars over 5 years old was goodwill.
Plenty of McLaren owners that disagree with my view though.
Thanks. In short, it comes down to the definition of "perforation".Plenty of McLaren owners that disagree with my view though.
The Motor Ombustmen website says "Through corrosion or perforation, is corrosion forming from inside a metal panel which is rusting from the inside of the panel and works its way through the panel from inside to out"
I guess as perforation comes from the inside out, this would apply here but as the panels aren't rusting, technically it's not perforation? Is that correct?
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