Subaru B9 Tribeca Paint Gold Paint Problems

tribeca_06

Ok so i have a 2006 Subaru B9 Tribeca and i love it, great car..but my problem is witth my exterior color. The color is champagne gold and it seems that the color is faded or has some strange color marks. These marks are lighter then the gold color, what could this be? Im thinking sun damage or maybe the paint is just screwed up?

kan3

I have the same car with the same problem. It's call "ghosting" and is an issue with the paint. I've gone back to my dealership and they are going to remove the clearcoat, buff out the paint and re-clearcoat. Hopefully that fixes the problem.

jerrys2

Have no been on the board for awhile. after seeing your messages, I checked my paint ... I have the same problem. I have had the Tribecca for 49 months, 42k love it.
Will dealer repair even though it is out of warantee

whitey14

Got in a big beef with the dealer today-essentially Subaru will cover half the cost of repainting (which is BS) I am in sales so put up big mileage-I had 84K when I brought it to their attention. Said that beacuse the car is out of warranty (due to mileage not age) thats all they are willing to do. I pointed out that the mileage had nothing to do with the paint-there was a flaw in the painting process and that it should be treated like a recall. He is supposed to be sending me an email with their offer in wrtitng-its taken me 5 months to get this far so dont hold your breadth!

tribeca_06

wow yeah so we calll got the same problem..i did some research..and all of you should join SB9T.com for great Tribeca issues and fans and what not, great site ! ok so back to paint, yeah im out of warranty too and have not gone to dealer yet..so they will only pay half..thats really screwed up, im planning to go to my dealer at the end of this month, well i might have some yelling and scene making to do then

whitey14

In fairness the dealer I brought it to is not the one I bought it from-I moved from CT to MA. I first brought my car in for them to look at it on 03/31, and have being going around and around ever since.

Its not like an insurance claim-they wont cut me a check for half the cost and leave it up to me to do it.They will only pay the body shop once its completed

I am contemplating parking my car beside the dealership with a huge sign...

Anyone have any other ideas?

3beca

Just bought an '06 B9 Tribeca that has gold paint issues. The vehicle is beyond the 36 month warranty but still under 36K ... discovered the link below that includes a recommendation to SOA from the New England Subaru Dealer's Association that SOA address gold paint defect even if Tribeca is out of warranty (not sure of SOA's response)... see www.snedcs.com/dcsmain/misc/NDABMay2009-3.doc.

I would also send letter to SOA if dealer/SOA persists on paying only half (SOA has already accounted for this issue in its warranty reserves, so there should be no $$$ pain to SOA let alone the dealer). And, you are right ... the paint issue has nothing to do with the mileage.

In my case (I am a new Subaru owner), I spoke to my new Subaru dealer re servicing issues and brought up the issue about the gold paint issue. The dealer immediately agreed to re-paint the car and provide me with a rental while it was being done (all at no cost to me).

tribeca_06

Whitey14, i heard in some forums that its better if you go to the dealer you got it from, since you moved..you could call them?

hahah that would be funny, for you sign.." Subaru Defective Paint Job"...make sure lol dealership is crowded with buyers ahha

tribeca_06

3Beca...you are soooo lucky, what dealer/where ya from?
thanks for that document ! I have yet to go to the dealer..but im learning alot of information on this..see paying half is a real pain in the wallet b/c its a $4,000 job so i have to pay $2,000? thats BULL. we shouldnt have to pay that..but i heard some dealers ( i guess like yous) are being very kind about it.

whitey14

would you mind reposting the link-its not opening for me

Thanks

3beca

http://www.snedcs.com/dcsmain/misc/NDABMay2009-3.doc

Also, Google: "ndab" "subaru"

This should take you to the document as well.

jerrys2

What dealer did you go to in Massachusetts?

tribeca_06

did you get urs repainted?

