Sloopy

I hate to say it but looks normal. Had mine done as it looked like this but after paint correction all was great.

TimAD

Bingo, although Porsche maintains very high standards and quality with their painting and finishing processes they don't always produce perfection. These issues are very easily and quickly fixable under the right care.

ScottKelly911

This is absolutely crazy that this kind of stuff leaves the factory. Yes, it's easily correctable, but why should you have to spend $$$$ on paint correction on a $200k car? unbelievable!

TimAD

I completely understand, and sometimes its the nature of the beast that the higher end the vehicle the more defects it "May" have. This is due to a couple reasons, but mainly that the more hands that touch the finish the more chances of defects. This is often why Ferrari's and other exotics are in the worst shape from the factory. Their techs spend more time sanding, polishing and refining the surfaces, with this process though they aren't always finished to the level high end paint correction detailers are capable of.

The bottleneck of any automotive factory is the paint shop, its not necessarily that Porsche overlooks these things, but oftentimes things slip through the cracks. The RS is a special machine of course thus would fall under the "extra attention" category at the factory. This may be the reason for this condition, the 3 918's we have worked on so far all have had sanding scratches, rotary holograms and various defects present from the factory.

In addition, the reason you are seeing these defects where the stickers are is no because that is the only place they are on the vehicle. But when removing the stickers the adhesive removed the wax or polishing oils in that are where the defects were showing the true paint finish. This is exactly why oftentimes new cars look immaculate until the first wash when the waxes or polishing oils are removed and the true finish is revealed. A proficient detailer will take the vehicle through a gentle cleansing process prior to any polishing, this will remove all oils and wax "fillers" to show the true paint finish throughout.

Sloopy

Yes, and don't expect the first inspection to look pretty.

Alan C.

I had problems with my paint on delivery. The spoiler and rear deck were the worst. I fixed it on my dime and then it took ten weeks to get a check.

Kobalt

Interesting stuff. Thanks all contributors.

Ur20v

A marques are the same. Having worked at dealers and seen the cars come off the delivery trucks and wait for paint correction which can include filling dents and deep scratches and repainting panels.

They do the final finish because due to nature the cars get marked up in storage (have you seen the fields with new cars in waiting at docks etc) and the truck/boat/plane shipping to the end dealer, they save cost by doing this final at the end not the beginning- dealers get lazy because not everyone understands paint or even cares, they just drive.

When I imported my M5 to Oz I had it fully detailed, when delivered the other end the paint looked terrible so had to have it detailed again.

///Armin

Thanks for the all of the replies, you learn something new everyday.

Now I understand why when I see so many new black cars in such bad shape with swirl marks. I remember a buddy of mine that purchased a new 991 a while go and after the first few washes the car had major swirls and scratches. We thought it was him and his washing technique...

STG

All this being said, there's NO EXCUSE for this kind of work on any car. I expect more from Honda or Toyota (which I think have better quality control with paint) than these cars at $150K+

Mercedes is definitely better too.

This is just the last step in the paint finishing process. Taking care of any imperfections from the last paint step, the clear coat. Having someone other than a monkey do it isn't too much to ask. I think this position has the same qualifications as your average dealers car wash guys (calling them detailers would be an insult to the profession).

I NEVER let them even touch or look at my car.

CRex

Not fair accusation. Factory delivery protocol is to wax the car prior to customer handover. To take off transportation wrapper and expect top-quality paint outright is plain unreasonable.

Remember, the transportation process is harsh and the cars often get left in the open for prolonged periods. Hence the last mile detailing is done immediately before handover.

Ask your dealer about PDI procedures and that's what they'll tell you. Whether they follow it and detail your car pre-delivery is a different matter.

CAlexio

So whats consensus?... Have dealer prep the car and bring your own LED light?.. Or accept that there could be some bad damage underneath and have them skip prep and bring to detailer?

TimAD

We always recommend having the car delivered to us in all its wrappings. This ensures no further damage could occur. It's not quite realistic to expect perfection on every car. We will occasionally get flawless cars in for work but that number is less than 5%. Every vehicle typically needs some level of refinement.

Just in time

My car (jet black) looked great under the dealer's showroom lights. In my garage, under LEDS, a few swirl marks and minor scratches were noticeable. Easily corrected and I am no expert. The light source does make a difference. At the end of the day I guess we all expect better although in my car these were not bad enough to be considered defects.

mwar99

While the PDI may be to "detail" the car - they are not correcting the paint. And most PDI departments at a dealership add to the paint imperfections, and if they do anything just cover them up with a cheap filler. The cars do come from the factory with problems (as seen here under the wrap). The wrap will protect from further light damage and the damage seen here would not be from shipping. It is from the factory. I agree expecting it from the factory is unreasonable (except for a very top dollar super car IMO). However, the dealership for higher end cars should be doing a proper paint correction (mostly I am speaking about $300K Ferrari's, etc.) prior to delivery. I would be livid to spend that much money and have to correct my paint.

That said, all I let the dealership do was take off the film to make sure there were no paint issues that were too bad to have a good correction take care of it. There were none and because they didn't touch it at the dealership my paint was in pretty good shape. Partly probably because it is Rhodium and at the factory they didn't see things they needed to "fix".

Talk to any good service writer or salesman at a higher end dealership and they will tell you two things - 1) never buy a showroom car; and 2) don't let me detail department touch your car. I had a conversation with the Audi dealership head service writer the other day because I have a tag I hang off my mirror that says to please not wash my car. He agreed he wouldn't have his guys touch it because I take care of it. He had to yell at them the other day for something they did that they shouldn't be doing...so if you want to have good paint you get it corrected and don't let anyone else touch it except for your detailer or yourself. My detailer said that if you want a car with good paint to go buy a Kia - they don't touch it at the factory.