bad paint job on new car - help

H

harrydog

New member
I recently bought a new 2006 Subaru. This is my second Subaru and the quality of the paint on these cars is not the best from what I've seen. On this car, some areas of some panels feel very rough when I run my hand over
them. Other areas are completely smooth. I suspect it's just crappy paint application.
My question is, should I try to buff it out, or would that cause damage? I figure if the paint itself is rough, I'd have to remove the entire clearcoat layer and more in order to get it smooth. If I do buff it, what should I use? Clay bar, polishing compound,etc.?
Thanks!
 
HARRY

Welcome to the site....Im guessing that what you are feeling on the surface can be taken off with a good clay job...if one panel feels smooth then that's my best guess at this point.
 
You need to take this car back to the dealer and ask him what he intends to do if you are that disatisfied .
Once you attempt to rectify it you will be on your own why take a chance if you dont need to ?.
Good Luck.

Jay.
 
from the sound opf it, sounds like u really should leave it alone as for polishing and compounding and try a clay abr kit. the reason why some areas of the paint might feel rough while others feel smooth is mainly because during transport from the factory some panels and areas are covered with a plastic film while some are left bare. while in transport they may and probably will be trained over here and what u should be feeling is rail dust. most people dont notice or care but a good claying will remove it.
 
What do you mean by rough? Flecks under your fingers as you touch? Bumpy? Scratchy?
It could be rail dust if it is more on lower panels. It might not have been painted well, or repainted if they made a mistake. Talk to the dealer, see what she says. It might require a wet sand-buff job.
 
Good luck getting Subaru to do anything about it. I've got an '05 Legacy GT and the paint is pretty poor quality. Thin as thin can be. Not to mention the orange peel. It isn't as bad as it could be, but it is worse than it should be. Most of my complaints about the paint are insignificant and there isn't anything that Subaru would do about it anyway.

If this is a 2006 then it is likely you are feeling the residue from what they protect the car with during transport. Those large plastic sheets they put on the body leave quite a bit of glue sometimes. If your dealership didn't clean it up properly before they gave it to you, then that is one posibility. I would suggest you take the car back to them and have them inspect the paint. If it is something that is a factory problem then they will have to address it. If it is simply IFO then they'll have their detailer clay it or use whatever product they use for IFO, and then give it back to you. You can probably save yourself a lot of time and dealer installed swirls if you do it yourself. I feel that this paint is far too easy to swirl. I feel bad for people who don't have the tools to maintain the paint like they should.
 
joyriide1113 said:
from the sound opf it, sounds like u really should leave it alone as for polishing and compounding and try a clay abr kit. the reason why some areas of the paint might feel rough while others feel smooth is mainly because during transport from the factory some panels and areas are covered with a plastic film while some are left bare. while in transport they may and probably will be trained over here and what u should be feeling is rail dust. most people dont notice or care but a good claying will remove it.
Click to expand...

this is exactly what it is. i see it all day long. when cars are shipped from overseas(europe or asia) they are covered on the top surfaces with plastic to keep fall out and rail dust from settling. unfortunatly it gets on the uncovered areas. if you take it back to the dealer they should clay it for you. or you can do it yourself if you feel like it. try the clay before worrying about the buffing, you may be satisfied.
 
It sounds like it might be a quality problem with the manufacturer. I'd suggest speaking with the dealer to understand what the dealer recommends, and if you don't get satisfactory results then contact Subaru.

However, if your car's paint quality is similiar to all other new Subaru's then they just suck at painting cars and all you can do is hope that the dealer will offer a free repaint. Even though it isn't the dealers liability, they may feel it is in their best interest, from a PR or customer service standpoint, to take care of you.
 
maximv1 said:
this is exactly what it is. i see it all day long. when cars are shipped from overseas(europe or asia) they are covered on the top surfaces with plastic to keep fall out and rail dust from settling. unfortunatly it gets on the uncovered areas. if you take it back to the dealer they should clay it for you. or you can do it yourself if you feel like it. try the clay before worrying about the buffing, you may be satisfied.
Click to expand...

I've seen this allot on new cars as well...I said clay the car and that should take it off
 
I didn't let them do anything to my Subaru when I bought it. I said pull the sheets off and then give me the keys. That adhesive is a little harder to remove than with just a simple pass with clay. I used some products from autoint that are made for new car prep. It disolved the adhesive in short order.

Subarus are made in Indiana, so it isn't likely weeks of transport damage that he has. It is probably just the adhesive and maybe a little rail dust. The IFO will go easy with the clay, but the adhesive might be something you take a little more time on.
 
Thanks for all the replies.
I posted the original question but I had to re-register under a new name because I was having problems with my password and couldn't get it resolved.
The roughness can be easily felt with the fingertips. The worst areas are on the upper panels of the fender and doors just under the windows. The driver's side is worse than the other side. The roof is perfectly smooth and most other areas are pretty smooth but I can still feel some roughness.
I actually looked at the paint wit ha 10X magnification loupe. The rough areas don't look much different than the smooth areas other than looking just a little rougher. It's not an orange peel roughness. It's more "microscopic" than that.
Although I could demand that the dealer do something about it, I'm not sure I want them touching the paint. I don't trust them to do a good job.
To be honest, I can live with it as long as it won't effect the longevity of the paint or anything like that. I may also try some clay to see if that helps. I have some Griots clay that someone gave me as a gift. It's probably about 3 years old, but never used. Is it still ok to use?
On a side note, I just waxed the car with Collinite 476S wax. The water beading with this stuff is amazing - the best I've ever seen. The water rolls off the paint like little BB's. We'll see if it lasts as long as they say.
 
If the clay is still soft then it should be good. You might want to take $10 bucks and go to AutoZone to pick up a bar of Clay Magic just to be safe. Don't forget to rewax after you are done. If clay is going to pull the contamination out then it will likely remove the wax as well.
 
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