Originally Posted by vxplt

Since this was an ‘of the lot’ purchase my question is this, how many miles did the Car have when you purchased it? I know you said ‘new’ but that does not mean it wasn’t driven by other prospective buyers and probably damaged that way.

Originally Posted by Nate@VanBortelChevy

In all honesty, most people would be shocked to know and see some of the paint defects that new Corvettes are shipped to dealerships with. It's not just Corvettes, it's every car that is mass produced. Bottom line is, nothing is perfect. Period. Personally, I have seen better paint jobs come from a collision shop than from the factory. I've seen it all, runs, dry spots, swirls, bare areas, flaking, dirt, fish eyes, etc... Some that our detailer takes care of before we display/offer the car for sale, some that gets sent to a body shop for warranty repair, some that I get personnel from GM involved with.

One option that not 1 person from GM or the dealership has mentioned to the OP; If you find the right person at the right GM dealership with the right GM connections, you can have painted body panels sent from the factory. Been there, done that.

BUT, some of the "defects" I'm seeing in the pictures are not from the factory and were done after the car was shipped, not GM's fault.

Best of luck OP

Originally Posted by Nate@VanBortelChevy

In all honesty, most people would be shocked to know and see some of the paint defects that new Corvettes are shipped to dealerships with. It's not just Corvettes, it's every car that is mass produced. Bottom line is, nothing is perfect. Period. Personally, I have seen better paint jobs come from a collision shop than from the factory. I've seen it all, runs, dry spots, swirls, bare areas, flaking, dirt, fish eyes, etc... Some that our detailer takes care of before we display/offer the car for sale, some that gets sent to a body shop for warranty repair, some that I get personnel from GM involved with.

One option that not 1 person from GM or the dealership has mentioned to the OP; If you find the right person at the right GM dealership with the right GM connections, you can have painted body panels sent from the factory. Been there, done that.

BUT, some of the "defects" I'm seeing in the pictures are not from the factory and were done after the car was shipped, not GM's fault.

Best of luck OP

Originally Posted by TimberR6

So on November 2017 I decided to take a leap and buy my first Corvette (2017 GS Heritage Edition). Not only was this my first Corvette but this was my first new off the lot automobile purchase, so as you can imagine I was beyond thrilled to drive this beautiful piece of machinery off the lot. Fast forward 2-3 weeks later to my first time washing the car (dealer detail jobs are a joke) and I notice several (10ish) paint imperfections on the body and rear spoiler. I was absolutely floored by the poor quality control of this $83K+ (sticker price) car. I'd read stories of known Vette issues in past years but was under the impression the paint issues had mostly been corrected, boy was I wrong.

Upon closer examination I could see several areas on the fender edges that appear to not have been painted. there are also "worn" spots on the inside corners of the spoiler where it looks like someone laid it down upside down and maybe slide it across the floor. See pics...

I called the dealer where it was purchased (Hendrick, Cary NC) and was told by the service manager to bring it in and they would repaint the problem areas. I expressed my displeasure with having to have a brand new $80k car repainted with less than 1000 miles. I also informed the service manager that I am aware that dealer paint jobs aren't factory paint jobs (different paint, baking temps etc.) and that repainted cars have diminished value. The SM proceeded to tell me that their paint jobs are"exactly the same" as factory paint jobs and that repainted cars don't lose value. He honestly said both of those things to me ...I knew right there this was going to be a difficult process. I explained to the SM that he was full of it and that I'd call someone else with more intelligence.

I called GM customer care from a number I found on this forum and spoke with the absolute nicest customer service agent I've ever dealt with. The CS lady and I spoke weekly over the next few weeks as I refused to speak with the Hendrick SM after his blatant lying previously. I expressed several viable solutions,or at least solutions I would be happy with:
1. Send car back to factory and have it repainted
2. Buy car back/trade for comparable model
3. Get repaint estimates from dealer and non-dealer and reimburse me the difference

After 2 months of back and forth with said CS lady I received a phone call today from a new lady at GM. After a long and heated discussion she told me GM would only be willing to work with the dealership to have the car repainted at the dealership. Anything else would have to be negotiated with dealership and was outside of what GM would do. Basically repaint or nothing. So I called the dealership and spoke with some manager there and was told the same thing... "I can help you have the car repainted, other than that I don't have another option".

So basically GM is just as bad, if not worse than any other company that once they have your money they don't care about you as a customer any more. That is why this will probably be my last Corvette/GM product I ever purchase.

Anyone have any suggestions or ideas on how to deal with these paint quality control issues form the dealership or corporate GM?

