Orange peel paint on a new car

[Goatherder]

Before I start....this is subjective to everyone, so this is a posting of awareness and seeking peoples' opinions. No flames pls (like on the US forum!)...we are all grown ups here.

So, I purchased a new 2021 XC60 in Onyx black. On first wash, noticed that the vertical paintwork (sides) had what I believe to be significant orange peel. The horizontals (roof/bonnet) were fine.
A friend of mine purchased a new XC40, in Onyx too....and exactly the same level of orange peel. Back at the dealers, mentioned it, and we had a walk around the car park....and any of the darker (new and new'ish) cars all had OP to a certain degree (just IMHO, not as bad as mine). Dealer believed it was to do with the newer water-based paints used by manufacturers, but said they would contact tech for advice.
I posted (moreso in error) in a US forum....and got all kinds of people saying "yeah, all cars have orange peel" and "my $250k supercar has it, stop whining".
The dealer ten referred me on to a Volvo approved bodyshop (actually a Kia dealer!), where they measured paint thickness and took photos with the view to pushing a report back to Sweden for comment. The tech basically said he has not really seen anything this bad on a Volvo, as the paintwork is normally very very good, but even the Kia's there had OP !
So, really...has anyone actually noticed this on their new car ? To me, this is Volvo cutting some corners on the paint process, which is pretty poor for a £50k car, in my case. I feel a little bit peeved and it is simply being deemed "acceptable" - this is a manufacturing "fault" and it is not just the XC60's out of Gothenburg, the XC40's from Ghent obviously have the same process applied.

[AB-UK]

Very clear photos showing the problem - nice one!

[techwatcher]

Yep, both my XC60s have had 'orange peel'.

I did some reading on the subject and perceived wisdom seems to be that the US forum was right and that all cars have 'orange peel' to some extent.

Apparently it can be lessened by sanding between paint coats but that is only done with high-end cars, and Volvos don't come into the high end category.

Have a look at this article: https://newoldcars.com/orange-peel-w...y-look-so-bad/

It's lengthy and quite in-depth but worth the read.

[Goatherder]

Originally Posted by techwatcher

Yep, both my XC60s have had 'orange peel'.

Have a look at this article: https://newoldcars.com/orange-peel-w...y-look-so-bad/

Informative and interesting link...this made me "chuckle":

"The average buyer doesn’t notice or care. Unlike you, the average buyer won’t recognize orange peel until you point it out to them. Honestly, go ask your neighbor what they think about the orange peel on their car. They’ll give you a blank stare. People have accepted the fact that this is what a new car paint job looks like."

I DO care and can't unsee it now and it spoils the feeling of my new purchase. Rework is what I am hoping Volvo will come back and agree to.

[sk546]

I am with you on this one Goatherder, OP on paintwork isn't something that should just be accepted, it just shows that the paint process being used isn't up to scratch.
I too have an Onyx Black XC60 but mine is a 2019 MY20 Polestar Engineered car.
When I took delivery of my car in Nov 2019, I did have a good look over the paintwork looking for any obvious issues but thankfully didn't find any. Not long after taking delivery of my car, I had a stage 1 paint correction and ceramic coating applied by a local body shop and thankfully, they confirmed that very little work was needed to prep the paintwork before the ceramic coating was applied unlike alot of the JLR products they have in for the same that have much more OP and other paint related issues that need sorting before ceramic coatings are applied.

As you mention, it looks like Volvo are starting to go down the route of cost savings which affects the end product thats delivered to the customer.

Hopefully you get a positive outcome with Volvo and they resolve your issue swiftly as there is nothing like some dodgy paintwork that you cant unsee to taint your nice new purchase.

[MK09]

Well now this has been mentioned, having taken a close inspection, my Onyx Black XC90 does seem to have this, to a degree at least, although not to the extent of the pictures in the original post. On the basis that I’d never even noticed it before, I won’t be stressing about it.

Now I’m aware of it, I took a look at 3 nearly new dark coloured or black Audi, BMW and Mercs when out for a stroll earlier. All had the same effect in their paintwork to some degree.

[XC90Mk1]

Originally Posted by techwatcher

Yep, both my XC60s have had 'orange peel'.

I did some reading on the subject and perceived wisdom seems to be that the US forum was right and that all cars have 'orange peel' to some extent.

Apparently it can be lessened by sanding between paint coats but that is only done with high-end cars, and Volvos don't come into the high end category.

Have a look at this article: https://newoldcars.com/orange-peel-w...y-look-so-bad/

It's lengthy and quite in-depth but worth the read.

Very interesting link!

[AB-UK]

I don't want to rub salt in the wound so to speak, but this article shows what car paintwork could/should look like :-

https://www.heart.co.uk/photos/peopl...invisible-car/

[Goatherder]

Ironically, trying to take photos of OP in the 1st post, was actually super difficult....because all I got was my ugly mug taking the photo. I actually thought I had the phone camera in selfie mode !!. So, yes, the paintwork DOES look like that at certain angles, and the article actually explains that very well.
Yep...I too have wandered round like a car weirdo, looking at paintwork think "man, more cars have this than I realized", but they are not my £50k new car but defintiely see it MORE on new dark coloured Volvos, hence the post. Sorry, now that folks are peeking at theirs and going "oh yeah, mine too"...that was not the intent, but did wonder how widescale it was and to what level

Let's actually see how good Volvo customer service is.

[XC90Mk1]

Originally Posted by Goatherder

Ironically, trying to take photos of OP in the 1st post, was actually super difficult....because all I got was my ugly mug taking the photo. I actually thought I had the phone camera in selfie mode !!. So, yes, the paintwork DOES look like that at certain angles, and the article actually explains that very well.
Yep...I too have wandered round like a car weirdo, looking at paintwork think "man, more cars have this than I realized", but they are not my £50k new car but defintiely see it MORE on new dark coloured Volvos, hence the post. Sorry, now that folks are peeking at theirs and going "oh yeah, mine too"...that was not the intent, but did wonder how widescale it was and to what level

Let's actually see how good Volvo customer service is.

I must say now you have pointed it out it is very clear. However it is not something that concerns me (ok my car is now 9yo so I am happy when I see an undated panel!).

But even on your car I would not be concerned.

I don’t expect Volvo will make any offers to rectify and I don’t think it needs to be corrected etc.