GM bulletin on Perceived Paint Mismatch on Door and Quarter Panel Paint Appearance
 

Service Information

Document ID: 2346049

#09-08-51-004: Information on Door and Quarter Panel Paint Appearance - (Sep 10, 2009)

Subject: Information on Door and Quarter Panel Paint Appearance
Models: 2010 Chevrolet Camaro



On the 2010 Camaro, the shade of paint on the doors may appear to be different than the shade of paint on the quarter panels. This appearance varies in severity based on different viewing angles and light conditions. This perception is more apparent with certain colors. Use this bulletin to help the customer understand the design of their vehicle.

Paint Process

At the time of vehicle manufacture, the complete sheet metal body of the car is painted at the same time (the body, hood, decklid and doors). The panels (doors, hood and decklid) are attached to the vehicle and in the proper position when it goes through the plant paint process. All of the panels receive the undercoat layers and top coat finishes using the same material, application process and final bake process. This continuity of process ensures a uniform paint application to the entire vehicle. The result of this extensive process is a seamless paint match over the entire vehicle. The only major exterior panels that do not get painted during this process are the bumper fascias. The bumper fascias receive a flexible paint application using a unique process. All of the paint used in the paint process is matched to a paint color standard, ensuring that the colors are consistent from batch to batch. This color standard also ensures consistency from vehicle to vehicle.

Vehicle Design

On the Camaro, the door to quarter panel angle match is the design intent. The geometry of the quarter panel provides a sporty definition and highlights the depth of the design. It is intended to show the color variation created by angling the body panels a few degrees.

Addressing Customer Concerns

Use the following photographs and descriptions to demonstrate to the vehicle owner that what they are seeing on their vehicle is not a color mis-match, but a intended design feature.


Attachment 55559


This first photograph shows a paint test panel finished in "Wildfire" metallic. The white arrow points to the paint "standard". This is the paint sample used to ensure color consistency.


Attachment 55560


This photograph shows the same paint test panel with a slight crease in the center, creating an angle in the panel similar to the Camaro door to quarter panel relationship. The finish on the right side of the panel has "shifted", creating a different hue of the same color. Note the arrow shows the paint standard on the left side of the paint test panel in the same position as the first photograph.


Attachment 55561


This final photograph shows the same paint test panel described in the second photograph. In this photograph, the arrow points to the same paint "standard" used in the first two photographs but it has been repositioned to the right side of the paint test panel. Note the paint "standard" has shifted along with the finish on the paint test panel.

** Official Bulletin Document attached **

Nice bulletin. But what's GM gonna do about the percieved mismatch between the metal panels and the plastic nose cone and gas cap on the metallic colors...

Apparently not much..

Even though the paint is mixed exactly, painting plastic vs metal will make a difference hue color. My 08 Buick (white pearl color) has this problem. Very hard to match, if possible? From a excellant Paint/Body Shop that paints Lexus Cars too. They (Lexus) don't seem to have this problem but probably has the best paint job out there. My thoughts. Gene

my hood and frontplastic hood surround are two tone on a cloudy day...

The color match "problem" at the rear edge of the door to the 1/4 is caused by the metallics and pearls reflecting the light differently since the two panels are at slightly different angles. This is what we in the auto refinishing world call "flop". All the repainting in the world won't cure it, just change it slightly.

I am not sure how the plastic is refinished on the Camaro but most manufactures do it separately due to the high temps used in curing. Some have a better process than others. It can fluctuate from car to car. If you have a bad match at the front facia (bumper cover) to the fenders and hood the only way for a seamless match is to reshoot the cover and blend into the a- joining panels.

Trust me it's what I do for a living.:)

Did you ever get any answers on this. I posted the exact same problem on my summit white car, but never got any real answers. Thanks.

Good post. Thanks.

So in ceratin light the car looks like 3 different shades...hood and front plastic nose do not match and door and panels do not match...gotta love progress?

Love the car however....

:word:
Sounds like you know what you are talking about for sure:thumbup:

Hi! I have a summit white camaro 2ss rs with the halo's etc. My question is has anybody noticed on their cars the paint is not finished on the inside corners and underneath where the halo's hid lights are mounted? I am talking about the area up underneath in the corners where the lights are recessed where the lights are recessed and it's not even glossy, you can actually see the primer coat with a bit of white paint spray! Any notice this too and if so is it normal as you can see there is no paint there up close!

