Calling all Ice White owners

[christiaan]

I have just been outside giving the XC60 it's weekly clean and I couldn't help but notice that there is a slight variation in how "white" the car is between the bumpers and body panels.
Side panels and bonnet/boot..... very very white.
Front and rear bumpers.... slightly creamy white.

It is a very subtle difference so I doubt it would show up on pictures (if I took some to show you all), but I can clearly see it in normal daylight.

Has anyone else noticed this or should I be popping round to my local dealer?

[Brodick]

I think you will find a difference on most mass produced cars nowdays.
it is just with bumpers being plastic and the other panels being metal.

[christiaan]

I don't think it relates to the material that it is painted as I'm not sure all of the body panels are metal either.
Also I have an 8 month old Citroen C1 that was less than a 1/5 of the cost of the XC60 and all of it's panels are the same colour (also white!)

[madman1]

Christiaan, I similarly noticed this issue but only relative to the matt plastic parts of the car, i.e. the protective strip that runs down the doors and the lower parts at the front and side where the texture is grainy rather than smooth.

These areas started tolook grubby / discoloured no matter what I tried.

Brought some supposed special bumper care / cleaners, which seemed to make it worse. In the end I experimented with some autoglym super resin polish and got, what I think, were great results. Gently abrasive I guess (so I don't use that often, but don't find I need to) but it brought them back to bright White.

Hopefully that helps, if it's the gloss White platic parts that you're having problems with as well / instead then I haven't personally had any issues, just the matt parts as I indicate.

[christiaan]

Originally Posted by madman1

I similarly noticed this issue but only relative to the matt plastic parts of the car, i.e. the protective strip that runs down the doors and the lower parts at the front and side where the texture is grainy rather than smooth.

Sadly it is not just limited to those areas. Although I also find that a slightly stupid design. Thankfully I've got plenty of Autoglym SRP.
It is the whole front and rear bumper sections.
It looks worse on the front bumper and the colour difference is most noticeable between the bonnet and the bumper section that extends up around the DRL's

I think a visit to my local dealership to ask their opinion is in order.
Unfortunately they weren't the supplying dealer so I'm not sure how helpful they will be.

[irishcarfan]

Well, about 3 months ago I stood staring at the brand new Peugeot 508 for about 30 minutes. And the only thing I kept staring at was the difference in colour and finish between the wings and bumpers - which are a giant part of the 508...

It's one of those things that you don't really notice at first...but when you do notice, you can't stop staring at the difference. And searching for it on every car...

[rkennedy]

Originally Posted by christiaan

I have just been outside giving the XC60 it's weekly clean and I couldn't help but notice that there is a slight variation in how "white" the car is between the bumpers and body panels.
Side panels and bonnet/boot..... very very white.
Front and rear bumpers.... slightly creamy white.

It is a very subtle difference so I doubt it would show up on pictures (if I took some to show you all), but I can clearly see it in normal daylight.

Has anyone else noticed this or should I be popping round to my local dealer?

I also have this issue - not with the bumpers but with the fuel cap cover and the door handles. It's not a huge difference but you can see it. Decided I could live with it rather than have parts stripped off the car and there would be no guarantee it would be better.

[volvorocks]

Originally Posted by christiaan

I have just been outside giving the XC60 it's weekly clean and I couldn't help but notice that there is a slight variation in how "white" the car is between the bumpers and body panels.
Side panels and bonnet/boot..... very very white.
Front and rear bumpers.... slightly creamy white.

It is a very subtle difference so I doubt it would show up on pictures (if I took some to show you all), but I can clearly see it in normal daylight.

Has anyone else noticed this or should I be popping round to my local dealer?

Probably best to have a word with your dealer.

I believe the panels on XC60 are made of different materials ie the bonnet is aluminium and the bumpers a type of plastic and they may react differently when paint is applied. Ive seen quite a few cars that like someone has suggested with plastic trim items slightly different than the metal ones and it appears this is relatively widespread..However Ive had a white car and certain parts actually looked green. You could see a sort of greenish tint under the white. Really annoying it was.

If you look in the XC60 engine bay you may find that certain metal parts are not even body colour painted at all.Take a look in the boot of an s60 and paint is missing there as well.Fair enough it may only be noticed when one sticks their head right in the boot and looks up - although it does indicate cost cutting measures and reduces ones faith in a brand

Regards

[Mike 700]

Originally Posted by christiaan

I have just been outside giving the XC60 it's weekly clean and I couldn't help but notice that there is a slight variation in how "white" the car is between the bumpers and body panels.
Side panels and bonnet/boot..... very very white.
Front and rear bumpers.... slightly creamy white.

It is a very subtle difference so I doubt it would show up on pictures (if I took some to show you all), but I can clearly see it in normal daylight.

Has anyone else noticed this or should I be popping round to my local dealer?

" Should have gone ' COSMIC '. "

[stu0710]

As far as I'm aware, none of the 'plastic' parts on the XC60 R-Design are self coloured, ie they are all painted, so there should be no diffrence in colour between panels. Some of the lower door, sill and bumper mouldings are 'satin' finish on a textured platic. I am not certain how this finish is achieved as there is not satin touch up stick and when I had one of the mouldings replaced due to it warping, the dealer had to respray it several times to get the satin finish right. It is not just achieved by spraying the main car body colour over textured plastic as far as I know?