New year brings new hopes and +General Motors Chevrolet Corvette C7 owners are no exception here. What do the owners of Corvette C7 Stingray and Z06 hope for?

With the third production year approaching its end in a few months, the list is actually pretty long, ranging from safer automatic transmission, cooler running engines, transmissions and power steering, all the way to the problem that continues to persist since the very first C7 car rolled out from the Bowling Green assembly line: horrible paint quality.

As this blog mentioned in the past, the inferior paint quality has been a trademark of Corvette ever since... ever since C1?  However, the latest generation of Corvette managed to make the bad considerably worse and in the process, set a new standard.  The standard is so low in fact that not only Earl Scheib and Maaco but even a rattle can paint job may be a noticeable improvement to the latest generation of Corvette.

In spite of widely advertised improvements to the Corvette plant, prior to the introduction of the latest generation of plastic fantastic and alleged plant expansion, the crappy paint jobs continue to roll out and the level of acceptance by the buyers depends on their level of tolerance and willingness to invest in the Bausch and Lomb stock.  To say that majority of the buyers is unhappy would be a gross understatement.  Yet, somehow, the Corvette lemmings continue to buy the substandard cars at high rates and choose to whine about it afterwards.

The usual paint quality problems have been described on this blog many times and typically revolve around problems related to appliance like textured finish, giving the term ORANGE PEEL new meaning.

In fact, the problem is so bad that one cannot help but wonder what exactly those quality control standards may mean to the UAW heroes cranking out the newest Corvettes at very high rates?

Certainly, unless someone is completely vision impaired, this kind of finish should never leave the plant grounds?

And how about this one?  What can possibly inspire someone hired to conduct quality control to allow a piece of shit being deemed ACCEPTABLE?



However, there is a new twist to the paint problem, as demonstrated in this case.  Even though this is supposed to be a factory defect, the evidence indicates that what is shown in these pictures is paint burned through in apparent attempt to reduce the bumpy finish shown above.



Generally, the paint seems to be rubbed through along the sharp edges, something that happens to an inexperienced detailer  or desperate owner.  The paint tends to be the thinnest along the edges and thus, easiest to rub through, all the way to the primer.  Perhaps too much pressure, higher than necessary speed, harsh compound or too aggressive pad?



Again, it is unlikely that originally, the basecoat was not applied sufficiently to cover the body panels.  The swirl marks indicate that the surface was subject to buffing activities, resulting in the total disaster.  Overall, the condition of the paint is quite terrible, literally pelted with signs of gravel shrapnel.


The interesting part is the extent of the buffer related damage.  Did the factory decreased the amount of paint applied to the latest Corvettes in an effort to reduce the orange peel?  It is quite possible and certainly a big red flag to the owners attempting to apply that idiotic PAINT CORRECTION.


Judging from the evidence, even had waxing these latest C7 cars may be a risky proposition.

Could this damage be inflicted by the dealer prior to delivery of the car?  Of course it could, many dealers employ detailers with very low skills or hire outside help to make these turds more presentable.

Will the owner receive a satisfactory resolution from GM?  If this happened at the beginning of the production run, perhaps, in spite of rather obvious buffer damage but.. with so many new Corvettes already sold, the possibility of GM assume the responsibility and offering a full repaint has a very slim chance.