Which auto manufacturer has the best paint?

L

larry_bar56

New member
Ever since I found this site a few months ago I have started looking at cars differently...you know, more critical about the condition of the vehicle (you know we all we do it!). :D



I have a BMW and I love the thing, but it has a fair amount of orange peel effect in the paint. I have since noticed that lots of BMWs have orange peel. I have also seen it on Nissans in the showroom. So, I guess it's not that uncommon for a new car to have this effect in the paint.



I have also noticed some Subarus with fantastic looking paint. So that's what prompted this thread. What is everyone's opinion on which auto manufacturer produces the best paint finish on their cars?



I'd have to cast my vote for Subaru just based on what I've seen in parking lots.



(I'm hoping Mike Phillips will chime in with his impressive knowledge of auto paint) :xyxthumbs
 
Based only on the two vehicles I have, I would say that Nissans have pretty average paint (thin, orange peel) and Hondas have pretty good paint (smooth, easy to clean, polish and seal).
 
If you think that Subaru has a goor paint job, you are severly mistaken. It pits very, very easily and they use ultra thin sheet metal. My front end and hood look like crap. there are so many little white and silver spots on my blue that it looks like a star field at night. Seriously! Although, I admit, the WRB of my WRX is a beautiful color when clean, the paint itself isn't the greatest. . .
 
O.K. So my opinion on Subaru was just based on few cars I had observerd casually in a parking lot. It's good to hear from someone that owns one. You can't say the BMW sheet metal is thin, despite the paint. The cars are built very solidly. I just wish the paint looked as good as some of the cars I've seen featured here.
 
Good question Larry,

I recently had the front clip on my Porsche painted by a guy in my area who is sort of a paint "guru" among the restoration crowd. I spent a few minutes talking with him and he was very articulate about how matching the factory orange peel being the biggest challenge in a great repair job. Interesting. His comments were to the effect that all manufacturers have some orange peel in their finish paint work...



I too have acquired the sickness...I mean attention to detail ;) and look at cars differently since hanging around here...



To your question, I think the paint on my Porsche is just pretty good. I can occasionally find flaws in the paint but there is quite a bit of paint on the car. The paint on my '99 528i is very good, some orange peel as you point out but I'm consistently impressed with it so my vote goes to BMW.



I've had Acura's and aside from being impressed with them overall and being able to drive them into the ground I thought their paint was average.



Russ
 
Just from the cars I've been around, I'd say Audi.



We've had a few Audi's and I love their paint, very clean and very hard to induce swirls. I've detailed a few Subies, and their paint was very soft and thin, albeit relatively defect free, although I recall them having paint runs in spots.



My BMW's paint is almost flawless, it's just really, really soft and seems to be very susceptible to rock chips. Mercedes paint is slightly better, but not outstanding. I've got a friend with an older Ferrari, it has perfect paint, but it's also not water-bourne, so that's not a fair comparison.



If I recall correctly, the Europeans can use more aggressive painting processes than the Americans or Japanese, which is surprising givin the Green presence over there. I haven't detailed a Jag, but I would assume that their paint quality, or Aston Martin's would be among the highest, pure speculation, but that's where I'd put my money. There are my random thoughts on the matter, not sure I answered anything!
 
Best (factory) paint I've *EVER* seen was on a Rolls Royce, next best was on a Bentley. They were a pleasure just to look at. This was back before they split up the two companies, so I dunno about TODAY. Made the paint of the S-class Benz I was driving look like it was put on with a brush, by comparison (and it was a NICE one).



Don't get me going about the paint on my A8/S8, computer-robotics or not :mad: . Not BAD by ANY measure (and it IS pretty tough), but I'd expected better what with all their hype. A bit better than my Benzes and similar to my Porsches, but NOTHING like the aforementioned Brits. All these Euro cars make my Japanese vehicles look like THEY were painted with a (dirty) brush. MY WRX has all sorts of minor flaws, it's like an example of what can go wrong with a paintjob.



