[Lemotan]

Any "cool off period" in your state?

 

[Lemotan]

This is how my Impreza looked with just 6 miles on the odometer. The dealer (4.5 stars on Google) was like, 'Ok, ok, bring it in, we’ll take a look at it.' No way I’m letting them drive this car again.
Unfortunately no "cool off" period otherwise I would just bring it back in.

 

[Lemotan]

Thanks for the input. Doesn’t look like NC has a cooling off period and I do like the car. I’m just not willing to let them paint past the bumper. At this point I’d be happy to be able to buff off all his “touch up” and just paint pen the scratch and forget about it. I bought some compounds, but I dunno I can get it to blend.

I had a 4Runner once where the kid put the garage door down on the open hatch. Gouged the paint to metal and wrenched the hinges. I almost just painted the lower hatch black and dealt, but the hatch popped and rubbed the body. So I gave the dealer a chance. Dealer did a hack job. Second body shop did better, but still issues. Third shop replaced everything and it was as close right as it was going to get, but there were still shading issues and the interior had been pulled so many times there was damaged push pins etc. Plus the wiring cover from the body to the hatch had gotten its retainer clips broken from the removals and it would stay connected anymore. Only available with a new full wiring harness. I realized it would never be right again and cut my losses and Carmax’d it. One year old and maybe 12k on the clock. Gutted me, but I’m that picky that I couldn’t accept it after all that.

So that’s why I’m so nervous/hesitant of letting them start pulling parts and painting. Gonna end up going down the same rabbit hole again. Wife doesn’t want them to touch it again. Said Plastidip it or buy a metal bumper that you cut the factory bumper to fit. So I’m not sure still what to do at this point. It sucks that it’s not really noticeable until the sun is out. Then it jumps out at me.

When it comes to the bumper cover, I remove it myself and leave it at the paint shop. This way, there's no risk of overspray.

 

[Lemotan]

Took the crossbars off today to see how the road noise and mpg is without them on, being I drive 150 highway miles 4-5 days a week. Noticed this odd blemish in the paint. Thought maybe I had done it installing or removing the crossbars, but this is under the paint. You can feel the bump. Almost looks like a little worm haha. 🤷🏻‍♂️🤷🏻‍♂️

I have plenty pf paint imperfections on Impreza, worst paint job I’ve ever seen on a new car. Modern Chinese cars (BYD or Geely) have noticeably better paint quality.
I can share some pics if anyone’s interested.

 

[Lemotan]

Dang that sucks. I dunno why things seem to get worse the newer they are. What kind of pics do you have? If the Impreza? I’d be curious to see em. You’d think made in Japan would still mean something. Guess not.

It was difficult to focus on the clear coat because the paint is white. This is one of the clear coat blemishes on the hood. ~ 1/2" in size.

 

[Lemotan]

In the name of balance here, I am actually quite happy with the paint on my very early-build 2024. It has no flaws.

In the name of balance no flaws on my Crosstrek(s) either. It could be that, since the Impreza is a base model, they cut a few corners. At first, I thought it might’ve been a “dealer job,” but the traces of the factory plastic wrap were still visible at the edges of the hood—so it’s definitely a "factory job".