I received my redfired GT a little over a week ago... I decided to wash it today because it was not looking so good... Before I washed it I just got to looking at the paint really close... And I am afraid my whole car is orange peeled... I have looked at every panel and hood and its has orange peel really bad... I didnt know what orange peel was when I picked up the car, but now that I have been looking around the boards I know and its apparant... I dunno what to do! This is my first new car and this problem with my paint bugs me a ton! :bang: I will try to get some pictures up tomorrow to show...

 

Take it to the dealer, let them handle it.

 

Orange peel makes me shudder, I've seen tons of 05's with excessive orange peel.

 

sorry guys ment to put potential not potention...

 

That's too bad Z71....Redfire is such a beautiful color too. Yes let the dealer handle it. My Redfire is perfect! so they should be able to get it right. Good Luck!

 

This is not a new potential problem. This is a common thing in automotive manufacturing. I have seen orange peel on many cars. Not just mustangs either. You just happened to choose one of the colors that show it off more. White (For example) does not show it nearly as bad.

 

I'm not saying you don't have a problem, but if you didn't know what orange peel was, then you probably don't know what "typical" is, either. No mass produced car has a mirror-like finish like the $40K paint jobs that are wet sanded between coats. There is always some orange peel, even on the best of them. So, don't be surprised if your dealer tells you that your car is normal and doesn't want to do anything about it.

Since orange peel isn't binary (a yes or no thing) then it becomes a judgment call. The dealer and Ford are going to tend to want to do nothing. You're going to tend to want it "fixed." And that's where lawyers and expert witnesses and such start getting involved. It's an expensive, time consuming, distasteful process that is likely to leave you less than 100% satisfied.

My advice? Look carefully at a lot of the other cars (the model doesn't matter at all) on the dealer's lot. If your car's much worse than average, then pursue it. If not, then you'd best forget it or be prepared to saddle up Rocinante.

 

You bought a $30,000 car; they all have orange peel. I can't remember the last time I saw an affordable car without it.

 

Orange peel is very common these days unfortunately, especially on fords. The orange peel actually comes from the clearcoat, if you look under your trunk or hood at the paint there, its usually very smooth.

Getting it fixed by your dealer will be quite the hassle, it requires wet sanding the whole car, which is a long and tedious process and if done wrong can totally screw up the paint job.

Good luck on getting your dealer to even fix this, my friend had 2 different dealerships refuse to fix the orange peel on his ford f-150.

 

If I look real close at my Honda Pilot, I have orange peel. If I look real close at my Nissan Frontier, I have orange peel. If I look real close at a neighboors 50k Vette, he's got orange peel.

What's the problem again?

 

Well there is Orange peel and there is orange peel. What I mean to say is that some very cheap repaints have real orange peel. If you can feel it running your hand over it or see it from 5 feet away it is orange peel. If you can only see it at an angle and feels smooth, it's normal.

Go check out some more expensive cars and see how you compare. My Mustangs paint is just as smooth as an acura rl's paint, just as good as a g35 and better than most less expensive cars. Saw some saturns with really bad orange peel but still not REAL orange peel.

My 89 ranger, with out clear coat, was pretty smooth paint but every clear coated car I've seen has some degree of dimpling.

It's subjective, if you didn't notice it when you bought the car, and you bought it in daylight, then it does not have orange peel. I saw one 05 GT, silver, with some paint blemishes and a misaligned bumper at the lot when I bought mine. I wasn't closely inspecting it just saw it right away.

 

Exactly Brad,

Every production car has a certain amount of orange peel. In fact, when painted parts are signed off, they need to have a specific amount of it, the parts cannot be too glossy or have too much orange peel. This way every body panel is consistent. when they are bolted on.

I doubt his car would have left the factory with excessive orange peel all over the car,

 

Exactly Brad,

Every production car has a certain amount of orange peel. In fact, when painted parts are signed off, they need to have a specific amount of it, the parts cannot be too glossy or have too much orange peel. This way every body panel is consistent. when they are bolted on.

I doubt his car would have left the factory with excessive orange peel all over the car,
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I agree


Why don't you take a couple pictures of the car's paint and let the guys on here tell if you really have a problem or if your just being picky. Unless the surface actually looks like an orange peel I'm not going to complain to much. Mostly because nothing will get done anyway. If you focus on it too much you'll never get it out of your head and you'll never be happy with your car.

My advice would be to forget about it, shine it up, and drive it.

 

yea my friend bought an 02 GT. i checked for orange peel and its there

 

Maybe Ford stands for....Fix Or Repaint Daily....

 

Rimshot....

 

OUCH!

 

What exactly does orange peel look like?

 

I was real impressed with the fit and finish of the car. I guess there is slight orange peel, but it does not detract from the look of the car, nor is it immediately visible. Being Mineral Grey, it is probably less obvious.

Post the pictures and put it to a vote. Will make you feel better.

 

I have orange peel over 80% of my car. Doesnt make me love my car any less. Just gonna save my money and get a really good paint job on her. Every girl appreciates new clothes!