[ProudG6Owner]

Does anyone else have the same horrible paint that I do? Here are a few examples.

1. Terrible Orange Peel. We all know GM is famous for it, my car just seems to have it in abundance. I had it rubbed out at the dealer, however, it's still pretty bad.

2. Streaking.... now this might be my fault but I've been cleaning cars well for 10+ years. My Grand Am's were spotless, but I can't seem to get the streaks out of this clear coat after I have waxed it. A clay bar seemed to help it a bit, but when the wax was reapplied the streaking came back.

3. Dirt settled under the paint. Certainly this happened at the factory, and it took some wet sanding to rub out. With only 5mm of clear coat to work with according to the guage at PPG, I couldn't ever wet sand it again, to say nothing for using a high speed wheel.

So, does anyone else have these problems, and if so, how did you remedy them?

 

[ProudG6Owner]

Alright, Shawns right, we do need more activity around here.

 

[sunrunner_pei]

This is exactly what I was talking about. I'm glad I'm not the only one seeing it, although that still doesn't help the problem.

 

[Insane Skippy]

Wow that's terrible

I can't really say much about my paint because I bought my car used. It has scratches everywhere

I'll try to see if I can find more information on this for you.

 

[Goudron]

With only 5mm of clear coat to work with according to the guage at PPG, I couldn't ever wet sand it again, to say nothing for using a high speed wheel.

5mm of clearcoat? That's more like a plastic cladding. Did they mean 5 mils (5 thousandths of an inch)? Either way, that seems like a decent amount of clearcoat to me. It's dark out, so I can't tell if my G6 has excessive orange peel, but I can't say it would bother me. Maybe GM pressed their paint supplier too hard for cost reductions and we're paying for it in lower flow. Shouldn't excessive dirt inside the finish be covered by warranty?

PS how can they measure the thickness of the clearcoat only? Is there a portion somewhere not clearcoated? I can't get my head around what exactly they did. If it's 5 mils for the whole finish, then that's not very much paint, and sanding would be a bad idea.

 

[Hambone]

Well I sure wuld not go thru a car wash that has brushes!!

 

[ProudG6Owner]

It is 5 mils. That's my fault for miscommunicating.
There is a tool that can be used to test for the thickness of your clearcoat. My local high end detailer has it. I'll ask him the official name for it the next time I see him.

5 mils is terrible. That's why I had an additional clear coat done on my last Grand Am.

 

[Goudron]

I'm a powder coating chemist, so 5 mils seems like an extraordinary amount of paint to me (2-3 mils is plenty for most applications except for functional pipe coatings or coil springs), but I guess only BMW has bought into the powder clearcoat thing, so all the rest still use liquid.

Please do ask about the thickness tester. I'm sure they must have such a fancy toy, but it sounds like BS to me.

 

[Goudron]

Ok, I spoke to our resident automotive paint chemist, and 4-5 mils of paint, including ecoat, primer, basecoat, and clear is in fact the standard amount of paint. Also they wouldn't be able to measure *just* the clearcoat without destroying the finish which is what I thought was the case. Maybe they were thinking of the clearcoat as the total coating for the sake of the discussion or they just miscommunicated.

Bottom line is your G6 finish should withstand sanding just as well as you'd expect a different car's OEM finish to withstand sanding. I wouldn't dream of sanding my car except to repaint, but I don't know much about the subject.

If you had an additional clearcoat done as before, I'm sure whoever applied it could make a smoother finish if they knew what they were doing. MAybe that means applying ungodly amounts of paint and doubling your thickness. Whether it would meet or exceed GM spec or not, who knows. Generally the thicker you go, the more brittle the film will be.

 

[G6~Mike]

Ok, I spoke to our resident automotive paint chemist, and 4-5 mils of paint, including ecoat, primer, basecoat, and clear is in fact the standard amount of paint. Also they wouldn't be able to measure *just* the clearcoat without destroying the finish which is what I thought was the case. Maybe they were thinking of the clearcoat as the total coating for the sake of the discussion or they just miscommunicated.

