36 replies to this topic

[techieboy]

Best thing is to not buy one, then you won't spend every waking moment waiting for it to bubble.

[NormantheDog]

I worry in my sleep as well.

[ben922]

Best thing is to not buy one, then you won't spend every waking moment waiting for it to bubble.

haha im half glad mine has started to bubble slightly, that way the anticipation is now over

[Graeme Lambert]

Best thing is to not buy one, then you won't spend every waking moment waiting for it to bubble.

That's not even funny...

G

[LazyDonkey]

If you're the sort of person who's going to be seriously annoyed / worried by bubbles that the VX isn't for you. It demands a certain sense of humour and my opinion would be that anyone with polishers OCD is going to get seriously wound up. Not a bad thing and not a critisism, but these cars require a lot more love and money to ensure that they stay showroom fresh. Best not to worry and just thrash the tits off it

[Pidgeon]

Norman, if you're a worrier, perhaps a handbuilt British sportscar isn't for you? I've had four VXs, only one has shown any evidence of paint bubbling and that is hardly noticeable. In general, these are robust little cars, capable of being entirely self maintained at remarkably low cost. They will not however match the build quality and engineering integrity of a Honda.

[mbes2]

If you're the sort of person who's going to be seriously annoyed / worried by bubbles that the VX isn't for you. It demands a certain sense of humour and my opinion would be that anyone with polishers OCD is going to get seriously wound up.

Not a bad thing and not a critisism, but these cars require a lot more love and money to ensure that they stay showroom fresh. Best not to worry and just thrash the tits off it

Good comment... use the car... have fun... mines got bubbles around the eng cover, for the cost to get it fix, and then the worry of it coming back.. no longer bothers me...

[Harry Hornet]

metal cars rust, plastic cars bubble all cars are to be driven and not looked at....IMO..enjoy the thrill, there are many other cars around that will give you this

[Deadlysub]

Mine showed signs this morning of bubbling, I thought I was one of the lucky few not to get them. Mine is nine years old and it's the first time it's bubbled. I think they will all do it in certain conditions

[NDT]

Same here. I've had mine since Nov 2011. First bubbles appeared 3 weeks ago on rear clam. Car is kept outside and ironically some more bubbles appeared under the blanket I'd put on to keep the frost off.... It's obviously partly temperature related but it's funny that nothing happened last winter when it was even colder??? I was going to buy a decent cover but it sounds like that might not help that much?

[JG]

If you're the sort of person who's going to be seriously annoyed / worried by bubbles that the VX isn't for you. It demands a certain sense of humour and my opinion would be that anyone with polishers OCD is going to get seriously wound up.

Not a bad thing and not a critisism, but these cars require a lot more love and money to ensure that they stay showroom fresh. Best not to worry and just thrash the tits off it

I don't have a single bubble, and i did, it would go into the body shop for a full respray.

You don't need to worry about it, just know that it may happen and that is may cost a few quid to fix it.

[Stik]

Two of the places i have been to recently while looking to fix mine have said that keeping it under a non-porous cover makes this problem worse as it helps trap humidity close to the body

[Claws]

I have an early NA, so I don't have any paint bubbling issues* *the paint is bubbling on my car, but it's not an issue

[MWS]

Mine has loads of osmosis going on around the boot lid. No blistering yet so i'm not overly bothered but as soon as it blisters, it's getting seen to!

[petrolhead1]

I have just posted a load of pictures on my Facebook page of my 13 yr old VX which has had bubbling issues since it was about 3 yrs old. It went back to Vauxhall after about 3 yrs for a respray under warranty. Up to now it has always been kept out doors. I now have a garage so I am prepared to invest in a full treatment to try to fix the problem. As I understand it the issue is deep inside the fibreglass layers and stems from poor QC during manufacture of the panels. There are voids which have been there since the panels were made. These voids have attracted a chemical soup which eventually causes eruptions on the surface often sparked by exposure to cold weather. The liquid seeps through the gel coat and eventually causes the paint to bubble and burst leaving white patches of exposed gel coat. I am hoping that drilling out the gel coat and going through into the grp layers to find the voids and cook them to dry them and then fill them will hopefully cure the problem for the medium to long term. Once that is done I hope it will be worth having a full respray.

[Tibbles Stryker]

If your keeping it in a garage going forward I'd just get it filled, sanded and painted. Should be good as new and stay that way. You could end up turning your car into a cullender and reduce the strength of your already fragile body panels.

[aceron7]

If you're decided to paint them, remember that prep is the key to obtain the best possible result.