I'm reading all these threads saying that subaru paint sucks? Why? Do you wall recommend going for the "diamond" coat on the car from the dealer? he was offering that to me.

Diamond coat??? :confused:

And yes, the paint isn't the greatest, but that's the trade off you have to make with a low-priced high-performance car. But really, it isn't a big deal at all to your average enthusiast who is worried more about function than form.

Unless "diamond coat" means "an extra 5 layers of clearcoat applied at the factory," skip it. Best bet for keeping the paint looking great is a full RockBlocker setup.

The recent problems with the paint quality exist not only for Subaru, but most other non-luxury brands. It has to do with the environmental concern and the use of new kinds of paint to meet the new regulation. I'm too lazy to search for the details, why don't you.

I went for the diamond coat, undercarriage coating and interior coating on my WRX.

I typically don’t get these items, but I got them real cheap since I talked them down quite a bit on the cost. I believe the warranty with the coating covers certain scratches. Check with the stelership.

Cars used to rust thru in 5 years. Then the industry developed ELPO, a plating/painting process that goes on before paint. It made a huge difference and is now used on almost everything. There were stragglers, but I think even those are history.

Find what products the stealership uses for the "diamond coat" and prepare to
do some research on a DIY. It's all profit and 90% useless. There is no magic in this stuff. It isn't special or a good deal.

A factory undercoat on a pickup/suv is a good idea in theory becouse of all the open areas and bare metal. (the dealer will NEVER do a valuable job in my experience) On a car in general and especially a Subaru it is totally useless. (I've done it on a Subaru) The unount of material realistically needed to do any vulnerable areas (wheel wells mostly) is about a quart. That's an expensive goddamn quart of material.

The interior has to be clean to apply the industrial strength(if your lucky) Scotchguard like substance. Get your own and go to town for 99% less burnt money. It's a stupid simple proceedure and I feel sorry for people that pay the price at any named cost without any basis for comparison.

Oh and "paint protection" is not magical at a dealership either.

Having applied all these products this is my conclusion. I mean no offence.

Diamond coat??? :confused:

And yes, the paint isn't the greatest, but that's the trade off you have to make with a low-priced high-performance car. But really, it isn't a big deal at all to your average enthusiast who is worried more about function than form.You live in the southern US where snow and salt are foreign to your car. It is a big deal here. I can't accept the claim that this is a trade-off we have to live with.

Check out 3M clear bra or something of the like. It's a good way to protect paint finishes.

I was foolish not to do it on the Subaru, but did have it installed on my other vehicles and so far it rocks.

Do what I'm going to do: never buy a Subaru again. :banana:

I like my WRX, but I won't stand for this crap again.

Why put on a bra even if clear it destroys the whole purpose of having it... makes no sense basically to make your paint look good you cover it up and then you have an ugly bra on your car.

Why put on a bra even if clear it destroys the whole purpose of having it... makes no sense basically to make your paint look good you cover it up and then you have an ugly bra on your car.

sadly i have to second that.

I wish I had a bra on my car (I-97 and 695 are horrible for having MANY large dump trucks and tractor trailors traveling on them at all times) but then I come to my senses and realize how bad it would look.

Get ROCKBLOCKER KIT. ASAP.

i didnt do it for my bugeye and i regret it so much

and i have to agree w/ the statement about the north winter/salt.. its horrible here

i am gettin the rockblocker kit once i repaint my front end in a year..

Ya, Rockblocker FTW. I don't have it but I wish I did.

My front end looks like crap and it's only a year old. There are spots where rocks hit my bumper and it looks like the clear coat is shattered.

Why put on a bra even if clear it destroys the whole purpose of having it... makes no sense basically to make your paint look good you cover it up and then you have an ugly bra on your car.


It does not "cover up" anything. The only thing you notice is a very thin line where the rockblocker/clear bra ends.

You will soon see why it is a good invesment.....Clear-bra or Rockblocker, get it and shut up.

You will thank us later.

Take the advice from someone who did NOT have it installed, and has seen it installed on several cars and it is amazing.

I'm not sure why people say the paint sucks so bad... I have almost 50k miles on my '04 and have minor chips on the front bumper and that's it. Although I do have a wind deflector and mud flaps, I have not noticed anything out of the ordinary with the paint.

I skipped the rock blocker.
The paint on the front of my car now looks like the surface of the moon...
...but IMHO, hacked-to-pieces rock blocker would look JUST AS BAD on there.

Don't bother with whatever "diamond" coat the dealer wants to put on. It's just extra money the dealer wants to make with a fat profit margin on it.

My recommendation, just drive the car and if it gets chipped, it gets chipped. Even on my BMW's, which generally have good paint, the paint has chipped from loose pebbles/gravel on the highway, etc... If it happens, it happens...

My '05 Legacy GT Ltd, that I sold recently had no paint damage whatsoever after one year of driving for whatever that's worth.

Rockblocker? I checked it out and it looks good. However! i have a couple questions,

first: they say you can apply it yourself, is that true? i'm moderately good with working on things

second: what happens when you want to wax the car? I mean, i can't imagine myself waxing over the rock blocker.

where are you guys getting this installed?

i just dont use a cleaner wax i use syn wax and just keep building layers up and away from the clear coat. Will this help i dunno but my last five cars look as good as new after several years. They were not subies but I did have a red car the hardest color to keep from fading due to the pigment in red it is the color that fades the easiest.
I was my car every week or less and have waxed it five times in the 4000 miles that
i have had it. Alot of free time on my hands let me tell u. I guess we will see how its doing after the first year.

dealers also sell "paint sealants". You could just buy yourself a set of Klasse and DIY. A lot cheaper, plus you can re-apply it every 3 months.

Get some type of clear bra before using the car. I had an 02 WRX which I wanted to get it but never did. Bumper loked awefull. For the STI I didnt made the same mistake, got it installed day after buying it. Sure saved me a ton of chips and scratches.

Subaru paint seems to be pretty great to me, I do have some chips on the front, but nothing that I would say is the paints fault. You want cappy paint, get a Hyundai; a friend has had her's for 14 months, 11k miles and it needs a repaint. It had loads of orangepeel to begin with, but now it's cracking and crazing and flaking off down to the primer all over the car, and guess what.... Hyundai and their 10yr/100kmi warranty isn't going to cover it. Told her to get a sube..

Rockblocker? ...
first: they say you can apply it yourself, is that true?In theory, yes. The practical problem is that the material is expensive & you are fitting it to 3-d surfaces, not flat sheets. If you mess up (either trapping bubbles underneath, wrinkles, or not having it aligned right), you'll just have to shell out more hundreds of dollars for replacement material. I'd strongly recommend going with an installer *who has previous experience with the material* (and be sure to check out his/her references, because he/she is the one who is backing the warranty).
second: what happens when you want to wax the car? I mean, i can't imagine myself waxing over the rock blocker.You just ignore the material and wax right over it. Only tricky part is to make sure wax (or dirt) don't build up right at the edge of the material. A small soft brush is useful for this.

subaru paint is a lot better than fords paint

Armand - current paint on both of mine looks fine. Can a "blocker" be put on after the car has some miles on it?

Armand - current paint on both of mine looks fine. Can a "blocker" be put on after the car has some miles on it?

Yeah, but you have to have a completely clean surface (washed AND claybar'd thoroughly).

If you're in or near NJ, leeberbs is the best guy to go to for Rockblocker installs. He's reasonably priced, and I have seen him work. He's very thorough and stands by his work. Pretty much everybody in tri-state has rockblockers and tints by leeberbs. :D

Thank you Snvin! I'll dial on up.