Paint chips

[Viper X]

Do you guys seem to get more paint chips in the front fascia and front fender areas with your SRT-10's than with other cars? Could the clear coat have been thicker from the factory? Did I just get a good engine and a lousy paint job - in terms of thickness of the clear coat. Does / could Dodge make an adjustment here? I really don't want that plastic stuff on my fascia and fenders, but I've already got to have one fender repainted due to (I guess) a rock chip that is beyond repair, and I'm on my second bottle of touch up paint at less than 5,000 miles. I have asked my painter to go a bit heavy on the clear coat and he has indicated after painting a couple of Vipers that the paint is relatively thin. I don't live on or ever drive on a dirt road like some of the guys here. Any suggestions / experiences?

 

[2004 SRT-10]

I have the clear bra installed on the front facia, side sills and a separate product on the headlights. Not a chip one on anything after 3k miles. you can see a little seam on the clear-bra but other than that it is probably the best investment I made when it was new.

 

[agentf1]

Buy silver or get the 3m (clear bra) film. I think it looks pretty good/invisible as long as you don't use the hood piece which shows a seam half way up the hood.

 

[Viper X]

Hey guys, where can I get the 3m clear bra, fitted for the fascia only? I think I'll start there. Don't like the hood line. Thanks for the respsones.

 

[Canyon707]

I have heared that the clear bra is ok if it's over factory paint. If not most are reluctant to put it over repainted areas. Any comments on this?

 

[plumcrazy]

i had to wait 3 months before i could put the clearbra over my freshly painted fascia and have had zero problems and it looks perfect.

 

[PaViper]

I have heared that the clear bra is ok if it's over factory paint. If not most are reluctant to put it over repainted areas. Any comments on this?

As long as the paint is properly cured...you should be fine

 

[PaViper]

I have gotten more stone chips on the two SRT cars that I have had than I did on my GTS with 8000 miles on it. Has to be the shape of the front end:cuss:

 

[NK BREKR]

Hey Dan,

Perhaps Mike at Meguiars will be able to point you in the right direction on the 21st. There has to be a SoCal member that has had the 3M clear bra installed.

 

[GR8_ASP]

I have gotten more stone chips on the two SRT cars that I have had than I did on my GTS with 8000 miles on it. Has to be the shape of the front end:cuss:

Not only. There was a paint type/method changed as well (I think it was 2001 or 2002) going to a high temperature bake and a thinner single clear coat (was thicker 2 coats).

I can definitely vouch for the more chip sensitive aspect. Way more chips in the first 1000 miles than I had in 30,000 miles with a Gen 1. And they are not limited to the fascia and sills. I have them on the hood, trunk, fenders, doors, etc. It is just WAY TOO CHIP SENSITIVE.:cuss:

 

[Hiss]

Had the 3M clear installed on front hood and bumper area , side sills , mirrors, headlights and area below rear fender. This was done at 6000 miles -wish now that it was done when I first purchased the Viper.

With the 3M on the bumper and 2' up the hood-under the right kind of light and looking close I can detect a very small amount of orange peel. But the 3M is worth it for the protection. Great product.

 

[DPViper]

Canyon: Be careful installing clearbra on repainted areas. I've had 2 areas where the clear coat pealed off when the installer pulled the extra clearbra off the car. I'll never put it on repainted areas again. Thanks

 

[PaViper]

Had the 3M clear installed on front hood and bumper area , side sills , mirrors, headlights and area below rear fender. This was done at 6000 miles -wish now that it was done when I first purchased the Viper.

With the 3M on the bumper and 2' up the hood-under the right kind of light and looking close I can detect a very small amount of orange peel. But the 3M is worth it for the protection. Great product.

Just had the nose and side sills done, opted not to get the hood and fenders done to avoid the line across the hood....got a stone chip 3 inches above the nose on the way home:cuss:

 

[Racer Robbie]

The truth is that all these chips in our $98,000.00 vipers is a joke on us as Dc will do nothing about it. they even state this in the owners manual. As far as I am concerned my 2003 viper has the worst paint I have ever had in the 65 cars I have owned. Hell I have a 1991 Jaguar XJ6 with 200,000 miles on it with less chips than my 2003 viper with 17,000 miles. The paint on vipers stink! DC should step up to the plate and repaint all of our vipers for free under warranty as a recall. Wishful thinking!

Check out this other post.


http://forums.viperclub.org/showthread.php?t=600841

 

[PaViper]

The truth is that all these chips in our $98,000.00 vipers is a joke on us as Dc will do nothing about it. they even state this in the owners manual. As far as I am concerned my 2003 viper has the worst paint I have ever had in the 65 cars I have owned. Hell I have a 1991 Jaguar XJ6 with 200,000 miles on it with less chips than my 2003 viper with 17,000 miles. The paint on vipers stink! DC should step up to the plate and repaint all of our vipers for free under warranty as a recall. Wishful thinking!

Check out this other post.


http://forums.viperclub.org/showthread.php?t=600841

I have to respectfully disagree about the overall quality of Viper paint jobs, although I have found a few flaws in mine (very small and all but un-noticeable). I find the overall paint quality to be very good. The stripes are a different story though. I think that the speed I drive as opposed to my other vehicles has a lot to do with it, plus the debris on the roads seems to worsen every year. The more barriers they put up, the more crap gets trapped along the edge of the lane.

 

[Canyon707]

I looked at one site... armor coat looked like the product to use

 

[Racer Robbie]

Perhaps the problem is worst with the original 2003 cars. Mine has 18,000 miles on it, and has chips all over it and the side sill and inner fender lips are down to bare metal. I have never had this problem on any other car. I also have a 1997 Jeep Wrangler with over 100,000 miles on it and it has 2 chips. My wife drives a 2006 Jeep Overland with 14000 miles on it and it has no chips at all. Why? Is a Jeep better built than a Viper?

