Volt Paint

[Sharkonwheels]

Has anyone spent up-close and personal time with their Volt, ie, wash, clay bar the paint, pre-wax, wax, etc...?

I spent about 4-5 hours today, and I gotta say, the paint job is absolutely abysmal. My hood has a few stains, and worse, there are a couple of "pits" surrounding little paint blobs in them. As well, on the passenger side, the chrome pieces in the door have spots in them, mainly viewable when looking up at them from a low vantage point, that mimics the appearance of what you'd expect from an overspray.

Just curious if anyone else had spent this sort of up-close and personal time with their Volt paint jobs.

[dwl]

I've spent plenty of time up close. Getting the thing bone dry with a shammy, waxing, etc. I can't say I've noticed the sorts of things you're talking about.

[dax777]

I detail my Volt every weekend and have not noticed the types of flaws that you've mentioned. my Viridian Juele sparkles like crystal...love my Volt....I tuck her in every night on life support until morning...

[BAZINGA]

I washed mine is Dawn detergent to strip any/all grease and road grime, used a brand new clay bar, then applied 3 coats of ZAINO Z-2Pro lawyered with their Z6 Detail Spray. I spent about 6 hours up close and personal with my Volt. This is the same procedure I use on my Vettes and over 16 years.

The Crystal Red paint is spectacular and I didn't find ANY flaws in any of the body colored, black paint or trim pieces.

It's stunning in the sun. But that's what I expected having used ZAINO for over 18 years.

[holland_patrick]

I hate the back pieces of the car other than that and the lowwer trim. The car is great

[flmark]

I am glad you love your Volts so much, but I have to say this borders on OCD and therapy of some sort might be in order. My suggested therapy is to take the grandkids for a ride. Amazingly, I used to obsess when my kids would get their grimy hands on things. Now, after the grandkids have left and a week later I find a tiny handprint on the glass table, it actually makes me smile
Life is just too short to look this hard for imperfections!!
...and sharkonwheels, if you have TWO Volts, and it took you MONTHS to find these flaws, and then you had to look this close, and then you felt the need to post because of your unhappiness...that nobody else is finding...YOU NEED AN INTERVENTION!
Sorry if this comes across as offensive, but sometimes it does take an outsider to be blunt enough to identify a problem.

[AZ EV Driver]

I've spent time at both GM (1980s) and Toyota (2000s) in jobs that evaluated paint systems and defects. The paint on my Volt is much better than GM paint was in the 1980s. However, it isn't close to the quality of the paint on even the least expensive Toyota, and trying to compare it to Lexus isn't even in the same ballpark.

So when you hear of statements like "GM's quality is much better" they are correct. But there is still much work to be done to match true competitive levels.

VIN # B0985

[zaxdude]

I actually have quite a few flaws in my paint. Nothing major, but in sum they are annoying....especially given the cost of the Volt.

One I'm bringing to the attention of the dealer is this one large section that doesn't share the same "gloss level" as the rest of the car. It may need to be buffed in some way to bring out the shine....hoping it's nothing more serious in terms of repair level. I also have a "dot" on my hood -- kind of white-ish in color (my car is cyber gray). It's almost like a "bubble" of sorts between the clearcoat and the paint.

I don't think someone's concerns over the paint quality is related to OCD. Most Volt owners probably have no issues at all, or aren't as particular about the fit/finish as others. And there are a few of us who do have problems....problems that should be brought forward so GM knows they need to step up the game even more.

[Sharkonwheels]

I am glad you love your Volts so much, but I have to say this borders on OCD and therapy of some sort might be in order. My suggested therapy is to take the grandkids for a ride. Amazingly, I used to obsess when my kids would get their grimy hands on things. Now, after the grandkids have left and a week later I find a tiny handprint on the glass table, it actually makes me smile
Life is just too short to look this hard for imperfections!!
...and sharkonwheels, if you have TWO Volts, and it took you MONTHS to find these flaws, and then you had to look this close, and then you felt the need to post because of your unhappiness...that nobody else is finding...YOU NEED AN INTERVENTION!
Sorry if this comes across as offensive, but sometimes it does take an outsider to be blunt enough to identify a problem.

Actually, it took me 12 days to find the flaws on this one, as that was the first opportunity I had to properly detail the car.
I'm not just being @nal retentive here - these are semi-easily viewable defects - these are where you can clearly tell the paint didn't properly adhere to the surface.

The black areas are fine, near perfect, especially the roof - the black roof looks absolutely flawless, as does the black areas in the back of the hatch.

The hood, however, will easily need a re-spray - it's just bad - REALLY bad. There's areas all over it where you can tell the paint didn't properly bond in the factory. And yeah, never had issues like this on the '03 Mazda, wife's '05 RAV4, my '05 Tundra, nor the wife's '09 Forester.

And, for a $45K+ car, well, if YOU want to settle, that's fine - I'm a bit more picky when I acquire a $45K vehicle. If you set the bar low, what you'll get is low. Settling is NOT a proper option.

Oh, and Bazinga, dude, seriously, do NOT use dishwashing detergent on automotive paint - that is just HORRIBLE for the paint!
Get a decent Mother's or Meguiar's paint - hell, I'll SEND you a bottle That is just about the WORST thing you can use on an automotive finish! Dishwashing liquids will strip away any and all protectants on the paint, and will also begin to affect the clearcoats, and the paints after that.

FYI, steps I did yesterday:

1) Wash with Mother's California Gold (not the wash-and-wax)
2) Clay bar'd the car with Mother's clay bar kit
3) Mother's pre-wax
4) Waxed with Mother's Reflections synthetic wax
5) Finished up with Mother's Reflections Wax Top Coat

Wheels/tires got Mother's wheel+tire cleaner, and back-to-black shine on tires
Interior was cleaned by brushing the carpeting with upholstery cleaner and vacuuming, Mother's Reflections leather care on the leather, and Mother's protectant everywhere else (including the black exterior plastic treatment, except Mother's VLR on the vinyl door strips)

And yeah, I'm kinda' partial to Mother's products.

Why do I do this?
Well, if you look at my 2009 Cobalt SS, cosmetically, it's easily a 9/10 both inside and outside, with 3Y and 25K miles on the clock.

[Mike McG]

Mine is a lease... Carwash. Haha! But on a serious note, on my previous Volt I noticed the paint quality was lacking, it was also chipping off the rear bumper... (That car was white, my new one is Cyber Gray and the quality appears to much better... Go figure.)