just thought i'd bring it up, coz my paint sucks for some reason. especially driving highway all the time. anyone else have this prob. too?!?

Unfortunately this is a universal problem. The RS has notoriously lousy paint. The paint on my wife's '97 Outback sucks too.

I personally think the paint on my RS is defective, as well as all the other RS's and Foresters I've seen. It's too damn thin!! For instance, I only wash my car by hand or take it to a touchless wash (which I might add Subaru recommends both) and the dealer says that causes paint swirls! BULL****! If the paints really that thin and crappy, SOA owes us all brand new paintjobs. Anybody want to start a petition campaign?? I mean, really, a car this awesome in all other aspects should not have such ****ty paint. Now, don't get me wrong, but I love this car, just not the paint job. Why should a 10,000 Ford Focus have a better paint job or a 16,000 Toyota Corolla?? I mean, come on guys!

JJ

All I gotta say is that this better be fixed on the MY00's cause if my paint starts getting screwed up, my dealership is getting more hell then they've ever seen before.

- 8Complex

sorry to burst the bubble complex, but my paint is extremely lousy and i own a 00

sow ut do u think guys, get it repainted elsewhere by a professional paint place? or would it look different?

The paint on my Silverhorn Metalic RS sucks! I am having my dealer repaint the front bumper, hood, and rear wing. I'm going to wait until I get allot of chips and/or I'm ready to sell. I really don't want overspray all over my molding, tires, windows, etc..

Also, I just noticed that the right side of my hood/fender gap is about 1/8 inch and the left side is over 3/8 inch. Very poor fit and finish on these cars!!!

I guess I was just too excited buying my first new car and I got distracted because I would never have taken it with all the flaws I know about now.

Mike

DIDO on the hood, bigger gap on the right side than on the left, guess I'm not the only one! ARRGGHH.

You're not alone here. The quality of the paint is terrible. I've had my 00 Coupe about 6 weeks and I find new blisters/chips every couple days. At this rate my car is going to look like a leper by summer. I've written to SOA about it, no reply yet. I'm not giving up this battle just yet.

I have a dozen pimple like defects in the clear coat. There are small fibers or pieces of dust or lint of some kind under the clear coat. The black paint on the hood scoop struts is peeling off showing the silver underneath. I guess I have to take some Testors model paint to it. Arrrghhhh!

We need a SOA petition going. Anyone in the club a Lawyer??

Mike

My friend with a green MY98 RS was handwashing his car when a chunk of paint came off in his hand! Needless to say, SOA had the car repainted.

That's why I've only washed my car twice... I don't wanna know what it looks like underneath all that dirt! http://208.9.184.110/NonCGI/smile.gif

~G
MY00RS

OK- Here's the problems I've had with my MY00 Sedan, Blue Ridge Pearl:

1- Dealer didn't do a great job prepping it. Paint Swirls galore. Told them twice about this, and they finally to thier credit tried to fix it. BUT THEY LIED! They said that the paint swirls were due to hand washing, and I hadn't complained about it before. The first time they supposedly polished the hood and roof, but I don't think they did because the surface was uneven-feeling still. Second time they did a much improved job, but still did not get it all.

2. Up on the roof there appeared some pimple like things that you coudn't see except in indirect low light and it looked like the paint was blistering inside-out. This is what they put on the workorder, almost verbatim: "Customer states paint spots on roof. Spots caused by Cosmolin, and not present at delivery." Yeah, like I'd put cosmolin on my car.... After the second time working with it the workorder said about the same spots: "Customer states paint has spots on roof. Spots and surronding scratches result of bird-droppings and customer trying to remove them."

3. Paints to damn thin, I have numerous chips on hood, and I even had a clear bra put on.

4. I noticed two spots yesterday where there are spots where the paint is a different shade, they are small, but noticable.

That's my experience. I'm thinking of writing SOA about this as the dealer has now become quite stand-offish and elusive about it. What would I want: A new paintjob, entire car, at a autobody place of mine and SOA's approval. I've tried in good faith to have the problems corrected by the dealer, and I still have them. Any lawyers in the group?? Although, before I go to that point I want to give SOA a chance to fix it to my complete satisfaction....

JJ

electronic group petition anyone?!?!? if not, send me it i'll sign it!!

My paint looks good in most places. However, my spoiler has this stuff all over it that resembles cozmaline, the stuff that they spray on the car for shipping. And paint chips galore on the hood. I didn't realize there were so many problems. I'm calling my dealer today.

My front bumper looked like it was repainted before I took delivery! It has some "blending" lines. Other than that, my paint has an uncanny ability to attract smalll rocks and... um deer!

