2 factory paint jobs

[PeterH]

Hello to everyone.

I am new to this forum and need some help in the Camaro community. I am currently in a very particular situation. This will be a somewhat long story. Please be patient and take some time to read. It's very important to me to post this.

Well, here it goes...

On 9/30/19 I purchased a brand new '19 Camaro 2SS . I drove it home and started enjoying my new car. 3 days later I noticed, what looked like, a chip in the paint on the hood of the car. I figured it was from a small rock that bounced up from the car in front of me. I was very frustrated . I live in CT and do not drive the car after November so I parked it on my lift and stored under a cover for the winter.

Later April came and I lowered my car down to get ready for the spring. When I removed the cover I was reminded of the "chip" I had on my hood. A couple of weeks pasted and I noticed more issues with the paint. It looked like the clear coat was lifting . Some of you can remember the late 80's and early 90's when some of GMs paint had problems. Most of the issues were on the top of the car, hood, roof, and trunk. At this time I took my car to a local body shop to get some advice. They said the problems in the paint is called etching. It's from the usual things, bird droppings, pine sap, etc. As long as I owned the vehicle it was garaged, how can this happen?

On May 26, 2020 I visited my local Chevy dealer. They took a few picks of the issues and said he will contact me as soon as he could. I did not here from him for a week so I decided to call. I called on 6/5, 6/8, and 6/10 with no return call. I called again on 6/11 and was told I had to go back to the selling dealer. A multi billion dollar, world wide company and I need to go back to the selling dealer. Thank goodness I didn't move to Florida or California! That would have been a long trip for a repair!!

So I'm off to the selling dealer on 6/13. I arrived, they took some picks and said the same as the first dealer, " I'll get back to you as soon as I can." I called 2 times about a week later and you guessed it, no return call.
This is when Covid was really kicking in and a friend advised me to be patient. So I waited.

July 7 I called... no return call,
July 9 I called... no return call.

At this point I was frustrated to say the least. No one seemed interested in helping me. I left work and drove down with the car the talk to the General Manager. I started the conversation telling him how frustrated I was with the situation and how you are handling it. His response was "Why didn't you come in sooner?" I told him, "Whether it's 8 days or 8 months, it's still under warranty!" He agreed and came out to look at the car. He looked at it and confirmed all the problems. He said we will fix the car, if we have to paint the whole car, that's what we will do! I drove home thinking they are finally stepping up to the plate and helping me.

A week later the Service Manager called me to let me know they will NOT warranty the paint but do a "Good faith" repair. As long as it gets fixed and I don't pay for I'm ok with that. This dealership does not have a body shop so they have to sub it out. I asked if I could bring it to a body shop that I trust. They agreed as long as they are Icar Gold Certified. So I drove to a local body shop in town that has a great reputation. I was waiting in the parking when the owner of the company came out to see the car. He was there for 5 minutes when he said " Your car has been painted twice" I said "What?" "It's brand new!" He told me he wanted to have his paint rep come down and measure the paint. We agreed to come back on 7/21 to measure.

On 7/21 we all met again and the rep started measuring.
Here's the killer! Most of you guys know that GMs typical paint job is 5 - 7 mils thick...I had upwards of 16 mils of paint on my car! I could not understand how this could happen! I understand the tap on a bumper or door panel can be fixed and repainted. I don't understand how a whole car can be repainted at the factory and sold as a "New" car.

I called the dealer with the info and the Service Manager advised me to open a case with GM.

The nightmare begins!

I won't go into the later details but I will let you know the would not buy the car back. We went back and forth for months.. finally on January 25, 2021 they agreed to repaint the whole car at a cost to GM of $19,554.

When I dropped it off at the body shop I asked them to sand a couple of spots. The sanding revealed 2 separate paint jobs on the car. GM did admit to me they pulled the car off the line at the factory due the paint imperfections. They must have attempted to repair the car and repainted the car just off the line.

I do have to mention the paint shop was very nice to me. They did a wonderful job and I would recommend them to any of my friends. The manager of the body shop has been there for 34 years. He told me he has NEVER seen this before. I have mentioned this to my friends, I have researched this on the web and have not seen any references to this kind of situation.

Although the car has been repaired and is looking great, I feel I have been dragged over the coals, stepped on and just plain beaten down. I have been a GM fan since I have been old enough to drive. To have a loyalty to a company and be treated like this is very hard to swallow.

I have lost my faith in the company. I can't continue to support a company that does not back up their product.

Any help and advice would be appreciated.



Thank you to the people that continued reading this.

I need to know if there is anyone else that had to deal with this particular situation.

Please let me know.

[TheFlyingBananaSS]

I'm exhausted.

