I recently looked at a very low mileage 85 IROC that was bright blue metallic. The owners say that the paint is original but it has some factory paint defects. I've seen a lot of thirdgens and some of the factory paint wasn't the best but I've never seen anything like this. The paint had small circles of darker blue in various parts of the car, mainly on the drivers side. Some spots were about pea size and some were smaller. Also the rear spoiler had a big place in it where it looked like the paint was wet and something touched it, about 2in in length. Has anyone seen anything like this before in a car with original paint?

I don't think the paint was original or something happened to it that damaged it. I suspect that it had some type of minor damage and had some repair early in its life..the paint was definately not new. I didn't buy the car because of the paint, to be happy with it I would have to paint it. With the cost of paint I would have more into the car that it was worth by far.

 

I doubt if it was original. Even the worst factory jobs left in better condition than you describe. You were right to walk away. No telling what else the seller was being less than truthful about. Just my opinion.

 

Please be careful how you respond. The description you gave is indicative of acid rain damage. Back in the 80's, many cars were damaged by acid rain spotting and were repainted by the dealers, others weren't.

Below is a picture of some damage I had on my 86 Olds 442.

 

Thanks for the info. I think the car may have had some acid rain damage and maybe some bad repair work. A couple of areas looked similar to the pic posted. Some other areas looked like a splatter of the wrong color paint or paint that wasn't mixed right. The dots that were a different color were almost navy blue, much darker. And one of the dots was shaped like a drip but you couldn't feel it on the surface.

 

I bought a new '89 RS and before I signed the papers I made the dealer take it in and wash it ( because I got burned on a new '86 Cavalier, over-spray all over the car) after the lot jockey cleaned it, I could see a nice paint run on the left front fender, it was a bright blue car also. that next summer I had to have the whole car repainted due to acid rain spots all over the car, the dealer did such a lousy job, that after a year I traded it in for a new '91 RS

 

thats a hard decision for any owner of an original car. My PO repainted and it looks nice. I always thought original 80's paints looked like carp. Most modern paint jobs are way better then OEM paint.

 

Very ture, modern paint is much better. I hated to walk away from the car because I liked it a lot but I knew I wouldn't be happy unless I painted it. Its getting harder and harder to find a nice thirden for a good price. I don't mind paying 5-6K for a nice straight rust free car with not so good paint. But I don't want to pay 10K for a car and still have to paint it.

 

I am one of those that had a GM warranty repaint. The dealer I bought it from had a collision department, so they painted it right there. GM paid for everything, even the loaner car. The paint issues cropped up when the car was less than 2 years old. That paint started to have clear coat delamination in a few spots 10 years ago, so someday I need to get it done all over again.

 

Anyone have any idea what the car I looked at would be worth? I'm curious because there is such a wide range of prices on thirdens.

Here are some details about the car:
85 IROC bright blue metallic with grey interior
It had less than 20K miles.
305TPI all stock and unmolested, 700-R4 Trans
Engine bay was slightly dirty but good condition.
Interior was perfect.
hard top
AC delete
power door locks
manual windows
Underside was rust free but dirty, looked like it had a small oil leak probably the oil pan.
It had small dings in about 4-5 places.
Rims were in great shape, one had a small scratch.
Paint defects as mentioned above posts.
Overall great car other than the paint but of course paint is expensive to fix.

 

The quality of the paint might be better, but I question if the application is. For example, my 2000 Camaro SS has orange peel on both lower quarter panels. My beater 96 Camry has zero paint defects. Why can't GM do better?

 

I think the new paint on new cars are much better, I know 1980-2000 GM experimented with different processes and robotic painting. Pls Water based paints and clear coat had not been perfected as they are now.

 

Actually, Fisher Body plant #1 in Flint was using robotic painting in the mid 80s. I have a cousin that worked there until it closed so the technique is nothing new to GM. Not trying to bash them, but go look at any late model Jap car - The paint is damn near flawless if not perfect. So again, I ask, why can't GM do this?

 

Gm does this now. Back then? Who knows.

 

They can do it, they just don't seem to care as much. While the paint surface may not be perfectly smooth, GM's paint is starting to last longer overall than the Japanese stuff. Take any 5 year old Honda with factory paint that has spent time outside, it's wearing thin, getting a bit dull, and in some cases the clear is wearing off. While the average GM car that's about 5 years old and also spent time outside, the GM paint will still look about how it did when it was new.

 

Plus, let's not forget that our government treats importers differently than domestics. The regulations that GM, Ford and Chrysler have to adhere to may be more stringent than the imports. They do it for people also. I learned years ago that many foreigners coming to the US were given interest free loans, free higher education and 1/2 price homes. As an American born citizen, I had to pay for my own education, take the full loss on my home and was denied many loan requests to start my own business. Now you know why so many convenience stores, dollar stores and gas stations are owned by foreigners!!!