I have a black 99. Yesterday, a friend and I spent a good 5 hours washing and detailing the car. After the wash, we applied the Meguiars three step cleaner/polish/wax combination. In the shade, the car looks awesome, no marks, just deep black paint. In the sun, from the most angles it looks the same, magnificent. However, from one angle, where the sun shines directly on the car, it looks terrible. I don't know how to describe it, like bad reflections on a dirty window or something. I know its not the job we did, because it was like that last time I washed, and I was hoping that the 3 step process would eliminate that. Granted, it did remove all of the tiny surface scratches and make the car smooth to the touch, but whats the deal with this bad glare? Is it the bad subaru paint? Please help.

a lotta people say it's the way u wipe ur car, but then again how else we sposed to wipe it? my guess is the paint is too thin therefore is slowly stripping away, anyone else?

I think I'm going to get this paint job...

http://www.ecis.com/~dan_e/sweetwrx.jpg

http://208.9.184.110/NonCGI/biggrin.gif

[This message has been edited by Dan_E (edited March 06, 2000).]

that paint job is a little not what had in mind for the street...but it kicks a-- though bro!!!

Man, at this rate, in a couple of years, our cars will look like s***! Let's get SOA to fix any problems early, so we can avoid it!

hey do we just go back to the dealer and tell em wassup or wut? this is my first "new" car so i dunno all this warranty crap, can someone fill me in?

Would getting a Perma-Coat (or whatever that protective coating is called) prevent this problem?

Yeah I agree with u guys...this is also my first car and this ***** really sux. I really think that we should get a letter to soa...there is ALOT of us on this board and I am sure that we can get somthign done. THe front of my car almost looks as bad as my 13 yr old integra...thats not cool.
Keith

Hi,

Well at least it's not just me with the sucky paint. '98 they used powder blue primer on the blues. (I can see it.)

Took it to the dealership and complained. They call it salt & gravel damage. I'm sure some of it is that but the paint oughta be tougher than that! I don't do that much hiway driving. Other two year old cars do NOT have visible paint chips like this! I agree. The paint is either thin or they didn't clean it properly between the primer and finish. (Or both.)

I wax it (regular stuff not the spray on stuff - Mcguires) at least twice a year. Hopefully it won't rust.

It was a disappointment. I still like the car none the less.

Consider getting a bra for it for TRUE gravel damage. Probably will look a little strange on the blues, greens and reds but who cares? I wish I had. I did get some bad stone chips during some evasive maneuvers on the 401 in September.

I was advised (by a friend) not to repaint it until it shows signs of corrosion. (New paint still won't give you as good corrosion protection as the factory supplied (sucky) paint.) All I care about is rust. (Love that paint job BTW.) I will eventually repaint mine. (I'll probably keep it anyway.) I had no gap probems exterior. Only one noticeble, interior.

Anybody try some sort of touch up paint? May make it LESS visible. Does nothing for corrosion though.

Bye,
AM^2

Zippy:

Hi,

BTW I drove it through the ditch on the 401 (Where I got some genuine gravel hurts from.) AFTER I took it to the dealer and complained about paint. Not before.

AM^2

Huh,

Yeah, mpaone. I seem to have similar problems as you have had.

I pitied the fellows in Dwyer and Sons who had to clean up the mess. http://208.9.184.110/NonCGI/eek.gif

Bye
AM^2

I'm trying to find touch-up paint for mine but it's the black diamond pearl and i can't find any to match....guy told me it would be $1,500 to repaint 'cuz he can't color match the little scratches http://208.9.184.110/NonCGI/frown.gif

Well, I noticed it when I picked it up, but there is a small scratch on the trunk lid that they were "supposed" to remove but they came up with an excuse that they couldn't get a detailer in to get it done in time for me to pick it up... I'm going back today to hopefully get my armrest extension, and I'll definetly take a few minutes a bitch at whoever I can to get it fixed, as well as making sure to look my car over REAL carefully when I go outside into the light after work here...

Also, they said they'd try and buff the scratch out for me last Friday which they promptly forgot about and denied. Which, now that I think about it, might be a bad idea since they'd have to thin the paint there even more then it is to get out the scratch. Hopefully I can induce the type of bitching that my Grandma was so good at and get stuff done. http://208.9.184.110/NonCGI/biggrin.gif

- 8Complex

[This message has been edited by 8Complex (edited March 07, 2000).]

I hate to admit it but my MY98 Black Granite Pearl started to look lousy after six months and that was garaged. I had a friend help me detail it and it looked great for about a week and then the swirls came out again. It seems as if the paint chips with the littlest of ease. I dont like to bad mouth SOA but they need to do something about this poor quality. Im in on a petition if someone creates one. Im trading in and they better not even think of dinging me for the quality of the paint etc...

