Orange peel on new car paint finishes

[Nando]

Having sold several brands, I'll say BMW, Jaguar and Toyota have the best paint, Dodge and Chevy quite poor. Consumer Reports survey on reliability is a pretty good metric for quality:

Toyota brands 1, 2, 3 (Scion, Toyota, Lexus)
Honda 6th
Cadillac 11th
M-B 14th
Chrysler 23rd
Dodge 24th
Dodge "Ram" 25th
Lincoln 26th
Ford 27th

Please note: "orange peel" is intentional on the lower rocker panels of some vehicles to resist stone chips

Every single BMW from the 1-series to the 7-series has "Orange Peel"

[strad]

BTW..that first pic of the Merc looks as bad as my Mustang..

[Nando]

BMW has said that the reason they have Orange peel on their cars is down to a different method of applying the paint.
that was my first comment. if that did not add anything to the discussion then i´m sorry but that´s the way it is.

The next one was a response to this, ""orange peel" is intentional on the lower rocker panels of some vehicles to resist stone chips"

It´s not, not at BMW because the whole car has orange peel because as i said, it´s a different paint method.
It´s a conscious move among car manufacturers. Not because it´s a "shitty" paint application.

Not because the Robot has parkinson, not because they save paint, not because anything other then a different method of applying the paint.

[flynfrog]

BMW has said that the reason they have Orange peel on their cars is down to a different method of applying the paint.
that was my first comment. if that did not add anything to the discussion then i´m sorry but that´s the way it is.

The next one was a response to this, ""orange peel" is intentional on the lower rocker panels of some vehicles to resist stone chips"

It´s not, not at BMW because the whole car has orange peel because as i said, it´s a different paint method.
It´s a conscious move among car manufacturers. Not because it´s a "shitty" paint application.

Not because the Robot has parkinson, not because they save paint, not because anything other then a different method of applying the paint.

its pretty obvious that the paint below the rocker is not what we were talking about telling us its on all BMW really doesn't matter now does it. Its not only a different process its a different top coat on the paint with a more flexible urethane.

We were talking about the poor finish of paint on modern cars.

[strad]

All I know for certain is that modern paint sucks.
Give me back that 60s paint jobs you could rub against and touch and everything and if you did get a scratch you could buff it out or sand it and touch it up. Let alone that they could sit and fade and oxidize for years and were thick enough you could hit them with compound and have 'em look like new.

The coating is a mere 100 to 110 micrometers thick, thus around one-tenth of a millimeter. This is comparable to the diameter of human hair (about 100 micrometers).

That's the total..primer, color, clear the whole nine yards.

[Richard]

All I know for certain is that modern paint sucks.
Give me back that 60s paint jobs you could rub against and touch and everything and if you did get a scratch you could buff it out or sand it and touch it up. Let alone that they could sit and fade and oxidize for years and were thick enough you could hit them with compound and have 'em look like new.

Sucks? Depends on the criteria. What I know about old paints is that they were a lot less corrosion resistant and needed more maintenance than modern paints.

Thinner harder coatings result in less pollution, quicker production and more corrosion protection.

[strad]

Sucks? Depends on the criteria. What I know about old paints is that they were a lot less corrosion resistant and needed more maintenance than modern paints.

And they were smooth and glossy and lasted forever...didn't have clearcoats that peeled off to reveal wierd colors. As I say they were thick enough and hard enough not to scratch.
Nothing worse than those first years with water based paint. You really have to be kidding,,,you just buy into that anything new is better bulshït...it's not. It's the newer cars that require massive care and protection.

[Richard]

Perhaps its relates to climate. Bodywork corrosion in the damp UK is is nothing like the problem it used to be 30 years ago.

[strad]

Oh Jeeeeez I didn't thuink you were talking about 50s and 60s paint on British iron. Had a few Brit and other European cars from that era, the paint was indeed awful...hahahaha just thinkin about the Morris Minor,,hahahaha yeah we're talking about two different animals
We are lucky to have improved undercoatings and such if that is what you mean. As far as the finish...IF I could afford it I'd block sand the whole Mustang and have it reshot with decent paint. And like I say...It looks better than that Benz in the picture.

[Richard]

I was thinking of the 80's ( 2012-30 = ?)

[pgfpro]

Today's paint technology is far more advanced then past.

The problems lies in the governing rules of what is allowed in the paint today, and the strict rules of how many VOC's emissions are allowed by these rules.

So all the good stuff has been taking out (adhesion) and the solvent to transfer the paint to the vehicle has been reduced (orange peel)

[Nando]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UT3tRQwfFe8[/youtube]

[AnthonyG]

Having sold several brands, I'll say BMW, Jaguar and Toyota have the best paint, Dodge and Chevy quite poor.

We've had a chevy at home (Silverado) that car always stood outside (Belgian climate, very moist and accid), was hardly washed and heavily used. I think we had it for about 8-9 years (perhaps 10)
The paint hardly had orange peel and the car was rust-free.
Compared to Audi, Mercedes, Range and BMW it's the better paintjob.