I can tell you Subaru paint is extremely thin (had a detailer take readings) and the clear coat etches with ANYTHING that lands on it. I’ve got to wash my **** car every couple of weeks and wax it every quarter if I want to preserve the paint. PITA.
I don’t have any experience with Subaru paint, but washing every couple of weeks isn’t a big ask. Any modern car will require that at minimum to keep the paint in good shape.I can tell you Subaru paint is extremely thin (had a detailer take readings) and the clear coat etches with ANYTHING that lands on it. I’ve got to wash my **** car every couple of weeks and wax it every quarter if I want to preserve the paint. PITA.
This is good info! I think, around the same time, GM had issues with white paint as well and I can only assume BASF was their supplier. The vehicles affected that I have seen were mostly the Chevrolet Express/GMC Savanna.Ford tends to use PPG or BASF, GM was DuPont, don’t know if Axalta is still in the OE supplier business(there was a rumor going around that Berkshire Hathaway was going to take over Axalta - then merge them into Benjamin Moore and assume the latter’s name as a division), Chrysler is mostly PPG. The Japanese OEMs are using PPG as a supplier for their US/Canadian operations but using Japanese formulas from Nippon Paint or Kansai Paint to be consistent with their Japanese and Thai operations, but I think Toyota’s using PPG’s OEM paints as well. The Europeans are using either PPG or BASF, PPG did collaborate with Mercedes on CeramiClear and a new paint process BMW is using currently. Ferrari is very proud they use PPG. Supposedly Tesla is using BASF as well.
In the 1990s with tighter air quality and restrictions on heavy metals, PPG and DuPont introduced a waterborne primer system for the American OEMs, while BASF rolled out a complete waterborne paint system for Mercedes and VW, Mercedes used it in Stuttgart first, while VW started its used at their Puebla, Mexico plant. We all know how well American paint was in the 1990s. PPG’s waterborne tech for refinish is IMO the best on the market.
I love the paint job on my F150...Velocity Blue Metallic. It is gorgeous and with bugs, etc it really does hold up well. I had a Honda Civic and it seemed the same although I didn't have it long. The vehicle with the "cheapest" paint job to me has been recent Nissans. My wife has a 2021 Nissan Altima and in just 6 months of ownership, the rigors of daily driving have chipped away small paint areas like crazy. It's ridiculous. If you just look at it wrong the paint chips.I had a bunch of Fords the last decade and I was and am impressed by all the paint jobs on them.
I had an insurance adjuster come out for a Honda and he went on to say how Honda paint was well above Ford until he saw my F350...
Who do you think does great factory paint on current production vehicles?
My '96 Maxima has arctic white pearl, and it's held up better over the years than any older vehicle I've ever owned. I attribute a lot of that to the fact that it's white and doesn't get cooked like darker colors do in summertime.My 300ZX's arctic pearl paint still looks showroom fresh. That car's paint seems like it's really thick.
That's what I've always thought too. That's why I like white cars, they always stay white and don't fade. My pearl white 3000GT never faded either.My '96 Maxima has arctic white pearl, and it's held up better over the years than any older vehicle I've ever owned. I attribute a lot of that to the fact that it's white and doesn't get cooked like darker colors do in summertime.
I've noticed that among the late 90s-00s Fords still on the road. I have one with this problem too.As long as it wasn't Vibrant White, Oxford White or Performance White in the 2000s, it was pretty decent. I'm not sure who the supplier is now, but at one point, at least for the Crown Victoria, it was BASF and they had problems with the white paint flaking and coming right off. All the other colors were perfectly fine, but the white - for some reason- was the only color affected.
I had a brand new 2007 Grand Marquis in Oxford White that had this issue, and the entire vehicle was repainted 2 years into the warranty period when it started flaking. Never had any problems afterwards.