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Then don't belittle those of us that do care, that have actually bought these cars and are dissatisfied, simple. You aren't just saying you don't care like rominl did, which is fine, you tried to minimize the issue and insinuate that we are somehow odd for caring. $130,000 car, I am not petty for wanting it to have a paint finish as nice as my $48,000 Chrysler.
Does ntohing for orange peel at all, my car has a ceramic coating and PPF and the orange peel is still there. The only thing you can do is wetsand the finish, which removes paint so thats not a great option.
I bought one and would buy another and I care. Don't confuse it not being a dealbreaker and people not caring. Every car is a tradeoff, and Mercedes cars have a lot of winning attributes, this isn't one of them. As a customer of the brand I complain about what I don't like same as I do for all my cars.
I chose between a metallic grey car and the white car, and I went with white which I don't love specifically because of the orange peel.
To be clear I didn't say that you were against it, just that you noticed it.
This is a fallacy, its just not true. I ran my Lexus cars through automatic carwashes weekly for years each, and the finish still looked great when they were traded. They were never polished. My Chrysler has a much nicer paint finish than my Mercedes, and it also still looks great after 2.5 years of hard use.Never polished, has had some spray sealing/coating sprayed on every 6 months or so. No PPF on the front and no paint chips either.
I have not found MB paint to be any more resistant to damage than cars with much smoother paint finishes, so theres no upside.
This is a $260,000 Maybach, its not a tool. Nothing wrong with wanting a great paint finish on a luxury car.
Am I in some kind of contrarian twilight zone here where we are unreasonable for wanting nice smooth paint on 6 figure cars?!
Not unreasonable at all. Not a big ask on a six figure car. They should have nice paint.
Lexus does great paint jobs at all price points imo
Then don't belittle those of us that do care, that have actually bought these cars and are dissatisfied, simple. You aren't just saying you don't care like rominl did, which is fine, you tried to minimize the issue and insinuate that we are somehow odd for caring.
i don't believe i belittled you or anyone. some people care, some people don't. you are not 'odd for caring'. frankly it seemed pretty clear you find it odd if some people don't care.
Does ntohing for orange peel at all, my car has a ceramic coating and PPF and the orange peel is still there.
how can a plastic coating over the paint/clearcoat not at least somewhat minimize the visibility of orangepeel?
The only thing you can do is wetsand the finish, which removes paint so thats not a great option.
i'm no expert, but wouldn't wetsand remove clearcoat and not paint?
Am I in some kind of contrarian twilight zone here where we are unreasonable for wanting nice smooth paint on 6 figure cars?!
did anyone say you were being unreasonable? you're entitled to your opinion about paint finishes!
how can a plastic coating over the paint/clearcoat not at least somewhat minimize the visibility of orangepeel?
Its designed specifically not to change the look of the paint. That’s how you can have one panel that has PPF on it next to another panel that doesn’t and you would never know the difference. If anything PPF has a peel to it itself and it adds to the orange peel effect.
My whole front clip is PPF’ed and you can’t tell any difference in peel from the fenders to the door.
i'm no expert, but wouldn't wetsand remove clearcoat and not paint?
Clearcoat is paint, it’s just clear paint. There is only so much clear and when you remove a portion of that you only have so much left until you erode into the color coat and then the panel will have to repainted. Wetsanding the paint thins it and reduces its life.
anyone say you were being unreasonable? you're entitled to your opinion about paint finishes!
Certainly heavily implied. Hence all the tongue out smilies and “that matters to YOU” etc
Took this picture of my black GLC loaner in the garage this morning. This is just not a nice paint finish, it’s one of the worst on the road today, actually. Does anybody think this paint finish is what they want out of a luxury car? Be honest.
