How is the paint quality on your Sonic?

[trobin]

I washed the car, two week old white HB and started looking closely at the paint finish. The roof, hood, rear hatch finish is good enough for my eyes. All four doors have more 'orange peel' on the surface. (The spray was a wetter process?) I suspect that the doors are painted at a different paint facility. I doubt that the situation would be improved overall if I brought the 'defect' to the dealer's service dept. Does anyone else see this condition?

 

[Aldakoopa]

Everything on my sonic looks good, it all seems to have the same amount of factory orange peel to me. Only thing that bothers me is that the hood doesn't seem fully cured or something, as bird droppings eat into the paint in a matter of an hour or so. :sadbanana:

I know from personal experience, as I work in a body shop, that it's easier to get things that are facing upright (hood, roof, hatch/deck lid) to look smooth than it is to get things facing sideways (fenders, quarter panels, doors). It's more likely that the spray on the smoother looking parts was a wetter process, as the sheer sides of a car will be more likely to run. It may be that they program their robots to spray paint on the upward facing panels wetter than on the sides so that it won't run. It's not really a defect, and the most the dealer could do is sand and buff out the sides, which may make the clear coat too thin, or to sand and re-clear coat the sides, which may end up with orange peel again, so then it would require sanding and buffing that hopefully the new layer of clear coat will still be enough to protect.

 

[Alan]

The white on our Sonic looks pretty good. Normal orange peel that you would find with most factory paint. No drips or weird blemishes.

 

[Bogus]

all my paint is nice and smooth. ive never heard the term "orange peel" but im assuming it means the paint is rough to the touch? the only orange peel i found was on my right side doors from the sprinklers hitting my car. ill have to wax that off.

 

[Aldakoopa]

all my paint is nice and smooth. ive never heard the term "orange peel" but im assuming it means the paint is rough to the touch? the only orange peel i found was on my right side doors from the sprinklers hitting my car. ill have to wax that off.

Orange peel is the texture of the paint itself. Factory paint jobs always have orange peel in them, but usually it's not too bad. Think of the way an orange peel actually looks with the little bumps all over it :

Now, the next time you look at your car, look straight down it. Kneel down, look from the front to the back down the doors, and notice the slightly textured look of it that resembles an orange.

 

[laborsmith]

But it will feel smooth due to the clear coat. If you look too close it will disappear, but if you keep your eyes about a foot away from the surface, it will be readily apparent. I know years ago (several years, not dozens of years) people would take their new Vettes straight to the paint shop from the dealership to get a classic lacquer based paint job (for only a few to several thousand dollars) so there would be no orange peel. I can almost understand for a sixty to hundred thousand dollar car but three or four thousand dollars for a Sonic paint job? Unless the Sonic was destined to be a show car, then I could see it.

Laborsmith

 

[Aldakoopa]

But it will feel smooth due to the clear coat. If you look too close it will disappear, but if you keep your eyes about a foot away from the surface, it will be readily apparent. I know years ago (several years, not dozens of years) people would take their new Vettes straight to the paint shop from the dealership to get a classic lacquer based paint job (for only a few to several thousand dollars) so there would be no orange peel. I can almost understand for a sixty to hundred thousand dollar car but three or four thousand dollars for a Sonic paint job? Unless the Sonic was destined to be a show car, then I could see it.

Laborsmith

Why would they want Lacquer on a Vette? Jeez, all you need is a good amount of clear coat so that it can be sanded smooth and buffed.

Another note about the orange peel, you don't really notice it from a distance. You'll only notice it from a side-view while moderately close, looking dead-on at it, which is what I'm assuming you mean by looking "too close", you won't be able to see it, you need the contrast of reflecting light and shadows to be able to tell it's there. Sometimes, even out in broad daylight you can't tell because there's no shadows to show the texture (sort of like how the smoothest-looking place on that picture of the orange is where the light is hitting it), you may only be able to see it in the shade or inside a garage.

 

[laborsmith]

Yep, that is what I meant about being too close.