Worst paint I've EVER had was on a '95 Caddy STS. I sold it with fewer than 1K miles because of it (after GM and the dealer blew me off). Second worst is my beloved XJS :(



EDIT: I'm being too hard on the S8..it IS a really nice paintjob. The A8's a different story.
 
Orange peel is a condition in the paint where it is bumpy and looks like the surface of an orange. Most factory paint jobs suffer from this.



I'd have to put my vote for Lexus though. We have a GS300 and I have detailed multiple other Lexus's and I must say, I have not seen any orange peel or other paint defects to date. Those cars are also very hard to swirl too...



....Not that I've tried....
 
I'm not all that impressed with Honda's paint at all. I mean it could be because there are a lot of Hondas out there and a lot of people who buy them for the specific purpose of NOT taking care of them, but it sure seems like Hondas develop swirls wrose than other cars that are taken care of poorly. I dunno, it has always just seemed to me like Hondas are particularly succeptable to really extra horrible swirling.



It's definitely not Nissan either. It seems to be a pretty well accepted fact that 4th gen Maximas are really succeptable to rock chips. They also supposedly have thing front fenders (gotta be careful when working on the engine).



They need to develop some better paints. Clearcoat sucks big time regardless of the car. It's so frigging hard to take care of and even dilligent care is just a fight against the inevitable. Obviously any paint is going to deteriorate over time, but I can't believe that a society that can put a man on the moon can't come up with a paint that stands up to abuse better than this. Not everyone either a.) has a garage or b.) wants their car to look like a piece of garbage or c.) wants to repaint their car every spring. Living in the North East there is just no way to avoid the damage that snow and ice do.



They say that there are technologies that are supposed to make the situation better. I think an example was that scooter thing...the uhh Segway. I read some article about how the thing was colored...it might have even been special plastic panels where the color goes all the way through and resists chips. I can't remember...but hopefully that means something better is on the horizon.
 
I second it on Honda being junk...its way too soft and is too easy to damage...and on my 98 it has a lot of orange peel. No idea if 2003 is any better...I'm buying one in a few weeks so we'll see.
 
I have a VW Passat and find the paint pretty easy to microscratch. Just by the looks of it, Mercedes seems to have incredible paint, IMHO, the best I've seen.
 
i'm new to this orange peel concept but i have it all over the bottom region of the doors on my toyota corolla and my subaru legacy.



now is this orange peel effect caused by corrosion under the surface of the metal or maybe somehow the air bubbles under the paint began to expand after the paint dried to a certain extent?
 
phatphob said:
i'm new to this orange peel concept but i have it all over the bottom region of the doors on my toyota corolla and my subaru legacy.
Click to expand...



Don't know about the Corolla or Legacy, but the paint on some models has an intentional texture at the bottom of the side panels that feathers out to smooth as you go up. (Purpose is to make rock chips a little harder to see?) This texture is more coarse than the "orange peel" of an average paint job.
 
I have a 2003 Infiniti G35. The paint is horrible!! Besided the dealer installed swirls and scratches, 1/3 of the rear panel looks to me (novice) that the clearcoat was not applied. It is very pitted looking, like dried bubbles. There is what appears to be overspray on the other side of the car, and dried runs under the rear license plate.



Lots of G35 owners are complaining about the paint. I filled out my survery and sent it to Infiniti today. We shall see if anything happens.:mad:
 
phareous said:
I second it on Honda being junk...its way too soft and is too easy to damage...and on my 98 it has a lot of orange peel. No idea if 2003 is any better...I'm buying one in a few weeks so we'll see.
Click to expand...



There is very little orange peel on my 90 Accord and most of the newer ones I do are better than most of the BMWs and Mercedes I detail.



Bentley, Rolls, Ferrari and Lamborghini all have pretty flawless looking paint. You'd be hard pressed to find any orange peel on one that still has the original paint.



Lexus and Porsche have great paint and of the domestics, Ford is the best.
 
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