Maverick Factory Paint Research & Deep Dive Discussions (for nerds only)

[Timothyd]

Given that I simply don't wash trucks (um, because they're trucks), I don't expect to notice any paint flaws behind the accumulated bird poop, road tar, tree droppings and insect carcasses.

Yeah. Trucks are there to serve me. Not the other way around. I'm going to get the ceramic coating and take care of it. But it's going to earn it's keep.

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[Deleted member 6544]

I was hoping to determine if there was a lower quality paint on the Mav, due to its low price. I would imagine they use the same facility for the Bronco Sport, which isn’t a low-end vehicle. They could use the same shop, but just dial down the thickness. Painting is expensive, it probably pays to use the most advanced technology for maximum efficiency.

I posted on another paint thread. that only 15-20% of North American OEM paint plants use water-borne coatings and I doubted that the Mexican plant used solvent based paints. With all the VOC defeating equipment I'd venture to say that is true.
As far as the paint article, good information. I'd only question, (I'm no PhD but worked with ecoat for 20 years), the reason why cathodic ecoat is better for corrosion protection that anodic. What does happen is as the anodic ecoat is deposited on the substrate oxygen is released. What does oxygen and water do too steel? So at a molecular level corrosion is already starting. During the cathodic process hydrogen is released during the deposition. Hence no corrosion.
Anyway interesting article. I'll say one more thing about the ecoat. With the advent of laser cutting steel that has created super sharp edges. Not good for paint coverage. The OEM paint suppliers, (at least the one I worked for), developed a high edge electrocoat. Cool way of testing it is razor blades are coated and the coating on the edge is measured. Cool stuff. This has been developed after 2016 when the article was written.

 

[ParagonDetail]

I noticed the paint robotics equipment they referred to at the Hermosillo plant is made by the German company "Durr" My son works in the paint department at the Tesla plant in Fremont Ca and that's the same robotic equipment Tesla uses . According to my son who works in the paint department Tesla has high standards when it comes to their paint - so the Mavs paint can't be that bad - especially at the $20k starting price point !

I’ve detailed over a dozen brand new off the lot Teslas and I can assure you their paint is not considered quality. We have turned away clients and had to change detailing methods due to paint thinness/inconsistencies. And you see the same defects on most of their vehicles.
Common examples would be solvent pop, rotary swirls and overspray. Inconsistent paint readings and I’ve even seen different shaded panels. A google search will show you multiple examples.

Although I will admit their colors are deep and rich but quality is not quite there.

I think it kind of makes sense to me that they use the same machines. Similar inconsistencies in their paint systems.

 

[ParagonDetail]

Ironic considering on the owner side Tesla paint is generally regarded as notoriously bad and most do full coverage PPF or wrap an entirely different color.

This is 1000% spot on. When I worked in a shop, 100% of our Teslas were PPF in some capacity, most being full car.

 

[Hoagus]

Anyway interesting article. I'll say one more thing about the ecoat. With the advent of laser cutting steel that has created super sharp edges. Not good for paint coverage. The OEM paint suppliers, (at least the one I worked for), developed a high edge electrocoat. Cool way of testing it is razor blades are coated and the coating on the edge is measured. Cool stuff. This has been developed after 2016 when the article was written.

New developments are especially relevant here as the new Durr paint shop probably uses some of the most advanced technology. But I still don’t know if that was used on the Mav. No word on whether the old shop is still being used.

 

[Hoagus]

Great info, where did you find this?

There are links in the original post.

 

[Jmav2152]

I would imagine they use the same facility for the Bronco Sport, which isn’t a low-end vehicle.

I'm gonna back you up here in a potentially polarizing way. The BS is pretty much the same tier as a maverick in quality. The major difference is the interior materials. Everything else is pretty much the same.

Source: I have a loaded Mav and my GF has a BS Badlands and it's like mirror images in aloootttt of ways but also not.

 

[ParagonDetail]

There are links in the original post.

Oh my bad, idk why I didn’t see the second one. I had posted it in my original thread and thought the numbers seemed similar. Thanks

 

[Hoagus]

Oh my bad, idk why I didn’t see the second one. I had posted one of them in my original thread and thought the numbers seemed similar. Thanks

Same numbers as it turns out.

 

[Mikknj]

Thin or not I don't think it's stuck to the metal very well. I had something rub in the bed the other day and paint didn't scratch it just flaked off in one spot. Never saw that in my old 79 Chevy truck or my 94 Ranger.

oh wow, well that sounds like a warranty issue I'd take that back to the dealer.. are others seeing the paint flake off?

 

[Mikknj]

Rust isn't just dependent on paint. The entire body is dipped and galvanized prior to paint. That coating is important too.

Yes.. I am impressed and hopeful the galvanizing will make a big difference. I have always had issues with fords rusting. Especially the tailgate at the bottom and at the bottoms of the doors - and above the rear wheel wells. I hate rust! The paint is not necessarily the issue - usually it's the way the seams are put together - water gets in, and dirt builds up around the top of the wheels and sits there.. moist mud / salt ( in the North East) sitting against those pinch welds and after a while rust starts pretty quickly. I have almost never seen the hood or central sheet metal rust from poor paint.

 

[Suzukiridr14]

Curious about statements that the Mav has “thin paint,” I started reading about automotive paint in general, and found a few things I thought might interest some of you.

Ford had a new paint facility completed in Hermosillo in Aug/Sept. of 2021:

https://www.pfonline.com/news/durr-completes-highly-automated-paint-shop-for-ford

I don’t know if they’re using it for the Mav, the article indicates it’s for the anticipated C2 platform Transit Connect. But that’s about the time they started Mav production.

This (long) research article:

https://www.mdpi.com/2079-6412/6/2/24/htm

…delves into the history and modern (up to 2016) processes in automotive coatings.

It says “…up to 70% of the total energy costs in assembly plants is within the painting operations.” And “…automobile paint shops are still a major energy-consuming area and the most expensive operational aspect of an automobile assembly plant, consuming 30%–50% of the total costs of the manufacturing of automobiles.”

It mentions the weight of the paint: “…with the ability to apply even coatings with thicknesses near 100–140 μm; this thickness implies an average of 9–16 kg of paint used per automobile.” Not sure if that’s before or after drying.

An auto detailer recently posted on here that the average coating thickness on his Mav was 3.15 mils, which (I think ) is 80 micrometers, which would put the Mav coating at 7.2 to 11.2 kg. Maybe towards the higher number, as it’s a little longer than average and the bed probably takes quite a bit of coating.

I’ve barely started into this research article, but I wanted to put some of this out there for comment.

I have a HPR Hybrid Lariat, with the most gorgeous paint job of any truck I've ever owned. Remember you bought a truck for under 30K

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