# Anyone have paint flaws from the factory?



## sync87 (Apr 17, 2011)

Picked up my Eco last night, was getting toward dark by the time the car came out of detail, so I wasn't able to give it a super critical eye.

Today, I took a clay bar to the car as I always do with a new car. I noticed two paint flaws which tick me off. One is a bubble under the clear about a half inch back from the leading edge of the hood. It's pretty obvious...looks like a little dark rock chip or like you made a dot with a fine point magic marker, but it totally under the clear. You can run your finger over it, smooth as silk, totally clearcoated.

Flaw number two is on the passenger side quarter behind the rear door, maybe an inch or two under the chrome trim beneath the sail panel black plastic trim part. It is another little bubble, this time through the clear, looks like what they apparently call solvent pop. You can feel this one slightly when you run a finger over it. Maybe 1mm across, but since you can feel it, worries me about future peeling here unlike the more cosmetic hood flaw.

I took it straight back to the dealer today. They agreed there were flaws and said they'd fix it. Problem is, their solution is to repaint the entire hood and right quarter panel. I told them that my main concern was not so much cosmetic but rather that if the paint deteriorated later, I wanted the flaws documented now for warranty purposes. The dealer said no, they need to fix it now if I want anything done.

It makes me exceedingly nervous having two major body panels repainted on a silver car. Silver is almost impossible to match correctly.

Anyway, I told them I'd think about it. It's upsetting to me because if I wouldn't have had our 18 month old with us who was approaching bedtime and getting cranky, and basically trusting the store, I would have picked the flaws up given time to really go over the car well. At the same time, I really think it is the factory's obligation to paint the car properly and deliver a quality product.

I'm probably screwed either way here. I either suck up the flawed paint and maintain the OE integrity, or have them repaint major parts of the car and take the resulting resale hit and likely never have as good of a paint job. I don't think the selling dealer has a really good body shop that I trust in any case.

Anyone have experience dealing with dealers on paint issues? Interested in how it worked out for you. On one hand, I think I'm probably due some kind of compensation for the crappy paint job...on the other, I don't think something invasive like a partial repaint is a great idea. Aaargh. Frustrated. I don't want to be a dick, and I want to approach things reasonably with the dealer and or factory, but on the other hand, I paid good money and don't think I should have to settle. This is disappointing because I've bought a lot of new Asian and European cars, and never a paint issue. I finally decide to go domestic, a little nervous over quality issues, and here we are already.

I'll post pics tomorrow when I have some decent light.

Thanks for opinions.


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## jakkaroo (Feb 12, 2011)

okay wanna see if you have bad paint wash your car get it CLEAN then take duct tape and put a small piece about 2in piece all over the car ie hood doors roof trunk every piece that does not touch(something that can be masked off and repainted or taken off) let the tape sit for 30mins than pull the tape off if the paint comes off your paint is bad.old painters trick i learned


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## sync87 (Apr 17, 2011)

jakkaroo said:


> okay wanna see if you have bad paint wash your car get it CLEAN then take duct tape and put a small piece about 2in piece all over the car ie hood doors roof trunk every piece that does not touch(something that can be masked off and repainted or taken off) let the tape sit for 30mins than pull the tape off if the paint comes off your paint is bad.old painters trick i learned


Good info. Never thought of that idea. I think in my case, the issue is dirt or solvent pop under the clear mostly. The actual integrity of the bond to the metal doesn't seem at this point to be an issue, but I may try your trick just to see. What is apparent to the eye may differ from reality.

Mainly I'm curious as to whether anyone else had issues, and how they dealt with them, whether GM customer service and the dealer were helpful or combative, etc.


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