[hudson773]

first thing to say is your car was re painted before you got it, probably damaged. same thing happened to me in 1990 with a black lumina. the paint has chemical stains that only showed at night under street lights. when they couldn't buff it out, they re clear coated the roof. within a week it started to peel. the whole car had the swirls and they said they would re paint the whole car. I REFUSED, saying the quality of a non factory paint job would extremely hurt the value of my car, as shown by the repair they tried. the dealer gave me the run around for almost a year until I started to get insistent on getting GM involved. they finally decided to give me a new car, but wanted to charge me for the 18000 miles I put on it. I told them it was all their fault as I complained from day one. the court date was set, they called me the day before to try and settle. I told them when I leave court with their money, I was going directly across the street to buy a ford. windup, they gave me a brand new 1991 car for free. stand your ground and DO NOT settle for a repaint

[MarkNJ]

Once GM admitted that the car was repainted, I think I would have gotten a lawyer if necessary and demanded a new car. Shame you had to go thru this.

[Fred 6528]

It’s a shame that GM makes it difficult to make a warranty claim due to a factory flaw.

[PaulsSS]

I bought a brand new 84 Trans am that was in a accident and repainted of course it wasn't disclosed when I bought it. Car had 75 miles on it which I questioned and they told me it was from driving it from their other dealership to here. Car was nothing but trouble from the start, paint in the frt didn't match the back. Car pulled to the right hard all the time and could not be aligned because it had frame damage. Engine had one cylinder head that was mounted at a slight angle so the intake wouldn't seal. 8 miles per gallon gas mileage. GM refused to repair the engine and the dealer used double gaskets to seal the intake! Dealer repainted the frt end trying to match the rear but only made a bigger mess. After about 6 months of this misery my only option at the time was the bank allowed me to dump it back on the dealer but I lost my 5k down money(was worth it) About a week after I dumped it back on them the police called looking for the car as it was reported stolen off the dealers lot...............................car was never found. hmmm wonder where it went?

[silversleeper]

I didn't know the factory would do that. The biggest shocker is "repaint the whole car at a cost to GM of $19,554" and you seem to think that's reasonable.
What a ripoff. Yeah they should act nice to you charging triple what a fair cost is for a daily driver type paint job not a custom top show car with body repairs type paint job.

[Aqua Blue RS/SS]

Originally Posted by silversleeper

I didn't know the factory would do that. The biggest shocker is "repaint the whole car at a cost to GM of $19,554" and you seem to think that's reasonable.
What a ripoff. Yeah they should act nice to you charging triple what a fair cost is for a daily driver type paint job not a custom top show car with body repairs type paint job.

Idk about triple the cost; 10-15k to do an all over is about right with top quality materials and prep. Keep in mind to do this right the body shop should have sanded thru at least the second respray bet preferably into the the first but not quite to complete bare metal. If you get too many mils of thickness the paint can crack and not hold up down the line. All the way to bare metal is another option but you have to be careful once you take it down that far and that can get even more expensive. Good paint work costs good money. I’m pretty sure he wasn’t after a “daily driver type paint job” on a supposed brand new car. He should be expecting near flawless work as it should have been from the beginning. Idk I’d be pissed big time if I were in his shoes.

[joekono]

Originally Posted by Aqua Blue RS/SS

Idk about triple the cost; 10-15k to do an all over is about right with top quality materials and prep. Keep in mind to do this right the body shop should have sanded thru at least the second respray bet preferably into the the first but not quite to complete bare metal. If you get too many mils of thickness the paint can crack and not hold up down the line. All the way to bare metal is another option but you have to be careful once you take it down that far and that can get even more expensive. Good paint work costs good money. I’m pretty sure he wasn’t after a “daily driver type paint job” on a supposed brand new car. He should be expecting near flawless work as it should have been from the beginning. Idk I’d be pissed big time if I were in his shoes.

Totally agree!! As a former car painter back in the olden days, everything Aqua Blue RS/SS says is spot on. It's bad enough that I noticed that "orange peel " is the norm from factories these days. Seriously, the last thing you want to worry about on a new car is the paint.

[silversleeper]

Originally Posted by Aqua Blue RS/SS

Idk about triple the cost; 10-15k to do an all over is about right with top quality materials and prep. Keep in mind to do this right the body shop should have sanded thru at least the second respray bet preferably into the the first but not quite to complete bare metal. If you get too many mils of thickness the paint can crack and not hold up down the line. All the way to bare metal is another option but you have to be careful once you take it down that far and that can get even more expensive. Good paint work costs good money. I’m pretty sure he wasn’t after a “daily driver type paint job” on a supposed brand new car. He should be expecting near flawless work as it should have been from the beginning. Idk I’d be pissed big time if I were in his shoes.

