Mach-E Factory Paint Issues

[robindehood]

Hey guys, like many on here I was over the moon to have received my '22 Mach E. We went with an incoming dealer model, Shadow Black Select, AWD with the Comfort and Tech package. Was less than impressed to receive the car and be told there was no foot activated lift gate (which we were told would be included thanks to the Comfort and Tech package). We had plans as soon as we received the car for it to go in for a ceramic coating. Not my first rodeo, and I've had multiple vehicles done at this shop with zero issues. 20 mins after dropping the car off, I get a phone call to come back and take a look. Car was touchless washed (their procedure for starting the process) and dried with an air dryer.

High speed buffer trails on EVERY body panel. Alright, somebody tried to fix transport scratches at the dealership. It happens, they assured me they'd all come out. What they quickly discovered, was that the buffer trails were underneath a factory coating of some kind. What was supposed to be 2-6hrs of paint correction has turned into a full 3 step cut and polish, 3 times around the vehicle. 1 step to cut away whatever factory coating they slapped on to hide the buffer marks, another trip around to get rid of all the trails and scratches and what not, and the 3rd to really polish it up and get it to the point where they can slap the ceramic coating on it.

Massive pain in the ass, and it tripled the amount of work (thus, the amount I'm stuck paying) for the paint correction. Curious if anyone else has had any similar issues

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[robindehood]

Not sure if this is gonna let me post the video or not

 

[WyldStallyn]

On my silver 2021 GTPE the paint was immaculate. Essentially no correction required for coating.

 

[Cm12]

I haven’t found issues on mine, but your detail shop might be have a much greater attention to detail than others? I ceramic coated my first MME and the paint was about as I expected from the factory. Expecting to ceramic coat my current one in late May and I haven’t seen any glaring issues since I picked up my current MME 6 months ago (yes, ideally I would have coated it immediately, but life got in the way). Sounds like your dealership might have tried to do a little bit of detailing on their own, perhaps? Did you tell them to not touch the paint prior to delivery? I know some people have told their dealerships to do that to avoid any potential issues. I didn’t, but like I said, nothing glaring on either of mine.

edit: I recall reading a thread at some point where people had some significant issues with a poor paint job. Not buffing, necessarily, but seemed to be some type of adhesion issue. Lots of chips, as if the paint was unusually brittle. Several people chimed in, IIRC, but I don’t recall the details.

 

[VegStang]

Mine had 12 chips/scratches blemishes all over the vehicle on receipt. I spent 3 days doing color correction and still ended up getting the dealer's bodyshop to work on it. There weren't any swirls, but quite a few areas had to be sanded and polished to take care of them. Some of the chips are still there but not noticeable unless I put the reading glasses on. So I usually wax and wax without the glasses

Actually the panel where the antenna is mounted has swirl marks under the clear coat. I spent at least an hour trying to correct that mess and gave up.

The top of the back tailgate doesn't quite match the color of the adjacent fenders, as I have seen others post about. Since the red changes color depending on the lighting I've let it go as it's only really noticeable when in the garage under bright lighting.

When I received my 08 Escape hybrid the paint was spotless, so Ford is completely capable of a good paint job. I figured as this was December 2020 build and spent 3 months in transit and a delay in MO most of the chips and issues were either the factory working out the kinks, and the rest was too much time in transit.

 

[robindehood]

Not sure if there's different standards for vehicles going to the US vs Canada, but this is the 2nd Ford I've bought brand new. First being a 2017 F-150. No issues right from the factory with the paint, but boy did they skimp out on it. Very thin stuff.

I think I just got unlucky, but Ford is refusing to offer any coverage or reimbursement for the paint correction because I was unwilling to bring it back to the dealership. Someone either at that dealer, or at the factory did this to the paint. Not something I was willing to risk given what we paid for the vehicle.

 

[MachEMaster]

Hey guys, like many on here I was over the moon to have received my '22 Mach E. We went with an incoming dealer model, Shadow Black Select, AWD with the Comfort and Tech package. Was less than impressed to receive the car and be told there was no foot activated lift gate (which we were told would be included thanks to the Comfort and Tech package). We had plans as soon as we received the car for it to go in for a ceramic coating. Not my first rodeo, and I've had multiple vehicles done at this shop with zero issues. 20 mins after dropping the car off, I get a phone call to come back and take a look. Car was touchless washed (their procedure for starting the process) and dried with an air dryer.

