MK7 CPO Golf R - Paint Issues

Hey guys, I apologize in advance for the long post, but I’m looking for some advice. I bought my 2015 Golf R as a CPO in August of 2017 with about 16k miles on it. In late February, I noticed that there was some clear coat flaking off of the lower passenger side rocker. I took it to a VW dealer close to my work who after looking at the car for about 15 minutes determined the car had been repainted at some point in time. They advised me to return to the dealer I got the car from. That afternoon I return to the dealer I purchased the car from and explain the situation. They agree the car had been repainted at some point in time. The service advisor mentioned that they did not CPO the car, and that it was purchased as a CPO car from VW at auction. They advised they will submit a claim to VW and will have the affected areas repainted. Ironically enough, as I was about to leave, the seal on the thermostat housing let go and my car was leaking coolant in the service bay. The part to fix the leak was on national backorder so I was in a loaner for about 2 weeks. They handled this repair great and were very prompt and informative throughout the process. I since dropped my car off last week to have the paint repairs completed and advised my Service Advisor that the driver side lower rocker’s clear coat was also peeling now. They stated they would have that part fixed as well. After dropping off the car, I was contacted by the dealership asking if I would be interested in selling my car and if I wanted an appraisal. That got me thinking which brings me to where I’m at now, will the car being repainted affect the value of the car? The car was bought as a CPO car with a clean Carfax, but the car was previously repainted. How did the dealership not notice the repaint when inspecting the car, or are they the ones that repainted it? If repainting a car lowers the value, shouldn’t the dealer make right on the difference of what I paid for the car vs what it would actually be worth now knowing it’s repainted? If the new paint job shows on the Carfax I feel like I'm going to be stuck with a car that isn't worth close to what I paid.

I have not contacted VWOA yet as I’ve been letting the Dealer try and make this situation right, but the longer it goes on and the more I think about it, I feel like I’m really getting screwed. BTW, we’ve been able to determine the entire front half of the car has been repainted, Driver door up around the front of the car to the Passenger door including the hood. From looking at the underside and under the hood, it doesn’t appear as if anything as been replaced like the car was in an accident.

Repainting will not be a huge deal as long as it was done decently. People get parts repainted all the time not from accident. Could of been due to a chip or scratch that happened. But what happens is when it comes to blending and such. Need to repaint hood well then that would be blended into the from bumper and then sides as well and that’s where it can get iffy. So you go from a small scratch or chip to painting multiple parts that are directly linked to the main part. Accidents are the more hurtful when it comes to value.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yes, that's exactly where this issue lies. There's no issues with the hood or bumper, but the rockers on each side is where the clear coat is flaking off which is my guess is where the stopped the blending. I'll just and post some pictures, but I'm not having much luck.

R_Time said:

Yes, that's exactly where this issue lies. There's no issues with the hood or bumper, but the rockers on each side is where the clear coat is flaking off which is my guess is where the stopped the blending. I'll just and post some pictures, but I'm not having much luck.

Click to expand...

Yeah if that’s the case you can bring it to a paint shop or even better would be a good detailer they can do bender blending jobs of clear coats and even that out and stop the flaking


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Here’s a photo of the passenger side rocker. Dealer is having the flaking fixed, but I’m wondering if the issue will spread. Who knows how good this prior repaint job was.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

R_Time said:

Here’s a photo of the passenger side rocker. Dealer is having the flaking fixed, but I’m wondering if the issue will spread. Who knows how good this prior repaint job was.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Click to expand...

Oh wow yeah that’s bad. Interesting though because those side skirts didn’t need to be blended. Them being so close to the ground there’s no need to touch them to blend. Unless actual damage was done to them


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Exactly, that's the weird part. And the driver side is now starting to peel/flake the same way. I've had two different dealers along with myself and some friends look the car over and no one has been able to find anything that looks like it has been replaced due to an accident. So I'm chalking the repaint up to some cosmetic issue, but we'll never know. I was pushing the dealer to have the whole car repainted because we don't know the quality of the previous paint job, but they are only going to fix the areas that are an issue now. They stated they will have any other issues fixed if they arise. I just don't feel like this is being handled the best, but I'm not sure what else can or could be done.

I don’t remember seeing a screw on the top side of the skirt on mine. That looks like the car was repaired seeing the non uniform seam between the fender and top of skirt at the wheel well vs door.

Golfs everyday said:

I don’t remember seeing a screw on the top side of the skirt on mine. That looks like the car was repaired seeing the non uniform seam between the fender and top of skirt at the wheel well vs door.

Click to expand...

I don't remember seeing it on my MK6, but it could have been something that changed on the MK7's. I'm starting to feel that way more and more that it was repaired, but every time I looked for parts that had been replaced I couldn't find anything.

Can someone post a picture of what their fender/side skirt/wheelwell area looks like? I tried searching Google, but couldn't come up with any.

R_Time said:

Can someone post a picture of what their fender/side skirt/wheelwell area looks like? I tried searching Google, but couldn't come up with any.

Click to expand...

Firstboost said:

Click to expand...

Should be installed behind the fender well cover...

Damn... Well that confirms that the side skirt was removed and reinstalled wrong.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

tmw2442 said:

Should be installed behind the fender well cover...

Click to expand...

You know, you're right.. The passenger side is installed properly.. Hmm, I wonder when this happened. I will have to fix this when I get home. Hopefully the screw didn't cause too much surface damage. Thanks for pointing that out!

Screw holes are easy to fill and paint over. When you get the repair done, have the body shop fix the hole too. No biggie. GL

Those lower plastic panels will be an easy turn around.