I've repainted a few cars. IDK if you know what I mean with show quality and factory type finish quality? Have you done Kandy type finishes with muli coats and all the sanding on each coat? Taking off all trim and door handles and windshield etc? A top quality show finish isn't at all the same as a driver type repaint. Mostly in time and labor more so than just materials cost.
My paint was fading on one side of my truck from a poor repaint and I had it redone last year and cost me $1600 and that included minor bumper replacement and repair. Wasn't a fantastic job but what you'd expect for a driver quality repair. I still think 10k 15k or 20k for a basic repaint without other repairs is a ripoff.

[ADVMax]

My weird delivery damage “repaint” is a bit stranger.

I originally bought an inferno orange 2010 SS from a Chevy dealer’s used car section, I was literally 10 minutes away going to pick it up and the manager calls and says, “Mr. Lee, I’m sorry to have to call and tell you this but they just totaled you car going to fill it up before you pick it up!”

To cut to the chase they had the silver car I have now at another store in VA so they trucked it in for me and I picked it up in a week or so.

Orange to silver!

[Aqua Blue RS/SS]

Originally Posted by silversleeper

I've repainted a few cars. IDK if you know what I mean with show quality and factory type finish quality? Have you done Kandy type finishes with muli coats and all the sanding on each coat? Taking off all trim and door handles and windshield etc? A top quality show finish isn't at all the same as a driver type repaint. Mostly in time and labor more so than just materials cost.
My paint was fading on one side of my truck from a poor repaint and I had it redone last year and cost me $1600 and that included minor bumper replacement and repair. Wasn't a fantastic job but what you'd expect for a driver quality repair. I still think 10k 15k or 20k for a basic repaint without other repairs is a ripoff.

I did body work for a living for several years before I decided to change things up and went into oil and gas, so I do have an idea what you are talking about. Doesn’t change my opinion that 10-15K+ out the door for an all over wouldn’t surprise me if it was done correctly. Removing rubbers, trim, mirrors, grill, bumpers,lights, glass etc. is standard operating procedure for a correct all over, unless you take it to macco. I agree theres likely very little to no panel repair needed. Pricing also varies greatly across the country, that factors into all of this as well. My point i guess is that a good warranty and top notch work cost big bucks. Sure you could go to a lesser shop and get it done cheaper but what’s it going to look like in 5+ years, what happens a year down the road if there’s paint defects that start showing up. I’m not even sayin op took it to a top notch place, I just know quality normally equates to money in the body world. Don’t take this post the wrong way I’m really not trying to be combative. 19K is likely a bit excessive but then again GM was probably just trying to get him happy so he would get off there case. 20K on there end is a lot better than a lawsuit. I believe it should have been disclosed sooner in the process that this car had issues on the line, but that’s just me.

[redcoats1976]

Originally Posted by silversleeper

I've repainted a few cars. IDK if you know what I mean with show quality and factory type finish quality? Have you done Kandy type finishes with muli coats and all the sanding on each coat? Taking off all trim and door handles and windshield etc? A top quality show finish isn't at all the same as a driver type repaint. Mostly in time and labor more so than just materials cost.
My paint was fading on one side of my truck from a poor repaint and I had it redone last year and cost me $1600 and that included minor bumper replacement and repair. Wasn't a fantastic job but what you'd expect for a driver quality repair. I still think 10k 15k or 20k for a basic repaint without other repairs is a ripoff.

on a factory repaint i would expect the door handles,window trim and all visible weatherstripping to be removed and the car sanded properly before painting.if the dealer was unwilling to do that i would want the car replaced with one of equal value.if youre spending around 40k for a new vehicle you should get a paint job you are satisfied with.and yes,i have worked in a custom paint shop before.if it were my brand new car i would not be impressed with a poor paint job.

[PeterH]

The body shop did a really good job. They removed everything off the car, sanded it down to metal and primed, sealed and base coat clear coat. They even painted all the nuts and bolts that were removed and replaced during the job. We are still in a battle with the dealership that sold us the car for the diminished value of the car do to the non factory paint job.

The rep was the worst person I ever had to deal with. They insist this was do to " environmental fallout " .
Just ridiculous! I wanted them to buy the car back when it had 2000 miles on it. They refused to. When I dropped it off at the body shop it had 12k on it. I found out from the Service Manager at a different dealership that these reps get a kick back on the money they don't spend out of the budget. Rumor has it that GM was at their limit of buy backs per the federal government and had to stop. Don't know if that is true. The service manager that actually helped me out was nothing short of fantastic. He was the third one. Both the body guy and the Service Manager do not understand why GM did what they did.

I now have two more friends because of this. I guess that's a positive.

I would love to sue GM for deceiving us as customers. If I knew this car had a problem like this I would not have purchased it. I would have picked a different car.

I am at the position right now that GM has lost a customer.

It's just very unfortunate.