Poll for Those with Paint Blistering / Bubbling Defect

[ADC]

Same here. Had the car for just over a year, fine so far, but of all the Emira defects reported this is the one which would bother me the most. I noticed yesterday that the Lotus extended warranty specifically excludes paint or bodywork defects, so if any of us get these blisters after 3 years we are screwed.

Yeah, this definitely troubles me the most out of all possible issues...

I would bet that these are weather/country dependent, also depends if it’s stored outside or inside. It’s a matter of time, eventually they will appear if the panel has a defect.

... and this is why it troubles me. It blows my mind that leaving your car out in the rain could increase the chances of such a nasty issue. I'm actually starting to think it might be better to leave the car outside for the first year, just to try and force any lurking defective panels to show themselves within warranty.

 

[Wonza]

Yeah, this definitely troubles me the most out of all possible issues...


... and this is why it troubles me. It blows my mind that leaving your car out in the rain could increase the chances of such a nasty issue. I'm actually starting to think it might be better to leave the car outside for the first year, just to try and force any lurking defective panels to show themselves within warranty.

Mine was one of the first ones to have this issue. I live in a town where it rains most of the year and the car lives outside on the drive way.

 

[Go Kart]

I read somewhere that maybe the panels weren’t cured or dried enough during manufacture, and maybe should be left to cure longer… but I don’t think that’s it at all. You could probably bake these panels for months and still have this issue later.

I suspect this is caused by water inside the door, even if only a tiny bit, then the door absorbs it into it’s unpainted surfaces… after warm/cold day fluctuations the water evaporates and tries to escape wherever it can in a gas form. Causing the bubbling on the painted side if it can’t escape any other way. I wonder if leaving the windows rolled down on a hot day would help the water evaporate out 🤔

These are basically fiberglass/plastic panels, correct? Maybe not enough epoxy in the door panels at the time of manufacture created a porous panel, or maybe certain panels have micro cracks or minor damage from handling that allows water to soak in, then weep out later. Water always looks for a weak point and will find its way in. It is insidious, then progressively gets worse if you don’t notice the water damage right away.

 

[ADC]

I read somewhere that maybe the panels weren’t cured or dried enough during manufacture, and maybe should be left to cure longer… but I don’t think that’s it at all. You could probably bake these panels for months and still have this issue later.

I suspect this is caused by water inside the door, even if only a tiny bit, then the door absorbs it into it’s unpainted surfaces… after warm/cold day fluctuations the water evaporates and tries to escape wherever it can in a gas form. Causing the bubbling on the painted side if it can’t escape any other way. I wonder if leaving the windows rolled down on a hot day would help the water evaporate out 🤔

These are basically fiberglass/plastic panels, correct? Maybe not enough epoxy in the door panels at the time of manufacture created a porous panel, or maybe certain panels have micro cracks or minor damage from handling that allows water to soak in, then weep out later. Water always looks for a weak point and will find its way in. It is insidious, then progressively gets worse if you don’t notice the water damage right away.

Following this train of thought, and besides keeping the drain holes clear (or drilling more!), I wonder if sploshing something around inside to seal/waterproof the inner skins of the doors would help 🤔

 

[Go Kart]

Following this train of thought, and besides keeping the drain holes clear (or drilling more!), I wonder if sploshing something around inside to seal/waterproof the inner skins of the doors would help 🤔

An aerosol spray may work better for this purpose. I think whatever waterproofer you’d have to use would need to coat ALL unpainted surfaces within the door. Otherwise, it’s possible some water will evaporate, can’t find its way out as a gas, then turns back into a liquid as condensate when temps cool. This could then absorb into the upper part of the unpainted door. After baking the door in the sun for a couple days, if you could basically set off a waterproof aerosol grenade in the door that would be ideal imo.

If you notice, most of these paint blisters occur at the top of the doors (or other panels) where I suspect the water is trying to escape in gas form. When it can’t, it ends up blowing bubbles in the paint from heated air pressure at the top of the door.

My opinions anyway 🤷🏽‍♂️

 

[Go Kart]

Any sort of waterproofing measures would need all of this taken out along with the glass. Not sure if the composite door panel is glued together or not, but doing this type of thing wouldn’t be for the faint of heart.

 

[Green]

I love how people are talking about sloshing around water proofing in the interior door panels of their 100k car like it’s okay 🤔

 

[ADC]

I love how people are talking about sloshing around water proofing in the interior door panels of their 100k car like it’s okay 🤔

Don't mistake "being ok with this" with "trying to make the situation less shit" 😅 .... I am definitely not thrilled about this, but be damned if I'm not still smitten with this car. Tragic, I know.

 

[Nick in Sydney]

maybe certain panels have micro cracks or minor damage from handling

This. Teijin Automotive was chosen as the panel manufacturer because they had a resin formula that uses less Calcium Carbonate. Lotus hoped this would prevent micro cracks that cause paint pops and blistering.

Teijin Automotive Technologies’ Ultra Lite technology uses proprietary, treated glass bubbles to replace some of the CaCO3, allowing the resin to adhere to the matrix and increase the interfacial strength between the bubble and the resin. This treatment technology results in a more robust resin mix making molded parts more resistant to handling damage, preventing micro-cracks that cause paint pops, pits and blistering, and improving paint adhesion and bonding characteristics.