2020 Hood paint thickness

Brian Ouimette · June 23, 2023

I recently purchased a 2020 GMC Sierra 2500HD Denali with 45000 miles on it. When I purchased it I noticed the paint on the hood looked a little dull but it was also a little dirty after a rain, so I didn't think much of it. I figured once I got it home I could buff it out and get it back to new. Besides this and a few other little issues the truck is in overall decent shape. Well when I got it home I figured I should check the paint thickness before doing any buffing and to my surprise the paint was only 1.4mil thick. The rest of the truck is around 3.8 to 4.2mil thick. This scares me to buff any further down and to me feels like it really needs to be resprayed. The carfax on this truck is clean and I figured if its been resprayed already the paint would have only been thicker. Not this thin.

Is anyone else have any issues with their trucks hoods having super thin paint and failing clearcoat or did some previous owner just wetsand this hood to oblivion?

BB68 · June 24, 2023

Yup looks like someone sanded thru it. Probably trying to fix pet scratches. You might be able to cheat and just clear it. At this point if the dealer won't take care of it I would try just clearing it. Otherwise it will be a blend job and painting the whole front

Jettech1 · June 24, 2023

Perhaps an idea that might help you...have you thought about just polishing it up and having it wrapped?

Brian Ouimette · June 25, 2023

The only thing that is kind of surprising to me is the fact that the entire hood is pretty even paint thickness. Imo if someone sanded through it I find it kind of hard to believe they kept it as even as they did while sanding. But if this is not a common problem I'll mention it to my dealer and probably end up just eating my losses and respraying it and blending into the fenders. I just wanted to check and make sure this wasn't a common problem before bringing it to the dealer.

Jettech1 · June 25, 2023

34 minutes ago, Brian Ouimette said:

The only thing that is kind of surprising to me is the fact that the entire hood is pretty even paint thickness. Imo if someone sanded through it I find it kind of hard to believe they kept it as even as they did while sanding. But if this is not a common problem I'll mention it to my dealer and probably end up just eating my losses and respraying it and blending into the fenders. I just wanted to check and make sure this wasn't a common problem before bringing it to the dealer.

Off topic a bit, but your last name I've heard before...I'm a Mainer, grew up there, went to Boston for my training....are you from the northeast? Just curious is all...

Brian Ouimette · June 25, 2023

I am actually from Connecticut originally. My parents came from Canada . But I moved to North Carolina for college and couldn't bring myself to move back to the north haha

Jettech1 · June 25, 2023

3 minutes ago, Brian Ouimette said:

I am actually from Connecticut originally. My parents came from Canada . But I moved to North Carolina for college and couldn't bring myself to move back to the north haha

Mine too from New Brunswick... yeah I moved to Atlanta 36 years ago, never moving back but love to visit up there...

Jettech1 · June 25, 2023

Anyhow get your hood wrapped....it will cost a penny or two but it's worth it..

BB68 · June 25, 2023

2 hours ago, Brian Ouimette said:

The only thing that is kind of surprising to me is the fact that the entire hood is pretty even paint thickness. Imo if someone sanded through it I find it kind of hard to believe they kept it as even as they did while sanding. But if this is not a common problem I'll mention it to my dealer and probably end up just eating my losses and respraying it and blending into the fenders. I just wanted to check and make sure this wasn't a common problem before bringing it to the dealer.

After blowing up the photos yes you are correct. If you look at the fender and hood they do not have the same texture. If someone buffed or wet sanded it should be smoother than than the fenders. Yes a pro would be able to wet sand a panel evenly but like mentioned would be smooth as glass.. I wonder if the hood was replaced and this is single stage paint(which is a very good color match).

Edited June 25, 2023 by BB68

Another JR · June 25, 2023

I had a GM truck I bought new years ago that after about 5 years I realized the outer right side of the truck bed had no clearcoat on it. The dealer said they’d seen it before and he attributed it to clogged nozzles in their automated paint facility and poor QC inspection. It was past warranty when i figured it out and they wouldn’t cover it. I eventually had it repainted because it got too ugly.

CRApex · June 25, 2023

On 6/23/2023 at 4:14 PM, Brian Ouimette said:

I recently purchased a 2020 GMC Sierra 2500HD Denali with 45000 miles on it. When I purchased it I noticed the paint on the hood looked a little dull but it was also a little dirty after a rain, so I didn't think much of it. I figured once I got it home I could buff it out and get it back to new. Besides this and a few other little issues the truck is in overall decent shape. Well when I got it home I figured I should check the paint thickness before doing any buffing and to my surprise the paint was only 1.4mil thick. The rest of the truck is around 3.8 to 4.2mil thick. This scares me to buff any further down and to me feels like it really needs to be resprayed. The carfax on this truck is clean and I figured if its been resprayed already the paint would have only been thicker. Not this thin.

Is anyone else have any issues with their trucks hoods having super thin paint and failing clearcoat or did some previous owner just wetsand this hood to oblivion?

In 2020 there were some recalls on the early versions for a hood latch/catch issue that required hood replacement. You may want to have your dealer research if your truck was one of them. If so, you could probably get it covered under warranty.

Edited June 25, 2023 by CRApex

shadow gray 2020 hd · June 27, 2023

The paint on my truck is consistently thin. Damned thing scratches very easily. I have no way to measure the thickness. No fading on mine though. Mine is shadow gray, love the color, but hate how easily it scratches.