Hello people!!
There is nothing wrong with your paint...the cars are coated five times!! Its unfortunate but nicks & chips can happen on any brand new car, especially if a rock comes flying at your car at about 50+mph (Keith). Being that I work at a dealership I know the problems with the chemical they put on the cars (Foresters & Imprezas only). Its called Katz, and yes it is a pain in the a$$ to remove!! If you notice a slight discoloration or little bubbles and rough surfaces, thats what it is! You can go down to your local deal and pick up a bottle of Katz wax removal. They shouldn't charge you for it! Directions on how to use it are on the bottle!!
Also this won't be a problem for upcoming models shipped from Japan as they switched to the white plastic film!!!! http://208.9.184.110/NonCGI/smile.gif
Thank god!

CrAiG

Craig, I'm sorry, but there definately appears to be something wrong with either the paint or the primer, becuase my car has a ****load of chips. I mean in the neighborhood of 20-30 on the hood alone. I've never taken the car off road or through any gravel pits. I've had other cars that I have driven through the above mentioned conditions that came out with nary a scratch.
I mean I've only had the car for 9 months, and the paint is chipped to ****. My parents Explorer from 1990 has less chips on the hood(yeah I know it's higher off of the ground, but thats not my only example)! And that has been on the road for 10 years with 10 times the mileage of my car.
Now come on, paint is supposed to be able to take some abuse, the occasional pebble here and there. But, it seems every time anything remotely hard comes into contact with my hood....a chip results.

[This message has been edited by Wintrode (edited March 07, 2000).]

alright then Craig, if they charge me for this Katz wax remover, imma say..."well Craig said i won't get charged for it!!!" pss!! that'll get em...awesome imma check it out tomorrow..thanks!!

Paint chips galore here, with 9,000 miles on it. There is more than one reason for the decals...and how about this for a thought, print this out, and hand it to your service manager?

Craig, I disagree.

Subaru paint and body prep are not at all good. I have a dozen different paint problems ranging from chips, scratches, runs on my wing, thinly sprayed areas in my front bumper by the vents, bubbles in the clear coat, debris under the clear coat, and my hood scoop struts are loosing their black paint revealing the silver underneath. The cosmoline residue left on my car at delivery also made it hard to see most of these flaws. I was so excited buying my first car, that I guess my love goggles caused me to miss most of these problems.

I just test drove an silver Audi A4 1.8 Turbo and the paint was very nice compared to my silver RS. This car was only $24K

I want Subaru to program the CNC paint robot to make a few more passes for better coverage, keep the paint booth free of debris, use the same chip guard in crucial impact areas same as the Outbacks, practice better quality control.

Most importantly, make the dealers correct the paint issues and quit jerking the customers around with lies, delays, and bad service.

Mike

[This message has been edited by FargoRS (edited March 07, 2000).]

I have all of the same problems you people have mentioned with the paint on my 2000 RS. I hope all of you let SOA have it in the survey they sent you a couple of weeks after you bought the car. I did. I am also going to complain very loudly to my dealer about it. I have never painted a car myself but I have extensive experience restoring and modifying cars and I have seen cars that people have painted themselves in their driveways with better paint jobs than my brand new RS.
It's not just the paint either. Go look under the hood along the seams down where the frame side rails meet the front clip (you will have to get underneath the car to get a good look). The sealer they used to seal the gaps between the panels is applied in the most sloppy and haphazard fashion. In fact there a so many smears, gaps and voids, I seriously doubt that it can effectively perform its function of sealing the inner spaces of the chassis from moisture. My last new vehicle before the RS was a Chevy Z71 pickup. On inspecting the undercarriage, I was pleased to see clean welds, neatly applied seam sealer and nicley undercoated chassis parts. No so with RS, don't get me wrong, like the rest of you I love the car, it's just that I can not fathom how a company capable of designing and producing a car as well engineered as the Impreza can tolerate such low standards of workmanship when it comes to fit and finish.

Sorry for the long post but this bothers me imensely. Hopefully if enough people voice their disappointment through dealer inquiries, letters and surveys returned, Subaru will get the picture and quality will improve.


[This message has been edited by madman (edited March 07, 2000).]

