Roof Rack Paint Damage

[Iboc_C64]

Took off the Thule Roof Racks yesterday, found that the footings to the wind guard ate right through the paint on my roof. All the way to primer in one spot, I'm not impressed Thule, the product should come with warnings printed clearly on it. Arrggh.

 

[Carter]

Pics?

 

[Nigel Prodrive]

how long was the rack and fairing on there?

sometimes it seems like the rack mfrs don't expect users to keep racks on the car for extended periods. I worked at sports shops for several years and mounted many rack systems. saw lots of paint damage, primarily from rack feet but some from fairings as well. lots of damage from flapping parts of stuff tied onto the racks--ski straps, bike pedal straps etc. how could ppl NOT hear that stuff whackin around on the roof, and even worse how could they not DO something about it?

a wind deflector/fairing sees lots of buffeting at speed. I think they cause more problems than they solve.

 

[Iboc_C64]

Yeah, I got the rack used about 2 months ago. It was on there for around 6000 miles. It ate through the paint clear down to primer on one footing. It seems like they expect you to remove the rack the second you aren't using it. I WONT put the air damn, wind shield think back on my car ever. No damage from the footings or straps at all. I have 4 rectangular sandpaper marks on my roof, one that clearly has a GREY spot the size of my pinky nail. I will try to get some pics tonight.

 

[i-wagon]

That's no good. My wind deflector scratched my clear coat a bit from the rubber mount chafing at high speed, and that has the super cushy rubber yakima packaged it with

 

[drvsdwz]

Yeah, I'll be buying the subaru brand this coming fall, I just like how it mounts on our cars.

 

[Iboc_C64]

To be clear, the racks were great. Its just the d@mn wind deflector. The guy I bought it from also never took the white plastic backing off of it when he put it together and once its together it wont come off, so it pulled away from the surface and cause the whole thing to vibrate.

 

[Nigel Prodrive]

...just the d@mn wind deflector. The guy I bought it from also never took the white plastic backing off of it when he put it together and once its together it wont come off, so it pulled away from the surface and cause the whole thing to vibrate.

hard lesson learnt. those wind deflectors sound like a great idea "SAVE GAS!! Go Aero!!" but there's a lotta variables as to how well they work vs how well they vibrate and eat paint.

souinds like the plastic backing made things worse in this case, well at least now you will get some experience in touch-up paint work.

 

[Iboc_C64]

Ok guys, here are some pics? What do you guys think the odds are of getting Thule to pay for repair since I saw no warnings on the product? Probably slim to none right?

This pics aren't very good but its the best I can do. You can sorta see the scuffs in the over all picture of the car right above the heads of the driver and front passenger.

 

[2point5RS_Dan]

If it were me and my car, I'd move on and deal with it.

 

[Iboc_C64]

That is probably what I will do. I have grown more fond of driving this car than cleaning it anyway. I intend to drive it to death ultimately so even though it pains me to see scrapes like that, the rest of the paint is getting pretty marred from the heavy gravel that Chesterville and Fayette use on the winter roads. The crunchy snow also got to the paint some, scratches all around the rear passenger door. A few large paint chips out of the front of the hood and around the scoop. Stuff like these following pics can be found all around the car here and there. She aint new no more that's for sure, ARGH!

 

[GClark]

Welcome to Subaru paint. It sucks.

 

[Iboc_C64]

Ok, so a few dabs of rubbing compound, a wet terry cloth & scrub, then polishing compound & scrub, then lightly abraid aread of missing paint with ever so light a touch of sandpaper then a dab of touch up paint... Now I just need to wait until tomorrow when I will have time to cut down the touch up paint and polish it level with the surrounding paint. Judging by the past couple hours of elbow grease, it looks like for the most parts the scuffs will be unnoticeable unless I show them to people. The only remnant is the spot of touchup paint and the waves in the paint from where it was worn down deep. Only time will tell, but it looks good so far.

 

[Carter]

Welcome to Subaru paint. It sucks.

So does your mom, and in a good way

 

[Iboc_C64]

 

[Nigel Prodrive]

Ok guys, here are some pics? What do you guys think the odds are of getting Thule to pay for repair since I saw no warnings on the product?

Zero, slim, none, nada.

 

[Iboc_C64]

Its doesn't really matter. It looked worse than it was. I could lose that much paint from a rock anyway. I polished out the scratches and filled the worn paint with OBP Subaru brand touch up paint. It will need to polish and wax one more time but I will live.