[bootss]

I am absolutely shocked they were able to pull off the flat panther paint. The paint on new gm cars is 99% orange peel and it chips if you look at it too hard.

[riversidess1le]

The sad reality is the paint on 99% of all manufacturers is terrible now with the “environmentally friendly” water based paints. I have seen $300k Porsche paint jobs come out looking like a 3 year old painted them with a paintbrush. I had a GT3 come through and they forgot to paint one of the end plates on the wing.

[22SS1LE]

Originally Posted by bootss

I am absolutely shocked they were able to pull off the flat panther paint. The paint on new gm cars is 99% orange peel and it chips if you look at it too hard.

orange peel is mainly something you notice on a gloss paint as its the light reflecting it back. The matte paint can have orange peel but you would never notice it due to no real reflection.

[Bumbleboy92]

I believe the panther black metallic is tricoat unlike any other paints we had in the past. Not sure about the matte version

[Rock-It Man]

The orange peel on my 2023 Vivid Orange ZL1 is extreme! The horizontal surfaces are OK, but the vertical surfaces are really poor.

Thankfully, torque, horsepower, and bang for the buck performance are more important than paint quality to me.

I wish I could have it all, but that's not gonna happen for less than a quarter million clams.

[2SS Capt]

For all the horror stories I've heard regarding paint, I have to say I'm very pleased with the paint job on my 2020 2SS in Shadow Gray Metallic... I grew up working in my Dad's Body Shop and worked with a lot of paint and buffing, etc so I am rather picky... Maybe I got lucky, my car was built mid-Dec 2019 so maybe everyone was in a good mood with the holidays coming up and did a good job!

I've heard the clear is very thin, I would have happily paid an option for $500-$1000 for multiple extra coats of clear coat, but alas that wasn't an option...

Granted, mine is a garage queen (non-daily driver), so it is holding up extremely well (and it is ceramic coated) but it does have 9,000 miles on it, so it has seen some use...

[Green82]

its not just GM is all cars. i had a 2019 civic Type R before my camaro and paint was thin on it also had lots of chips on the hood and sides and you could just see how thin it was

[arpad_m]

Originally Posted by 2SS Capt

For all the horror stories I've heard regarding paint, I have to say I'm very pleased with the paint job on my 2020 2SS in Shadow Gray Metallic... I grew up working in my Dad's Body Shop and worked with a lot of paint and buffing, etc so I am rather picky... Maybe I got lucky, my car was built mid-Dec 2019 so maybe everyone was in a good mood with the holidays coming up and did a good job!

I've heard the clear is very thin, I would have happily paid an option for $500-$1000 for multiple extra coats of clear coat, but alas that wasn't an option...

It isn't bad per se, short of the occasional mess-up with specific units (orangel peel on my 2018 isn't even that bad either), but so insanely brittle, if you just look at this clearcoat sideways, boom, there's your scratch and rock chip. That extra layers of clearcoat option you want would be nice, but probably requires some rescheduling and/or new tooling, and the couple hundred people per year who would opt for it wouldn't be willing to pay thousands for it, I guess.

Originally Posted by Green82

its not just GM is all cars. i had a 2019 civic Type R before my camaro and paint was thin on it also had lots of chips on the hood and sides and you could just see how thin it was

Yeah, just from my personal sampling, car paint (clear coat, more specifically) from as little as 10 years ago seems to be stronger. A byproduct of relentless process optimization and cost savings...

Overall, though, PPF and ceramic coating helps, if someone would've paid for more or stronger clearcoat, that money can be spent wisely on these post delivery.

[s346k]

no one bought a gm product for the superior paint, ever. paint quality has certainly deteriorated over the years - industry wide, but gms paint is a special kind of terrible.

i just couldn't get enough of gms bullshit so i got rid of the camaro and bought an 80s corvette to replace it. thankfully i don't buy showcars, so the paint never was a priority, as it will inevitably get damaged when driven.

[Booher]

I believe it happened in the early 2010's, I heard they switched from oil based paints to water based, and ever since them paint has been alot thinner than the old way. This was most car companies, I first learned when dealer car wash scratched up my previous car. They didn't know at the tim. Maybe someone can confirm?

[LeonardS]

Originally Posted by Booher

I believe it happened in the early 2010's, I heard they switched from oil based paints to water based, and ever since them paint has been alot thinner than the old way. This was most car companies, I first learned when dealer car wash scratched up my previous car. They didn't know at the tim. Maybe someone can confirm?

The Camaro/Firebird had water based paint back in the Thirdgen, when built in Van Nuys, CA. I’m not exactly sure what year it switched, but somewhere between 1982-1992.

[CamaroRSOnt]

I picked up a 2023 in May, the paint is gorgeous on it, Radiant Red. My previous Camaro was white, paint was fine with it. I had a 2014 C7, that car had lots of orange peel but the consensus was those panels are harder to get right than traditional steel body panels.

[asc709]

I’ve had luck with my 2 GM cars. Maybe GM gets grey right, my ‘18 Watkins Glen grey C7 was great. Even between the front bumper seams where these cars had a problem.

I have been amazed by how well the paint came out on my shadow grey ‘23 Camaro.

I am concerned with clearcoat thickness. My complaint with the C7 was a very thin clear…

[SnakeEyeSS]

My Orange Peel is ok, and the metal flake is even. But dust nibs(maybe a small splinter size metal flake), gah