Some other people here have posted that they have the same issue (almost no paint in those areas around the headlights).

I heard some of those Found On Road Dead guys have similar issues under the hood. If they remove the hood liner on their little ponies, all they see is primer and some overspray. Looks like Detroit is getting cheap all around!!

My summit white camaro is two tone for sure. This is getting so annoying, that i'm taking it back to dealer and ask what they can do about it. I understand the problem matching plastic and metal parts but c'mon mine looks like crap IMO. Anyone with summit white with same problem?

Yes mine is the same way, the front cover. rear cover and spoiler all look a shade darker. What can we do???

Nothing. We live with it, I think. It's a "feature" with Summit Whites. You guys didn't see the 'Two-Tone Paint Job' on the Car Sticker? :laugh:

In thirty years when we are selling our 2010 Summit White Camaro's at Mecums Auctions will they say: "Oh look Vince, its another white 2010 Camaro that has the mismatched paint, too bad that knocks the value down 50%" or "Oh look Vince, its a white 2010 Camaro and it still has the mismatched paint that was typical of that year. Definitely the original paint, that car is a ten."

Yeah, it bugs me too. It hasn't bothered me enough to do something about it, yet. I might swap out the fuel door, that is the most obvious to me.

My fuel door matches for some odd reason.

The mismatch is most pronounced in certain light. I think the fuel door seems to stick out more because it is surrounded by the quarter panel. I suppose I should see about ordering a new one from my dealer.

I don`t know guys , mine all matches perfectly, mine was built in February.

Nice to hear, that other fellow summit white owners are having same problems. I agree, fuel door is the worst, like light yellow against white. See what the dealer says, when i go there.

The first day I brought my Summit White SS home my neighbor came over to look at it and the first words out of his mouth were "Did you notice the front facia is a different color white". Until he pointed it out I had not noticed but I do see it now. The facia is a yellowish white. What the hell, I still love my car.:iono:

Guys,
I have a 2011 Summit White. Haven't noticed any of the issues you all are talking about but haven't looked all that closely I guess. I will check it out tonight and report what I find.

I could tell right away that the summit white is different between the plastic and metal, especially the fuel cap cover. I'd rather live with it than have them try to fix it and it end up looking worse. Nobody really notices until I tell them, and as a matter of fact, this car really gets some looks, people love the white.

White shouldn't be viewed the same way as the IOM's or other metallic colors that look different at different angles. Black also should not fall under this bulletin either.

Even Ray Charles could see it doesn't match.

Our IOM is definately like this. The front bumper cover looks so much different that the rest of the car, but then when you look at the rest sometimes it doesn't all match either. I say it adds character to the car and no one else has the paint job we do.

My Summit White also has this issue.Talked to the folks at S&T Body in Katy,Texas. They do all of Hennessey's work. Said that you could respray car and still have same issue.Front fascia and rear end are a composite material and some colors will never look the same. Gonna have to live with it or paint it a different color.

Having the issue as well, trying to talk to the dealer about it and am probably just going to get the run around from everyone and nothing will ever come of it... very disappointing.

Looks crazy on all the cars. I see it in my car every day. It's an obvious difference. But, like another said, it gives our cars character. I'm not too bothered by it. But, since I have an opinion, I think the "excuse" doesn't fly that the paint is the same. Sorry, GM. No offense to you. But I wouldn't buy that for a dollar.

while this issue may not be the same issue as stated in this thread, has anyone with a 2010 or 2011 noticed in direct sunlight with the metalics that there appears to be lighter/darker striping of the paint on the doors...i am having some body color match painting done on new spoiler etc..but noticed this before had car 30 days...my painter (who has been in biz a long time) said it was a quality issue..looks like it was underpainted in the base coat. i took it to dealership, started the process of trying to get a GM rep to look at it, so it can get repainted by me (reimbursed) or by local dealership...this is not same as flop. this is a vertical issue on the same plane...anyone with syn green or a metallic has this issue?

