I suspect that the "less than happy" working environment at Ford these past few months might mean line-workers who are less than attentive to their jobs, too.

On the other hand, I challenge anyone to show me a factory paint job that doesn't have orange peel. Look hard enough in the right light, and you will even find it on a Lexus. It's almost impossible to avoid on flat colors like black.

 

Just noticed two thin paint areas on D/S and P/S edges of my hood. Each begins about 5" from leading edge of the hood and they are each about 6"-7" in length. It does not appear to rubbing on anything. I can't believe I've never noticed this before. It appears to be a yellow/green color and it feels rough to the touch. The way the sun was hitting the car it just jumped out there. Odd to have this on both sides of the hood in the same area. Anyone else have this?

 

I've noticed that there is a very small paint defect inside the lip of the passenger right quarter window frame on most of the Stangs I've checked...see below pic for the area I'm talking about.

 

My only paint concern on my new GT is the inside of the fenderwalls going out about a centimeter on the sides of the front bumper have really thin paint. You can't see it from a far but up close those two spots look more Bright Atlantic then Vista. Other then that I have ZERO problems with my paint. I had way more defects on my 06 V6, which if you name it I had it clear coat bubbles, welt particles ect. I agree to an extent with Mike on this, Our cars look like a million bucks but they are not a Ferrari. Still I have seen worse factory paint jobs, in particular Honda and Lexus & Toyota all of which I have found to have terrible paint jobs. Perfect example the lower half of all the doors on my past 03 Tacoma seemed to have been sprayed with cake batter then painted over. To give you a better idea it would be like orange peel that felt like inverted goose bumps. Also with what Mike said what will happen to your car from driving it will be much worse then what we are all talking about.

 

Tom, you beat me to it. Ford doesn't have a monopoly on defects in paint. My Honda isn't great, but certainly acceptable. What is amazing is all the paint defects on Mustangs being produced in a facility that's only a few years old. I read on BON a few years ago that the Mustang (SN-95) had one of the worst paint jobs coming out of a Ford, but it was built in an old plant. You'd think Flat Rock would be doing a better job, but it doesn't appear so.

 

I have what looks like a very faint smudge of dirt on the rear bumber. Tried a clay bar and wax but no luck getting it off. You can't really notice it until you look closely.

 

Just out of curiosity, how's the paint on the Mazdas coming out of the same plant?

And as many have said, as nearly all cars are the products of mass production, I don't think you are going to find a perfect paint job from any automaker, unless the car is a super expensive, super limited production vehicle...

 

I've never seen a Lexus with a terrible paint job.

In fact, every Lexus I've ever seen has a perfect paint job - pretty enviable, actually.

 

My 05 V6 was black and had a great paint job.

My 07 on the other hand did have one factory blemish on the right rear quarter panel on the wheelwell lip. I was not happy about that after having waited months for it to arrive! The blem was about 1" long and ridged up from the surface about 3/16" max. The body shop guy that repaired it said the material under the paint was black and rubbery, so it was his thoughts that it was some seam sealer. Based on some of the other descriptions above, I think I'm not the only one. Sounds like there is a sloppy seam sealer applicator on the line! I must say they did an excellent job of touching it up though. I told them I did not want the whole quarter painted, repainted panels are not as durable as factory painted panels. They did an invisible touch-up, it turned out great.

 

I have a pebble in the driverside door jamb. Several small runs/drips along the fender lips. I was pretty amazed to find the pebble though. I figure it is easier to leave it than to try and have them fix it. Also when i purchased my car I gave instructions for the Dealership NOT to wash the car or remove any of the wrapping. So when i brought it home and unwrapped it and then washed it for the First and ONLY time still to date there were lots of paint defects i had to remove. I had tons of rail dust and lots of holograms within the paint as well all that i had to clay and then polish out.

Remember that Robots paint our cars and the human interaction is very limited nowadays.

Richard

 

Sorry, but this is simply not true. I've got a metallic gray Miata - the paint is incredible. People have asked me if it's a custom paint job.

Going way back in time, I had a metallic silver 1980 Honda Civic that was lovely - the paint was perfect.

You may want to excuse poor paint...but there is no excuse these days.

 

I thought that after the primer was applied, that the surface of the metal was electrostatically charged a second time prior to painting to prevent contaminants from adhering to the surface just before the paint is applied.

 

The last time consumers believed this, the Big 3 dominated the market. Then the Japanese [mainly Honda and Toyota] educated them as to what quality standards are all about.