High speed buffer trails on EVERY body panel. Alright, somebody tried to fix transport scratches at the dealership. It happens, they assured me they'd all come out. What they quickly discovered, was that the buffer trails were underneath a factory coating of some kind. What was supposed to be 2-6hrs of paint correction has turned into a full 3 step cut and polish, 3 times around the vehicle. 1 step to cut away whatever factory coating they slapped on to hide the buffer marks, another trip around to get rid of all the trails and scratches and what not, and the 3rd to really polish it up and get it to the point where they can slap the ceramic coating on it.

Massive pain in the ass, and it tripled the amount of work (thus, the amount I'm stuck paying) for the paint correction. Curious if anyone else has had any similar issues

Is it a mirror now!?

 

[robindehood]

I haven’t found issues on mine, but your detail shop might be have a much greater attention to detail than others? I ceramic coated my first MME and the paint was about as I expected from the factory. Expecting to ceramic coat my current one in late May and I haven’t seen any glaring issues since I picked up my current MME 6 months ago (yes, ideally I would have coated it immediately, but life got in the way). Sounds like your dealership might have tried to do a little bit of detailing on their own, perhaps? Did you tell them to not touch the paint prior to delivery? I know some people have told their dealerships to do that to avoid any potential issues. I didn’t, but like I said, nothing glaring on either of mine.

edit: I recall reading a thread at some point where people had some significant issues with a poor paint job. Not buffing, necessarily, but seemed to be some type of adhesion issue. Lots of chips, as if the paint was unusually brittle. Several people chimed in, IIRC, but I don’t recall the details.

Dealership was told not to touch the exterior of the vehicle after delivery, but they had it for 3 days before I was able to go pick it up so hard to say whether they respected that or not.

 

[robindehood]

Is it a mirror now!?

Still haven't gotten the car back haha. It's been there since the 21st. 2nd Coating was done this afternoon at 12pm. Aiming to pick it up tomorrow at 5. I'll grab some before pictures with the swirling and scratches etc from the videos I have and post some nice after pictures. Went for a 10 year coating, Dok Do+ by FIreball. Pretty excited to see how it turned out. I haven't seen it since Tuesday when they were still in the midst of fixing the botched factory job

 

[Astraea]

I also have a shadow black MME and let me tell you, my detailer hated paint correcting my car. He said it is the worst paint he has ever had to deal with and behaves like super cheap paint and the clear coat is some of the thinnest he has ever seen. I'm very tempted to get it repainted as I plan to keep the car for a long time. But yeah, not good at all. Especially for how much we pay for these cars.

 

[robindehood]

I also have a shadow black MME and let me tell you, my detailer hated paint correcting my car. He said it is the worst paint he has ever had to deal with and behaves like super cheap paint and the clear coat is some of the thinnest he has ever seen. I'm very tempted to get it repainted as I plan to keep the car for a long time. But yeah, not good at all. Especially for how much we pay for these cars.

They measured and said the paint was "Slightly thinner than a post it note". That was when I decided to up it to the 10 year coating

 

[robindehood]

Understandable. Haven't asked them to pay for it all, wouldn't expect them to. I would however, given evidence that the defect was there as well as glossing over the fact they're not offering the foot activated tail gate at all anymore (our dealership claims they weren't told, build was submitted in Nov, lift gate changed in Jan, car was finished in Feb) that they'd be willing to come up with some kind of a good will gesture for the inconveniences that have come up as opposed to "Sorry to hear, next time bring it to us". Not the best business practice if you want people coming back

 

[Nklem]

I am sorry you had to deal with this, I do not know if this is a factory issue or more than likely Dealer fault With inexperienced and poor prep. When I bought mine I told them not to touch it, it still had the plastic on it in many spots. was able to quick ceramic coat it the next day and found no paint faults. Of course you also have the color that will show it all. Anyway, I hope it comes out great, it should be a mirror when you are done.

 

[robindehood]

All of this and there's still a slight haze to the clear on the front and rear bumpers of the car. The shit storm just doesn't end with this paint

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