F12 Paint Bubbling

My Nov 2015 F12 has paint bubbles around the rear wing vents on the edge of where the bodywork meets the mesh vents, it has happened on both vent areas and has progressed from a tiny bubble to more significant multiple bubbles (that look like rust) in 6-8 weeks. The car is now in for paint correction (at dealer/ferrari cost) so no photos but has anyone else seen or heard of such problems. Other models have been affected from reading the other model forums.

Thanks for any insight.

Steve Billett

 

Ferrari is well aware of the issue... it's a reaction of dis-similar metals not be properly prepped before painting... my 2016 had the same issue and Ferrari paid for the correction by a shop approved by Ferrari... when my F12 was in the shop, the owner said mine was the sixth in his shop and he knew of another five in a shop in the Florida area...car came back perfect....

 

Sorry to hear you have an issue. It's something i've not heard of up until now. Do you have any photos of the bubbling?

 

Stupidly I did not take any photos before the car went into the paint shop - I know that makes no sense at all!

 

Thanks for the response f12tm, I have learnt that my F12 is the 4th F12 that has had this issue (from the UK paint shop) - not impressed and not sure that I feel the same love for the F12 having seen how quickly this developed - and you will be aware there is another mesh vent on the bonnet. Will this be next??!!

 

mistakes happen, they will fix it and you'll be fine. new cars are not perfection, they are barely used cars in 99% new shape with 0 miles.

 

here are the pics from my 2016 F12... they are from the rear fender grilles... the front bonnet grille shows no sign of any bubbles...this was a triple paint finish car...
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Thats upsetting. But, sometimes mistakes happen with building these cars and its good to see Ferrari is standing behind its product.

 

I had the same problem with my 2016 Jan F12. On both sides. First time went in and dealer did not get it right. Paint bubbles started again just weeks after been done. I complaint seriously and they said they had to order some parts from Italy (didn't say what it was) and got it done again. 6 months had passed so far so good. I heard there were a few of these cases in Hong Kong.

 

These pictures are confusing if dissimilar metal corrosion is the cause as was stated somewhere on here earlier. Looks like just poor prep before color coat. Not sure why it happened after repaint unless they did not go back down to bare metal. If it were due to galvanic corrosion then I think everywhere the mesh met the aluminum body you'd see bubbling.

 

This happened to my car as well. 2015 build with rosso berlinetta. Not as bad as the poster above but also same area. Really dissapointing and service said they had more examples of this occur.

 

Was the entire car repainted
Or just this area? Is it possible to properly match tripple layer paint?

 

How did they fix with this? Was half the car resprayed?

 

regarding the effected area, the Ferrari approved shop was able to blend the Triple coat paint back to original acceptance... I'm fairly critical when it comes to paint applications and there is no trace of blending the original with the correction... the shop did blend an area much larger then the area of concern. regarding the ' dissemble metals ' comment, that came from the owner of the restoration shop that did the repairs... he does this for a living and I suspect he knows what cause's the problem...

 

Thanks, did it involve painting the roof too as part of the area.

 

I'm just glad to hear its been resolved to your satisfaction.

 

Sad that toyota and plenty of other manufacturers can paint millions of cars and no paint bubbles yet the $400k F12 has these issues. The italians just don't seem to care and we keep on buying. I dont like the new corporate Ferrari, but maybe it will help with issues like this.

 

I looked closely at one car today with a similar paint issue. It seems that the mesh which has been bent into a curved shaped has some springiness to it which means it sits against the body panel and rub against its edge. Once the paint layer has been penetrated, there is metal-to-metal contact, resulting in galvanic corrosion. The front bonnet grill is set off from the body panel a bit more, so less chance of contact.

Don't know for sure, but perhaps worth checking the clearance.

 

I actually think we should consider the opposite point. How is it that Toyota, et al can make millions and millions of cars, and be so devoid of emotion, feeling, enjoyment? Don't they know how to do those simple things little Ferrari can do?

I think, some of this is simply what happens when you are a lower volume manufacturer. The critical thing is what Ferrari is doing about it. They are standing behind their product.

 

Saw a F12 at a ferrari dealer with the same problem

 

Opposite point... I'm not sure I understand your logic. Toyota is selling a car for $30k. Ferrari is charging $30k on an F12 just for a historical paint upgrade which bubbles. Their paint quality is TERRIBLE for what you pay and it's no excuse on a car that costs $400k. In fact I don't think I've ever seen a car with factory paint that bubbled. Fortunately for us Ferrari has some serious competition these days. McLaren and Porsche have upped their game and many owners are now buying these cars instead of the ferrari badge. Just compare the quality of the McLaren 720s to the 488.

 

You're really not a Ferrari guy who understands the issues that make the cars special.

The paint is great compared to when the whole body was 1/2" off on each side !

If you want a perfectly made, generic car, get a Porsche, or a Lexus.

 

I understand what makes the cars special. That's why I have 6 ferraris in the garage. I just don't find it acceptable to pay $400k for a car and have the paint bubbling. Not to mention sticky components, carbon fiber turning white/yellow, etc. At the prices we are paying, it wouldn't take much for the factory to do things the right way. They just don't care because all 10,000 of their allocations are always sold.

What I can tell you is having 6 f cars in the garage, and always being the ferrari guy, and rarely venturing out of the brand for another car... I opted to not buy a 488 and jumped ship to McLaren for the 720.

So call it what you like... not understanding, non believer, etc. I could care less about labels and titles. In my book, I'm tired of paying premium prices and having issues that aren't found in a car that costs $20k

 

Fair enough, you're over it. Do you really drive your cars hard? Or daily? Or are they investments mostly?

Certainly agree they don't care, as RACE has plenty of new money folks who want the bling, or allocation flippers. I'm not happy with the last 2 cars off the line for quality, but the quality is overall very high these days. The older cars are made to a lower QC standard than the current crop. Maybe those cars have you worn out, such that a paint issue on a car you don't own has you over the brand?

 

So this looks like only F12 issue or other f's has the same problem?