Which Automaker has the best paint?

**Krautfed 03** · 01-11-2005, 09:27 AM

Even though Audi has a finicky finish, they look absolutely gorgeous when detailed properly.

My A4 is a PITA to remove scratches, and ironically, if you look at it the wrong way, it scratches!:nixweiss

**Bill D** · 01-11-2005, 09:33 AM

Right on the money Krautfed

**Accumulator** · 01-11-2005, 11:33 AM

Quality paint, *real* quality, is pretty hard to find. If you`re *really* discriminating, most factory paint is of quite poor quality.

ScottWax nailed it; it`s Bentley, hands-down.

Ferrari? Ever see a 550 up close? Maybe the new ones are better, I dunno.

My Benzes always had orange peel, but that was a while ago. But the last `05 I saw had it too.

I`ve seen some new-style 7 and 5 series Bimmers that were the same way.

Audi? This one I know pretty well. I`ve had maybe a dozen and I`ve driven many, many more. Even the paint on our A8 and S8 is just awful (and it`s better than I had on our A4/A6 cars, let alone the earlier ones). Orange peel that isn`t even remotely uniform, inconsistent metallic, so-so quality at best in the "hidden areas" like doorjambs, etc. and I`ve even found the sort of under-paint contamination that would be out of place at Maaco. It is *pretty* paint, but it`s not high quality. Between the paint quality and the new front end I`m sorta undecided about buying the new S8 when it comes out.

None of my Porsches were any better (quality wise) than the Audis, with the exception of the single stage one. That was nice paint (`78 Guard`s Red).

Anybody who really appreciates quality automotive paint really oughta go look at a Bentley. So nice it`s truly a pleasure just to look at it. They really are a whole `nother ballgame compared to anything else on the market. And that includes RR these days. The paint on the new Phantom I saw was nothing really special, looked like a nice Benz or Bimmer to me, maybe like one that had been wetsanded a little.

**Scottwax** · 01-12-2005, 10:05 AM

George-absolutely right on Rolls. Their paint used to be incredible like the Bentley but apparently BMW is cutting some corners because the Phantom I detail has several areas with orange peel. The overall paint is very nice compared to most other cars and is very rich looking but orange peel on a $328,000 car? Ugh.

You can clearly see the orange peel in the area the open garage door is reflected off of:

The trunk lid also has noticable orange peel while the hood is practically flawless.

**Aurora** · 01-12-2005, 10:10 AM

VW/Audi just seem to have more gloss and shine to them even if they are not well-maintained. That`s in my eyes of course. Awesome pics there Scottwax.

**percynjpn** · 01-13-2005, 09:09 AM

Originally posted by Accumulator

Quality paint, *real* quality, is pretty hard to find. If you`re *really* discriminating, most factory paint is of quite poor quality.

ScottWax nailed it; it`s Bentley, hands-down.

Ferrari? Ever see a 550 up close? Maybe the new ones are better, I dunno.

My Benzes always had orange peel, but that was a while ago. But the last `05 I saw had it too.

I`ve seen some new-style 7 and 5 series Bimmers that were the same way.

Audi? This one I know pretty well. I`ve had maybe a dozen and I`ve driven many, many more. Even the paint on our A8 and S8 is just awful (and it`s better than I had on our A4/A6 cars, let alone the earlier ones). Orange peel that isn`t even remotely uniform, inconsistent metallic, so-so quality at best in the "hidden areas" like doorjambs, etc. and I`ve even found the sort of under-paint contamination that would be out of place at Maaco. It is *pretty* paint, but it`s not high quality. Between the paint quality and the new front end I`m sorta undecided about buying the new S8 when it comes out.

None of my Porsches were any better (quality wise) than the Audis, with the exception of the single stage one. That was nice paint (`78 Guard`s Red).

Anybody who really appreciates quality automotive paint really oughta go look at a Bentley. So nice it`s truly a pleasure just to look at it. They really are a whole `nother ballgame compared to anything else on the market. And that includes RR these days. The paint on the new Phantom I saw was nothing really special, looked like a nice Benz or Bimmer to me, maybe like one that had been wetsanded a little.

As (if I remember right) you`re also a Jag owner, I wonder why you didn`t include that?

In your experience, how does it compare to the others?

**Accumulator** · 01-13-2005, 01:04 PM

Originally posted by percynjpn

As (if I remember right) you`re also a Jag owner, I wonder why you didn`t include that?

In your experience, how does it compare to the others?

Two reasons- first, it`s an `85, and the Rhodium Silver cars from that year were unusually bad, so much so as to not be representative (as I recall, they quit making them in that color due to problems with the ss metallic gray paint) and, well, mine is a crappy example anyhow. Talk about a "Monday/Friday" car

The build quality of my XJS is why Jag had such trouble in the mid-eighties. I keep it out of sentimental attachment, not because of (rather, *in spite of*) its build quality.

None of the Jags in my Jaguar Club (Jaguar Club of Ohio, where I have a, uhm, "reputation" regarding what I consider acceptable

) have very good paint jobs, even the brand new ones. Not *bad*, but not as nice as some Lexus paint I`ve seen either. So since I`m already bashing most every car line over their paint quality, I can say "Jags aren`t too hot either". But honestly, most Jags I see are *so* marred up it`s hard to even evaluate the paint`s quality.

Admittedly I`m being pretty harsh about all this, but I just don`t see many factory paintjobs that look good to me. Just calling `em as I see `em.

**imported_mirrorfinishman** · 01-13-2005, 01:18 PM

Almost all paint finish processes are basicly the same for the different domestic and imported auto manufacturers. And the process does not vary with regard to the auto paint suppliers.

**gto78** · 01-16-2005, 08:06 AM

I can only speak for what I`ve seen as far as paint quality. And what I`ve seen is my (2003) Nissan`s paint is absolutely rediculous, not good at all. It has hundreds of chips across the front bumper, chips above the windshield, and on the fronts of the fender flares. It only has 19K miles on it and I take care of it ten times better than what any dealership would ever suggest. It always has nice coats of wax to help protect it but the paint is so thin, and weak that you can put your fingernail right through it with no effort at all.

My mom`s 2001 pearl toyota has 45K miles on it and if i look for about 10 minutes I can only find 5 chips in the entire paint job. It`s amazing what a big difference in quality there is. My nissan however has a little less orange peel.

My fiance`s 98 Ford Exploder has awesome paint like the toyota. Only it has much less orange peel. It responds really well to swirl removers and also is very easy to get a dripping wet appearance after a polish and wax, compared to my nissan that keeps getting scratched worse each time I try and remove swirls.