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* I took delivery of a new 2019 Corvette Stingray a couple of weeks ago. I was very excited to get this car. I had purchased a new 2015 Stingray in the past that had some orange peel paint issues and was looking forward to a much better paint job because of the new facility at Bowling Green.
* A couple of days after taking delivery, I discovered a paint defect in the crack where the front fascia meets the front fender beside the headlight. A small amount of peeling occurred on the fascia in this location. (See photo)
* I have since discovered (from multiple sources including this forum, paint protection shops in the Tampa Bay Region, and the dealer) that this defect is fairly common on C7 Corvettes painted at the new shop in Bowling Green. Some say it is because the panels are not prepared properly (some chemicals used in the panel molding process are not washed off completely before painting). Others (including my sales manager) said and I quote "I have seen paint defects in the same place on other Corvettes. Something about the extremely tight gap in the body panels really doesn’t bode well with the paint on some of these vehicles."
* The dealer offered to re-paint the fascia under warranty but I declined and had them do a touch up job instead. The last thing I would ever want is to repaint any panel on a new car. In my experience, re-paints never turn out well for cars in the long run. I am willing to bet you would feel the same way about having to paint a brand new car. The touch up job looks better but is still very noticeable.
* Shame on me for not looking at the car more closely before taking delivery. Sadly, it never occurred to me that the car would have this kind of quality problem. I addition, my 71 year old eyes are not what they used to be. Had I noticed the defect in advance I would have stopped the purchase process immediately.
* Because of this issue my excitement about getting this car has diminished significantly. I find a defect of this sort on an expensive new car to be inexcusable. I would give this car back to you if I could but I know that is a non-starter.
* I have 2 questions.
** 1. What is the real cause of this paint issue?
** 2. Why do you continue to ship cars to dealers with a known defect like this?
When I got my 19 Shadow Gray GS home, I noticed a very small, pea sized, spot that is bronze in color, on the rear fender. You have to be positioned just right to see it, I wasn’t willing to have a panel repainted since I was getting a two stage paint correction, Cquartz Finest Reserve applied and hoped that would correct the spot. The paint correction didn’t fix the spot, it’s still there and hard to find. The Cquartz installers pointed out the spot and had determined that it was in or under the clear coat.
It’s a little disappointing that a brand new paint shop would have so many problems.
Mike
Have you seen the $150,000+ ZR-1s with two-tone paint jobs?
Corvette (and GM in general) quality control leaves much to be desired. They want to compete with European cars in the 6 figure $ segment, but keep putting out cars built as cheaply as possible. GM if you’re listening..... IT SHOWS!
Got to really look new cars over before you buy them, or even bring in someone in to look at it with you or for you, many people when they see a new car just look past many issues that were there. I have been pretty lucky, my 12th and 13th (Z06 and ZR1) have had real good paint, but I had many that had very poor paint and required days of work to make them look great.
Got to really look new cars over before you buy them, or even bring in someone in to look at it with you or for you, many people when they see a new car just look past many issues that were there.
You are absolutely correct about this. I blame myself completely for my failure to find the defect before signing the paper work. I always bring my eagle eye wife along and she can spot a fly turd on the car's paint from 50 feet away. For some reason, I trusted GM and the dealership on this one and did not turn her loose to examine the car. If we had seen the defect in advance I would have stopped the sales process on the spot. Will never happen again. Like Reagan said, trust but verify.
Have you seen the $150,000+ ZR-1s with two-tone paint jobs?
Corvette (and GM in general) quality control leaves much to be desired. They want to compete with European cars in the 6 figure $ segment, but keep putting out cars built as cheaply as possible. GM if you’re listening..... IT SHOWS!
I expect the C8 to continue this trend.
European cars aren't perfect either. Don't even get me started about the horrible quality of my Mercedes-Benz SL55 AMG. I unloaded it for a painful financial loss but selling it was like removing an albatross from around my neck. No brand is perfect, but my experience with Corvettes has been more positive than with overpriced, disappointing Mercedes.
Reading the posts about paint issues, hard to believe this thread has not received a single comment.
While I am sorry that you are disappointed with your C7's paint, and I know it irritates you, I hope you won't let it deter you from enjoying driving your beautiful Corvette. Frankly, if you don't specifically point it to others, virtually nobody will notice such a tiny blemish.
Interesting that there are a lot of complaints about paint quality but very few want to add their voice to this thread for Tadge to consider (even when I provide them the link). I don't think he will feel compelled to answer without more direct evidence.
Tadge only answers threads sent to him by CF moderators, so letters to Tadge like this go unanswered. Regardless, this is a question best resolved by the selling dealer.
Tadge only answers threads sent to him by CF moderators, so letters to Tadge like this go unanswered. Regardless, this is a question best resolved by the selling dealer.
Did not really expect Tadge answer my questions. I know he is too busy to deal with every issue. On the other hand, if my questions can't even get past the mods, we will never know. I was making a point that I consider this kind of defect unacceptable and expressing my disappointment.
However, please explain to me how you think any dealer can answer my 2 questions:
1. What is the real cause of this paint issue? - How would a dealer know this? I have heard a number of theories as to the cause of the paint issues (chipping/peeling in my case) some of them from my dealer. How would you expect a dealer to know what is causing the problems at the plant? It could be an engineering/design issue or just sloppy QC. I am certain that someone at GM does know. I am also reasonably certain they will not tell us.
