Paint chips easily

[jshaf]

here is my take, I have several little chips on my driver side gill area, but not on the passanger side gill area. just put 20 polished OEM wheels on my 1LT camaro and the first year I ran only the aluminium OEM 18's and never noticed the chips at the driver side gill area. I have to assume that it is either the low profile wheels kicking up extra gravel or the rocks are coming from traffic coming in the opposite direction when I am driving on the two lane roads in my area. only having them on the drivers side makes me think it is the later! only thing that makes sense IMO

[NicksVSix]

Originally Posted by Dragoneye

This is the same paint that goes on every car or truck that ships out of the Oshawa Assembly plant. It has passed GM's internal (and very rigorous) validation tests: there is not problem with the PAINT...Of course it is water-based, and not as durable as the nasty coatings of the past -- but ALL manufacturers use this kind of paint now.

The shape of the Camaro's body work makes the vehicle vulnerable to paint chips and "road rash". It has many flat leading surfaces that are like a swinging a paddle through the air instead of a baseball bat.

Plus, streets are not nearly as clean as you may think, and if you drive behind a truck on the highway -- forgetaboutit. When sharp debris or chemicals hit the fascia at 50+ mph, it's going to hit hard. This is true for all cars, and it depends entirely on how and where you drive it.

That said, for as many people WITH issues...there are just as many WITHOUT, who still have a beautiful car. Some of the folks on the Camaro team, highly recommend having a 'clear bra' protective vinyl coating applied to sensitive areas on the vehicle (and I completely agree)

Chevy/The Camaro team has definitely heard these complaints, and from what I've heard, they're working very hard on a solution...but it's the design of the car that's exacerbating the regular wear and tear, and there's very little they can do to "solve" the problem.


EDIT: However, if for some reason you've got chips the size of quarters in your paint. This is not normal, please get it check out.

I'm sure there's some validity to what you're saying, but I don't buy it.
I mean, it makes sense for the areas of the car you're talking about, but I don't have *any* stone chips in those areas. I *do* have stone chips in other areas thatr shouldn't be prone to them due to their position and angle.
4 on the hood
1 on passenger side
6-7 on drivers side (3-4 on the gill area)
Count'em up, 11-12 stone chips on a 9 month old car with 8,500 miles on it. These are all areas that should easily resistant stone chips due to their position and angle.
My 2004 Alero didn't have half this number of stone chips when I traded it in for the Camaro last year. A 6 year old car with over 60,000 miles on it has 3-4 stone chips in it and a 9 month old car with 8,500 miles has 12. Something's wrong here. It's unacceptable that GM isn't doing something about it if they are aware of it.

I love this car to death, but I'm really disappointed with the quality of the paint.

[el ess A]

Paint isn't falling off the car, but it sure is paint chip prone. This is fact. Don't care what the reason is, that is of no consequence. It's as if some folks somehow want to blame the customer for their paint getting pinged to death. Unless you're tail-gating a sand truck, there shouldn't be a pock mark appear seemingly every time you drive it.

That said, if the car is driven, the car will be at risk for chips. No matter what the car. Paint is not a protecto-shield on any car. Angularity of the panels don't help the fact that the paint simply isn't as durable as many would like. 6700 miles in 18 months here and it's not horrible, but there's a few chips on the car already that is the worst I've ever had on a vehicle this new.

[mikel441]

Originally Posted by NicksVSix

I love this car to death, but I'm really disappointed with the quality of the paint.

[Sunlover]

It isn't just GM we should be complaining to...we should be complaining to our Congressmen, Senators, the President and the friggin EPA about this water-based dreck they are are forcing everybody to use that they "claim" is paint. If we had real paint on these cars, it wouldn't chip nearly as easily.

[Forearms]

I just noticed some paint damage on the bottom half of the driver's side door. I don't know how I missed it when I picked it up - unless it just hadn't "surfaced".

The reason I say "surfaced" is because the paint isn't dented or chipped, but slightly raised and bubbled. Behind it are a couple dark marks that appear to be below the clearcoat (my fingernail glides across the surface of the blemish without catching).

I'll be taking it to the dealership for a look see tomorrow or this weekend.

[D Day Dog]

I've noticed a bubble spot of paint on the roof of mine. Not much more than a 1/2"-3/4" across so I'm not that concerned about it as it would take them a lot to fix it and my experience with these guys are I take it to them to buff out scratches and they put more on it that I have to buff out by hand.

Let us know how it works out for you.

Dog

[Forearms]

Below are a couple pics of the blemish (Warning: the pics are big if you click on the option to see the full size).

I stopped by the dealership today as it was bugging the piss out of me. Spoke with one of the Service Advisors who confirmed it does look like it's a factory defect as the paint is pushed out on one end of the blemish (closest to the camera/left), and below the clear coat on the far end (furthest from the camera/right). He advised me to call and talk to the Service Manager tomorrow to arrange for him to look at the defect and figure out a game plan for fixing it up.

I hope they fix it properly, which would mean repainting the entire door. The sales guy had mentioned they had a relationship with a superb body shop, so I hope they take good care of my baby if it comes to that.

I'll post another update once I get a chance to chat with the Service Manager.

Oh, and I apologize for the dirt in these close-ups... we've had a bit of rain here in the Seattle area this last week and I haven't had a chance to wash it a second time in ~400 miles.

[Forearms]

Spoke with the Service Manager @ my dealership. Found out he's somewhat of a paint expert, and he quickly confirmed that I'm not crazy - the door doesn't appear to have been cleaned properly at the factory before painting.

I'm scheduled to drop off the car tomorrow morning (Monday), and they'll get it over to a body shop to be fixed up. He says they do excellent paint work, which I'm hoping is completely true as I understand metallic paints are hard to match.

I'll post another update later this week.

[texcraig]

Originally Posted by skar

They must help... But before I order some I have to see a car with them on.

Here is one with Quarter Flares.

[Forearms]

Update: Picked up the car yesterday, and it appears they did a great job!

[Mr. Wyndham]

Originally Posted by Forearms

Update: Picked up the car yesterday, and it appears they did a great job!

Good to hear, thanks for the update!!

[DEANGE2001]

It may be too late to chime in, but I think since mid 2000's (05 or 07) the paint has changed (no more lead...yay) but as a result the integrity of the paint has dropped off dramatically.

Basically there is nothing we can do, it isnt just GM cars or just 5th gen camaros...it is all cars because apparently the whole world is concerned about going green.....

That being said, the base metal gets dipped in some kind of solution to help prevent rusting....kind of bitter sweet i know.

[Orange5thGen]

Well my 2008 Acadia has over 60K miles on it and the paint has no chips! How can my Camaro have chips everywhere? I thought they were going to change paint to the Cadi type? Have the changed anything?