Soooo unhappy with the paint on our cars

[jd10013]

Originally Posted by THUMPER20X

I love seeing anyone trying to defend or rationalize the paint lol. It's crap. The black for example is the same used on about 1/3 of the black cars produced in North America. Car is made at one place so it's the application. They build a great car but whoever was responsible for the paint setup should be rethinking their line of work.

that's probably the problem. with the LS and LT, the quality of the paint is about what you'd expect from a 20-25k car. that they use the same quality of paint and application on the SS and ZL1 is kind of surprising to me. When your spending 30-50k on a car you should definitely get a better paint job than what GM is giving.

personally, I don't have any problem with mine at all. I have a couple rock chips (I've never owned a car that didn't get a couple), but that's about it. there are also some swirls compliments of the dealers detailing when I bought it, but those are very minor too. you can really only see them if you put your face right up to the car in direct sunlight.

[ricosuave]

I purchased my car new back in 2011 and i choose the red jewel color..2 months after i got it or so, someone backed into the front left fender...took it to a paint and body shop...the owner of the shop said that he was going to try his best NOT to repaint the hood because of the way the paint runs and blends...his staff did a dang good job at it...one doesnt notice the difference at all

[meissen]

I absolutely hate how fragile our paint is. I have rock chips all over my car from it being a daily driver. I had a little piece of asphalt stuck to the front bumper in front of the hadlight, and I *very lightly* wiped back and forth with a plush wash mit. When I got the asphalt off the paint, the back and forth of the wash mit scratched the hell out of the paint... I know how much pressure I was using, and there's truly no reason for it to be scratched like it was... Our paint is so fragile that I wouldn't be surprised if someone said they were able to stick their finger nail through the paint and get all the way to the plastic.

[two_wheel_mayhem]

The inferno orange on my 2010 was way better than it is on my 2012.

[DrkPhx]

Originally Posted by upflying

Water based, two-stage, acrylic urethane is used industry wide now. All the car forums are complaining about the fragile, crappy paint.
You can blame our government and the EPA for our "green save the planet" paint systems.

This is the root cause of the problem. GM was forced to switch to a water based paint way back in the late 80's when the 3rd gen was made in the Van Nuys, CA plant because of CA state law. The paint was so bad it was literally delaminating from the sheet metal. GM switched back when they moved production to CAN for the 4th gen; which in my experience is probably some of the most durable (and hardest) paint I've ever owned on a GM vehicle. Fast forward several years and it seems all of their paint is water based.

Originally Posted by duh954boy

I thought I was the only one who was having issues with the Camaro paint. My quarter panels look like they were hit with buckshot a few times. I have only had the car a little over a month. I can't believe how crappy this paint is. I love my car but hate this paint.

.

I agree. I've conceded to the fact all OEM paint is super soft these days; but within a few days of owning my ZL1 the gills looked sand blasted. I've since had the Xpel clear bra installed to help minimize the problem.

Originally Posted by rm2092

There are more threads then you can read on here in regards to GM's crappy paint and that's why I traded my 2011 2SS for a new 5.0 Mustang. I know some are going to say Fords paint is crap also but it's not, I have had my car a year now and all I can say is it looks the same as the day I bought it. I wish I could have said that about my SS.

As others have mentioned; it's not just a GM problem. My friend has a brand new Raptor and it has super soft paint and bad orange peel in some spots. We had a bitch session how bad the paint is on new vehicles.

[Denis]

Originally Posted by myold88

^^^^^ That tape will look really cool. ^^^^^

It'll look cooler than rock chips all over the front of my car

[two_wheel_mayhem]

Originally Posted by Denis

It'll look cooler than rock chips all over the front of my car

Put shrink wrap on it, drive mostly at night and avoid following large vehicles.

[SimpleGreen]

I have driven my car 14,000 miles in 13 months since I bought it new. I have a one or two chips per side in the gills. No more since I added the splash guards. Also a couple on the front bumper and hood from bouncing rocks. I two VERY SMALL and VERY LIGHT superficial scratches I could probably almost get out by hand. Other than that, it seems to be doing alright. It's waxed every few months, parking in a gravel lot during the day at work, and the nose is a bit blasted below the grille from road debris, but it cleans up really well and isn't that noticeable to me.

[abaucom21]

This week had my 2011 Summit White Camaro & 1998 Pearl White Riviera exteriors & interiors detailed by a pro. The 2011 Camaro (5,400 miles & daily driver including Canada winters), the 1998 Riviera (67,600 miles winter stored & never driven on winter salted roads). Yes, I am a low mileage driver. Both autos were clay-bar then polished & now paint finish on both autos glass smooth. Had a clear bra installed on the Camaro only a few days after picking up at dealership back in August 2010. The Camaro was special ordered six weeks before the 2011 models went into production and my 2011 was delivered via truck tansport within 5 days after it came off the assembly line. Both my 2011 Camaro & 1998 Riviera both have one each a very small rock chip on front bumpers. Otherwise both autos are free of paint chips even though I drive the Camaro on winter Canadian city streets that are salted and full of gravel/sand.

Issue: After detailer finished with my Camaro, I was informed there is a slight variation on the Summit White paint between left and right sides of the auto, more noticable on the roof mid point. Right side of the car looks pure white, left side white has slightly more yellow content on the roof at center mid point. After all these years never noticed before, but after viewing the paint finish in bright sunlight, detailer was correct, there is a difference between the left and right side white, most noticeable on the roof. In bright light now I can see white color change midway on the Camaro roof.

What is that all about? Factory paint spray gun shooting a different white paint mixture on left side while factory paint spry gun was shooting a different mix of Summit white on the right side? Perhaps factory paint spray guns overlapped hood and trunk, blended together, but two whites were not blended together on the roof? Perhaps poor paint standards at the factory?

Appariently the Pearl White finish was applied consistantly on my 1998 Buick Riviera and Riviera paint not prone to paint chips after 15 years and more than 67,000 miles. I now know the Summit White finish on my early production 2011 Camaro was not consistantly applied on both left & right sides at the factory and I currently have a two-tone summit white Camaro, prone to paint chips,

Hope paint quality improves on future GM autos.


I waited to preorder my 2011 Camaro because I wanted Summit White, and White was not offered on early 2010 models. Just suggesting perhaps GM Camaro paint process was not fully developed when early 2011 models came from the factory. How else to explain why I have two different whites, noticeable mid point on the roof. My pre-ordered 2011 Camaro was made late July 2010 and delivered to me early August 2010. No time for the auto to be damaged and repainted between date it left factory and date delivered to me. In fact, dealership sent me pics of my Camaro being off loaded from the truck. Made in Ontario, delivered in Ontario.

[jd10013]

Originally Posted by meissen

I had a little piece of asphalt stuck to the front bumper in front of the hadlight, and I *very lightly* wiped back and forth with a plush wash mit. When I got the asphalt off the paint, the back and forth of the wash mit scratched the hell out of the paint...

always use a good bug and tar remover to get that stuff off.