Disappointed in GM paint

[Will]

I have to say I'm a bit disappointed in the paint on my new truck. I ran it through the automatic touchless car wash the other day. Got home and was looking it over and noticed that some of the paint on the upper bumper piece had chipped off. Not what I expected of a 60k truck with less then 2500 miles on it. I doubt that would be covered under warranty to.

 

[Cornell]

The paint is thin but why are you running your 60k truck through a touchless car wash? The soaps they use in those things are so abrasive it's insane. It'll take any wax/sealant/protection you have off in a wash or two.

2 or 3 bucket method and hand wash it only. I'd rather my truck be dirty than take it through any type of automatic car wash.

 

[DAVe3283]

I've run my 2003 through the touchless washes at least 20 times now. My paint is all in tact. Well, except for the rock chips on the front and rockers from oversized tires and 295,000 miles.

If you have the time, a hand wash is the way to go. However, I rarely have the time. The touchless is fast and relatively harmless when compared to the brush-based automatic washes. Those things will hose a pain job in 1 run; they just grind the mud/rocks from the front of your truck into the back of your truck.

^^This might hint at how dirty I get my truck. If I can tell what color it is, it's clean enough. In 10 years, it's been waxed 3 times. Still cleans up OK when I do, though.

Edit: you want good paint? Go back in time to 1982 and have GM paint it then. My 82 still has the original metallic paint. It has finally started burning through on the hood and roof, but still has that metallic sparkle on the sides (when I bother to clean it). It is parked outside, too. That is some TOUGH paint. Probably giving me cancer, but WOW.

 

[LBZ]

The paint is thin but why are you running your 60k truck through a touchless car wash? The soaps they use in those things are so abrasive it's insane. It'll take any wax/sealant/protection you have off in a wash or two.

2 or 3 bucket method and hand wash it only. I'd rather my truck be dirty than take it through any type of automatic car wash.

No wonder your trucks always look so sexy!!

Mine gets sandblasted every time I take it down the highway cuz there is so much sand and gravel on the roads up here. It doesn't fit in auto washes so it only gets the pressure washer treatment and once in awhile I might run the brush over it. What amazes me is although I have a pile of rock chips, at 6 years old and over 200 000km it has no rust.
Jump to my '09 sierra hd and every single rock chip on it is rusted. And big parts flaked off around the fenders and rusting. It only has 135 000km. GM must have cheaped out on the paint after the big meltdown.

 

[Maricopaagent]

I have to say I'm a bit disappointed in the paint on my new truck. I ran it through the automatic touchless car wash the other day. Got home and was looking it over and noticed that some of the paint on the upper bumper piece had chipped off. Not what I expected of a 60k truck with less then 2500 miles on it. I doubt that would be covered under warranty to.

If its a new truck, try and warranty it..

BUT, its real hard to blame GM.. Call the EPA, tell them thanks for making huge regulations on any chemical that actually works..

You know, the people who are trying to stop Diesel Performance..

 

[8100 Power]

I don't see any reason why the paint should not hold up to a touchless car wash. I'd make them warranty it in a heartbeat.

My LML's hood is in worse shape than my 06 was when I sold it. Little chips across the front (hood) ..

 

[DAVe3283]

BUT, its real hard to blame GM.. Call the EPA, tell them thanks for making huge regulations on any chemical that actually works..

You know, the people who are trying to stop Diesel Performance..

^^ This.

It isn't just paint they are screwing up. Tires are crap now too. We have a trailer on the farm with 60 year old (yes, over double my age) tires. Still hold air, still work. Yet our equipment trailer, parked right next to it, goes through a spare tire every 3-5 years because it cracks and bubbles from...sitting. According to the tire shops, it has to do with low-VOC requirements from the EPA, making the rubber rot over time. Heck, the tires on my truck are usually cracked long before the tread is gone, and I put on 15-25k miles a year.

Well, that went off topic. Anyway, I would agree that new car paint should hold up to a touchless car wash. Might as well try taking it to the dealer and see if they fix it.

 

[OregonDMAX]

There us now way they wouldn't warranty that. If the paint chipped just from a car wash there is more to the story like shitty prep at the factory or dirt/grease. ect...

Besides you said you have 2500 miles? Everything is included in the factory bumper to bumper including the finish

 

[duratothemax]

What amazes me is although I have a pile of rock chips, at 6 years old and over 200 000km it has no rust..

x2. GM has some pretty amazing corrosion-protection treatment that they do to the body panels. My truck has almost 200k miles on it and the rocker panels are covered in rock chips...basically bare metal has been exposed for YEARS to nasty salt and winters and it just doesnt rust.

 

[TheBac]

Big chips on the front of the hood, peeling paint from the rear of the hood, rock chips all over the rockers (and rust through on passenger side).....but at 10 years old, it still looks halfway decent if/when I have it cleaned (yes...I always go through the carwash if I wash it).

I dont care as much about it now as I did 5 years ago. Its just a truck.

 

[Cornell]

x2. GM has some pretty amazing corrosion-protection treatment that they do to the body panels. My truck has almost 200k miles on it and the rocker panels are covered in rock chips...basically bare metal has been exposed for YEARS to nasty salt and winters and it just doesnt rust.

For whatever reason extended cabs don't fare so well.

In MN they put some nasty stuff on the roads. My extended cab had some rust on top on the front fenders but I had it fixed asap. I also washed that truck constantly in the winter by hand and washed the fenders out well.

 

[dirty_max]

they should warranty it. a kid i work with took his 2013 half ton in today because it had a 3 of the smallest bits of rust coming through on the bed and tailgate. we are talking smaller than the tip of a pen, and they are putting a whole new bed on it. i dont see why they wouldnt fix paint chipping