What can mark a new car’s paint before you take delivery?
Time outdoors in storage lots and on transport, and the washes it gets before handover. None of that is unusual, and carmakers write service bulletins for it.
GM’s Preliminary Information PIT5763 describes 2021 Chevrolet Tahoe and GMC Yukon SUVs arriving at dealers from the transporter with “bug/insect residue, grease substance and/or spots” on the paint. GM said the likely cause was bugs landing while the vehicles sat in a storage lot before shipping. Volkswagen’s bulletin 00-17-06, which applies to all its models, describes industrial fallout as mostly rail dust, “small air borne metal particles” from trains or brake linings that can stay on a car until it is properly cleaned.
Then comes preparation for delivery. Prep washes before handover can leave fine swirls in clear coat that has barely been driven, which is why the shop checks paint before film or coating instead of assuming a low odometer means flawless paint.
How do you check a new car’s paint at delivery?
Look at it in direct sunlight, or under one strong light, panel by panel, before you drive away. Ten minutes at the dealer saves a lot of guessing later.
- Find the sun’s reflection on the hood, roof and trunk lid. Swirls show up as a fine web of circles around that bright spot.
- Look along each panel at a low angle. Hazy patches, or faint lines that seem to move as you walk, can be left behind by a machine polisher.
- Feel the surface after it’s washed. Volkswagen tells its technicians to check exterior surfaces “using your hand to feel for a rough or gritty texture”, which is how bonded particles give themselves away.
- Give dark colours extra time. Mazda’s owner’s manual points out that scratches are easier to see on darker finishes, so black, navy and deep grey cars reveal the most.
- Photograph what you find and raise it with the dealer before you sign.
Is contamination on a new car the same as damage?
No. Rail dust, tar or bug residue sits on the paint and can usually be lifted off, while correction is for marks cut into the clear coat. The two need different work, and the first doesn’t always lead to the second.
Volkswagen’s fix for fallout is a wash, a hand check, and clay with car shampoo as the lubricant. No polishing is involved. GM’s sequence for the bug residue went further only where needed: wash, bug remover, a fine polish, inspection under strong light, and wet sanding just for the spots still left.
Clay has a catch of its own. Volkswagen advises kneading the bar periodically “to reduce scratching”, because a loaded bar can mark the paint it is cleaning. That’s one reason a light polish sometimes follows decontamination even on a new car.
Why correct a new car before PPF or a ceramic coating?
Because film and coatings sit on top of the paint and keep whatever is under them. Swirls left in place stay visible through clear film, and a coating locks the finish in as it is.
That’s why, at the shop, decontamination always comes before film, and polishing joins it whenever the paint shows marks. On the coating side, two of the three packages build correction in: Performance starts from a two-stage polish and Signature from a full correction, while one-layer Essential has no polishing step. The step-by-step version for a car headed for film is on new car paint correction before PPF, and timing film on a brand-new car has its own answer.
Will polishing a new car use up its clear coat?
A little, which is exactly why only marked paint should be polished, and only as far as the marks require. New paint has the most clear coat it will ever have, but that isn’t a reason to spend it.
GM’s bulletin puts factory clear at typically 1.5 to 2 mils and notes it “contains ultraviolet screeners”. It warns that removing more than half a mil may lead to early paint failure. The shop reads paint thickness before any polishing, and for light marks on newer paint, the one-stage enhancement polish is the level built for the job. The micron arithmetic is set out in the clear coat budget behind each correction.
Planning correction and protection for a new car
Book soon after delivery so the inspection, any correction and the protection happen in one visit. An enhancement polish adds about a day; film and coating add their own time after it.
The new car protection page sets out the usual order of work and the starting prices for film and tint, and ceramic coating for a new car covers the coating side. To have the paint looked at, use the paint correction quote form, listing the vehicle (year, make, model, colour) and attaching the photos from your delivery check.