Strange Damage to PPF

[Plymothian]

I had my car fully wrapped in Xpel PPF straight from the dealership in 2018 (it was put on the back of a covered trailer from the dealership to a professional detailer that I've used for years).

Before Christmas, my car went in to my local Jaguar dealer under warranty for an annoying engine rattle (which I posted about previously). After nearly re-building the whole engine by hand, this seems to have been resolved. In fact, the engine sounds more growly than before.

However, whilst the car was in the dealership, the PPF developed these marks on the bonnet, but nowhere else on the car at all. I had ceramic sealant applied to the PPF only a few weeks before the car went in and there were no imperfections seen in the paint that I am aware of.

My detailer's opinion was that it looks like a caustic substance of some kind that was left on the PPF for long enough to cause the damage. The patterns of damage are certainly unusual and don't appear to have occurred naturally.

My local Jaguar dealer arranged another Xpel accredited detailer to remove the PPF and after doing so, the detailer found the paintwork was raised and suspects corrosion underneath the paint (there was no damage to the top layer at all). The car is still with the local Jaguar dealer and I am yet to inspect the raised paint.

My local dealership is still investigating and is getting a JLR-approved paint specialist to come and examine the paint and if it is corrosion under the paint, they'll look to make a warranty claim.

Personally, I struggle to see how corrosion under the paint could cause this effect on the PPF. So I'd welcome all views and opinions on the photos below!

[simpleR]

I'm sure there was another post, not long ago, with similar issues with damage under coating and PPF on aluminium panels?

[Jaguandy]

Presumably the bonnet was off for the engine work, the panel in front of the bonnet is OK. I would assume the bonnet was stashed against something or was spilt on. This could have occurred on both sides of the bonnet while stashed?

[Philskill]

If you had the PPF applied nearly 4 years ago, seems unlikely there is a problem from that, the ceramic coat is on the exterior so dont see how that could get under the PPF unless there were holes in the PPF for cleaning agents to get under, if the paint has raised then it is possible to be corrosion, and Alu does corrode white, but those shapes look more like a spillage or polish splatter than some areas of creeping corrosion.

Interested in what they find.

[Plymothian]

I was told the bonnet was up, but not off during the engine work, but I will clarify that.

The PPF has been on since September 2018 with no issues or problems at all and I have Gtechniq ceramic sealant re-applied annually. Even if there is corrosion underneath the paintwork, could that cause the PPF to discolour and raise? Given there is apparently no damage to the top layer of the paint and lacquer, I can't see how it would affect the PPF.

Unfortunately, the other detailer disposed of the PPF after removing it, so I can't have Xpel or my own detailer analyse it to establish the likely cause.

[Philskill]

I see so the PPF was discoloured, and there is raising of the paint!

Sounds like something caustic has been splashed and left. I doubt there is any corrosion.

[cj10jeeper]

I see so the PPF was discoloured, and there is raising of the paint!

Sounds like something caustic has been splashed and left. I doubt there is any corrosion.

Agreed - That’s where my thinking is. The marks look typical of splashing, not corrosion. I’d suspect something was accidentally splashed or over sprayed onto the PPF. To hypothesise something is splashed and although superficially wiped off or just left unnoticed, then it could have quickly penetrated the PPF and attacked the lacquer coat beneath, unbeknown to whoever did it..

[Plymothian]

I see so the PPF was discoloured, and there is raising of the paint!

Sounds like something caustic has been splashed and left. I doubt there is any corrosion.

Agreed - That’s where my thinking is. The marks look typical of splashing, not corrosion. I’d suspect something was accidentally splashed or over sprayed onto the PPF. To hypothesise something is splashed and although superficially wiped off or just left unnoticed, then it could have quickly penetrated the PPF and attacked the lacquer coat beneath, unbeknown to whoever did it..

That's my thinking too. I don't think anything was done maliciously, it's completely accidental. But at the moment, the dealership thinks it's a paint problem that should be covered under warranty, and therefore they may not be liable to replace the PPF.

I will be disappointed if they go down that road though. I was considering swapping my F-Type for a new F-Pace SVR...

[Plymothian]

Just for reference, this was my car a few weeks before it went into my local dealership.

The paintwork was spotless!

[CJSJAG]

There have been several recent posts on the US forum about paint damage from using "waterproof" covers.
The damage looks similar to yours. Apparently, the paint does not like to be subjected to moisture under a closed cover for even several days.
Either because the "waterproof" cover is not really waterproof or because temperature changes cause the car to sweat, moisture can be trapped against the paint causing the damage.