The bar has been raised, and is some ways Ford simply has not gotten it. Design flaws like water leaks and dead batteries; and customer service strategies that focus on denial - are simply inexcusable.

 

+1.

Having said that, I hope you're not having any problems with your car.

 

I only had three faint 'circles' in the clearcoat from what looked like an inspector who buffed out dust in the clear. I buffed it out though, they were just tiny scuffs. My red one didn't have anything I could ever find, but my Dad's PW one had a few yellow spots on the bumper trapped under the clear that our paint guy fixed. Don't feel bad, one of our people just bought an LS460 and it had a couple flaws he's getting fixed. He didn't notice them until he parked under the deck at night here with the florecents(everything looks bad under them).

 

Dude, I sold Toyota, Subaru, Acura, and they ALL have at least as many small issues. You find miss-fit trim allignment/tire isusses, and paint flaws on them just like anything else. Its thousands of parts put together in hours, it hapens. I've seen flaws on every brand. Japanese cars are worse then american cars down the road for paint issues and big time UV issues with plastics and interior trim colors changing over relatively short periods of time. I get hondas in all the time with a few years on them and no two trim pieces match anymore. German cars have major issues with long term plastics-every VW has the spray-dye peel off most of the consoles/handles, I just had an MB SLK with the paint comming of the console in 3" chunks, loose shifter bezels with pitted peeling chrome, and more, not to mention they are always rashed up front badly, and the headlights always fade/craze. The 04 M3 I just had on Ebay looked like it was 10 years old inside, we had to repair all the leather as it was badly worn(45k miles). Don't believe the hype. Every older accord is a dented mess because of the thin metal.

For every Toyota trade-in that has over 100k that actually makes it through the shop with less then a $1500 bill to make it roadworthy(most are wholesale trash) I get a Taurus with 250k that runs fine. Hell I just axed an 01 Civic with 80k miles that needed $2k worth of work, the paint was completely peeled off the roof, and the headlights were so yellowed it wouldnt pass inspection, not to mention it had a ding/dent every 1' around the body and the typical sun bleaching of the upholstery. 5-year old Japanese cars look OLD. I spend every day dealing with 70k+ miles cars from every make by the dozens. I just sent 48 cars to auction, I could of taken pictures of how they looked(most were imports), a lot of them look like forgettable junk.

 

I can't tell if you are rebuting my argument or going with me.

But, I will say that my daily driver is an 04 Corolla, and that thing is MUCH better than the Ford Fusion that I had as a loaner once. It just felt better overall. And keep in mind that the Fusion's competition should be the camry, not the entry-level corolla.

So, I agree with you that the quality of Japanese vehicles are much better than most of the big 3's vehicles, which is why you see a crap-pot of them on the road. Also, they hold their value much better than the domestics, which is another reason to buy a Japanese car.

The only things that the Japanese can NOT do: a 2-door sports car that's a front engine RWD V8, and a REAL truck.

 

It's a little hard to compare apples to apples on this one, because many people don't take care of their cars. I've seen many late model vehicles that look like crap due to neglect, and I've seen many mid-90's vehicles that look GREAT. It just depends on the owner.

I'm willing to bet that the people on this forum that CARE about their mustangs also care about their other vehicles, and those are the owners that can keep a car looking good and running good for a long time. Those that don't care end up with the cars that you mentioned above.

You can't blame the manufacturer for owner-abuse/neglect.

 

Agreed

As for how a car holds up and looks after a few years of use has a lot to do with it's owner and how it has been cared for. I have seen cars that were only two years old that look like they have been in a freakin war zone and I have seen other cars that are well over 10 years old and still look and run great. I in fact have a couple like that. I have a 97 F-150 that looks better today than it did the day i brought it home and I also have a 89 Honda that the interior is in great condition considering it has over 300k miles and has been on the road for 16 years.

Richard

 

You should come spend a few weeks with me and I will let you try our a couple hundred used cars from every make. After sitting in well over 20,000 of them, you start to see trends. Most cars I will know what is going to be broken before I even look at it. Don't get too sold on a Camry or Rav-4 because its a Toyota. I can show you 100 points of cost-cutting and cheapness on any car. Toyota hides lots of Mickey Mouse outdated engineering under silver painted plastic parts. They are getting cheaper and cheaper every year in build quality-they were better in the early 90's then they are now. They want to act like GM, and it shows if you know where to look.