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HELP: Significant paint defects upon delivery - Options?

3K views 19 replies 7 participants last post by  Tucson John 
#1 ·
I picked my Solterra in April, all smiles and happiness after many speed bumps like the rest of us pre-order folks. And then yet another punch in the gut when I pulled into my garage to admire the beautiful red paint and Solterra lines. There were at least 9 areas of very obvious paint defects!!!!!!!!!

I was first thinking these were hard water spots, yet they will not come off with a wash and all prior hard water spot I've had with prior cars always did. The round defects may be bird poop etching and I've had some of those in decades past. Regardless, the Subaru dealer and/or Subaru corporate really screwed up delivering me this car.

The Dealer of course offered to correct them via "clay bar" or other things like that. I have a huge concern since this echoes of my new 2015 Camry XLE with beautiful maroon paint. The Toyota dealer made a bunch of mistakes on my first service, so they offered to detail my car. Stupidly and reluctantly I said yes. My worst fears came true when I got it back with the entire car covered in rotary tool swirl marks. After several attempts to lie to me, the Toyota dealer offered to buff them out, but the rotary tool marks were just another thing they did to damage my car and I decided to quit before things got even worse.

OK, back to the Solterra. The Subaru dealer offered to correct the paint which is essentially taking off a thin layer of the clear coat.
1. What are your thoughts on paint correction?
2. Should I demand a ceramic coat afterwards to add back a level of paint protection after they remover clear coat? Also, what is the reality of ceramic coat since it is hard to get around all the 'advertisements'?
3. Any other advice?

BTW, I HATE this! I should have gotten a new Solterra without these very bad paint defects. I'm not one of those very picky people and this is beyond my ability to just live with.

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#3 · (Edited)
I had multiple Toyotas with stains like that and I attributed it to the lengthy exposure to salt water, and maybe where it was on the ship. I had a RAV4 for a year (before I got fed up and traded it in on a Taco, which the dealer “serviced” by scraping it against a yellow pole and smearing dog crap on the passenger seat, but that’s another story and one of the many reasons I don’t buy Toyotas anymore), and though brand new I could barely see through the windshield at times because of all the water spots. They were like the stains hard water leaves and looked like they were cleaned off with each attempt with various chemicals but always came back.

So, unless you’ve got a DA buffer and lots of time to go over it with polishing compound, I’d say go find a reputable body shop (or ask the dealer who they would use, if they are offering) and have them look at it for their opinion and a quote to polish the whole car. They may also have specialty chemicals (like super strong grease and wax remover that won’t damage paint) that they could try before committing to any particular solution.

When I get new cars (did this with the Solterra), I try to always go over the new paint with Meguiar's 205 and then the first good coat of wax, or more recently, ceramic coating (which is just a silicone derivative). There are probably newer products, but I use a Turtle Wax Hybrid spray because of a Project Farm test. I always say, “You only get one chance to protect new paint.”
 
#4 ·
I washed it for the first time last night during a rainstorm (yes strange to do, but the water won't dry and leave hard water spots here in Arizona). This morning I looked at in detail in the sun. Oh my are there a bunch of salt or hard water etchings. I strongly believe it happened during transit since there is a clear etching vs no etching line on the front fenders where they put that white plastic.

If you zoom in on the spots, you can clearly see the line to the left of the sun reflection.

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#7 ·
I washed it for the first time last night during a rainstorm (yes strange to do, but the water won't dry and leave hard water spots here in Arizona). This morning I looked at in detail in the sun. Oh my are there a bunch of salt or hard water etchings. I strongly believe it happened during transit since there is a clear etching vs no etching line on the front fenders where they put that white plastic.

If you zoom in on the spots, you can clearly see the line to the left of the sun reflection.

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Fellow Solterra owners, I'm totally floored that Subaru would allow any Solterra to be delivered with defective paint this bad. I sent my dealer a more detailed description than I wrote here, so I'll let the Forum know that the etchings are all over most horizontal surface except the hood and glass roof. But of course the hood has multiple bird poop etchings.

I totally feel duped since there is no way the dealer could have missed these defects during their delivery inspection. I bet they were hoping I would not notice, but I did after I tried to admire my Solterra baby in the garage. It also feel that I am making all the sacrifices to make the paint right with the dealer offering to 'wet sand' the clear coat. I requested the dealer apply a good-will ceramic coating to increase the paint protection to at least what it should have been at delivery. Still no answer after only 12 hours. I want to handle this in an amicable way, though I kind of thinking I should start going on the offensive.

Earlier, I did get a case number opened via Subaru Corporate. This is very crappy of Subaru and the dealer. A super bad new car honeymoon.
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#9 ·
@grandizer52 took a lot of photos of Solterras in the Japan port. I tried to link the Forum topic below, so hopefully it worked. I'm glad you mentioned that since I was doubting myself about how those etching occurred. Now that I see the photos of where the film is applied, I am absolutely certain the etchings occurred during transit since all but one of the etchings are on the areas not covered by the white film. I can even see a distinct line of etching vs no etching on the small part of the metal hood that is not covered by the film. Even that triangular shaped film toward the mirror clearly shows no etching.

Thank you @n6nl since I believe you provided the smoking gun!


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#10 ·
That paint damage would have definitely occurred at some time prior to the point where those protection sheets were removed, most likely at the dealership during their portion of the pre-delivery inspection. Shame on the dealership for not noticing the damage. I guess they just wanted to sell the car and move on. Thanks @grandizer52 for the pictures.
 
#12 ·
I'm a little late to respond, but a closer up view would indeed be helpful. I am especially interested in the white film on the hood since it may not cover the entirety of the metal portion.

On my car, there are four round clear coat etchings on the forward part of the metal hood. It appears from your prior photos that the white film leaves about 12 inches of the front of the metal hood exposed -- which will make it very consistent with the damage.
 
#13 ·
I have a black limited and it had large spots that looked like something dripped on it and stained. I brought it to my dealers attention and they took care of it. Thought they could buff out but ended up repainting. It was only on a rear panel. I was happy with the results.
 
#15 ·
@JayEM the photo is great and confirms that all but a single circle etching occurred away from the white film. Plus, all the salt water etchings vs no etchings line up with the white film locations on the hood.

I talked with Subaru of America and they are supportive & helpful. I am very hopeful that the path I outlined with the Dealer and SoA actually fixes this problem.
 
#16 ·
In case anyone is interested and/or still following this thread, it appears all is good now with my paint. The length of time it took to resolve this was mostly due to my work and personal schedule limitations, along with the fact my Solterra reservation/delivery was from a dealer 100 miles away.

The dealer did a clay bar operation to remove the clear coat issues and thankfully that is all it took. Subaru of America also enabled a Opticoat ceramic coating afterwards. Subaru of America Customer Service has always been awesome!

So July 19 is my second Solterra honeymoon and the Solterra looks absolutely stunning. The shine is brilliant and the red is deeper than I can recall. The finish is definitely more slippery, yet the Turtle Wax Hybrid Ceramic spray @jg. recommended and I tried on our 2020 Outback and 2002 Avalanche makes the paint super slippery (and a little more shiny).

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#20 ·
We are pretty fortunate. When we built our addition, my wife said the garage is mine...so I built a 3-car with a drive through to the back yard. So essentially the 'drive through' area is where my workshop and clutter is. I try to keep the car area clear. Also, I 100% wanted outstanding lighting because dimly lit garages are my pet peeve. I honestly love our garage.
 
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