Am I the only one who thinks factory paint jobs aren't all they're cracked up to be?

I see people all the time raving about how tough OEM paint is. But over the last 3 years, I've done maybe 15 resprays on cars under 5 years old where the clear coat was already peeling from the factory. A guy brought in a 2021 Honda Civic last Tuesday with bubbles under the hood paint. I stripped it down and the primer looked like it was applied with a roller. I think some of these new shops are rushing through the paint booth to save a buck. Has anyone else noticed more factory defects coming through your bay?

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ryan6532d agoMost Upvoted

Gotta disagree a little on the primer thing though. A lot of those newer waterborne paints just don't bond as well to the metal as the old solvent stuff, so it's not always the primer itself that's bad. Seen a few Civics with that same hood bubbling issue and it's usually a prep problem from the factory, not the paint booth guys rushing.