Originally Posted by Walter Raulerson

Hendrick is a "good ole boy" at the track but he didn't get to be a BILLIONAIRE because his dealerships shirked from what they do and that's make money for him. I've never been able to get any kind of deal with any of his dealerships. This is just an example they add $249.00 to the sticker of their cars for NITROGEN my dealer "$0"

Originally Posted by MikeERWNC

If Hendrick is repainting it, it will have diminished value.
Their body-shops could care less about the customer. they only care about labor hours and overall cost.
Hendrick is all about money in, not fixing problems correctly, especially when it is on their dime...
You will never see me going to another Hendrick dealership. Their body shop will never see another one of my cars.

Too bad you can't go to an independent shop for this. That color will be impossible.
The guy who paints my bikes, matches colors perfectly.

Originally Posted by BrunoTheMellow

You'd have to use a sanding disc to get rid of that much paint. It is not SO CRITICAL. If using an orbital, you can stick damn near any buffing pad and sit on the same spot for like 20 seconds before any noticeable damage. Plus those aren't burn-through marks but chip marks. This is not a paint process problem but an assembly problem. Assembly workers were careless and chipped/scratched the paint. It is very uncommon to scratch paint jobs in the paint shop.

Every picture posted by OP is bad handling of parts or bad fitment causing chips.





BTW... A repaint in the factory is done in a very similar fashion as a dealership. Likely same paint too. Spot sprayed using infrared heaters to bake. Beware of them trying to use touch up paint for small enough chips (also done this way at the factory if damage is in a hard to see area). Even vehicles that get repainted at the factory, as soon as they leave the paint shop they are repainted this way. If the damage is too far gone, then the panel is replaced with new from paint shop.

I keep trying to tell people on this forum that just because its damaged paint, it doesn't mean it's a bad paint job. Here is what a bad paint job is:
-orange peel (lack of primer/clearcoat usually)
-peeling paint (durability, often due to baking issues)
-dry spots (robot malfunction or bad flow settings)
-uneven color/metallic flakes (same as above)
-foreign material under paint or on paint, aka "dirt" (poor prep, poor quality control)
-drips, sags, corner bubbles, or "fatty" edges (too much paint in a concentrated area, due to robot malfunction, humidity or temperature issues, or bad flow settings)
-colorless holes/spots, aka "craters" (contamination prior to painting often due to handling without gloves or aerosol sprays nearby)
-Sometimes a robot cover or employee will bump the panel while its still wet, this is called a "mar", can be all shapes or sizes (loose covers, carelessness)
-Dull spots or blemishes (employee sanded defect but did not polish enough)

That's all I can think of right now. Many of the above can also be due to poor paint chemistry / ratios. It is very seldom that a panel is scratched during the painting process. Often this is 1 long deep scratch like the panel scraped by piece of metal or something. Any other chip/scratch/scrape is an assembly quality problem.

Originally Posted by Walter Raulerson

Right it's almost impossible to match a car from ANYWHERE. White is very hard I guess black is about the easiest. These new colors like that model 65 with that whatever white will be double impossible to match.

Originally Posted by JALLEN4

Unfortunately, your expectations would be on a par with the OP's and would not be met. There are no "perfect" cars. If you think it is appropriate to tell the dealership Service Manager that he needs to speak with a "more intelligent person", you need to go to your room and think about it for awhile!

The SM did not build the car and did not even sell the car. He is simply the guy responsible to fix the problem. Calling him a liar and idiot before even seeing if he can accomplish that task would be childish at best and make you a twit at the least. Thinking they are going to actually bundle up your car and send it back to Bowling Green for paint work is the very definition of ignorance. Demanding a new car because of the paint flaws without the option to fix them is a totally ridiculous position no matter what color your collar.

In my experience, which I have a lot, some dealer paint work is better than factory. Look at what the factory did here and then let's see what the repair looks like. It most likely could not be worse. The idea that a Corvette instantly has a diminished value because of ANY paintwork is simply stupid. It is a total internet myth!

Originally Posted by Nate@VanBortelChevy

In all honesty, most people would be shocked to know and see some of the paint defects that new Corvettes are shipped to dealerships with. It's not just Corvettes, it's every car that is mass produced. Bottom line is, nothing is perfect. Period. Personally, I have seen better paint jobs come from a collision shop than from the factory. I've seen it all, runs, dry spots, swirls, bare areas, flaking, dirt, fish eyes, etc... Some that our detailer takes care of before we display/offer the car for sale, some that gets sent to a body shop for warranty repair, some that I get personnel from GM involved with.

One option that not 1 person from GM or the dealership has mentioned to the OP; If you find the right person at the right GM dealership with the right GM connections, you can have painted body panels sent from the factory. Been there, done that.

BUT, some of the "defects" I'm seeing in the pictures are not from the factory and were done after the car was shipped, not GM's fault.

Best of luck OP