Cheap paint!!!
Fleet Mechanic
Joined: Nov 2016
Posts: 1,634
Likes: 72
Or.....the bean counters figured out that if they can save $50 in paint on each vehicle.....by the time they make a million of them...they have saved $50MM. Plus, less drying time and probably other efficiencies.
Posting Guru
Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 2,216
Likes: 7
I just spoke with a friend who is a painter for our local Ford dealership. He told me that the new Fords have a VERY thin paint. In the past they have been 5 mils thick, but the new vehicles are 3 mils. They are claiming that they are using less paint to cut weight for Obama's fuel economy standards he set a couple of years ago. He said that this is also why Ford went to aluminum, to save weight for MPGs.
I don't know if I believe that whole fuel economy thing. My BS detector went off on that one. How much can a half gallon of paint cut fuel economy? A few empty coffee cups under the seat weigh that much.
I don't know if I believe that whole fuel economy thing. My BS detector went off on that one. How much can a half gallon of paint cut fuel economy? A few empty coffee cups under the seat weigh that much.
These low VOC paints are water based. They are not as hard as paints from many years ago.
All vehicles are now painted with them. It's just the way it is now.
Thread Starter
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Senior User
Joined: Jan 2014
Posts: 387
Likes: 11
From: Alberta
as for fuel economy, they don't even bother with it on the stickers and they added a bunch of weight with the frame to the point of overkill so it's not that
its probably them not use to painting aluminum and saving money on a color I paid extra on anyways!
Laughing Gas
Joined: Feb 2012
Posts: 1,210
Likes: 11
From: California Mountains
I would take it back to dealer
If the paint is chipping like that easy but if there is no wax with polymers in it to herded clear coat they will blame on you i had a 2012 king ranch and after 5 years it only had a few rock chips 
Laughing Gas
Joined: Feb 2012
Posts: 1,210
Likes: 11
From: California Mountains
yeah something happened there
Dealers use to wax cars in trucks in detail they just don't it anymore they want to charge you all water based clear coats need a wax or you can scratch them very easy. I put two coats of a synthetic wax than a good coat of swiss wax to make it pop
Laughing Gas
Joined: May 2015
Posts: 1,117
Likes: 2
From: Hatfield's side of river
Regarding the title of this thread, "Cheap Paint"... OP, While I understand what you are wanting to convey with that title,
however, this cheap paint is anything but cheap. The guy I spoke to yesterday is a 28 year painter for Ford. Shooting paint is all he does. Its a huge body shop that has a bunch of body guys preparing vehicles, then he shoots the paint on, so he has a lot of experience spraying these paints.
He was telling me that the last full repaint that he did, a Ford Taurus, cost $8900. The color was black. He tells me that black is one of the cheapest colors to buy and that the paint alone for the Taurus cost $1400. That price doesn't include sealers ect.
He said that the Ruby Red (which I have) is a real pain where a pill won't reach to blend. The base color underneath the Ruby is a Pinkish, Terracotta color and he said that if the base color isn't right the Ruby Red color will be off a shade or two. He told me that Ruby Red is one of the original Candy colors from the House of Colors in California.
Bottom line, cheap paint isn't so cheap, is it?
Merry Christmas
however, this cheap paint is anything but cheap. The guy I spoke to yesterday is a 28 year painter for Ford. Shooting paint is all he does. Its a huge body shop that has a bunch of body guys preparing vehicles, then he shoots the paint on, so he has a lot of experience spraying these paints.He was telling me that the last full repaint that he did, a Ford Taurus, cost $8900. The color was black. He tells me that black is one of the cheapest colors to buy and that the paint alone for the Taurus cost $1400. That price doesn't include sealers ect.
He said that the Ruby Red (which I have) is a real pain where a pill won't reach to blend. The base color underneath the Ruby is a Pinkish, Terracotta color and he said that if the base color isn't right the Ruby Red color will be off a shade or two. He told me that Ruby Red is one of the original Candy colors from the House of Colors in California.
Bottom line, cheap paint isn't so cheap, is it?
Merry Christmas
Cargo Master
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 3,357
Likes: 250
I doubt you'll get any help from ford on the paint chips. They'll just say you were following people too close and if you don't have mudflaps on the truck that is why there are chips along the bottom of the doors. We all know that even if those cases you still shouldn't have that much damage, but Ford will use the excuse to their advantage.