 

[texas_venom]

I have to disagree as well. The paint job on my SRT-10 vert is absolutely beautiful. I have not found any flaws or orange peel in it anywhere. As far as rock chips, I installed a Clear Mask kit on the hood, side sills, and front when I first got it. I do not have one single rock chip as of yet (9,000 miles). Honestly I dont understand why everyone doesnt invest another $500 in their Viper when they first get it. I mean whats $500 when you just bought a $90,000 car???

 

[viperbob]

I've seen countless numbers of Vipers over the years and compared to other makes/models, Viper paint is not up to *****, period. Granted the car is low to the ground, is not metal, etc. but the paint quality could be improved upon.

 

[Racer Robbie]

I have to disagree as well. The paint job on my SRT-10 vert is absolutely beautiful. I have not found any flaws or orange peel in it anywhere. As far as rock chips, I installed a Clear Mask kit on the hood, side sills, and front when I first got it. I do not have one single rock chip as of yet (9,000 miles). Honestly I dont understand why everyone doesnt invest another $500 in their Viper when they first get it. I mean whats $500 when you just bought a $90,000 car???

Viper bob is right on. Why should I have to invest another $500.00 on a $98,000.00 car? The factory knows they have a problem and should have corrected it before it left the factory. I should not have to. My 1987 Ferrari looks brand new with 24000 miles on it. And please don't get me started about the leaks when I get caught in the rain. It drips right on my arm. Believe me I love everything about the viper except the Pinto quality paint job. Heck I saw a Pinto the other day with better paint and it was 30 years old. At the rate I am going my red viper is going to look like a unpainted DeLorean.

 

[PaViper]

Viper bob is right on. Why should I have to invest another $500.00 on a $98,000.00 car? The factory knows they have a problem and should have corrected it before it left the factory. I should not have to. My 1987 Ferrari looks brand new with 24000 miles on it. And please don't get me started about the leaks when I get caught in the rain. It drips right on my arm. Believe me I love everything about the viper except the Pinto quality paint job. Heck I saw a Pinto the other day with better paint and it was 30 years old. At the rate I am going my red viper is going to look like a unpainted DeLorean.

I think you should buy the Pinto, the Pinto forum is waiting for you

 

[Racer Robbie]

I think you should buy the Pinto, the Pinto forum is waiting for you

I would expect paint chips on a pinto but the truth is I have seen better paint on pintos that are 20 years old. I guess the truth hurts and very few here have the guts to speak the truth about the lousy paint jobs on the 2003 and up vipers. DC needs to get their paint act together and they need to warranty the paint on our cars. Telling me that paint chips were not covered on my viper when it had 100 miles on it is a joke, an expensive joke.

 

[Viper X]

I actually think that the paint on our Vipers is reasonably good, it just chips and scratches way too easily.

I wish that the Meguiars guy had an answer - maybe in the advanced class.

 

[PaViper]

Maybe there will be a difference this year now that ASC is no longer doing the paint work, and Saleen is taking over the task.

 

[Jeff Lemke]

UPDATE. The dupont "super hard, scratch resistant" clear coat that I baked on and let cure for a month before use, failed me huge. One tank of gas burned resulted in 3 major stone chips.

I'll try the Armor coat next as I want to believe there is a product other than clear tape (not a fan).

Jeff

 

[Racer Robbie]

Jeff,

Again you spent money to prevent or fix a problem that DC should be preventing or fixing themselves.

Robbie

 

[valentine_viper]

Jeff,

Again you spent money to prevent or fix a problem that DC should be preventing or fixing themselves.

Robbie

I have to agree with Robbie here. I think the paint job on the Viper looks great, but it chips WAY too easily, especially when we're talking about a $90,000 car. Unfortunately, there is no way DC will do anything about it. The cost of repainting 100s (and possibly 1000s) of Vipers would be astronomical.

 

[Racer Robbie]

I have to agree with Robbie here. I think the paint job on the Viper looks great, but it chips WAY too easily, especially when we're talking about a $90,000 car. Unfortunately, there is no way DC will do anything about it. The cost of repainting 100s (and possibly 1000s) of Vipers would be astronomical.

That is what warranties are made for. Years ago Ford had to recall all cars painted light metallic silver and light metallic blue. They had to paint them under warranty even though the warranty had run out. DC should do the same thing.

 

[PaViper]

First of all I cant believe you guys are still wearing this thread out, I think the paint is fine, personally I think most of the problem is the speed that I drive as opposed to the speed I drive my daily drivers.....stick you head out the window at 100 and let me know if the crap hitting your face hurts more than it does at 65

 

[Racer Robbie]

First of all I cant believe you guys are still wearing this thread out, I think the paint is fine, personally I think most of the problem is the speed that I drive as opposed to the speed I drive my daily drivers.....stick you head out the window at 100 and let me know if the crap hitting your face hurts more than it does at 65

SPEED HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH IT!​

MY 2003 VIPERS PAINT JOB IS CRAP​

My 1988 Ferrari goes over 150 MPH and it has no chips or scratches in its paint and the car has over 35,000 miles on it.
​

Quality is not number 1 when it comes to DC paint on vipers
​

As for wearing this thread out: When DC does something about our crappy $100,000.00 paint jobs then we will stop complaining. The dealer told me to drop dead when i showed him the chips I had at 200 miles. Sorry but chips are not covered by warranty I was told.
​

WHEN IS DC GOING TO STEP UP TO THE PLATE AND FIX THIS PROBLEM?​