Jaro

The paint is slightly peeling off of my rear bumper, right where the plastic bumper meets the metal portion of the car, right inside that crevice. It's very slight but it's bumming me out as the car is only a few months old. I haven't done anything that would cause this and I've kept it very clean with two coats of wax. Has anyone else had this problem? I hate to have the bumper repainted, I'm wondering if touchup paint will work. If it doesn't get any worse it'll never be noticable except for a close inspection. I also wonder if this is a symptom of another problem, like the bumper is rubbing the main body? Also I wonder if the factory just had problems getting the paint to bond to the plastic bumper.

Rickjames

It is very difficult to get paint to bond with plastic--seems to me that if your paint is peeling without being hit that the paint is not the originally factory paint job. Granted there could be a defect in the factory paint job, but if this car was used, I wouldnt be surprised if the bumper hadnt been repainted--mainly because when they repaint any part of the car, they cant heat the paint to cure it like the can at the factory--therefore it doesnt bond as well when they do the work at a body shop.

moonsurfer

I noticed it on mine too and a buddy of mine who just bought an 05 Silverstone with 160 miles on it has the same problem.
When looking more closely at the car, I noticed that on the drivers side, it is fine. There is more of a gab between the two panels, so the paint is not peeling.
On the passenger side, the paint is peeling just where the bumper cover and rear quarter panel meet up. I have tried touching up this area before and it held out for a bit, but then began peeling again. I think it is because the bumper and the body panel are rubbing together from the vibration of the exhaust.
I am thinking of pulling my bumper and seeing if I might be able to adjust the clip that holds the bumper cover so that there will be a little bit more of a gap so that the two panels do not rub.
Has anyone else noticed this or tried adjusting their bumper so that it will not rub?

centralcoastbuc

My '04 had the same problem soon after I bought it. I fixed it by backing it into my truck and then having the replacement bumper painted.

CaptainMike

Well that's ONE WAY to do it!

It seems to be fairly common on the 04's, there was a thread about 3 weeks ago on the same topic. At least 30 people had it, I don't remember what anyone's resolution with their dealer was. I didn't notice it on my car until AFTER I read the thread (Very slight peeled spot on 1 side) and I had waxed 5-6 times without noticing it so I decided to just forget about mine.

Jaro

thanks for the info - it always makes me feel better that my problem isn't unique! My car was brand new when I bought it - the dealer had just received it a couple days before I picked it up, so it must be a factory paint issue. I was also thinking that it might be caused by the bumper rubbing against the body. Think I'm going to "log" the problem with the dealer, if it doesn't get any worse I won't worry about it, but if it does then they can try to deal with it. Or I like the bumper adjustment idea to stop the 'rubbing". The only time I notice it is when I'm waxing and looking for residual wax.

Mr.S2000

I've got this problem on my '05 that I bought new in April and now has about 5000 miles on it. Like another poster mentioned, it is only a problem on the passenger's side. What no one else mentioned (or at least if they did I missed it) is that my bumper looks improperly aligned on the passenger's side also. On the driver's side, it neatly conforms to the lines of the rear quarter. However, on the passenger side, it is out of alignment such that if you run your hand from quarter to bumper, you feel a change of plane.

It wasn't like this when I got it, and it certainly hasn't been involved in an accident (not even a parking lot incident since there is absolutely no scuff/scratch type paint damage).

I guess I'll have to take it in and have it looked at.