2.Why do you continue to ship cars to dealers with a known defect like this? This is a question the dealers might ask GM, not answer.
I hope Tadge will answer, but not holding my breath. None of my C5s had this issue and they have extremely tight panel joints because they use a metal stud plate with nuts on the other side. Much tighter than the C7 plastic snap joints. I have never owned a C6, but never heard of this issue on the forums ever.
My 2014 had the issue on both sides of the front bumper and I elected to touch it up as I don't trust the dealer or anyone to match the paint well enough. When I pulled my rear bumper for a spoiler swap one side had it chipping on the rear fascia too, but it was covered up by the quarter panel when you re-installed. I dabbed some touch up on there to seal it and moved on.
I used to be an insurance adjuster and have spent a lot of time around paint/body shops. IMO this is a panel prep issue. If the paint was adhered correctly the tight joint may dull the surface (you'd never see that part anyway), but it would not flake off. Even GM's TSB acknowledging the issue focuses on proper prep of the area with adhesion promoter. It says nothing about installing a new bracket to loosen the joint. FYI the joint tightness cannot be adjusted. It is determined by the plastic bracket that bolts to the fender and the thickness of the tabs molded to the fascia panel.
I hope Tadge will answer, but not holding my breath. None of my C5s had this issue and they have extremely tight panel joints because they use a metal stud plate with nuts on the other side. Much tighter than the C7 plastic snap joints. I have never owned a C6, but never heard of this issue on the forums ever.
My 2014 had the issue on both sides of the front bumper and I elected to touch it up as I don't trust the dealer or anyone to match the paint well enough. When I pulled my rear bumper for a spoiler swap one side had it chipping on the rear fascia too, but it was covered up by the quarter panel when you re-installed. I dabbed some touch up on there to seal it and moved on.
I used to be an insurance adjuster and have spent a lot of time around paint/body shops. IMO this is a panel prep issue. If the paint was adhered correctly the tight joint may dull the surface (you'd never see that part anyway), but it would not flake off. Even GM's TSB acknowledging the issue focuses on proper prep of the area with adhesion promoter. It says nothing about installing a new bracket to loosen the joint. FYI the joint tightness cannot be adjusted. It is determined by the plastic bracket that bolts to the fender and the thickness of the tabs molded to the fascia panel.
I won't be holding my breath either. But it appears that Tadge will never have the opportunity to answer the questions if the mods do not send them to him. I'll bet if they (the mods) had the paint issue, they would send it to him for sure. Thanks for the additional information. I have heard from others that it is a prep issue. It would seem that if GM knew this was the issue, then it could be fixed.
I've got a Z scheduled for production next week so it would be nice to at least see some sort of acknowledgement or feedback from GM on this. 90k+ sticker price and this is an issue I might have to deal with as soon as it arrives or soon after?
I recognize BMW or other luxury brands are in a higher class (and that they arent flawless), but would people stand for this on a 3 series, let alone similarly priced M car? Doesn't GM put out all of those marketing campaigns trying to convince people they are in the same or better quality class as other high quality brands?
I don't care that a loaded up M4 is the same price as a 650hp Z with less power. 80-90k is 80-90k. You sacrifice some luxury and refinement for all that power for the price. Got it. You didn't tell people they are also sacrificing normal expectations for what you do get when it arrives on the lot.
This would be unacceptable on a Sonic or a Kia Forte, let alone the flagship car of your brand.
but would people stand for this on a 3 series, let alone similarly priced M car? This would be unacceptable on a Sonic or a Kia Forte, let alone the flagship car of your brand.
We have purchased a new 2011 328I and a new 2017 330i. Point was flawless on both those cars. I have also purchased a number of other new cars since 2012 (2012 Mustang GT, 2012 Shelby GT 500, 2015 Challenger R/T, 2016 Charger Scat Pack, 2018 Jeep Grand Cherokee). No paint issues on any of these cars. I would expect the same on a Sonic or Kia Forte although it is unlikely I would buy these cars. A good paint job is a BASIC expectation when purchasing any new car. The issues like mine and many other Corvette buyers are UNACCEPTABLE. I agree with you that GM should acknowledge the problem and tell us what is being done to fix it. But as noted in posts above, don't hold your breath.
Last edited by ShadowGray19; 06-09-2019 at 07:02 PM.
I just purchased 2019 grand sport. 3 weeks old. Every day I notice more and more little white opaque spots on it. Definitely under the clear coat. According to dealer when I bought car it had a coat their Teflon coating on it, but only one coat. So I’m assuming spots are under that and or clear. Has anyone else seen these spots? I had 2007 and paint was perfect till the day I traded it in. Going back to dealer July 1
I just purchased 2019 grand sport. 3 weeks old. Every day I notice more and more little white opaque spots on it. Definitely under the clear coat. According to dealer when I bought car it had a coat their Teflon coating on it, but only one coat. So I’m assuming spots are under that and or clear. Has anyone else seen these spots? I had 2007 and paint was perfect till the day I traded it in. Going back to dealer July 1
Hey just noticed the same on my 2019 Sebring Orange Z06. It has the same opaque spots on flat surfaces. Tried buffing out but under clear coat. Yes it’s disappointing. These defects should have been fixed before shipping.
03-16-2019, 07:38 PM
Paint defects on 2019 Stingray
