This is my first Subaru and I was quite surprised at the poor quality paint job that is on the car. Is this common on all Subarus?

Yes, this is a fairly common issue with all Subarus.

Yea, it's one of the drawbacks of owning a Subaru. They've always had not so great painjobs. But look at it this way, at least you won't feel so bad when you're offroading it and getting rocks/stones/debris/trees/small animals pinging off of it;)

Yea my hood has alot of little paint chips.

I got chips too.

it's crap, we all got chips

I can say that the paint is no worse than what my 2001 325i had. That thing had tons of paint chips.

i don't get what everyone is thinking. every car nowadays has a fairly crappy paint job ( and very thin clear coats ). everyone who has gotten a new car in my area seems to get chips ( good size ones ) within the first year. maybe its cause i live in the chicago area and the roads stink, there's a ton of salt in winter, and everything is always under construction.
if you are worried about the chips, you can do 2 things really:
1) get 3m protective clear bras
2) go get a bunch of clear coats as extra protection and wax your car a lot

Originally posted by aview2nv
I can say that the paint is no worse than what my 2001 325i had. That thing had tons of paint chips.

I beg to differ... The paint on my 2000 3ci is very high quality compared to my WRX.

All I know is one piece of road debris (I think it was a large roofing shingle) put deep scratches in my front bumper, hood, fender, windshield, a-pillar, rear-view mirror, and both doors on the passenger side, all without deforming the sheet metal, so now I have to explain to the insurance co. that I need half of my new car painted and probably a windshiled replacement too.

Originally posted by travmn
i don't get what everyone is thinking. every car nowadays has a fairly crappy paint job ( and very thin clear coats ). everyone who has gotten a new car in my area seems to get chips ( good size ones ) within the first year. maybe its cause i live in the chicago area and the roads stink, there's a ton of salt in winter, and everything is always under construction.
if you are worried about the chips, you can do 2 things really:
1) get 3m protective clear bras
2) go get a bunch of clear coats as extra protection and wax your car a lot


Not entirely true... My '95 Dodge Neon and '00 Dakota were just fine and dandy. Very thick and durable paint. Although I took better care of the Neon, because it got a new paint job from lame green to sebring silver.

nps here with my paint job....havent found a chip or scratches on it.

but i did come close today those, and a car in front of me started spilling dirt on the freeway rite in front of my car...i was so damn pissed!!

wrx0r

Originally posted by Dex_E46
I beg to differ... The paint on my 2000 3ci is very high quality compared to my WRX.

Did you have one of the $500 mettalic paints, or the black/white/red that didnt cost anything?

Most of today's paints are less durable than we like. At least a part of this is due to the fact that they've been reformulated to a water base for environmental issues. I will say this about Subaru's paint thought, there is considerably less orange peel on my WRX than any C or M series Mercedes that I've seen built in the last three years

Originally posted by Dex_E46


I beg to differ... The paint on my 2000 3ci is very high quality compared to my WRX.

My brothers 2000 328 was better too. My 2001 325i was much worse than his. I have no complaints about my wrx.

Originally posted by Kostamojen


Did you have one of the $500 mettalic paints, or the black/white/red that didnt cost anything?

I have Titanium Silver

http://www.e46fanatics.com/members/JawKnee/dexSig.jpg

due to my unfortunate lay off i have been detailing cars for nissan, dodge, ford, jeep, mazda, and subaru. the only cars the we put paint sealer on is the subarus. the dealers even say its very thin. its the thinnest paint off all cars right now..

Let me begin by stating that I am not disagreeing with anyone who thinks the Subaru paint is lousy. I am not offering an opinion. I am simply relating what I have observed.

I am in the automotive paint chip repair business. I work mainly for dealers. I have worked on many brands including Subarus. From what I have seen Subaru paint is no worse than that from other manufacturers. This may be hard to believe, but the cars I see with the worst chipping are BMW, Mercedes and Porsche. Consistantly. I also find that the BMWs frequently have drips and fisheyes. Additionally I have noticed that damage from bird droppings and other environmental fallout is certainly not limited to Subarus. I can't say if these cars have more damage because of the quality of the paint or if it's due to the driving or maintenance habits of the owners.

Personally my paint seems fine.

Originally posted by aview2nv
My brothers 2000 328 was better too. My 2001 325i was much worse than his. I have no complaints about my wrx.

Which paint was your 325 so we can solve the riddle?

i have had no chips or rock chips

the only scratch is from some moron not watching their car door and it hit mine in the right front passenger door

not too bad but its still there:(

after that i got the full front bra from the dealer anyway. too bad i hear it restricts airflow to the intercooler.

Besides being cosmetically annoying, does having paint chips really affect the car in any serious way (performance, reliability, durability, etc.) The only consequence I hear is "it might rust if it gets to the primer." What color is the primer--white or metal looking? If it's metal looking, does it mean I've worn *past* the primer? Would it be too late for the car if I just let the chips be until I actually see rust color on them, and then go and get the chips detailed/touched up by a shop?

I really tried hard to keep it up with the touch-up paint, but the fact that the car chips so easily makes it a very time-consuming habit to touch up every chip. It's not a very relaxing feeling. I'm really thinking of just blowing the chips off and letting them fall where they may, and if cumulatively they get bad enough, I'll just pay to get them detailed (the money is worth the time I would save and the tension I would feel at having to worry about every chip). What do you guys think?

I agree. I'm the type that takes 1-1/2 to 2 hrs just to wash my car (not waxing). I have gotten over the chip problem. Just accept it! It is going to happen and there is nothing you can do about it. Just think of the last time you looked at someone elses car for chips? I'm sure no one is looking that close to your car besides yourself.

Originally posted by Kostamojen


Which paint was your 325 so we can solve the riddle?

I had Orient Blue Mettalic.

I really don't think there's any mystery to it.... Subaru just doesn't invest in good paint. Some people claim that it's a common Japanese car trait, but I don't see that as true: Honda paint is better, and Lexus paint is tremendous. German car companies, largely, have great paint jobs as well--but I don't know if ALL of them do.

I mean, 20 years ago, Ferrari couldn't do a paint job to save their lives, but these days.... Well, go look at a 360 Modena and tell me that it isn't the nicest thing you've ever seen. :D

-S2-

maybe subaru wants us to think since it's easy to chip the paint cus it's cheap might as well go off roading...:) :p :D :lol:
some people worry bout chipping their paint during offroading :D