How is the paint quality on your Sonic?

[Aldakoopa]

Another thing, to kind of answer any questions about the cost of refinishing with extra clear and a sanding/buffing to make it smooth, it would probably cost anywhere from $2000 (maybe less, but the quality might come into question) to $4000 (this is more than we charge for a paint-job, so that would be a very good clear), depending on the shop and the brand/type of clear they use.

On a side note, I swear that picture I posted makes the orange peel look worse than it actually is. Here is the entire finished bumper, just so nobody thinks my work looks horribly full of orange peel. It should look about like the factory orange peel on the car, but we're still waiting for the car to show up so we can put the bumper on it. It's a job for the County, and they're taking their sweet time getting it to us.

 

[Bogus]

wow thats alot more pricey than i thought it would be... :/

 

[Aldakoopa]

wow thats alot more pricey than i thought it would be... :/

Just the cost of the clear we use alone + hardener, for the amount needed to paint the car, would be over $300 or $400, then there's the cost of material (sandpaper, masking tape + paper, rubbing compound) and all the time needed to prepare, paint, sand, and buff the vehicle... you want a good job? You'll have to pay for it.

 

[Bogus]

Just the cost of the clear we use alone + hardener, for the amount needed to paint the car, would be over $300 or $400, then there's the cost of material (sandpaper, masking tape + paper, rubbing compound) and all the time needed to prepare, paint, sand, and buff the vehicle... you want a good job? You'll have to pay for it.

Dont get me wrong im not complaining. That amount is just a bit out of reach for me. lol

 

[JTSONIC]

I can't complain about either of my paints.. the black 1 and a cyber gray 1 are perfect.. orange peel never bothered me..

 

[Aldakoopa]

Ok, here's a hood that got sanded and buffed. I didn't paint it, my boss did, but I did do the sanding/buffing.

So, just re-painting it with clear alone will not get rid of orange peel, but the sanding and buffing will. Theoretically, you could sand and buff the original paint, however it will probably be dangerously thin afterwards, so the extra clear is most likely needed in the first place. Either way, it's probably not worth the money for an economy car.

 

[jchasp59]

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?

When I was shopping for my Sonic, I cross shopped other cars (Hyundai, Kia, Honda, Fiat, Mazda...) Unlike cars of other brands, the paint on every Chevrolet model in the showroom had excessive orange peel that was noticeably absent on cars at every other manufacturer I visited (whose paint quality was exponentially better.) This is the first Chevrolet that I've owned, and the first American car in a very long time. Though I believe that the paint of my Sonic has a bit less orange peel than other Chevy models, I thought orange peel was a thing of the past since newer, electrostatic painting processes came into play years ago! Also, my 'Crystal Red Metallic Tintcoat' isn't very 'Crystal' or 'Metallic', and certainly not worth the $325 extra that it costs as an option.

 

[Bogus]

Also, my 'Crystal Red Metallic Tintcoat' isn't very 'Crystal' or 'Metallic', and certainly not worth the $325 extra that it costs as an option.

good to know. I was thinking of this color

 

[SUPER SONIC BOOM]

I notice this "orange peel" effect on the bottom side strip where it's very rough to sight & touch! Also, black cars are a dual edged sword-the best looking clean but the worst dirty lol! This is my third black car I've owned, it's still my favorite color of all & I even told myself to never buy another black car again, but when I saw my Sonic I instantly fell in love at first sight since it was unique with black aftermarket rims & the inferno orange flash package! It's ironic that an LA Dodgers fan like myself has a SF Giants looking car (go figure lol), oh well, Chevy likes putting "orange" on everything they make!

 

[Aldakoopa]

I notice this "orange peel" effect on the bottom side strip where it's very rough to sight & touch!

The orange peel you're talking about is actually what's called stone guard or rocker panel coating. It is put on the rocker panels and bottoms of the doors and fenders on most cars to help protect from rock chips and keep rust away. There's actually nothing wrong with it.

 

[Aldakoopa]

Also, my 'Crystal Red Metallic Tintcoat' isn't very 'Crystal' or 'Metallic', and certainly not worth the $325 extra that it costs as an option.

The reason it costs more is because it's a tri-coat color, aka pearl-coat, which means there is an extra layer of paint; There is the colored base coat, the metallic pearl coat, and then the clear coat.

It's strange that it doesn't show much metallic. I haven't actually seen one though. Most pearl-coat colors are white, I've only seen one or two red pearl-coats, and they really didn't look much better than a regular red metallic paint.

 

[fatboypup]

orange peeley ass hell

 

[laborsmith]

I believe the difference between Red Jewel Tint and Crystal Red Metallic (both used a tinted clearcoat) is one has few amounts of the rare earths that allow for the tint. Now if I could only remember which color was used before the tsunami and which after!

Laborsmith

 

[SUPER SONIC BOOM]

The orange peel you're talking about is actually what's called stone guard or rocker panel coating. It is put on the rocker panels and bottoms of the doors and fenders on most cars to help protect from rock chips and keep rust away. There's actually nothing wrong with it.

Oh snap, see you learn new things on here all the time, thanks for the info! All this time I've seen it on all my cars I thought it was a factory paint defect lol!

 

[Steve Dallas]

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

My 2010 Camaro SS didn't really have any orange peel. Wasn't a great paint though, and many owners complain about the paint chipping & peeling. Mine was fine though I did get a couple of chips on the front end from rocks.

Definitely a big difference in the orange peel on the three-wet process the sonic uses though. Very noticible, but paint looks fine from a distance.

 

[Steve Dallas]

I believe the difference between Red Jewel Tint and Crystal Red Metallic (both used a tinted clearcoat) is one has few amounts of the rare earths that allow for the tint. Now if I could only remember which color was used before the tsunami and which after!

Laborsmith

Red Jewel Tintcoat was pre-tsunami. Imperial Blue Metallic also got discontinued.

 

[Alan]

Appears I spoke too soon about the quality of our paint. This weekend we found paint bubbling up on the left rear quarterpanel up on the edge of the opening for the rear door. This wasn't there when I washed it last week.

My next concerns are going to be getting GM to fix the paint to my high level of anal retentiveness and future resale issues depending on how much needs to be painted (and of course if this issue pops up on other areas of the car).

This is quite a blow to this car after the battery leak incident where I am finding new rust spots on the lower radiator support with only 4800 miles thanks to improper acid cleanup by the shop. I'm afraid to remove the battery tray to see what is going on under there but I do see some staining on the frame rail (can't tell if it is rust or something else...not touching it until GM sees it). I am really not thrilled with this car right now but my wife still loves it for some reason. We are calling Chevy customer service today. We want a rep out to look at this car.

 

[Aldakoopa]

I believe the difference between Red Jewel Tint and Crystal Red Metallic (both used a tinted clearcoat) is one has few amounts of the rare earths that allow for the tint. Now if I could only remember which color was used before the tsunami and which after!

Laborsmith

Tinted clear coat? Never seen that in my life, however I've also never seen those two paints, and I believe I've actually heard of color-tinted clear coat before, just never seen it.

 

[Mikeygoolsbay]

Mine is pretty good with the exception that there is 2 half dollar size spot one on the roof on on the hood where the clear coat has a lot of haze to it. Had a body shop look at it and they said it looks like there was solvent on the car when they spraye the clear coat

 

[ShadowRS]

Paint is garbage on the car. You look at it the wrong way and it scratches.