 

A lot of truth is in this short paragraph.

 

I've experienced the very same things and know exactly how you feel. However, the final assembly plant for Camrys is in Georgetown, KY. They are even exporting vehicles from there to S. Korea. The cars are bolted together and painted by American workers on American dirt. If Toyota can squirt a flawless paint job, why can't GM do it?

 

I got a complaint about my above post. Just to clarify, I am not being racist or making political statements with the above post. I gave my reasoning for why there are differences in the domestic vs import cars. If anybody can prove otherwise that the American people and our companies aren't being singled out by our own government and have different requirements than foreign people and companies, then let's hear it.

It's in the news everyday lately that immigrants to the US are being educated at the tax payer expense, but a US citizen is being denied grants and loans. It's also well known that foreign companies are given huge tax breaks and incentives that domestic companies don't get. This also falls on the regulations that the foreign companies are required to adhere to.

If it was my comments on the convenience store/gas stations that offended, again, it was not a stereotype or racist. These retail businesses are fairly easy businesses to operate and with the government subsidies, easy to obtain by foreigners.

The housing costs issue is a known fact by me. I worked with an Egyptian man in Virginia, where housing costs are ridiculous. He explained to me that he was able to afford living so close to work because the US Gov't paid 50% of the cost of his home. and he was living tax free for 7 years. He was able to sell the house anytime he wanted and was able to keep 50% of it's sale price. Because he didn't have the tax burden or the housing burden, he was able to purchase a business on the side and his family ran the business. My comments are from experience, not speculation.

 

THEY DO IT NOW! It just doesn't matter what happened then. Go look at new paint jobs.

 

I guess I have to ask:
1) Is it a Norwood or Van Nuys Car? One thing I have noticed is the paint at Norwood is far superior, Starting in 1982, it was done automatically by a turbo-Bell system more or less installed by the Federal Govt to save jobs (Those tools are now in Mexico and made the HHR). (not sure if Van Nuys used Robots or Manpower )
2) Van Nuys had to meet lower VOC levels due to being in California (Little do they recognize that much of their air pollution is caused by Pine Trees)
3) Norwood cars on the other hand had a hard time lining up the rear hatch for some reason. It stuck out about 1/4" past the rear quarters, its fixable, but takes a little time to do... Less than half a day of messing around, a screwdriver, and some sealant.

John

 

I also know this from locals, that is why so many foreign language people here own convenience stores. Go Tax free for several years, when your time is up your brother comes over and lives tax free for several years... On & On it goes. The rest of the country is burdened with taxes and the Govt can't pay its own bills... Bla Bla Bla. The Govt got us in the mess, they should be made to get us out.

 

Preach! It's happening all over and is 100% wrong. The breaks should be given to the US citizens who's families made this country what it is, not to people using this place just for cash and not caring about it. But that's how dumb this country has been/is being run and it needs to stop.

Now, back on topic LOL.

 

DANG IT where the he!! did the steering Wheel go! cause somebody drove this right in the pooper

 

I have an 82 firebird Van Nuys car with 23k on it. It was kept inside all but one year (midway thru its life). Not driven in winter. It it maroon metallic and some places on the car the paint is horrible and other places it buffed out like new. If you look at the hood at an angle in the sun, it has "smoke rings" of paint that are darker than the rest. Also the hood and driver door have spider cracks in the paint. I have seen early Norwood cars and agree with Okfoz that those have much better paint quality.

 

Its not just convenience stores. Anyone been to Dearborn, MI lately? The whole town is over-run with middle eastern people. I thought I was in Saudi Arabia except there wasn't any camels around.

 

Hallelujah! AMEN! Brother!

 

I'am sick and tired of having to press 1 for english. If you live and work in America speak english damnit!

Ok.....rant off.

 

I'm not sure which plant the car I looked at was made at. I've had a thirdgen for many years and have always browsed the classified ads but its hard to figure out how much a thirdgen like this is really worth. I've only recently started to seriously look for another car. The values have definately went up and down. The peak of course before the economy took a dive. I'm guessing the car I looked at it worth somewhere between 6-11K but thats a huge difference. I would buy it for 6-7K easy and could paint it and not have more in it than it would be worth and have a car that is nearly perfect. If I paid 10k or higher for a car I would want it to have great paint original or not. Would you guys think that I'm in the ballpark for value..or am I a tight wad?

 

Let's keep this non political and definitely keep it civil. If comments start going too off color, I'll need to close this down.

Now back to our regularly scheduled opinions!!!