Why Do So Many Cars from the late 1980s and into the 1990s Have Peeling Paint?

[TomB]

I've noticed for a while that cars built in the late 1980s into the 1990s seem to have a similar issue with the paint fading away on the top surfaces of the car body. In some cases the paint has disappeared, leaving behind bare metal that then rusts.

Was there something about the paint used or the process that caused this issue? GM cars of that era seem to be the worst off.

[8E45E]

Was there something about the paint used or the process that caused this issue? GM cars of that era seem to be the worst off.

Now this is speculation, given PPG's instructions on using their products, and whether GM used PPG paint or not, I cannot say. PPG clearly states that one must apply the finish coat within one week after applying their primer, otherwise premature lifting is the result. From stories I've heard, GM would place their bodies in storage in primer state until they decided to do a run in a particular color when there were enough orders. Some would have been in storage for well over a week; some for a few days. This would perhaps explain why your neighbor's identical car down the street had nearly perfect paint after three years and yours was badly peeling as yours would have been in storage in primer for longer. I do know, however, if one pressured the dealer enough, they would repaint it under warranty.

Craig

[52hawk]

I worked at a dealership from 1990-1994. 8e45e is correct,too much elapsed time between coatings,and also "overbaked" primer. [that was the official explanation from GM] We repainted hundreds of new cars,but they said it was done as a gesture of good will,NOT warranty .. I think that way,ONLY the real squealers got new paint,the general public couldn't just bring in the car and say,"I want one of those warranty paint jobs! The other carmakers all used some variation of the same excuse. Chrysler once blamed some paint problems on the deoderant and perfume the employees were wearing,and decided the people on the paint line could not use any deoderant or perfume! BTW,a lot of these paint problems still exist into the 2000s.

[Gunslinger]

It started in the early '80s. The EPA mandated changes in paint formulations and it took paint suppliers quite some time to get the new technology down. Grays, silvers and greens seemed to be the worst with the problem but all colors suffered to some degree. My ex-wife has a Dodge Aries at the time and the gray paint was bubbling and peeling in a few places. Ford Taurus also had a big problem but none were immune.

[COMMANDERPINK1]

I also believe this was the time that waterborne paints were being attempted and the process may have been pretty knew for the production line. What Craig said about the time period between priming and paint application can not be over a certain time period. Paint manufacturers have a allowed time period for application and also a recommended time for best performance which will be much shorter. Ive notice on these cars where the paint is peeling that the primer/sealer is very glossy (not good) for paint adhesion.
Tom

[TomB]

thanks, those explanations make sense. The Pontiac Bonnevilles from that era in particular seem to suffer from the paint disappearing off the upper surfaces of the car. I wonder if in the future there will be few survivor cars from this era with original paint as a result.

[Scott]

Even if you had a car with good original paint surviving I wouldn't necessarily count that as a plus because it means that if the car is used much at all you'll get to experience for yourself the paint coming off. I'd rather have a car from that era that had already been repainted. I still see these cars occasionally in southern Oregon and I marvel that anyone would want to be seen in one with such lousy paint. I wouldn't be caught dead driving a car that looked like that. I'll take a plain old dull, oxidized Studebaker any day.

[Flashback]

All the answers have been real good. BUT, the "real" reason is because of the great strides in technology we have taken in recent years. HA. At least that's what everyone keeps telling me. It take me about 15 minutes to clean and adjust the points on one of my vehicles, if it don't start. It takes my son about $100.00 and three days waiting to get his rice grinder going afer it won't start. Real progress. I am laughing out loud.
By the way, very little of the paint on my 53 has peeled off. It just hat it's 59th birthday.

[radiotech]

I bought a new Dodge pickup in 89. When it was 7 years old the paint started coming off in sheets! When I got rid of it in 04 it had about 1/2 the paint left on it, BTW it was white.

[jclary]

I have noticed two spots of paint degradation on the rear top of my four door 2002 Dodge Ram. It has held up better than my 95 Ram did, but I recently noticed this one. Heck, if the sun and rain erodes the pyramids of Egypt...what do we expect to happen to any painted vehicle that spends most of the time exposed to the elements. I would rather my cars sit in the rain than bright sunshine.

[rockinhawk]

I bought a white 89 Dodge at a county auction about 10 years ago. It had 300,000 miles,peeling paint and a slipping trans. but the A/C worked good. Paid $200.bucks for it. $400. for a tranny rebuild, Quick scuff and spray with some left over Ermine white. My son is still driving it to work. Matter of fact, he drove it here to see me today. Darn good truck, just bad paint.

[Warren Webb]

I have been through 3 G.M. plants. Linden, New Jersey 1965, South Gate, Calif. 1979 & Van Nuys, Calif. 1983. In all 3 the bodies were produced in sequence & didnt use a "body bank" that Studebaker employed. All 3 welded their respective bodies followed by the paint process. There was no "batch" painting of the bodies. Red body followed by black followed silver ect.

At this time (late 80's) the manufacturers were going from solvent based paints to water base and a bond between the primer & color coats was a big problem. While I was working at the body shop of a Ford dealer, we were instructed to do a "tape test" to check for adhesion on topcoats.

The only separation I saw was at Linden. There, station wagons ordered with vinyl tops were followed by 5 bodies that did not get a vinyl top so that the 2 men applying them would have enough time to install it on such a large roof as a wagon. That plant built Pontiac full size cars (Catalina, Bonneville, ect along with full size Olds but no Buicks). Enough cars were ordered at the time though, that these guys didnt have a rest from one car to the next.

[gohdes]

my wife had an 88 Reliant with badly peeling paint that we owned in the 90's, it was grey/blue'ish (kinda hard to tell). we saw quite a few of them when you really started looking for them.

[Jeff_H]

Seems like a lot of the cars/trucks seen with bad paint, its the clear coat that is coming off. I've seen many cars with color coming off too leaving the primer, usually lighter colors like white, silver, etc. I've got 2 mid 80s Ford thunderbirds. The '85 is maroon and most of the clear has come off the top of the car now. The clear comes off in sheets and sometimes even is strong enough it can be peeled off by hand and stay together like a sheet of cellophane. The '86 is dark blue and was mostly missing the clear off the top of the car when I got it in 1996, so not a real old car then. That one tends to chip/flake off in small bits. Now the leading edge of clear loss is about 1/3 the way down the sides of the car and the top is about through the color and primer is coming out. That particular shade of blue must have been worse than some other colors since I've seen other like year fords with it and they all looked bad even years ago.

Its got to be the experimental paint formulas they've been working with since the 80s. The older cars often faded though to the primer over time but you almost never saw actual peeling unless it was a repaint over poorly prepped original. Once saw a '64 ford at a auction that had been repainted red years before and was terribly faded and peeling. The original red under the repaint that was reappeared in the peeled spots looked better than the "new" paint!

[starliner62]

Late 80s, paint came off down to the primer. Mid 90s and up seems to be the clear giong away. I worked at a Ford dealer then and was told that removing the lead from the paint and adapting to water-borne paints caused the issues. I know that the body shop stripped a lot of trucks with a razor blade. It was faster than sanding it off. I remember talking the body shop into repainting my girlfriend's father's truck under warranty.
My black 95 Mark VIII looks terrible with the clearcoat going away, but it is way down on my to do list.