Hotshot
Joined: Apr 2013
Posts: 10,118
Likes: 647
From: NH
Less paint thickness does save weight (and money) and is indeed a fuel economy strategy. You'd be surprised the lengths manufacturers will go to in order to save a couple of pounds.
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Hotshot
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 13,834
Likes: 25
From: Middle Tn.
I just spoke with a friend who is a painter for our local Ford dealership. He told me that the new Fords have a VERY thin paint. In the past they have been 5 mils thick, but the new vehicles are 3 mils. They are claiming that they are using less paint to cut weight for Obama's fuel economy standards he set a couple of years ago. He said that this is also why Ford went to aluminum, to save weight for MPGs.
I don't know if I believe that whole fuel economy thing. My BS detector went off on that one. How much can a half gallon of paint cut fuel economy? A few empty coffee cups under the seat weigh that much.
I don't know if I believe that whole fuel economy thing. My BS detector went off on that one. How much can a half gallon of paint cut fuel economy? A few empty coffee cups under the seat weigh that much.
Laughing Gas
Joined: May 2015
Posts: 1,117
Likes: 2
From: Hatfield's side of river
My buddy that works in the body shop said that when he is sanding a door down past the clear coat, into the color coat to blend the color coat he has to be super careful, as within one or two swipes with the sandpaper, he goes right past the color coat and into the sealer coat. He said that all of the manufacturers are doing this now, not just Ford. (They repair other brand cars too)
The good new is that there isn't enough thickness for all of the orange peel that they used to have, so its a smoother paint job. I'd trade the orange peel for protection any day.
I used to refurbish John Deere Tractors. They had the same issue with the paint being as thin as possible to save money. The bad part about the Deere paint is that they use a single stage paint that offers little in the way of hardness and protection. Ford uses a high quality urethane base coat, clear coat. I'm just going to be sure to keep my touch-up bottle close by and fix the chips ASAP to keep corrosion to a minimum.
The good new is that there isn't enough thickness for all of the orange peel that they used to have, so its a smoother paint job. I'd trade the orange peel for protection any day.
I used to refurbish John Deere Tractors. They had the same issue with the paint being as thin as possible to save money. The bad part about the Deere paint is that they use a single stage paint that offers little in the way of hardness and protection. Ford uses a high quality urethane base coat, clear coat. I'm just going to be sure to keep my touch-up bottle close by and fix the chips ASAP to keep corrosion to a minimum.
More Turbo
Joined: Oct 2016
Posts: 552
Likes: 22
Regarding the title of this thread, "Cheap Paint"... OP, While I understand what you are wanting to convey with that title, however, this cheap paint is anything but cheap. The guy I spoke to yesterday is a 28 year painter for Ford. Shooting paint is all he does. Its a huge body shop that has a bunch of body guys preparing vehicles, then he shoots the paint on, so he has a lot of experience spraying these paints.
He was telling me that the last full repaint that he did, a Ford Taurus, cost $8900. The color was black. He tells me that black is one of the cheapest colors to buy and that the paint alone for the Taurus cost $1400. That price doesn't include sealers ect.
He said that the Ruby Red (which I have) is a real pain where a pill won't reach to blend. The base color underneath the Ruby is a Pinkish, Terracotta color and he said that if the base color isn't right the Ruby Red color will be off a shade or two. He told me that Ruby Red is one of the original Candy colors from the House of Colors in California.
Bottom line, cheap paint isn't so cheap, is it?
Merry Christmas
however, this cheap paint is anything but cheap. The guy I spoke to yesterday is a 28 year painter for Ford. Shooting paint is all he does. Its a huge body shop that has a bunch of body guys preparing vehicles, then he shoots the paint on, so he has a lot of experience spraying these paints.He was telling me that the last full repaint that he did, a Ford Taurus, cost $8900. The color was black. He tells me that black is one of the cheapest colors to buy and that the paint alone for the Taurus cost $1400. That price doesn't include sealers ect.
He said that the Ruby Red (which I have) is a real pain where a pill won't reach to blend. The base color underneath the Ruby is a Pinkish, Terracotta color and he said that if the base color isn't right the Ruby Red color will be off a shade or two. He told me that Ruby Red is one of the original Candy colors from the House of Colors in California.
Bottom line, cheap paint isn't so cheap, is it?
