# Clear Coat Flaking Off Sun Roof



## mydogmandy (Jul 5, 2013)

2013 Beetle with sunroof, almost exactly 4.5 years old.
Earlier this month, 8-10 inch sections of clear coat began flaking off the plastic roof part that surrounds the glass on the panoramic sunroof.
Both sides, above the doors.

Dealership stated this was the 3rd or 4th 2013 Beetle they had seen with that issue. Anyone else experience this?

Thank you


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## Meet the Beetles (Aug 25, 2015)

Yes. It happened on my 2013 Beetle TDI, however I did not address the issue so I don’t know if there is a solution to it.


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## Achtball’s Dad (Nov 17, 2017)

Greetings,
I had the exact issue with my ?13 TDi and after a VWOA tech rep. looked at it with the service manager at the dealership, they agreed to replace the roof panel. The tech rep. stated that the black roof panels are plastic and they are not painted or clear coated, the color is molded into the plastic and the panel is adhesive bonded (glued on) to the roof structure. He also said mine was the very first one he?d seen that was flaking/peeling off. The dealership sent the car out to a contract body shop for the repair and it took over two weeks to get it back. The roof repair looks good, unfortunately they damaged the clear coat on the entire car, when they were grinding the old adhesive away and apparently neglected to mask/cover the car and embeded grinder particles all over my black car (looks like very fine whitish/silver overspray) and neither the dealership or bodyshop were able to mitigate the problem via claybar or buffing. My own paint and body guy tells me that this will lead to premature failure of my clearcoat and that I should try to get VWOA to agree to pay for having it re-cleared. If you get them to agree to repair/replace your roof...watch them like a hawk and make sure they mask/cover the entire car during the repair to avoid a problem like mine. I also know of at least one other owner who had their roof replaced due to this same issue (peeling) only to have the new panel come unbonded and blow off while driving down the freeway. Hope that you get a more favorable result than they or I did. Cheers. ??


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## mydogmandy (Jul 5, 2013)

Achtball’s Dad said:


> Greetings,
> I had the exact issue with my ?13 TDi and after a VWOA tech rep. looked at it with the service manager at the dealership, they agreed to replace the roof panel. The tech rep. stated that the black roof panels are plastic and they are not painted or clear coated, the color is molded into the plastic and the panel is adhesive bonded (glued on) to the roof structure. He also said mine was the very first one he?d seen that was flaking/peeling off. The dealership sent the car out to a contract body shop for the repair and it took over two weeks to get it back. The roof repair looks good, unfortunately they damaged the clear coat on the entire car, when they were grinding the old adhesive away and apparently neglected to mask/cover the car and embeded grinder particles all over my black car (looks like very fine whitish/silver overspray) and neither the dealership or bodyshop were able to mitigate the problem via claybar or buffing. My own paint and body guy tells me that this will lead to premature failure of my clearcoat and that I should try to get VWOA to agree to pay for having it re-cleared. If you get them to agree to repair/replace your roof...watch them like a hawk and make sure they mask/cover the entire car during the repair to avoid a problem like mine. I also know of at least one other owner who had their roof replaced due to this same issue (peeling) only to have the new panel come unbonded and blow off while driving down the freeway. Hope that you get a more favorable result than they or I did. Cheers. ??


Thank you for the heads up! Just curious - what was the mileage on your car when they agreed to the replacement? Was it still in the 3-36 or after?


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## Achtball’s Dad (Nov 17, 2017)

mydogmandy said:


> Thank you for the heads up! Just curious - what was the mileage on your car when they agreed to the replacement? Was it still in the 3-36 or after?


I was just inside of the 3/36k when I asked them to look at the problem and just out when they did the repair. 
I think that since this is a known issue with some of these cars with the pano roofs, you should push VWOA to
repair it for free,even if you’re past your warranty period. This failure is CLEARLY due to defective workmanship/manufacturing. Good luck for afavorable outcome!


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## mydogmandy (Jul 5, 2013)

*Update 12/04*

After a trip to the dealership so they could see that flaking off of the coating on my roof, the regional case manager offered 50% off the repair. After getting a quote from the dealership for over $900 for just the part, I declined the offer and wrote to the executive email to express my disappointment with the decision.
I received a call back, and they opened the case again with someone from the executive response team. 
After about 5 calls back and forth and another trip to the dealership so they could see it again, the executive response was the same - 50% off.
They never gave me a quote for labor to replace. The regional rep stated there was no one above her I could talk to - but obviously there is.
I do believe this is a know issue, and VW would rather just stay quiet about it and hope it happens outside the warranty period.
They said they were doing me a huge favor since it was "so far out of warranty" at 77,000 miles, but only 4.5 years old.

Also the service manager told me they look for 2 things - loyalty to the brand (2013 Beetle & 2011 Tiguan), and loyalty to the dealership (I do all my own oil changes, rotations, & other service). Since I do not pay $90+ for their oil changes I guess they won't "reward" me with fixing something they knew had issues?

