Found under the paint on new Avalanche

[tobias]

The same truck in a Tahoe would have been 60 grand! My price on the Avalanche was $47k and the sticker was $52k.

 

Gotcha. Well, there's a huge difference in what's on the sticker and what they are actually worth. I thought you meant you paid $52K for it.

[montyss]

I have been dealing with picky customers that get in car accidents for the last 13 years. I also deal with over 250 body shops in the territory I cover for the insurance company I work for. I inspect vehicles before and after body repairs. A good painter, using quality products, with a proper spray booth, mixing equipment, tints, spray out panels etc. can match colors quite well. As mentioned, Hardest are the lighter colors such as tan, silver and the Tri-coat like the OP has. Any reputable shop should be able to re-paint the hood, blend the fenders and make it very, very close to perfect. Also, keep in mind that painted metal (fender/hood) will almost always look a shade different than painted plastic (bumper facia/wheel opening flares/bumper end caps). If you don't believe me head out to a GM dealer on a bright sunny day and take a look at some of the brand new silver/tan vehicles on the lot. Pay particular attention to any area where a plastic part meets a metal part on a horizontal plane... If you have a good eye, you will notice a difference. My company vehicle is a 2012 silver Chevy Malibu. The front and rear bumpers are a completely different shade of of silver when compared to the rest of the vehicle in good light. And this is a vehicle that has never been in an accident and came directly off a GM lot...Brand new!

 

My advice.. Take the truck back to the dealer and demand that they fix it. If you have to get GM involved then do so. Heck, being a tri coat, I would go to a Cadillac dealer to have them paint it. There are A LOT of tri-coat caddys driving around and the painters at the caddy dealers definitely are used to painting tri-stage colors.

 

Lastly, at least in MI, a lot of the more technologically advanced body shops are switching to waterborne paint. All around a better paint, color match process... IMO..

 

Jeff

The shop where I work has been PPG water base for about 4 years now . The water is light years ahead in paint match compared to solvent based paints. If we have a varient chip for a color in the PPG varient deck you can spray it exactly as it is on the card if you follow the proper procedure. Temp , humidity , distance, makes no differance in the color just apply it the correct way and everyone has the same result .. its hard to believe but it works

[Z45]

You might be better off letting it go. That blemish might be the least of your worries once you let someone try to correct it. Been there and wished I never would have let them repair. It did not go well and 6 months later I had a truck with a worse paint than I started with. I was so frustrated with the dealer and the body shop I traded the truck in. GM is only going to allow them so much $ to fix it and they won't spend any more time on it that absolutely necessary. You are not going to get a $5,000 repaint to correct a $100 touchup job.

[Mich4x4]

You might be better off letting it go. That blemish might be the least of your worries once you let someone try to correct it. Been there and wished I never would have let them repair. It did not go well and 6 months later I had a truck with a worse paint than I started with. I was so frustrated with the dealer and the body shop I traded the truck in. GM is only going to allow them so much $ to fix it and they won't spend any more time on it that absolutely necessary. You are not going to get a $5,000 repaint to correct a $100 touchup job.

Without a doubt, this would be much more than a touch up job and it is no where near a $5000.00 repaint. GM and any reputable repair facility knows this! Done properly, the blemish would have to be removed, the hood de-trimed and repainted, and both fenders de-trimed and blended. That is what I would demand if I were the OP. It really isn't that big of a deal. As mentioned by Montyss above , if the shop is using Waterborne paint, it should be no problem for a color match. After the truck is painted I would also demand it be wet sanded and rubbed to duplicate the factory finish. This would eliminate any dust, orange peel etc in the newly refinished/clear coated panels. Some shops do this as part of the refinish process any ways...

 

I would definitely have it repaired. I would educate myself via forums like this one and maybe talk to a few independent body shops and get estimates to see what you are looking at. In other words, "have your guns fully loaded" when you finally go back to the GM dealer and demand the blemish be repaired. My thinking is that whatever is under the clear coat and causing the blemish (oil, grease, other substance) may be fine for a few years but then, just as your warranty runs out, may start causing paint peel on the hood. DO NOT wait and let that happen. I would address this as soon as possible.

 

 

I looked at the photo again...I cant tell how bad it is in the photo but could it be a flaw in the clear coat only? If it is, it might not be that bad of a repair. There should be at least 2 coats of clear coat and 1 tinted coat of clear before you get down to the base color... If the issue is in the top layer of the clear, it might be as simple as a wet sand and rub with no refinish whatsoever.

 

Again.

Just my $0.02

Jeff

 

I can tell you first hand the the collision repaitr industry has come a long ways since the days of lead filler and single stage paint.

[Z45]

You assume you are dealing with reasonable people at the dealership level. Common sense is not all the common. The manager you have to deal with likely never painted anything and only is concerned with the shop not lossing money on any work and he is the person who it going to dictate what the painter will do to correct the problem.

[Mich4x4]

You assume you are dealing with reasonable people at the dealership level. Common sense is not all the common. The manager you have to deal with likely never painted anything and only is concerned with the shop not lossing money on any work and he is the person who it going to dictate what the painter will do to correct the problem.

Common sense or not, any reputable dealer, with an onsite body shop and GM sign out front should be able to correct the issue and make the customer happy. Demand that the hood be re-painted. Demand that the fenders be detrimed and blended for color match...Bottom line. As I said, the OP should educate himself and TELL the body shop HOW they are going to correct the problem. Do not let the body shop manager dictate to you what he/she THINKS will solve the problem. That is is the bottom line. If the hood is just painted, I will promise that the color will not match the adjacent panels. Blending is absolutely necessary when repainting a tri-coat refinish.

[Shaners]

The dealer said it would be up to me as to what I have done. Personally the service mgr said he didn't think he would advise it but the body shop guys need to look at it. They farm out all their GM body shop work to their local collision center. I am not familiar with them or their quaility of work.

 

However, I did stop by at our local collision center and spoke with the owner. He said he could absolutely fix it so that I would never be able to tell. I am familiar with their work and have never heard any complaints. He said he would want the truck for 3-4 days in order to do the job right.

 

He said the front bumper, headlight, grill, bug shield and mudflap would all need removed before he would want to start paint work. He uses water based paints, and explained everything in detail to me. I wonder if I can get GM to let me use my local shop and have them spring for a loaner car for 3 days too...

[Mich4x4]

Shaners... I would push to use whichever shop you are comfortable with. Seems like you found one and, based on your explanation, I think they will do a good job for you. In order to properly paint the hood and blend the fenders, both must be completely de-trimed. For the fenders, any moldings, headlamps, badges, mudflaps etc must be removed. This is essential so that all edges of the panel can be properly sprayed with color and clear coated. You are not being fed a line of BS. If it were me, I would make that guy (the one that you are comfortable with) write a complete estimate for what he intends on doing. I would then take the estimate to the GM dealer and tell them that you want them to pay for the repairs at the shop YOU are comfortable with and give you a free loaner while your "daily driver" is being repaired.. As long as the body shop's labor rates are in line with the rates in your area, I wouldn't think the GM dealer would have a problem with you using a independent shop. Good luck to you. Let us know how everything works out..

 

Jeff