Laborsmith

 

[Chizzle]

I noticed that the paint on a lot of GM cars are orange peeled. I have seen vettes with the paint in this type of shape. kinda crazy

 

[Aldakoopa]

I noticed that the paint on a lot of GM cars are orange peeled. I have seen vettes with the paint in this type of shape. kinda crazy

So is every other car from any other manufacturer. Some are worse than others, and it doesn't necessarily mean manufacturers, I've seen Toyota's with paint that almost looked like glass, but at the same time, I've seen them with some pretty heavy orange peel. It may be different manufacturing plants using different paints or something, but it's about like that with all cars. Some are a little smoother than others, and there's no pattern to it that I can tell.

 

[michaelracer]

I spent about 2 hours looking over the front of my car and the hood and this was all i could find, sorry for the bad picture

 

[countrydrivin05]

I have only two paint flaws where the clearcoat is missing and the dealer said it looks like there was an attempted fix while it was still on the assembly line. I have two spots on the rear driver's door that are just dull and do not shine like the rest of the car. It does not matter how much wax or polish you put on them either, they are still evident. Dealer is going to keep the car for 2-3 days next week in order to fix it. Least they are not being sticklers about the spots.

 

[Bogus]

Would anyone think its worth it to go have some extra clear coat put on? Not that i can afford it, just a thought. haha

 

[laborsmith]

I have heard of that being done but not to get rid of the orange peel effect of the EPA mandated car painting techniques, but to provide an extra element of protection from the hazards of the road.

I would think multiple coatings of modern acrylics (I use ICE frtom Turtle Wax) would be a better use of resources. A complete strip and repaint is far and away more than I would care to spend money on.

Laborsmith

 

[Bogus]

yeah i was already planning on buying some clay & wax to protect my paint from the hazards of my long drive. maybe even have some film put on certain areas.

 

[laborsmith]

I have read of using Pam, especially in the spring when driving through areas known to be teeming with bugs, and then going to the car wash upon arrival.

Laborsmith

 

[Aldakoopa]

I have heard of that being done but not to get rid of the orange peel effect of the EPA mandated car painting techniques, but to provide an extra element of protection from the hazards of the road.

I would think multiple coatings of modern acrylics (I use ICE frtom Turtle Wax) would be a better use of resources. A complete strip and repaint is far and away more than I would care to spend money on.

Laborsmith

Whoa, who said anything about a complete strip? There's no need for that. Just a good sanding and any good clear will stick to the factory finish just fine to offer more protection or what-have-you.

 

[laborsmith]

Apparently I did not phrase well as I meant the restrip to refer to an actual paint job not to additional clearcoating.

I know the GM clearcoat is as thin as possible so I could understand adding additional coats if cost effective. I frankly do not know what each additional coating would cost.

Finally, I could be wrong but I do not see how the additional clearcoats would get rid of the orange peel effect.

Laborsmith

 

[Aldakoopa]

Apparently I did not phrase well as I meant the restrip to refer to an actual paint job not to additional clearcoating.

I know the GM clearcoat is as thin as possible so I could understand adding additional coats if cost effective. I frankly do not know what each additional coating would cost.

Finally, I could be wrong but I do not see how the additional clearcoats would get rid of the orange peel effect.

Laborsmith

When you sand the panel to prepare for painting, you cut down the orange peel, then when you spray on more clear, you apply enough that you can sand it smooth and buff it afterwards (without the sanding and buffing, it will have new orange peel in it). Just about everything we paint at our shop gets sanded and buffed. Sometimes, the only reason you can tell we did work to a panel is because it's smoother than the rest of the car. About the only thing we don't sand and buff regularly is bumpers, anything else (doors, hood, fenders, etc...) will be sanded and buffed.

Here's a pic of a bumper I just painted yesterday, with orange peel still in it. Next thing I paint that I sand and buff, I'll take a pic to show you how it can look.

 

[laborsmith]

Informative. Give me time if you will and I will figure it out.

Laborsmith