CT5-V My new car has arrived. And a lament about the paint...

[BimmerFan]

I read on some other posts that people are not happy with the paint on their BW. More about that below.

Anyway, as a recap: I tried to buy a nearly local used BW but it smelled, so I spent weeks searching for a new CT5V manual BW without a crapload of options and without any dealer markup. I finally found one in Novi Michigan, made a deal, waited another 2 weeks for it to be shipped, and it arrived Saturday!!!! Woo hoo!

I don't have any plates for it yet, so I'm taking a bit of risk driving (it is insured though) so there aren't many miles on it so far. My only regret at this point is that I didn't try to buy one sooner. What a fabulous driving car! Thanks to everyone, especially you former BMW owners who replied to my thread asking for opinions, for helping me make the move.

This is a base car, the only option on it is the dealer-installed locking wheel lugs, which I am going to take off and sell here, if anyone wants them. It's got the base wheels, and no one is going to steal those. LOL

After delivery I had to take the wife for a quick drive around the neighborhood, in the rain, so later that day I dried off the hood so that it wouldn't spot. That's when I noticed that the paint wasn't all that it should be. This is a black car, so it reflects very well, and I noticed some "stuff" on it. I figured it had been parked under a tree. Tree sap, etc. is a constant problem for me at work, not to mention bird droppings and other nonsense. I have requested a reserved protected covered parking spot, but HR has not yet responded. Of course, they'd have to build me a garage, and since I'm just a peon, I'm not holding my breath.

I started by using clay on the hood, and that didn't help. I always start with the least abrasive tool and work my way up. After the clay, I used some "paint cleanser" which I find works very well and is easy to use. Nope. Then we went to a "compound" polish, which is the strongest stuff I have (I have bottles and bottles of polish, and most of them don't do much of anything except make it shiny). Nada.

It's difficult to take pictures of shiny paint, but you can see some of the defects below which show as light grey spots. I think the camera was focusing on the reflection of the ceiling rather than the hood.

More follows...

 

[BimmerFan]

So after trying everything that I could think of, I broke out the sandpaper. A top-quality paint shop will wet sand between coats, or at least on the final coat of clear, and I've seen it done long before I ever tried it. I have ruined the paint on a couple of cars as I learned how to do this, so now I don't mess with the lower grades of paper and just use 3000 grit exclusively. And lots of water. Hence "wet sanding". It is scary how it looks after you've literally sanded away some of your paint:

You can see the defects are still present, showing as darker bits in the picture because they are higher than the surrounding paint, as one might get if there was trash in the finish. They are actually shinier than the surrounding paint, but the camera sees it as darkness. I continued with a little bit more sanding until all but one of the marks were gone, because the point here is to get everything level, which gives you reflectivity which we perceive as shine.

This is what the section of the hood looked like after a few minutes of very light, very wet sanding:

You also have be very careful on edges and anywhere that the surface is not flat, so that you don't remove too much paint. That's why I picked a flat section. Are you scared yet? Gads, the first time I ever did this, I was sweating bullets.

I used the Adam's polish shown above, the compounding polish, as it is very aggressive and works great to take out the scratches. I have several polishers; in this case I used my small Rupes 3" electric polisher with the Adam's to take out the sanding marks. This is the same hood after a few minutes. I drew the arrow to point out that one little area that is still barely visible; otherwise I got out almost everything I think.

I am really not in the mood to sand the entire car, as there is trash in the trunk lid as well and probably the roof too, although I'm too short to see it well. And if I can't see it, it doesn't exist, right? LOL

So, that's my adventure. I'm interested to read about others' experience with the paint. As long as GM has been making and painting cars, you'd think they'd do better, wouldn't you?

 

[RobC7]

Congrats on the car, looking forward to a post dedicated to your thoughts on the car.

Regarding the paint, it's GM. These are built in the same factory as a Camaro so it's likely there will be defects. I've seen C7 corvettes with runs in the paint, missing paint on the inside of panels, and paint chipping away from panels touching. It's unfortunate but it doesn't seem like they prioritize the small details.

 

[SIX 40]

You probably weren’t around for this thread:

PSA: Setting Expectations - Condition of your paint may disappoint you, but a paint correction/ceramic coat and a good detailer will fix your problem.

The part of my job that I don't love to do...... Disappoint my customers and it this case, everyone else's customers as well.... However, I do always want to be transparent and set expectations properly... As these vehicles sit for months in the land of the goats, the clearcoats/finish take a...

www.cadillacvnet.com

Congrats on the BW! Enjoy

 

[beamon]

Glad you were able to fix it up. You would think for $100k+ cars GM/Cadillac would at least have a complete QA and remedy the car before shipping it out. This is part of the reason why I haven't returned to American cars until now as I can't resist the Blackwing engine/drivetrain/manual trans. The last American cars I owned were a 90s Chevy Impala SS and GMC Syclone...it's been a while!

 

[BimmerFan]

You probably weren’t around for this thread:

PSA: Setting Expectations - Condition of your paint may disappoint you, but a paint correction/ceramic coat and a good detailer will fix your problem.

The part of my job that I don't love to do...... Disappoint my customers and it this case, everyone else's customers as well.... However, I do always want to be transparent and set expectations properly... As these vehicles sit for months in the land of the goats, the clearcoats/finish take a...

www.cadillacvnet.com

Congrats on the BW! Enjoy

Wow. No I wasn't around when that thread started; I had read from other posts about some paint issues so I wasn't surprised, but that thread is disturbing. I'm only on page 2, I'll read it all this afternoon.

