F4 Phantom

That's "redo."

Zo62018A8

I took the car to the dealer and had the service manager look at it. He will contact GM. He claims this is the first time he has seen or heard of this (not sure if he was being honest about that since this issue is so common). He said it will be very hard to color match the torch red paint so he will try to have them resend a factory painted OEM bumper. I guess the only downfall will be that I will have to then have the entire front bumper ceramic coated AGAIN

Always Red Dave

Don't let them take that bumper off it could make a bigger chip or scratch somewhere else while they are taking front bumpers and fenders off.They will still have to address your front drivers fender as that is part of the problem.

petepd

It is a warranty issue. I have the same problem. I'm waiting untill the end of my warranty period in case I get stone chips before then. That way I get a free bumper paint job.

Nate@VanBortelChevy

I've seen several new Vettes with the same issue. I was able to get GM to send up a factory painted front bumper cover VS having the original cover refinished at a body shop. Speak to your dealership and ask them to request a new factory painted part from their rep.

In-n-Out

First, sorry for the long post but I ran across many a post concerning this issue and have waited patiently for a resolution. So far no luck. Therefore, I am seeking any advice you all might have.

I am stationed in Montgomery Alabama and I purchased a 2017 Corvette from Criswell in Maryland/DC area back in August of last year (they had the model/color etc). I had the vehicle shipped and upon inspecting it, it had already acquired the paint chipping issue on the front bumper (both sides). I contacted Criswell who informed me to take it to the local dealership. I did and the local dealership recommended not repainting it because it would be tough to match (Sterling Blue). They informed me that they didn't know about this issue affecting Corvettes. This is truck country for sure. They do not paint in-house and send it to a local bodyshop for re-paint etc.

I contacted Criswell and let them know about this and later on I was contacted by one of the General Manager's who said I would be sent a painted front bumper once the factory re-opens and to please be patient. This was back in September timeframe of last year. So I have waited and waited and two weeks ago the regional rep finally contacted me and said that I wouldn't be getting a new bumper and to take it in and get it repainted. I had to re-inform her (Criswell informed her what was going on) that the local dealership didn't recommend repainting because of the paint matching issue. She understood and recommend that I go to another dealership. Montgomery doesn't have a lot of dealerships to choose from.

So basically no help and I am back to square one after 5-6 months. I contacted the regional sales rep again today and inquired about a factory bumper...still no luck.

It seems like I am getting the run around. Is there someone higher up the chain that I need to contact? If so, does anyone know who?

Thanks your help/advice!

Foosh

I think your problem may be they're not painting Sterling Blue anymore. I'd call Criswell again and be persistent, but your only option may be to get an estimate from the best bodyshop in your area, send it to Criswell, and ask that they work the warranty issue with GM.

A really good body shop can match the paint and actually do a better job than the factory trying to match a no longer used color without having the car present to check the match. Good body shops do spray outs of various mixes of the same color code to ensure a perfect match before painting the part.

My wife had a minor scrape on her new titanium colored Infiniti recently, and the premium body shop had to do 16 different mixes and spray outs of the same paint code to find a perfect match. They spent 3 days trying to match color, but they did it perfectly.

I really wouldn't be comfortable with a body-colored panel ordered from the factory on a metallic/tint-coat paint color. I'd rather have it done at a very good body shop with the car present.

GarryL

You say that you purchased through Criswell. Did you work with Mike Furman? What you are describing doesn't match up with how Mike Furman supports his clients. Tell us more please...

In-n-Out

When I received the car last year, I took it to get an estimate on a clear bra. Of course I was going to wait until this issue had been resolved. The detailed and another customer saw the paint and recommended a local body shop. They said that is the only place they would take. The owner is a corvette lover and they informed me that the car would not leave his shop until it was perfect.

I asked the regional sales lady who is “working” my case about taking it to that body shop. She said I couldn’t as it had to be taken to a Chevrolet dealership for resolution.

You are probably right about the factory not being able to paint the bumper. I thought about that when the General Manager said I would get a new one from the factory. I figured if he informed me that, this was part of the resolution discussion that they had. Stinks I waited all this time only to start over.

