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ZB commodore paint quality

MattSAU2XR8

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Just wondering if anyone has had problems with bird poop eating into their ZB Commodore's paint? Admittedly the oldest ones are probably only 2 years old, but perhaps someone parks under a tree? And perhaps GM have started using some environmentally friendly paint made from the shells of African dung beetles? As per my other thread, 'Matt's ZB RSV long term review' I've just bought a dealer demonstrator wagon. And as soon as I signed the contract I was shown into another room where a pleasant young lady who had bought me a coffee while I did the paperwork informed me that auto paint is not as good as it once was, as it no longer contains lead, and that I should consider investing in paint protection. And that if I didn't invest in this protection then any errant bird poo would burn its way into the paint and ruin my resale. She then showed me a scale similar to that used to explain depth of burn wounds or melanoma invasion, but instead showing bird poo penetration to various depths from clear coat to base metal. This was quite surprising and disappointing because the salesman had just spent about half an hour showing me over the car and telling me what a good thing it was. Eventually I explained to her that I am planning to roll the car over in 4 years and that it has 4.5 years warranty, so if the paint were to peel off I could just lodge a warranty claim, which she eventually conceded was fair and inevitable. Birds seem to love me 2006 VE SS and its paint seems to be holding up fine. I've only put down $1000 deposit so far so its probably not too late to back out.

Thanks for any advice.

Matt
 

dgp

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Bird poo (and especially bat poo)will eat through any clearcoat including the paint protection if left there long enough. Just wash it off as soon as you notice it.
The rubbish the dealers try and sell you is exactly that, rubbish.
Currently I have kamikaze paint protection on my car, I find it helps a lot with cleaning and keeping the paint looking good. I had a lot of tar spots on my paint a while ago and I was masking up around them to remove them with wax and grease remover ( which would also remove the paint protection), when I accidentally put the tape on the tar spot. When I peeled the tape off, the tar spot came off with it. I was not expecting that pleasant surprise.
I detail my car and apply paint protection myself, it cost me from memory $250 for 30ml of kamikaze ISM Coat and I used half of that on one car.
If you can’t do it yourself, in my opinion, it is worth spending the money to have paint protection applied by a professional detailed, not the dealer.
If you don’t like the idea of spending another $1200-$1500 on your new car, just make sure you wash it regularly.
 

vs-lover

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All this Dealer Paint protection is merely a huge con. Funny how one side of the dealership was trying to tell you how good this car is while the next person will tell you how crap the paintwork is. This is merely just one person using sales spiel to whoo you and the next doing much the same. The sad part about it all is that one person is contradicting the other.

Next they introduce you to the Spare Parts Manager who'll tell you to stock up on all parts as they don't last like they used to.
 

VS 5.0

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where a pleasant young lady who had bought me a coffee

The Ming Mole in her natural habitat.

I'm sure we are all aware of the sales mantra about truth, stories and all that.
 

Pablito

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Normal part of the car buying process. They try to sell you extra ****.
Next it will be rust protection followed by upholstery protection.

Having said that...... my mate whinges about his 4 year old Ford Fiesta's paint being easily damaged by bird ****.
 

BlackVXGTS

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Birds are the natural enemies of the car. Their excretions are very powerful and even if you keep your car well waxed, you need to remove the bird crap almost as soon as it lands to prevent damage. Once it dries, it's usually game over, especially with our Carrawongs and Cockatoos. They are deadly to paint, full stop !!!
 

Badgerdog

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Just wash your car once a fortnight and clean any bird poo off as soon as you see it.
Paint protection often suggestively sold by the after sales girl is just a giant con...usually perpetrated on young chaps on their own who find it instinctual to agree to a pretty woman no matter what's she's proposing you do.
Likewise fabric protection which she will try and con you for some obscene amount of money when a can of 3M Scotch fabric protection for $20 you can buy from supercheap and apply yourself probably does a better job.
Often these women will talk to you at great length and lull you into a trance so that eventually a young man's imagination might run away with itself and if you agree to buy then all this talk of protection might lead to some other activity sometimes involving protection of another type.

As a young man, as you can probably guess I once nearly fell for all this nonsense when an especially pretty young woman from a Ford dealership talked to me at great length. It was only the final bill for paint, fabric and window tinting with the latest allegedly titanium infused window protection film of nearly $3,000 in total that made me come to my senses and realise I could get a happy ending for a lot less money elsewhere.

I'm ashamed to admit I did find some dried up dirt poo on the roof of my car the other day when it got its first proper hand wash after two months of ownership, (has been through a touchless car wash a couple of times). Cleaned off no problem and no residual marks of any kind but I can't say how long it had been on there. The metallic Rioja red colour paint on my car is good quality in my opinion.
 
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wetwork65

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Just wash your car once a fortnight and clean any bird poo off as soon as you see it.
Paint protection often suggestively sold by the after sales girl is just a giant con...usually perpetrated on young chaps on their own who find it instinctual to agree to a pretty woman no matter what's she's proposing you do.
Likewise fabric protection which she will try and con you for some obscene amount of money when a can of 3M Scotch fabric protection for $20 you can buy from supercheap and apply yourself probably does a better job.
Often these women will talk to you at great length and lull you into a trance so that eventually a young man's imagination might run away with itself and if you agree to buy then all this talk of protection might lead to some other activity sometimes involving protection of another type.

As a young man, as you can probably guess I once nearly fell for all this nonsense when an especially pretty young woman from a Ford dealership talked to me at great length. It was only the final bill for paint, fabric and window tinting with the latest allegedly titanium infused window protection film of nearly $3,000 in total that made me come to my senses and realise I could get a happy ending for a lot less money elsewhere.

I'm ashamed to admit I did find some dried up dirt poo on the roof of my car the other day when it got its first proper hand wash after two months of ownership, (has been through a touchless car wash a couple of times). Cleaned off no problem and no residual marks of any kind but I can't say how long it had been on there. The metallic Rioja red colour paint on my car is good quality in my opinion.
Drifting off-topic, as I tend to do.......Yes was sweet talked by a flamboyant young man in a Perth Dealership in 2015, in regard to extended warranties, paint, tint etc etc.
Problem was that I am not attracted to males in that special way, although it has made me consider that maybe I look as though I might be persuaded.
Will take the wife next time to protect me.
 

Paul Smedley

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One benefit of working for Holden in the past in a quality role, is that when the salesperson tells you about the accessories person, and you respond with 'I'll call the Holden paint engineer now, and let him explain why paint protection isn't necessary/worthwhile' they let you bypass that process. The last 3 new cars I've bought I haven't had to deal with the pain of sitting through the aftermarket sales process :) (Yet still had window tint installed by negotiating with the sales rep directly)
 

UTE042_NZ

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Not a ZB but, 18 months from purchase and I'm very pleased that I paid the dealer an extra $700 for Ceramic Paint Protection. Vehicle wash can be completed very easily with just water and a microfiber noodle mitt. Bird turds can be spot cleaned with a spray bottle and microfiber cloth. Tar spots wipe off using meths or turps. Still looks in showroom condition.
 
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