My SS (which was produced in Australia) had good paint, and my 4 new Corvettes (C4-C7) all had excellent paint jobs despite some of the horror stories I've heard. But, I did notice that the paint on my C7 was incredibly thin, and I accidently rubbed some of it off near the hatch lid. No, not a scratch, not a smudge, but all of it down and thru the color coat. I was shocked to say the least.

I will fix this when the weather gets cooler. Fortunately, it's not going to get worse with time. I mean, yes, sure, the paint will get worse but the existing defects will not degrade further.

And half of me wonders if it's even worth the trouble, since the car will be my DD and will eventually get bird poop and scratches and rock chips... but the other half of me, which is incredibly OCD, will not let it go. LOL

And I will add, in regards to some of the comments in that PSA thread, that as a long-time BMW fanbois, I really have gotten spoiled by the quality of their factory paint. Sure it has orange peel and it's too soft and too easily damaged by rocks and debris, but when the car is new, it's darn good for a mass produced vehicle.

You want perfect paint, you buy an Aston Martin.

 

[TexasHawkeye]

I have a Black Raven 4BW, and while I don't have the defects that you show, someone clearly went nuts on it with an orbital or something and had no clue what they were doing as the paint is badly swirled. I got some of them out myself with a DA and swirl remover, but there are many remaining.

I live in the Houston area, so it's 100 freaking degrees every day and humid, which isn't the best time to be de-swirling and waxing a car. So in the meantime, it's driving me nuts!!!!!

Disappointed with the paint quality, but it's still the best driver's car I've ever been behind the wheel of. So, eventually I'll let a real detailer correct the paint or spring for some PPF. In the meantime, I'm not going to let it dampen my overall enjoyment of this rare piece of mechanical awesomeness.

 

[Exia]

These cars are known for having defects with Black paint (another reason I recommend getting something with colour).

Unfortunately it kind of is what it is. If you were more local to your selling dealer than maybe something could be worked on.

Since you will be driving it a lot and parking it in less then ideal areas I think as time goes on it will be something you just accept.

 

[Grainofsand]

I have water spots on my Raven Black from the rain that is etched into the clear coat because I didn't wipe them off for a few days. Probably will need to buff them out. The paint seems kind of weak

 

[minn19]

I have a very a good detailer/PPF/ceramic coat installer I’ve used on a few different cars/brands now. BY far the worst paint he said he’s ever worked was my black 22 ZL1. The dealer didn’t do any detailing or prep work on the paint per my request. It was pretty horseshit from the factory and transit. If I can find the pics I’ll upload them. So this story doesn’t surprise me at all.

 

[RDATLTE]

Let's not forget the (extended) time that our precious cars spend outside in the lot of doom in all of the weather conditions that MI is subject to between production and the start of the delivery process.

 

[rdollie]

My black 5BW can with nearly flawless paint. I suspect it's because I received it in August 2021 so it never sat around in a lot somewhere lending itself to becoming victimized by a lot attendant with a dirty brush and a hurried schedule...

 

[rubberduck]

When I had a black Audi every where I went I checked the car for bird shit and promptly removed it. There is a technique to avoid scratching the paint. - Bird shit has coarse material imbedded. And it will etch very quickly. Glad I moved on from that.

 

[mfbmike]

GM Black is NOTORIOUSLY soft and finicky. And unfortunately, the most difficult to maintain and keep "perfect".

 

[jbawden]

Checking in with a black raven delivered in very good condition. It sat in the pen for 4 months, through winter and very few blemishes in the clear. For a daily, I definitely would not be hitting it with 3000. Save that clear for a future correction effort. Polish and seal with the products you have and carry on with enjoying the car.

Has anyone noticed the small amount of red/burgundy metallic in black raven? It's so subtle I wonder why they even bothered. I wish it was maybe 25% more. looks nice.

 

[CBH]

My paint had several scuffed areas that I discovered shortly after delivery. But then I got hail damage and a new hood.......and more quality issues that I just don't want to fight about.

I'm solidly in the camp that its a DD and will get scratched and chipped anyway. I'll use the earnings from all that $$$ not put into PPF to repaint it one day if it comes to that.

 

[ViaDale]

Maybe it could be worse? Brother-in-law txt’d me this morning regarding a black 2024 CT5 BW that showed up at the dealer. It has no paint at all on the bottom of the doors. They are going to paint all four doors :O

One can safely assume that I’ll be getting out the mirror and creeper if/when mine comes in.

 

[Deneed4spd]

Make sure you PPF the rear door and quarterpanels pretty high up. I originally did it up to the door crease on the bottom 3rd and it wasn’t high enough. Just had to do a hack job to get it up higher until I can get back into shop. Rock chips up to half of rear door at minimum.

 

[jbawden]

Make sure you PPF the rear door and quarterpanels pretty high up. I did it up to the door crease on the bottom 3rd. And just had to do a hack job to get it up higher until I can get back into shop. Rick chips up to half of door.

Agree on this. The rocker has PPF from the factory, but the rear door where it flares out is vulnerable. I did a DIY Xpel job on mine. If you get down on your knees and look, you can see its not pro, but 5' away its invisible. My hackery is still protecting the paint, so all good.

 

[BimmerFan]

So... as an update, I noticed last week that the section where I had wet sanded and polished the hood still looks like crap. The defects are deeper in the paint than originally suspected.

However, I also noticed that my car was built in March, and I didn't buy it until August. It might have sat at the dealer's for 5 months unsold, but from what I've read here (and based on the paint condition) it seems that it was sitting around like so many other cars waiting for whatever it was that was in short supply earlier this year.

On the upside, there's less point in my being my usual OCD on taking care of the paint, since there doesn't seem to be much that I can do about it.