I take it that if the regional sales lady said no (to getting it fixed at the body shop that was recommended), that I am stuck with trying to get it resolved at the Chevy Dealersihp? I mean, if the service manager I talked to wasn’t confident in it getting matched, I am a little worried.

In-n-Out

As Albert King said, “if it wasn’t for bad luck, I would have no luck at all.” I emailed Criswell when inquiring about the car and was matched to a different sales person. I only really found out about Mike about a week or so after talking to the other person. I did email Mike on some questions I had but he just forwarded my questions to the same guy I was talking to.

Of course, I know better now and would have went to him but I was uneducated.

JALLEN4

It seems to be a common thread on the Forum of having paint problems but not trusting the dealer to fix them. That certainly makes it a Catch 22.

Chevrolet dealers are the GM authorized warranty points for repairs. Trying to get around this fact is not going to end well. Since it is not a GM requirement for the dealer to have a body shop, many of them do not. In that case, the dealer sublets warranty body repairs to local independent body shops. Those shops have to abide by warranty manual repair times and supply costs when they do these repairs. Generally, the dealership sets up these relationships and works with the independent body shop exclusively.

In some cases, you may be able to have a dealership sublet your repair to a body shop of your choice. They are absolutely under no obligation to do this. Working with the dealership after that repair is done and you are not satisfied with it would now become very problematic.

The best advice you can ever get is to try not to overthink this problem and listen to all the naysayers. You should find a large dealership with their own body shop and request them to do the repair. Although odds are you will not get a show quality job, neither did you buy a car with a show quality finish. Most of these shops supply very good results on the numerous cars they paint daily and by far most of their customers are going to be completely satisfied.

NashvilleGrandSport

My dealer (as I previously noted) repainted mine without any issues and offered a written lifetime warranty on the repair. They do have an on-site dealer owned body shop.

They refused to do the GM supplied bumper swap, as they were skeptical that the prep work was any better than the one that came on my car. That's why they repaired mine in-house, as they had already done about 5 or 6 prior.

This was during the period the plant was closed so the paint shop could be upgraded, so HOPEFULLY this ongoing year-after-year issue has FINALLY been rectified.

Foosh

^

I completely agree that I'd rather have any decent body shop do the paint work with my car on site, rather than trust that a factory-painted piece sprayed many months later will match. That's particularly true with metallic paints.

z51vett

Hey the color has been discontinued getting one from GM slim to none. Bumpers are painted off site by supplier.
z51vett
Doug

Always Red Dave

In-n-Out any pictures curious to see how bad it looks. Dave

Foosh

I seriously doubt that C7 noses are painted off site by a supplier. If every different body panel and piece were painted at a different supplier, QC would be a nightmare, and there would be a lot of mis-matched cars.

Moreover, why would GM have built such an expensive new paint facility, if they aren't going to paint all visible pieces in it? Given that they invested in that infrastructure, it has to be more cost-effective for them to do their own painting rather than contracting out to suppliers for painted parts that may not match well.

The above leads me to another question? Doesn't BG manufacture most major body panels on site?

In-n-Out

Roger. I was just a little confused as when I took my vehicle to the local dealership to get it repaired, they said that they wouldn't get it repaired as it would be too difficult to match. Perhaps he isn't confident in the body shop that they use. I took that information to Criswell who then got their regional sales rep involved.

I will re-engage with the local dealership again, inform them that I will not get a replacement bumper and that I will need to get it fixed somehow.

It is getting worse so it will need to get fixed somehow.

Thanks again!

In-n-Out

I will take some new ones today and upload.

Thanks to everyone for their advice and recommendations!

djnice

In other threads people indicated they were painted by an outside supplier, but I am starting to question that.

Does Omega Tool manufacture the machines and GM uses them to make the parts?

Skid Row Joe

X2

I'm also wondering if In-N-Out's Criswell-bought new C7 was from Criswell's lot and shipped, or, drop shipped for him to take possession of it. Point being, did Criswell get the car first and see/miss the paint defect?