Love my Beetle, but right now I still have 1 year left in the financing & the paint is falling off. AWESOME!
Next vehicle will be one where the paint stays on. Even my crappy GM cars I had got that part right!


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## mydogmandy (Jul 5, 2013)




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## Dr32Feelgood (Oct 3, 2007)

My wife's '13 Fender Beetle is doing the same exact thing, in pretty much the same spots as pictured above. It bothers me more than it does her, so I guess that's a good thing? She's also considering trading the Beetle in for a new Alltrack, so we shall see...


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## l2f (Oct 25, 2010)

*New Beetle Roof Finish Peeling Around Sunroof - Known Issue?*



mydogmandy said:


>


Apologies for resurrecting an old thread, but I think this is an issue that VW knows and is hiding from.

I have a 2013 Turbo Beetle, and am experiencing a near identical peeling of what appears to be the "clear coat" in the gloss black finish of the roof adjacent to the sunroof. It is striking how similar the peeling looks to the pictures posted above by "mydogmandy."

Similar to "Achtball's Dad's" experience, my local dealer explains that the panel is a composite material, with the color and finish integral to the panel. To fix it, they have to remove and replace the roof.

I called VW's Customer Care, and just got the total run around. From reading this post and others, this appears to be a defect that VW knows about, but is not acknowledging or doing anything to address. One should not have to replace the roof on a 6 year old car.

I would appreciate hearing from anyone else that has experienced this problem, or had any interaction with VW about it. I am inclined to push this issue if it truly is a deficiency known to VW. 

Thanks.


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## TragicallyHip (Jan 25, 2011)

l2f said:


> I would appreciate hearing from anyone else that has experienced this problem, or had any interaction with VW about it. I am inclined to push this issue if it truly is a deficiency known to VW.


Yup, same here on my 2012. And the panel is cracked in like 4 places. Per my comments in another thread, I'm getting the roof vinyl wrapped.

Cheers,
Dave


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## ribbit (Jun 4, 2012)

If it is just the surface pealing wrapping will make it as good or better. If done by a good pro you'll like the result. I know boaters who wrap their boats and have been happy with the results and you can imagine they take a lot more beating than a car.


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## MarkShane8585 (Jul 22, 2013)

to vinyl wrap the roof .. how much are we looking at???


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## TragicallyHip (Jan 25, 2011)

eleewhm said:


> to vinyl wrap the roof .. how much are we looking at???


I was quoted ~CDN$425 to do it in one piece. CDN$175 if I didn't mind a seam or two. That was just at one place. I still haven't got it done. The A/C in my Ford POS took an $700 dump this summer.


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## MarkShane8585 (Jul 22, 2013)

TragicallyHip said:


> I was quoted ~CDN$425 to do it in one piece. CDN$175 if I didn't mind a seam or two. That was just at one place. I still haven't got it done. The A/C in my Ford POS took an $700 dump this summer.



ok thanks... sorry to hear about ur Ford


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## cannondale0815 (Aug 22, 2016)

I just purchased a CPO 2014 Beetle TDI that also has this sun roof. It doesn't yet have this issue, but I'm wondering what the best way would be to prevent it from happening in the first place? Should I wax it like the rest of the car? 

Thanks
-J


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## l2f (Oct 25, 2010)

I am not confident that anything can be done to prevent it. Was recently at another dealership, and saw at least two of their preowned Beetles with the exact same issue. 
You can even read the forums on other VW models with this same roof, and it is happening to them as well. I bit the bullet, and had my roof repainted in the piano black. Was told that was the most permanent fix since the roof panel's original finish is faulty.


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## cannondale0815 (Aug 22, 2016)

l2f said:


> I am not confident that anything can be done to prevent it. Was recently at another dealership, and saw at least two of their preowned Beetles with the exact same issue.
> You can even read the forums on other VW models with this same roof, and it is happening to them as well. I bit the bullet, and had my roof repainted in the piano black. Was told that was the most permanent fix since the roof panel's original finish is faulty.


How much did you pay for that, if you don't mind me asking?


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## aaronjbeetle (Dec 13, 2019)

I worked at VW in the PNW, even with the 9/10 months without sunshine here, I saw this issue quite a bit. 

I would recommend a vinyl wrap, if it were my car. 

No pano on my beetle.


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## MattRabbit (Mar 16, 2000)

Our Beetle doesn't have a sunroof, but our Golf does, and it's showing the peeling clear on the surround as well. I'm trying to figure the best way to fix it, and I'm thinking of just taking it to my body guy and having him paint it. It would probably be cheaper and less invasive than having the dealer replace the part. Wrapping is also not out of the picture.


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## SteveSteve (Nov 1, 2021)

mydogmandy said:


> Thank you for the heads up! Just curious - what was the mileage on your car when they agreed to the replacement? Was it still in the 3-36 or after?


My Passat TDI R Line (2016) with only 65k km is also losing the clear coat and the panel has come unbonded at the passenger side front above the windscreen. Not good.


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