[i10fwy]

I picked up my new car last night and have to say that I am very disappointed in the quality of the paint job. The whole car is "orange peel" and not minor, but heavy.

There is also a blemish on the door that I will live with and just consider it a "birthmark" There is no way this car went through a quality inspection. The GM at the dealership agree's with me 100% and will make it right.

Other than that I love it, fun car!

 

[ddelfino]

Wow how disappointing. I was just told my car has been produced but I dont know when I will get it as it depends on how long its in "QC"

 

[Mirror Mike]

That is pretty common. I have a brand new Dodge Ram, full option, biggest baddest ram you can buy that sold for $71,000. This thing has some of the worst orange peel I have ever seen. Its easily noticeable orange peel from 10' away. Owner wanted me to sand the truck to get the orange peel down, but with new factory paints showing thin clear level readings, the amount of sanding required for this level of orange peel is not safe to remove. Its amazing how bad manufactures are getting with paint jobs. Ford use to hold the crown for terrible factory paint jobs...but I think now manufactures are competing for that crown. I saw 5 C7's this weekend but did not get a chance to really look at them. I cannot wait to get one in my shop so I can really look the paint over. See the quality of defects that come from the factory, the amount of orange peel as you said and just how soft/hard the clear is to work with.

 

[scottsdaledave]

Sorry but I don't know what this is - what exactly is "orange peel" I ordered Torch Red

 

[glen e]

Orange peel (effect) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[redwhtconv]

Is the problem being noticed on certain colors or is it accross the board.

 

[Sinner]

I'm sure it's across the board but more noticeable on certain colors

 

[talon90]

You'll find a pretty good discussion about it in this thread.

http://www.stingrayforums.com/forum...-paint-surface-quality-picture-you-judge.html

 

[glen e]

It is something you can make better with a good detail person. You can smooth the surface to some degree without sacrificing clear coat thickness a great deal A mid level polish like Menzerna FG400 , and then a finishing polish like Menzerna SF4500 will give you great results...

 

[mjw930]

I got a look at multiple colors last weekend and I wasn't going to say anything but since it's been brought up here goes.

The solid colors, especially the reds have a lot of orange peel, surprisingly the black has less than the reds. Both shades of red have it but the darker read has more. Metallics show very little, a byproduct of the metallic is it flows different and it hides the effect better.

One interesting thing, the front hood is virtually perfect, a combination of the carbon fibre layup and it being painted flat so the paint flows better. The door panels all have the print through which I've come to conclude is a result of a really thin panel. Too bad they aren't carbon fibre, they would probably be as perfect as the hood.

Honestly, you have to spend well over 6 figures to get better paint and even some high dollar cars I've seen are just as bad. It's not a QC issue as much as what others have pointed out, low VOC paint and mass production techniques.

 

[C. Charles Hahn]

I got a look at multiple colors last weekend and I wasn't going to say anything but since it's been brought up here goes.

The solid colors, especially the reds have a lot of orange peel, surprisingly the black has less than the reds. Both shades of red have it but the darker read has more. Metallics show very little, a byproduct of the metallic is it flows different and it hides the effect better.

One interesting thing, the front hood is virtually perfect, a combination of the carbon fibre layup and it being painted flat so the paint flows better. The door panels all have the print through which I've come to conclude is a result of a really thin panel. Too bad they aren't carbon fibre, they would probably be as perfect as the hood.

Honestly, you have to spend well over 6 figures to get better paint and even some high dollar cars I've seen are just as bad. It's not a QC issue as much as what others have pointed out, low VOC paint and mass production techniques.

That's a pretty accurate assessment, Mark; there's no single source of orange peel in this case, and therefore there's a limit to how much of an improvement can safely be made while remaining within the boundaries of the factory warranty (which states that more than 0.5 Mil of paint can be removed before the finish is considered "compromised").

And yeah, like you said, even when you get into the six-figure price range a lot of cars still are plagued by fairly noticeable texture:

As far as what I personally would recommend for these new 'vettes, it's hard to say without knowing how much clear there actually is to work with but a lot of it has to do with how the car is going to be used -- if it is a garage queen that only comes out occasionally in fair weather, getting a bit aggressive is going to have less of a detrimental effect than if it's a daily driver and/or stored outdoors. Regardless, I would above all else advise against going so far as to potentially void the warranty/lower the residual value of the car.

 

[Redc7]

A lot of the orange peel is due to the manufactures turning to water-based paints vs the old solvent-based paints. The Clean Air Act amendments back late 80's early '90's force manufactures to change to water-base.

 

[Georgio51]

The solid colors, especially the reds have a lot of orange peel, surprisingly the black has less than the reds. Both shades of red have it but the darker read has more.

I know you observed and reported this before. It's not that I would have known better when I ordered but, the closer I get to delivery, the more I'm concerned about what I ordered and what I didn't order. Cyber Gray would probably have been better but the crystal red from prior generations got to me.

 

[mjw930]

George,

Don't let these types of threads get to you, these aren't museum pieces, they are cars and what bothers some is irrelevant to others. Personally, I accept this as a result of new paint formulations and mass production and don't give them a second thought. I just added my 2 cents because some seem to be obsessed by it. I'm sure you will be thrilled with your Red Stingray.

 

[i10fwy]

George,

Don't let these types of threads get to you, these aren't museum pieces, they are cars and what bothers some is irrelevant to others. Personally, I accept this as a result of new paint formulations and mass production and don't give them a second thought. I just added my 2 cents because some seem to be obsessed by it. I'm sure you will be thrilled with your Red Stingray.

I'm not at all obsessed with the car, it is a corvette not a bently however, when they tout the car as "world class" and with all the attention paid to the rest of the car (which is fantastic by the way) letting paint jobs like this happen should be corrected if they want to attract a new buyer segment......Just sayin

 

[Mirror Mike]

George,

Don't let these types of threads get to you, these aren't museum pieces, they are cars and what bothers some is irrelevant to others. Personally, I accept this as a result of new paint formulations and mass production and don't give them a second thought. I just added my 2 cents because some seem to be obsessed by it. I'm sure you will be thrilled with your Red Stingray.

This. ^

Unless you plan to be always looking at your paint from inches away, it shouldnt bother you. Almost all cars, including exotics/super cars, have a degree of orange peel to them. Some are just worse than others.

 

[C. Charles Hahn]

I'm not at all obsessed with the car, it is a corvette not a bently however, when they tout the car as "world class" and with all the attention paid to the rest of the car (which is fantastic by the way) letting paint jobs like this happen should be corrected if they want to attract a new buyer segment......Just sayin

Unfortunately if they were to "correct" paint jobs like this at the factory and/or dealer, you'd actually end up with a worse problem to deal with (again, see exotics that are sanded/buffed at the factory). There's really no such thing as getting a true show-quality paint job out of the box, no matter what you're buying.

 

[Sinner]

I was at the dealer Saturday and was looking at all the models of cars and they all have orange peel and look shitty, but I just think that's the way production cars are now.

 

[i10fwy]

OK, now I am pissed. My car has been at the dealership for a week and the GM warranty rep say's my paint job is acceptable. Even the GM at the dealership agree's 100% that it is unacceptable and wouldn't want one himself that looks that bad. I'm sorry new C7 or not. Thay have built a great car, but can't seem to figure out how to paint one.

This may be goodbye Stingray, I have lost my exitement and no longer proud to own this car.

 

[NickJ]

I am sorry to hear that they will not stand behind their paint!

Did they run it up the pole, or just ask the sales manager? That makes all the difference.