Spider web cracks on the back right rear?

[Steve R.]

Do any of you see spiderweb cracks on the paint job on the passenger side rear of your car? We just took it in to Chilton AutoBody (www.chiltonautobody.com) in San Carlos, CA and they are saying it's because of the soft cover top (which is rolled in its case and stored in the truck) is hitting the passengers side of the car from the inside and causing the cracks?
Is anyone seeing this problem?

Some history:
We got the 2005 Lotus Elise in July! Great car, unfortunately the next day we got into a fender bender with our neighbor as we both were backing out of the garage. It dented the car top and the entire top/read fender needed to be replaced, new seals put in, repainted, etc. Took it to Chilton AutoBody.

We got the car back 6 weeks later (took a long time to order parts from England). Everything looked great. Then after two weeks of driving, I noticed spider web cracks on same parts that were replaced and/or repainted. But the body shop is saying that it's not their fault, it's the the soft covered top on the inside of the truck that's causing the problems.

Any help/advice would be really appreciated!

[khamai]

Steve R.

Either is possible.

One of the things about composite body panels that are damaged is that often spider-webbing/cracks surface months later. It human nature to want to have the damage quickly repaired, but there's some merit to allowing the damage to "sit" for a few weeks and see what else might surface.

On the other hand, the top sliding around in the boot could cause such damage if allowed to "slam" into the inside of the boot. There's been cases of boot damage from other types of heavy/sharp objects carried there.

Kiyoshi
www.gglotus.org

[ewalberg]

its the responsability of the shop to add sufficient plasticiser to their paints (especially on panals that may flex like bumpers etcetera) to make sure the paint doesn't crack with movement. Shops cutting corner to save money don't always add it, or add too little becuase the stuff is expensive. Now if they used factory paint that has plasticizer already, i don't know, but...