3beca

Dealer will get it in 2 weeks.

tribeca_06

ohh you talked to your dealer about the problem or just going in 2 weeks, im going to my dealer in about 2 weeks, to get this done

jerrys2

After discussing with Service Rep dealer said Subaru would pay half , I indicatred I was not happy with this ... Tribeca is my 4th Subaru. Service Mgr. at dealer called back next day and said they would cover the entire cost.

ateixeira

Cool, let us know how it turns out.

tribeca_06

good job, yet to go get mine done but i will play the loyal owner no more stories when i do go, and show anger as well, keep us posted!!!!!!!!!!!

jerrys2

Hello Juice! Don't have a date to drop it off yet, paint shop is busy. I'll let you know how it comes out. I am in no hurry, the important thing is they agreed to do it. Do you know if this problem is unique to the Tribeca? Glad to find you are still active on the board. Jerry

kan3

Haven't been on the board in awhile, I was the one who identified the problem as "ghosting". Anyway, thanks to whoever refered me to Subaru of America. I contacted them and they are taking care of the entire cost. I had to take my car to the local dealer, who took pictures and sent to SOA. My garage is billing directly to SOA. My car is out of warrently (3.5 years old), but only has 17,000. miles. My car is in the garage now, it's taking 2 weeks to complete. Everything had to be stripped (handles, interior of doors, bumpers, etc. They are repainting/re-clear coating the entire car (except for bumpers. Supposedly this won't happen to them given they are plastic).

tribeca_06

Jerry- Keep me posted!!!
Kan- thatts great, my B9 is at 58,00 i have to go to my dealer still to show the problem but i have talked to many people who have done and such even with being out of warranty, so all this is great back up, and wow i cant belive the stripped it like that, keep me posted!!

ateixeira

Don't rush them, in fact make sure they take their time, let that new paint bake properly.

kan3: may have been me, but who cares, the important thing is SoA stepped up. Glad to hear it.

tribeca_06

yea lucky they responded
Ateixeira..was urs repainted??

ateixeira

No, we have a Forester, it's been fine.

I've had other cars painted (Miata) and the job wasn't very thorough. They damaged some trim and forgot to replace a wheel hub that was scratched.

I calmly spoke to the supervisor, asked for a replacement trim piece (they tried to epoxy it back together), and the wheel hub cover, and told them to take their time.

When body shops rush the results show it.

tribeca_06

ohh, was there a a bad paint job on your mazda like the Tribeca b/c of the company or just age? Yea gotta be careful with auto shops

ateixeira

That poor car...

Being so small it was hit 3 or 4 different times. I had so many repainted panels that there were 5 shades of white on her.

The body shops that rushed would break trim pieces and forget things. One forgot a bolt that you could see in the door jamb, obvious stuff.

I just learned never to rush a body shop, in fact tell them to take their time and dot all the i's, cross all the t's.

tribeca_06

ohh wow. yea oyu gotta pick a good shop and make sure they take their time...hows your car now?

aaykay

The problem with re-painting the body is that when it comes time to sell/trade it, the purchaser will assume there was body work done on the car. The value will degrade with the paint job, IMHO.

Of course if you decide to keep it till the wheels fall off, then it does not matter anyway.

tribeca_06

yeah true you would have to tell the buyer about it i guess but you can tell them the hole story with all the backup information i got about this whole thing, but i just want it down b/c i cant stand the swirls and white marks.

aaykay

That depends on who the buyer is but a body re-painting *will* reduce the value of your vehicle. Even if you show them the backup information, it will still not prove that there was other work done on it and this was used to cover it up.

Bottomline, in the used car market, people are VERY leery and even a hint of a problem will cause them to either low-ball for a significant discount or just walk away to an example which does not have such a history.

Also, a body repainting, however well or expertly done, can be detected by people experienced in such things, in 2 seconds. I personally was amazed when the people at a dealership detected a small re-painting on some body panels on a car I sold over 10 years back, even though the work was professionally done and the car bought back to the pre-accident status (I personally could not detect the re-painting, even though I knew the precise location of where it was done).

tribeca_06

true, true. I plan on keeping the car long anyway and when i do sell it will prob have other problems then new paint. I cant stand the way it looks now and so it has to be done so if i get Subaru to pay for the damage with little hassle has then that woudld be amazing! By the way, did you have yours done, or?

aaykay

Actually I just bought a new 09 SE 7-passenger Tribeca (less than a week old) but comes with the newer "Harvest Gold" than the "Champagne Gold" mentioned at the beginning of this thread.

I have not heard of any "Harvest Gold" paint issues yet.

