Pulled up alongside some sort of Lexus SUV yesterday. I'm daydreaming at the red light and I think to myself, "Man, that silver paint looks really nice". It got me to thinking, how much difference is there in the factory paint jobs of most cars these days? Do any of the companies really make a serious effort to put a better paint job on than others?
you get what ya pay for
My 2005 Phaeton had multi-coat hand rubbed black paint. It was spectacular when perfectly clean and waxed. Otherwise it looked like absolute crap like every other rattle canned black paint job because black always looks like ass unless it's cleaned every hour on the hour.
Nissan certainly doesn't seem to care about the quality of its paint. Mine has some sweet orange peel.
KyAllroad wrote: My 2005 Phaeton had multi-coat hand rubbed black paint. It was spectacular when perfectly clean and waxed. Otherwise it looked like absolute crap like every other rattle canned black paint job because black always looks like ass unless it's cleaned every hour on the hour.
If i remember right, the multi-coat black was a couple grand over the normal black, right? My parents got one in the standard black, it looks exactly like you describe, too. Great when it's clean...
Subaru's paint is noticeably E36 M3tyer than most other companies.
Porsche lately has been fantastic while still meeting emissions and safety reg's for formulation. On the high end Bentley s doing something right as well.
Subaru is terrible for orange peel but it stands up IMO.
My Accord has the softest paint - it does not take a hit from anything and chips easily. My wife's Trailblazer is solid - I can drop a shovel on it and it isn't fazed although I remember the 1980's and the paint would peel off the trucks in sheets.
Our '14 Maz6 in soul red has the prettiest factory paint if anything I've ever driven. It's really amazing. It makes my 05 Mustang look like it was painted in a shed.
Seems to be holding up well with minimal care. When it's dirty it kind of looks like every other dark red, but when clean there is a fire and shine in the depth of the color that I haven't seen on anything else.
wife's old prius c had some awesome paint on it. 'moonglow' was the color. a pearl white with a green tinge to it. was sweet as hell. tough too, didnt get any real road chips over 80k miles
The paint on my Elantra is not impressing me, and neither is the sheet metal thickness since the roof has about a dozen small dents from acorns.
Besides the plethora or chips on the hood, bumper, a-pillars and roof, the paint is bubbling around the chips on the roof.
The hood was resprayed when new due to damaged to the clear coat that appeared to be from the protective plastic being applied to soon. The respray on the hood has stone chips but you can see primer under the black paint and it isn't bubbling or spreading even when metal is exposed.
The roof is another story. There are at least 10 small (.020-.040 diameter) chips on the front 1/4 of the roof and there is no visible primer around the chips in the black paint. The paint is bubbled out the diameter of a quarter around the chips.
Because it's 4 years old and has 95k miles and is beyond the paint warranty Hyundai doesn't care.
I guess I shouldn't be surprised about build quality issues on my particular car since the trans and engine have both been replaced under warranty.
I hear the NA Miatas, white in particular, had stellar paint.
Scottah wrote: I hear the NA Miatas, white in particular, had stellar paint.
No clearcoat on those right?
2001 Audi A6 had nice paint. Held up really well for 10 years. Car looked new when we sold it. My wife does take good care of her cars, though.
sesto elemento wrote:Scottah wrote: I hear the NA Miatas, white in particular, had stellar paint.No clearcoat on those right?
And very little base coat now...
My cloud white nissan spec v paint looked great when polished and waxed. Deep and wet looking. Made me really love single stage white paint. Of course this is the exception for Nissan paint.
peter wrote:sesto elemento wrote:And very little base coat now...Scottah wrote: I hear the NA Miatas, white in particular, had stellar paint.No clearcoat on those right?
Notice I said had...
In reply to ultraclyde: I think Soul Red is the nicest factory color I've ever seen.
The front of the Fiat is peppered with chips but I think the blunt shape and bad roads are to blame as much as the paint quality.
None of the cars stand out to me with regards to paint. Bring motorcycles into it, and the paints and paint work by Harley is substantially above the rest.
Mazda does really good paint. Toyota certainly isn't bad, but it's noticeably more susceptible to rock chips. Hyundai paint is ludicrously soft, but has good lustre. Nissan's paint is better than Subaru's, but worse than Honda's. Ford still kinda sucks, as does GM. Chrysler has shockingly good paint, so at least they're doing something right. It's the same case with Mitsubishi. Newer VW paint sucks. Apparently the best paint from a German automaker comes from Mercedes.
Visually or durability wise? I'm a big fan of some of the new metallic colors from Toyota/Lexus and Chevy. No experience with them durability wise.
foxtrapper wrote: None of the cars stand out to me with regards to paint. Bring motorcycles into it, and the paints and paint work by Harley is substantially above the rest.
Both their chrome and paint is top notch. Especially the CVO stuff.
Generally speaking German paint quality Seems much better than the rest. Even in the the junkyard, the body, paint and interior look good
I have been very unimpressed with the quality of my 07 civic's paint. It looks nice when clean but has scratches, chips and clear coat issues. It is Fiji blue Pearl.
I concur on the Harley paint and chrome. Looks very good
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