Merry Christmas
Posting Guru
Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 2,216
Likes: 7
My buddy that works in the body shop said that when he is sanding a door down past the clear coat, into the color coat to blend the color coat he has to be super careful, as within one or two swipes with the sandpaper, he goes right past the color coat and into the sealer coat. He said that all of the manufacturers are doing this now, not just Ford. (They repair other brand cars too)
The good new is that there isn't enough thickness for all of the orange peel that they used to have, so its a smoother paint job. I'd trade the orange peel for protection any day.
I used to refurbish John Deere Tractors. They had the same issue with the paint being as thin as possible to save money. The bad part about the Deere paint is that they use a single stage paint that offers little in the way of hardness and protection. Ford uses a high quality urethane base coat, clear coat. I'm just going to be sure to keep my touch-up bottle close by and fix the chips ASAP to keep corrosion to a minimum.
The good new is that there isn't enough thickness for all of the orange peel that they used to have, so its a smoother paint job. I'd trade the orange peel for protection any day.
I used to refurbish John Deere Tractors. They had the same issue with the paint being as thin as possible to save money. The bad part about the Deere paint is that they use a single stage paint that offers little in the way of hardness and protection. Ford uses a high quality urethane base coat, clear coat. I'm just going to be sure to keep my touch-up bottle close by and fix the chips ASAP to keep corrosion to a minimum.
Elder User
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 772
Likes: 0
From: wi
My buddy that works in the body shop said that when he is sanding a door down past the clear coat, into the color coat to blend the color coat he has to be super careful, as within one or two swipes with the sandpaper, he goes right past the color coat and into the sealer coat. He said that all of the manufacturers are doing this now, not just Ford. (They repair other brand cars too)
The good new is that there isn't enough thickness for all of the orange peel that they used to have, so its a smoother paint job. I'd trade the orange peel for protection any day.
I used to refurbish John Deere Tractors. They had the same issue with the paint being as thin as possible to save money. The bad part about the Deere paint is that they use a single stage paint that offers little in the way of hardness and protection. Ford uses a high quality urethane base coat, clear coat. I'm just going to be sure to keep my touch-up bottle close by and fix the chips ASAP to keep corrosion to a minimum.
The good new is that there isn't enough thickness for all of the orange peel that they used to have, so its a smoother paint job. I'd trade the orange peel for protection any day.
I used to refurbish John Deere Tractors. They had the same issue with the paint being as thin as possible to save money. The bad part about the Deere paint is that they use a single stage paint that offers little in the way of hardness and protection. Ford uses a high quality urethane base coat, clear coat. I'm just going to be sure to keep my touch-up bottle close by and fix the chips ASAP to keep corrosion to a minimum.
ops bumper certainly not a good sign .. profit margin over quality .. not a good game plan . especially at 70 to 80 k a truck .. hmmmm bummer for us ,have you driven a ford lately .
Senior User
Joined: Apr 2016
Posts: 352
Likes: 1
From: Iowa
my previous three denali trucks from gmc all has white painted bumpers . never an paint issue like that ford has . id say maybe three or four small rock chips combined between the three trucks .. probly 20 k miles total between the three .. so, so far ive got, cant knock feet off .will dent rocker , paint so thin you cant sand it , one swipe, paint is gone ,, lmao , and seats that suck , wrinkle , uncomfortable , ect ,, oh, and leaking transmissions . yikes , starting to have buyers remorse, maybe just leave it in the pole shed n wax it .. ops bumper certainly not a good sign .. profit margin over quality .. not a good game plan . especially at 70 to 80 k a truck .. hmmmm bummer for us ,have you driven a ford lately .
ops bumper certainly not a good sign .. profit margin over quality .. not a good game plan . especially at 70 to 80 k a truck .. hmmmm bummer for us ,have you driven a ford lately .Gosh, maybe I am too dang easy to please but I doubt it. Age 60, 20-25 new Audis over the years of various 'A's, 'S's, 'RS' s, 'Q's and several pickups etc etc and thus far I am absolutely thrilled with my 2017 F450 in the first 6-8 weeks and 3800 miles. I may quit reading the negative threads so as to avoid prejudicial impressions being emphasized. As a physician(surgeon) you can do a million things correctly without acknowledgement and have one not so good outcome occur and have your career defined by it as many of my colleagues have experienced and what I am hoping to avoid as I approach retirement. Therefore, I will remain positive and continue to enjoy my luxurious beast especially during a hopeful and blessed Christmas season until I am personally proven wrong. Merry Christmas everyone!!
P.S. I hate quality lapses as much as everyone and will not tolerate systemic problems anymore than others--I just remain optimistic until proven wrong.