PS: Yes, if you are keeping it for a while then a re-painting will not have any significant material effect on the car's value, since depreciation will have a much larger effect. I agree.

ateixeira

I sold it earlier this year. It was a 93 which I had bought used.

Mazda's Crystal White was a color known for peeling paint, so repainting wasn't all that bad, I suppose.

I now have a 2008 Miata in a dark blue and that color scratches too easily.

tribeca_06

yea there are no problems with the harvest which came out in 07, and yeah i mean its better then what it is now and when i sell prob gonna keep it long, they buyer wont even notice. Bright side after i get them to pay..which can be easy or hard, (fun!) the car will look brand new and they will pay for the damage ! BTW hows ur backseat..does it make annoying noises..rattles? Also if you havent heard of Sb9t.com...great Tribeca only site..really helpfull..thats how i found out about the paint defect.

Subaru paint scratches easily too..hate their paint lol

aaykay

No backseat rattles or noises - yet. A few rattles over time is par for the course in such vehicles I guess, but if it becomes truly annoying and numerous, then the engineering of the vehicle will be to blame.

I did a quick "drive-by" through sb9t and will be becoming a member shortly. Thanks for the heads-up.

jerrys2

I will drop the car off at the dealers body shop on 10/19. Manager advises it will take 5 to 10 working days. As indicated the Tribeca is over 59 months old with 45k. Subaru is taking care of the situation no questions asked. What a credit to them. This is my forth and the eighth in my family. Needless to say I will be looking for another Tribeca in about 2 years.

Jerry

tribeca_06

ohh so they are taking yours with no problems? thats great even over the warranty with 45k? thats lucky! Usally they give you problems

npp

jerrys2

ooops . . . its over 50 months old, delivered July '05

tribeca_06

whats does it matter how old it is???

tribeca_06

with months..?

jerrys2

I feel it is a credit to Subaru to take care of this situation on a four year old car. Don't know how many other companies would ...

tribeca_06

but then again it was their factory defect and the costumer who spent good money on the car new or even used but the seem to favor people who bought it new and service the car with subaru dealers; and they should pay for the damage and take full responsibility, but your right i bet alot of car companies would be like F off..so i guess gotta give them some credit but I myself i have yet to officailly deal with the problem so i cant really say..

ateixeira

The reason it's a little unusual is because people normally would complain about it and demand a repaint in the first year. Heck, the first month, even.

tribeca_06

True, and people did, depending on how the defective paint settled. On the website i joined Sb9t.com, many people noticed it however my car it wasnt noticable until a few months ago and now its really bad and when i started my research on it around August this year i figure out what it was, at first i thouight it was my fault so i was like of just F me..but i was wrong thank god..so thats why me and others are just finally doing something about it

kan3

My understanding is that average age for the defective paint to show up is around the 3 year mark (this came from SOA themselves). So, that explains why these cars are 3+ years old before owners are acting on it. My car was 3.5 years old when the "ghosting" started. The first time I noticed it, it was the back quarterpanel...within 90 days it was the whole car. The paint looked perfectly fine up to that point. My car was just redone, I'm picking it up today, it was totally repainted...crossing my fingers it looks good. SOA covered it all.

tribeca_06

yeah, so did you get it repainted??

jerrys2

Thanks for the update. Please let us know how it looks. Mine goes in Monday AM. They indicated it should take 5 to 10 working days. I plan to stop by during this time to take pictures of the work in progress. I will post if I can figure out how to do it.

Jerry

tribeca_06

yes! and goood luck! and for the photos you can post theme on this site called Photobucket and save them in a file or your profile..i guess you call it..and post the link. again good luck!

jerrys2

Dropped Tribecca off yesterday. First class body shop, the dealer has several franchises and it serves them all. They will field strip (military term) exterior, fix any dents and dings (I only had a few), repaint everthing including bumpers. They were working on one and was in it its disasembled state with first coat of primer applied to body.I was impressed! Will take some pictures of work in progress and post .

tribeca_06

good luck! sounds great, let us know everything about it!

jerrys2

Went to the body shop today, body has been repainted, external stuff still off. Took pics, have them on my computer but don't know how to post. If someome provides step by step instructions I will give it a shot.