Is it just me or does this truck have the thinnest coat of clear coat ever

[Deleted member 53332]

Granite Metallic. I can sneeze and get swirl marks on this truck.. No offroading and it looks like I've driven through an African jungle. My Challenger was the same color and was still pristine after 3 years of ownership.

Am I the only one?

The thickness of the clear has nothing to do with swirl marks. Dark colors show swirls easily and swirls will happen just from washing the vehicle, even by hand. Water based paint/clear has only made it worse. That being said, Jeep paint quality is about as poor as any I’ve seen in the industry. Even with perfect clearcoat, the base paint application quality is poor. A lot can be fixed with a proper paint correction when you buy it, then ceramic coat it and you won’t have as many issues. There were sections in my ‘22 that hadn’t even been buffed properly from the factory. Spent several hours buffing, polishing and putting ceramic on the day after I got it.

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[Mister Lamb]

The thickness of the clear has nothing to do with swirl marks. Dark colors show swirls easily and swirls will happen just from washing the vehicle, even by hand. Water based paint/clear has only made it worse. That being said, Jeep paint quality is about as poor as any I’ve seen in the industry. Even with perfect clearcoat, the base paint application quality is poor. A lot can be fixed with a proper paint correction when you buy it, then ceramic coat it and you won’t have as many issues. There were sections in my ‘22 that hadn’t even been buffed properly from the factory. Spent several hours buffing, polishing and putting ceramic on the day after I got it.

Isn't Mopar, Mopar? My Dodge vehicle had no issues. I think I'm gonna just end up wrapping the truck once I really can't stand to look at it

 

[Lives The Dream]

well my gator paint from day one has been the easiest paint to scratch of any car I've owned.
even worse than my moss green pearl coat YJ, which had the previous title, gator beats it by a mile.
my impact orange LJ (which like all 2006s I've seen, didn't even cover the primer on the floors or inside the wheel wells) still looks good and is pretty hard to scratch.

 

[Klicht87]

I have gray zenith paint and seems ok. I did get it ceramic coated which I've had done with other vehicles but I can't comment on if that prevents swirls, only the fact that I don't have to wax it. I've had quite a few vehicles over the years and some seem more easily scratched and swirled than others. I'm sure the paint all comes from the same factory so who knows.

 

[BUZZHEAD]

Back in my body shop days in the 70s you could add more hardener to the enamel paint to get a stronger integrity of the paint.
I stay with buying white vehicles easier to blend paint you really have to look for scratches and swirls. There was a product for darker colors that eliminated swirls I believe it was called black ebony . I have been lucky so far all the trail stripes have buffed right out.
Silver was the worst color back in the day.

 

[Deleted member 53332]

Isn't Mopar, Mopar? My Dodge vehicle had no issues. I think I'm gonna just end up wrapping the truck once I really can't stand to look at it

Different plants, different paint facilities and processes. Spent years in the auto industry, the differences from plant to plant can be mind boggling. It would be like saying the paint on a VW is as good as a Porsche because they are all Volkswagen Group brands.

Take it to a good detail shop and they can have it looking better than the day it left the factory. Let them ceramic coat it, or even better PPF and you won’t have to worry about it. PPF will protect it more than a wrap from trail rash, rock chips and parking lot bumps.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Isn't Mopar, Mopar? My Dodge vehicle had no issues. I think I'm gonna just end up wrapping the truck once I really can't stand to look at it

No. It's amazing the differences each corporate entity may have - and how in some cases, they have their own standards.

Different plants, different paint facilities and processes. Spent years in the auto industry, the differences from plant to plant can be mind boggling. It would be like saying the paint on a VW is as good as a Porsche because they are all Volkswagen Group brands.

Take it to a good detail shop and they can have it looking better than the day it left the factory. Let them ceramic coat it, or even better PPF and you won’t have to worry about it. PPF will protect it more than a wrap from trail rash, rock chips and parking lot bumps.

Or that Lexus and Toyota have the same standards....... even Chevy, Olds and Pontiac had different standards.

 

[GEETCH]

There are many kinds of coatings today, vehicles are overall getting more expensive, so cost savings are taken where ever they can be and the coating is one area however there are ways to correct paint and protect it.

1)use a two bucket system with dirt traps and only move in forward and back or side to side motions when hand washing

2) only use touch less car washes the brushes will damage the paint

3) clay bar used properly will remove other contaminants

4) coat and seal the vehicle with quality products on the regular

I do the work mostly for corrosion prevention, I take it off road and it gets All kinds of Mother Nature over it, eventually I’ll have paint damage I can’t fix for me not an issue, when it finally gets bad I’m gonna raptor coat it and just pressure was only

to each his own how you use your vehicle but preventative maintenance and some elbow grease goes a long way.

 

[IdahoRubicon]

My Sarge green is awful. It shows everything. Where the door sill is, the body has tons of surface scratches just from shoes bumping it. Also random marks all over caused by who knows what. Light bushes leave pinstripes that wouldn't have done anything to my prior trucks.
My old Fords are 7 and 16 years old and the paint looks better.
It's my biggest gripe with my gladiator, that and the reverse gear is WAY too high.

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