I picked up my car from paint a few weeks ago. The paint looks great as you walk by, but as I go over every panel closely I see many areas with very small chips that have come out of the clear and paint already, revealing the primer underneath. What shocks me is how thin the paint layer and clear coat is. I thought the base coat was supposed to be several layers thick and likewise for the clear. This is the first time I have had my car painted since I have owned it (1979), so I don't really have anything to compare it to. However, my factory painted '99 Silverado pickup has fewer chips than this, and you about have to hit it with a hammer to cause one. Is this normal for a new paint job? I went to (what I thought was) a reputable shop and ended up paying alot more than I wanted to ($6000 plus). I know paint/body has gone way up lately, but did I get a lot less than I paid for?

i paid 10 grand for paint job and for a 100 percent straight car. but there is no marks in paint. but my car wasnt straight before he did it.so to compare mine to yours is different. but my paint job doesnt have no flaws in it. i also got 4 coats of paint and 7 coats of clear coat.

I'm no expert but I do know a new paint job should not have problems like that. Have you showed this to your painter? You payed good money for a quality paint job and I think that's what you should get, did they have to do any body work or did they just have to prep and shoot it?

I'm no expert also but on trucks TV-show
http://www.powerblocktv.com/sites/trucks/downloads/PaintingTips.pdf
http://www.leopardsystems.com/paintucationforum/viewtopic.php?t=1617&highlight=rule
this help me out alot
Larry

They did have to do some body work, some straightening of the rear panel and minor metal repair on a couple small rust spots at the lower back of each door panel. the car had no major flaws, just a lot of door nicks over the years that all had to be sanded out and smoothed over. I saw the car when the sanding and priming was done and was very happy with what I saw - very straight all around. The car after paint is very straight, I just don't understand why I am seeing so many chips out of the paint already, and it seems like the base coat is paper thin with a clear layer not much thicker over it. Is it normal to shoot only one layer of base and then clear? Shouldn't there be multiple coats? I guess I assumed it would be done this way, but never spelled that out with them before it was painted. I just want to hear from some of you with more experience in this area before I go back in there with the car...

He most likely shot your car with 2 coats base and 2 coats clear

the chipping has nothing to do with the paint or clear. it is the adhesion or lack of between sealer and primer or sealer and paint.

the chipping has nothing to do with the paint or clear. it is the adhesion or lack of between sealer and primer or sealer and paint.

what would cause that?

Any ideas? Thanks

sometimes poor materials, others could be improper time between sealer and paint or sanding primer to smooth.

Base was dupont, not sure about clear. Let me see if I can get some pictures up this weekend if I can figure out how to post them.