[This message has been edited by madman (edited March 07, 2000).]

just a note on the dealers, I have never had a problem with my dealer at all! EVER. It makes me wonder what u guys are going through. I have not bitched to the dealer about the paint, but every other problem I have had (and mods I have had installed) have been done promptly, Courteously, and done correctly. I have seen numerous post about u guys complain (and rightly so) about ur dealers and it makes me appreciate mine,and it also makes me a bit angry that ur dealers are such a$$holes. I would be pissed if I spent 19k for a car and the dealers were total ****heads. This may seem like a lame plug, but if anyone lives on LI, go down to Metric subaru. They have always taken care of me.
Keith

man...i don't know...i thought my arcadia green was holding strong at 37k miles...but now that i think about it i do seem to pick up little chips easily...and it seems scratches do kinda appear .... but i wash and wax weekly (weather permitting)with mother's carnuba wax...guess i will have to take a real close look this time to...but at 36k, i may be sol...oh well - i will deal with a little differance for a car akin to her rally runnin tree knockin tire spinnin brethern... http://208.9.184.110/NonCGI/smile.gif

Damn, I just bough my 2.5 RS this weekend. Now I am seriously concerned about my paint job. I would like to know if there are any ownwers who DO NOT have a paint problem. I want to make sure that not everyone is doomed.

I have Blue Ridge 2K and It had the swirls right from the dealer. I haven't encountered chips on the hood (maybe 'cause of the hood deflector I got after reading all these posts!) but on the back (looking from on the passenger seat) of the side mirror there is a pretty big chip! How would one get there? Reversing too quickly?! Anyways it's pretty deep , right down to the white. What is it made of anyway? plaster? As for cheap paint afterwards... I had a bird caca on the side of my car and my dad decides to SCRUB it out with a cloth before I could stop him he got it out and also the clear coat (Which isn't too good BTW)so now you see exactly where it was. No scratches just a different tone of blue. Just use a good wax and the shine is great because of the metallic finish.

yeah i gotta agree with the lousy paint job on the RS.. also keep in mind, the RS body is also thin as well! i already have a lot of small nicks and dents on my ride. its ugly looking!! HELP!

question.. Do the international Turbo impreza have this same problem? UK people? Jpn people? Or is it strictly another way how SOA has decided to short-change its dedicated American followers?

Hi,

I'm sending this back to the top because the last question is a good one. Anyone from Europe and Asia willing to enter the fray?

See ya,
AM^2

My paint is very, very thin. A few months ago, I had a chip on my roof, and before I even noticed it, it had already started rusting. http://208.9.184.110/NonCGI/Forum1/HTML/001931.html
I then looked at my sister's car at the time a 91 Corsica. The paint peels off when you washed it, and not one spot of rust. How could my car being at the time 4 months old have a spot of rust on it. Well I got that fixed, when I wrecked my car back in December, but my hood it getting chipped up now. I think that I am going to go back to the dealer and see what they have to say. Maybe I can get them to repaint the hood, and front.
Rick
http://roads.to/ricksrides


[This message has been edited by Rick Buckner (edited March 10, 2000).]

Does anyone have any new news on the paint problems? I just washed mine today and noticed that there are about 30-40 chips on the hood. This is a 2000 Impreza I picked up in late December and has under 7000 miles on it! My 89 whatever has far less damage than this thing and it has 90k miles! I am about ready to sell the damn thing, take a loss and look elsewhere for a new car!


Chris

Hey guys...I haven't had any problems with my paint. Well, I can't say I haven't had ANY, but the problems IMO have been minimal on my 99 rally blue coupe. I have a couple chips but it's nothing new.

I did get the paint treated with something or other that makes it easier to wash, so that may be the reason.

I highly reccomend MOTHERS 3 stage wax. It brings out a beautiful shine on the Impreza's clearcoated paint. Make sure to put the first stage on only every few months though or it will make the paint look very dull.

Remember-when it comes to detailing, you get out what you put in. Spray on and one stage wax sucks. Stick with the good stuff.

Well I know for one thing that these cars will dent very easy. It is like they built the body out of Aluminum foil and not real metal. The paint is incredibly thin. If you want a good idea how thin just pop your trunk and have a look at the inside of the trunk lid. You can see how thin they put it on. Mine has spots where it fades out completely and spots in the center where it wasn't painted at all. I have already had the go around with SOA over it and they say it is a high quality job fromt he factory. Well Bull****! I am going to have the entire outside repainted with a couple of coats and a couple of clear coats. The paint job on the RS is pathetic. No rear wiper, no power antenna, no turbo, under powered fog lights, thin paint and a damn MAF. At least my Acura had a good paint job.

I had a MY98 turbo wagon for 2 years here in the UK (now have a MY00 turbo 4 door) in what was strangely named "Reddish Blue" paint. I did 56K miles in it and you could count the paint chips on the fingers of one hand when I traded it in.

Perhaps the finish is different here as we use a lot of salt on the roads during the winter and Subaru have the anti-corrosion warranty to worry about. I have not seen the sort of problems you guys are having, even on 6 or 7 year old Impreza's over here.

The very dark colors will show scratches easily, but a good wax helps prevent them. There again, my pal's new Merc has more scratches than my dark blue Suby and he paid nearly three times the price I did, so the problem is not unique to Subaru.

Ken
Leeds, UK