Very slight diff in color on gas cap. Nothing worth stewing over. Sometimes our eyes are drawn to the flaws that only we notice. I look at my car and see the beauty. Ok, I'll get off my pedestal now.

i have this problem with my gas cap only, its darker than the rest of the car....but, its grown on me and i like it and it makes my car unique :)

I have the same problem with the Cyber Grey... my front fascia is definitely a shade lighter

I have the SIlver color and it is mismatched to hell, but again plastic versus metal this happens, and not worth wasting my time on... especially with my dealers auto body shop which sucks anyway.

I haven't responded to my own thread for quite awhile, but GM did come and look at my car, they saw the mismatches, but felt it was within their tolerences and was part of the flop, angle of light etc. This was on the metal only, and the urethane and metal were off, but i expected that from day one. Im a former 2 time vette owner, it had orange peel all over both. I got this car for the color period. Let's speed up, I chose on my own to have the sides repainted by a private painter, who I completely trust. It took over two months to get a match. This was because the issue was most noticeable in bright light. So he had to mix and match on those days. Not easy in winter...haha, I am happy to report success and will post pics in about a month. Waiting for paint to degausse to put paint protection back on. Let me say GM took me very seriously, and sent more than local guys. They were courteous, and I felt gave me my day in court.They gave me reasonable options. At the end of the day, this was my decision to repainted. No regrets. I saw several SGM and saw this on almost all of them, some better, some worse. Comes down to what u can live with. When nice weather around here in April, I should back on the road, as I replaced the spoiler, added front splitter. Painting calipers SGM with custom stencils with 69 camaro logo and brembo. upgrading front rotors to brembo slotted performance. Upgrading fogs to AAC to P13W white plasmas. Replacing bow ties with 69 SS badges, installing SGM heritage grill. lots on inside as well. Getting the paint right was worth it for me. :chevy:

AAAHHHH i do see a bit of that too.....

I think most GM metalics will show it. I ve been highly criticized for not understanding flop or substrates reaction to paint. I understand both. In a production line car, it's probable not expect a perfect match in a metallic with flop. The SGM is probably one of the toughest, but my compaint was on the metal surfaces only on the same plane or viewing angle. What I saw from mine and others was consistent. uneven basecoat. More layers would prob correct it at factory. GM felt it was good enough, in tolerance of flop etc. Most complaints were about different shades on different surfaces such as a plastic next to metal. GM even published a tsb that's on this website. that can be corrected as well with a good paint match and several layers of even base coat. I want to again say GM worked with me. I could have had it evened out at dealership paintshop, but I felt the path to correction was going to require a lot of work for my standards. It was. Like all car things comes down to money. I had paint protection that had to be removed and will need reinstalled as well. So I doubt I will get my money back out, but I love the color enough to make it the way GM intended it. I didn't paint the whole car, just the sides where uneven basecoat looked like stripes on my doors and quarters. In my case it was a little out of my tolerance.
updated 2/10/11
finally repainted...here is shot of the newly repainted drivers side in sunlight. this is about 5 or 6 coats of spies hecker paint, and matrix clearcoat i am very happy with, there is no issues with the uneveness of the basecoat anymore in all angles or light...the car is still disassembled for custom work going on...heritage grill swap, rear diffuser body color match, new spoiler, etc..think calipers are being painted today SGM, and a tomatoe red stripe on outer edge on wheels like SLP ZL pkg if dont see anything dramtic im thrilled since that paint should look even in basecoat...
http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u...n/IMG_0814.jpg

front bumper off to paint fog light inserts green, change bulbs to AAC plasma white, install a lower front defuser, and install a heritage grill (painted) with 69 SS front badge (the real thing from NPD)
http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u...n/IMG_0815.jpg

engine bay..
just standard v8 cover painted over stock silver for now..i have some hydrocarbon green cover pieces installed previously. i am not done under the hood, dipstick is green, fact airtube will be green as well..so should offset well. may look at some rotofab pieces like the corvette 2 piece covers. hood mat bowtie will prob have a vinyl green over it or painted..
http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u...n/IMG_0816.jpg

side view for driver side front to back..
very sunny again, just showing the flop. the doors were painted, but fenders were blended in. looks good, confirms to constant basecoat...really with SGM, u see a huge flop for a metalic. the color is just incredible.
http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u...n/IMG_0817.jpg

My IBM front bumper is not matched but not sure they can fix it better. I am afraid of a repaint because it won't be as tough as the factory baked on finish