As a comparison, this is a "terrible quality Tesla". There is no amount of detailng short of sanding that will make that Mercedes fender pant finish look like this Tesla's fender. Do you truly not see the difference? Most cars today look way more like this Tesla...even inexpensive cars
Just seal it properly......it will take you so much less effort overall to correct and seal once since after that cleaning is so absurdly easy it takes 7 min with a foam cannon and blower to wash and dry. You literally don't even need to wipe it down, the water just falls off and the small amount that remains can be blown off.
i put ceramic on our GLE350, Tesal Model 3, and Porsche GT2 RS, and given that I used to do detailing on the side when i was young i'd say i know a little bit about it.
it still doesn't take away the fact that the paint needs to be treated (sealed) for it to be longer lasting. most people won't correct and seal the paint on their cars.
Originally Posted by SW17LS
If people didn't care, Lexus wouldn't hand sand their finishes on their upper end cars...people do care.
This is a fallacy, its just not true. I ran my Lexus cars through automatic carwashes weekly for years each, and the finish still looked great when they were traded. They were never polished. My Chrysler has a much nicer paint finish than my Mercedes, and it also still looks great after 2.5 years of hard use.Never polished, has had some spray sealing/coating sprayed on every 6 months or so. No PPF on the front and no paint chips either.
I have not found MB paint to be any more resistant to damage than cars with much smoother paint finishes, so theres no upside.
This is a $260,000 Maybach, its not a tool. Nothing wrong with wanting a great paint finish on a luxury car.
Am I in some kind of contrarian twilight zone here where we are unreasonable for wanting nice smooth paint on 6 figure cars?!
to be fair manufacturers always try to put things on cars that they THINK people care but that doesn't mean it's true all the time. this has nothing to do with lexus or paint, it's just a general statement. thinking back on a lot of the posts i have read across brands (mb, bmw, porsche, lexus, acura, etc...) there are always things that people say are unnecessary.
maybe lexus improved the paint on the ls460 down the road so good for you but doesn't make what i said any less true (and the few ls460 i took care of during the same period). on my ls460, during the first month of ownership, i got 2 chips on the hood that was down to bare metal.
absolutely nothing wrong wanting good paint on any cars, everyone should, though i haev to say 6 figure cars don't really mean much these days anymore. i'd say anything more than 150k now is the higher end. here in my area, you see "6 figure cars" left and right (model s, model x, s class, 7 series, g class, range rover, you name it). all i am saying is that majority of the people don't care, they just want something to drive and stay good. these 100k cars are just disposable items for them. i do respect all the enthusiasts out there, i used to be one and i get more particular on my GT2 still. however i won't use that as a standard of measurement on how most would/should judge, not even when i was very particular on my daily drivers.
maybe lexus improved the paint on the ls460 down the road so good for you but doesn't make what i said any less true (and the few ls460 i took care of during the same period). on my ls460, during the first month of ownership, i got 2 chips on the hood that was down to bare metal.
Chips are a different story, Lexus paint chips extremely easily, but thats solved with PPF. I'd much rather put PPF on a beautiful paint finish than have to deal with orange peel like that all over my car. So, this finish is satisfactory to you?
absolutely nothing wrong wanting good paint on any cars, everyone should, though i haev to say 6 figure cars don't really mean much these days anymore. i'd say anything more than 150k now is the higher end. here in my area, you see "6 figure cars" left and right (model s, model x, s class, 7 series, g class, range rover, you name it). all i am saying is that majority of the people don't care, they just want something to drive and stay good. these 100k cars are just disposable items for them. i do respect all the enthusiasts out there, i used to be one and i get more particular on my GT2 still. however i won't use that as a standard of measurement on how most would/should judge, not even when i was very particular on my daily drivers.
Well then somebody should tell everybody but Mercedes that they are all wasting money on beautiful, smooth paint finishes, because literally Mercedes has the worst paint finish in the business...at any price point basically...I'm shopping for Kias...their paint looks like it belongs on a Rolls Royce next to that lol.
This is a Mercedes, “The best or nothing”, it’s supposed to be for people who do care. You may be jaded about cars because of where you live, but very few people can buy a car that costs 6 figures, it’s more commonplace than it was but it’s not commonplace. Expecting Mercedes to do better than that is entirely reasonable…they should offer at least a mainstream car quality paint job.
Chips are a different story, Lexus paint chips extremely easily, but thats solved with PPF. I'd much rather put PPF on a beautiful paint finish than have to deal with orange peel like that all over my car. So, this finish is satisfactory to you?