Bottom line is your G6 finish should withstand sanding just as well as you'd expect a different car's OEM finish to withstand sanding. I wouldn't dream of sanding my car except to repaint, but I don't know much about the subject.

If you had an additional clearcoat done as before, I'm sure whoever applied it could make a smoother finish if they knew what they were doing. MAybe that means applying ungodly amounts of paint and doubling your thickness. Whether it would meet or exceed GM spec or not, who knows. Generally the thicker you go, the more brittle the film will be.

I agree, the thicker the paint or clear coat the easier it will chip. I seen it happen on my bonneville after it was painted and topped with 5mil of clear coat. The first stone chip went clear down to the primer.

Also, from what i've heard straight from guys at GM, orange peel is not just caused by cheap paint or a crappy application, its from poor quality sheetmetal.

 

[stephcorleone]

Okay, I know everyone posted so long ago, but....
does anyone have pictures of what they consider orange peel? I have issues with my paint (other than the swirls and all that) and it's mainly on the back of my car at the trunk. It looks like little brown/rust colored specs all over. And then some of the specs are more orange. And I know orange may be a keyword, but I've had it looked at before and people say they think it's overspray. However, it's only in certain places and it seems like if there was some type of overspray, it would be on the bumper, too. I don't know, it's not way noticeable, but people who love their cars notice everything. Also, I know overall it would just look more pure and shiny even at just a glance if this didn't exist.

So i'm just wondering if it's a case of "GM orange peel." any pics? I'll try and take pics of mine sometime. Anybody know how much professional wetsanding would be?

 

[geewhiz]

This should help you,
http://www.sherwin-automotive.com/reference/troubleshooting_guide/orange_peel/index.cfm

Orange pell is a texture of the paint.

 

[Kendra w/ the 2008 G6 V6]

in reguards to proudG6owners topic about the paint

i just bought the 08 and im finding paint runs, bubbles, dirt under the paint, nixs in my paint in some spots. Im debating on what to do about this matter, either go back to the dealership and complain or call GM and talk to them about it??? anyone have any ideas??? the dealership let me tell ya already hates me cuz i have complained about what they call stupid stuff already and they have told me that NO car will EVER come perfect from GM or any maker for that matter. i think its BS!!!!

 

[wesuhlee]

i bought my car used with 26k and i noticed several touchups on the paint...well, after about a month of driving it, i noticed that the paint chips away very easily, especially if bugs aren't cleaned off the front bumper within a couple of days...although i plan on getting a different paint job in the future, it is kind of annoying to see new paint chips each time i wash my car

 

[stephcorleone]

I'll call around about this, but right now I can't... so any ideas on how much a paint job would cost?

 

[wesuhlee]

i know a guy who quoted my lady's toyota celica for $300...but i'm in a part of texas where the economy is dirt poor, so we usually get decent deals on things like this

 

[Lampoon]

Where in Texas are you?

As for the paint orange peel you can see it good in this shot:

I call this shot "Pontiac Exclamation Point" /or/ "Orange Peel".

 

[stephcorleone]

i know a guy who quoted my lady's toyota celica for $300...but i'm in a part of texas where the economy is dirt poor, so we usually get decent deals on things like this

I guess that's the perks of living close/in an area like that, huh? That intrigues me to start calling around to even more areas, but just today i was told I need $700 to replace the steering rack in my car. So I guess I'll painting my car is nothing but a pipe dream!

 

[wesuhlee]

i'm in the rio grande valley (next to mexico)...though the prices are cheap, a lot of times you get what you pay for

 

[djinferno]

super old topic i know... but why on earth did i wake up today to give my car a quick detail b4 i went to work, like i do about once a week, and today when i was rinsing the soap off, i also rinsed away the FREAKING CLEAR COAT off the hood... WTF. why on earth would the clear coat come off just on my hood, all of the sudden, its not like it had started with small spots or ne thing, it looked like all the spots i hit bugs just the other day while driving, and just on the hood, took the clear coat right off... and of course the warrenty doesnt cover shit.... wat do i do?