Other detailers can chime in on this subject,there is a big quality problem at the Porsche factory or at PCNA.Yesterday i encountered the tenth 997 with this problem,specifically DA sand scratches and HEAVY compound holograms on the rear decklid and bumper. On the GT3 RS i did yesterday it had to be a re-paint because the holograms were under the GT3 RS sticker!!!! the paint looks factory(although there were a few dust nibs) this car was the worst of the bunch,the other green RS i did that almost was this bad was Alex's at Sharkwerks,the problem seems to be concentrated on the GT3's however a few Turbo's have had this problem as well,the 997 carrera's have not had this problem to date.

The only thing that comes to mind is maybe the rear paint on those models are painted at a different facility,then shipped to the factory to complete assembly as these parts are composite,who knows but it has been a pain in the a** !! to say the least.

 

I've noticed some issues on the 997 as well. It seems for the most part the paint is in excellent shape, but there are some 997s I work on that have dust in the paint, imperfections in the clear, and some have actually been touched up. I've also seen this in Ferrari, BMW, and Lambos. I've LP640s and Gallardos that still have overspray from the factory touching up the paint. I guess that's what detailers are for.

 

Moe you are right,actually Ferrari a couple of years ago was the biggest offender of NEW CAR re-paint.I remember this particular Yellow 550 that the whole right side and rear decklid had been re-painted,the owner was hopping mad made Ferrari buy the car back after he had a quality body shop repair the car and he drove for a year while they stalled to remedy the situation,now that Ferraris are robotically painted there has been a big drop in the problems i have seen.

The best o.e. paint (imho) is Audi,Bentley,Lexus,and Rolls Royce,the reason for the post was i had 11 HOURS in the detail of the 997 GT3RS this was a brand new car!! machine holograms are one thing,but compounding out the d.a. sand scratches on the narrow areas of a Porsche decklid and rear bumper was no fun at all!! retired a four inch wool buffing pad i compounded so much(ahh i long for the pre water based paint days when scratches and swirls could be corrected much faster).

 

Ferrari has definitly made some improvements in the past few years. Their paint has very little orange peel and is the best ceramic, next to Rolls, I've seen. I've heard on the new LS, Lexus actually wetsands the finish. It's been confimred by a client who works for Lexus as well. I'm VERY impressed with the finish.

 

I was looking at some new Land Rovers on Monday and could not believe all the orange peel I saw...horrible finishes.

 

I recently did a detail on a 997 but didn't notice any of the paint issues that you described. It's something I will definitely be keeping my eyes open for.

Thanks for the info.

 

I think the blame is often being misplaced here. Vehicles are often touched up after shipping. When the cars reach our shores, if there is damage it is not uncommon for them to spot spray them. This type of problem often has nothing to do with the factory, but the company who "fixes" it for the shippers before the dealer sees the car.

 

Grouse,

You are correct as well,ferrari a few years ago had a terrible time at FNA due to shipping damage and of course everyone assumes because they paid 200k or more for thier car it would be handled more carefully they would be wrong!!, i fix more dealership miscues(pdi and detail prep)because all dealerships skimp on the portions specifically in the detailing,they always pay the guys nothing,rush the time to prep the car and in most cases have no training for the detail dept in paint correction.The dealership credo is almost always wait for the customer to complain then due something to correct the problem,but by then it is too late.

The aforementioned customer of mine with the 550 had the dealership buy back the car due to non-disclosure of the repair and diminished value.

 

The factories will not disclose a repaint...I did an Audi RS4 that had readings of 300 microns!!!!! The Audis I've done are always between 85 on the low to 150 on the high...so I asked an industry expert and he said OEM's do it all the time. They don't have to disclose it either to the dealer. So sometimes the dealer wont' even know.

And yes most 997's I've seen this year all have needed some massive paint correction and these cars all had under 1k or less on them.

 

The problem with the re-painting is the quality is almost always bad,for example they might get the color match right but there is solvent pop or fisheyes etc.. due to trying to save money and do a fast job instead of using preventative measures to keep damage to a minimum in shipping the car from the factory to the dealership.

 

I would have to agree with that...but for the record the RS4 was painted pretty darn good.