Well then somebody should tell everybody but Mercedes that they are all wasting money on beautiful, smooth paint finishes, because literally Mercedes has the worst paint finish in the business...at any price point basically...I'm shopping for Kias...their paint looks like it belongs on a Rolls Royce next to that lol.
Maybe you've given up on caring about cars, but seeing as you post on and moderate a car enthusiast forum I find that hard to believe.
Jeez, somebody got riled up quick.
Look, nobody in this thread is saying that what Mercedes is doing with their paint is befitting of high-end luxury. Perhaps you're too close to it with your lackluster paint finishes and how you clearly are upset by it and need a venue (this forum) to air out your frustrations.
The point is, people like to argue about things whether they actually believe what they are saying or not. Nobody on this forum will look at that picture and say that’s a paint finish they would be happy with on a luxury car. It’s just something Mercedes doesn’t do well, nothing wrong with calling that out and not making excuses for it and explaining it away. Obviously I bought a Mercedes realizing this shortcoming…but it’s a shortcomimg.
i don't think that's what "people are saying" - they're saying it doesn't bother them, or they have more important things to think about.
Nobody on this forum will look at that picture and say that’s a paint finish they would be happy with on a luxury car.
nice blanket statement, yet millions of happy mercedes drivers love their vehicles anyway.
It’s just something Mercedes doesn’t do well, nothing wrong with calling that out and not making excuses for it and explaining it away. Obviously I bought a Mercedes realizing this shortcoming…but it’s a shortcomimg.
duly noted. i expect though it's a shortcoming that a huge percentage of owners aren't even aware of, or have noticed and it doesn't bother them.
in this mbworld thread about orange peel on paint, it's funny that some people think their paint is perfect while others think they're all garbage, and everything in between.
So, you would be happy with the paint in the picture I posted? I really don’t think you would be.
Just because people may not notice or love their vehicles anyway doesn’t mean it isn’t something Mercedes should do better. I love mine anyway, do I wish the paint was nicer? Every time I clean it. Cleaning the Lexus always wowed me at the paint. As in all forums people on MBWorld have a hard time admitting their car they are passionate about has a flaw.
The other issue with MB paint is it’s not consistent, which is a mark of poor QC in manufacturing. Some cars are way better than others, so some peoples may actually be fine. My car is actually pretty good, this GLC is one of the worst I have seen.
Perfect paint = perfectly uniform color & flake pattern and a flat clear. it's not hard to get the flake on a complete (re)spray, but the clear takes uhh "tuning" to lay well from the gun (edit: robot in this context, of course). You can't really practically make it flat with spraying alone - "self leveling" has its limits. Thing is, VERY good results can be achieved by tuning - i.e. not really noticeable unless you look for it in high contrast lighting - as shown by just about every other brand, apparently. The finish shown on the GLC above is what I'd associate with a bad respray - I'm not sure that I've seen a finish THAT bad on a new merc over here, although most aren't the greatest (and quite a few are satin/matte so meh).
Exactly, it looks like a respray, but it’s not that’s the factory paint. It’s inexcusable, and I wouldn’t buy that particular unit. Other GLCs the same color may be better.
My wife was already gone yesterday when I took that picture of that loaner, but here is the Pacifica sitting in the same spot. It has a little peel also, but overall is much smoother, richer and glossier than the paint on the GLC:
Perfect paint = perfectly uniform color & flake pattern and a flat clear. it's not hard to get the flake on a complete (re)spray, but the clear takes uhh "tuning" to lay well from the gun (edit: robot in this context, of course). You can't really practically make it flat with spraying alone - "self leveling" has its limits. Thing is, VERY good results can be achieved by tuning - i.e. not really noticeable unless you look for it in high contrast lighting - as shown by just about every other brand, apparently. The finish shown on the GLC above is what I'd associate with a bad respray - I'm not sure that I've seen a finish THAT bad on a new merc over here, although most aren't the greatest (and quite a few are satin/matte so meh).
And that is why Lexus hand wet sands the high end models.......
