Tiger stripes in hood paint

[kanundrum]

Ok, so after coming down from Cloud 9, I’ve noticed that the hood has lines in the paint. Isn’t the only way to fix this a re-spray? Needless to say I’ll bring this up with my guide but what a bummer. ?

What in tarnation... Yea that's a guide call ASAP.

Wet sanding will only do so much but it looks below the clear To be honest.

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[moosehead]

@DaveA, sorry man. Unfortunately, as others note, Rivian made two mistakes, one is the poor paint and two is letting it go to the customer like that. She needs repainted, and Rivian should do so quickly and cooperatively, otherwise, that would be a third mistake.

Hope it gets squared away in short order for you. The good news is that despite the silver metallic nuances, any good paint shop should be able to match the body and just redo the bonnet for you, Rivian included.

 

[Zoidz]

From the small amount of experience I have with paint/finishes, I can't imagine any method to fix this, other than repaint or new hood from the factory.

 

[Joe schmoe]

I almost hate to post this, as I’m not super anal about these things, but here goes:

I agree with everybody that the striping is pretty bad, and I’d need that fixed.

But, is anybody else worried about the hood alignment? Is it unlatched? It looks to me like the bottom of the hood does remotely line up with the fenders. I’m not one to obsess over a 1/8” vs 3/16” panel gap, but that looks like at least a half inch or maybe 5/8”

Am I seeing things?

 

[CruxOp]

While they're doing that maybe fix the bumper misalignment in the second pic.

 

[mini2nut]

The Rivian assembly plant is still going through growing pains. I’m confident that Rivian will repaint your hood under warranty.

Tesla had some major paint issues on the early Model 3 and Y models. Dirt in the paint, runs, etc. Our 2021 Model Y Pearl White paint job is near perfect.

I understand Tesla initially had S, X, 3 and Model Y’s go through one paint booth. They now now have 2 paint lines running and addressed most QC issues.

 

[crashmtb]

If you watched the gigafactory Berlin opening you’ll notice that the overhead lights are big bright horizontal inspection lights. These serve a purpose in helping the eye to identify defects. Usually final inspection areas have lights that go both directions for helping to identify flaws like this. I wonder if rivian has caught on to this yet?

paint Inspection light tunnels are pretty standard, no?
they’re generally set up to provide lighting that highlights surface quality,like so….I’d be very surprised if rivian doesn’t have this sort of setup.

another thing I noticed in OPs pictires was the passenger side corner of the front fascia has a similar defect. Unless it’s just jpeg compression…

 

[moosehead]

If in DaveA’s shoes, I’d be frustrated not only by the bad paint, but nearly as much so in having my brand new vehicle taken back for respray.

So I might try to first see if Rivian would ship a new properly painted hood to my nearest service center. I’d take the risk on paint match here in the interest of keeping my rig in service, as swapping the bonnet out at the service center should take no more than 1 day.

Second, if above doesn’t work for either party, perhaps have Rivian get it painted by a top paint shop locally. You’d only be out of the truck for 3-5 days.

Otherwise, I’m assuming that the Rivian Service Centers cannot do paint themselves (maybe that is incorrect), and that the truck would have to go back to Normal? If this is indeed the outcome, I’d be a bit outta my mind.

 

[DaveA]

I almost hate to post this, as I’m not super anal about these things, but here goes:

I agree with everybody that the striping is pretty bad, and I’d need that fixed.

But, is anybody else worried about the hood alignment? Is it unlatched? It looks to me like the bottom of the hood does remotely line up with the fenders. I’m not one to obsess over a 1/8” vs 3/16” panel gap, but that looks like at least a half inch or maybe 5/8”

Am I seeing things?

The hood/fender gap is good…but yes, that hood meets top of front piece is off…I think it’s the weatherstripping keeping it up like that as you can push down and it levels out. Other side is better…but yeah, these are only a few of my issues…the paint being the one that bothers me the most. Interior is impeccable. Gonna meet with another member Sunday to compare as he has same config. If he doesn’t have these same issues I might be testing that return policy unfortunately. ?.

 

[the long way downunder]

I'd suggest getting a new hood and that one goes in the garage as a souvenir.

 

[hed]

The hood/fender gap is good…but yes, that hood meets top of front piece is off…I think it’s the weatherstripping keeping it up like that as you can push down and it levels out. Other side is better…but yeah, these are only a few of my issues…the paint being the one that bothers me the most. Interior is impeccable. Gonna meet with another member Sunday to compare as he has same config. If he doesn’t have these same issues I might be testing that return policy unfortunately. ?.

That is a bummer!

I am sorry you are having to deal with all of it.

From your pic it also looks like the lower part of the fascia is misaligned. The good news is, when they fix the hood they can take care of the panel alignment as well.

 

[ironpig]

Lol yeah this is bad application. These cars are sprayed with rotary bells that spin at like 80,000 rpm to atomize paint very finely. Looks like the flake made its way to the ends of the pattern with bad overlap - probably too dry. The guns and spray parameters are temperamental and maintaining them is equal parts art and science, looks like the paint shop is still on the science portion.

They owe you a new hood skin at the least, but to my knowledge they spray these all in one go, doors and hood included so check elsewhere. With any luck it was only the hood that was affected but often times the same robot that does the hood does the roof so check that and the front bumper too.

+1000 points for one of the best forum responses I've read all week.

 

[EarlyAdptr]

That certainly is a bummer and I can't add with any experience on what others here have provided - certainly a knowledgeable bunch here on our forum. I do have 2 additional thoughts that might be helpful in dealing with Rivian on this:

First, if they're the type of company we all hope they are, they will ABSOLUTELY want to know about this. They should be apologetic, a little embarrassed, and self-reflective of 'how' (not "who') this could happen - to be delivered to you, and also created at the paint shop. In a perfect world, they will view your situation as a true GIFT - that could help them prevent all future such problems. Call them quickly before too many more are created.

Second, I would avoid suggesting specific fixes to them (new hood, etc.). That might fix a particular idea in someone's head and there might be a better correction to the problem that then gets missed (I've mistakenly done this plenty of times myself). Instead, I'd just specify what outcome you want - "A quality painted hood and vehicle with no obvious panel alignment issues" - and let them and their engineers figure out the best way to deliver that to you.

Good luck, and let us know they're response. It will say a lot about the kind of company Rivian truly is.

 

[DaveA]

If in DaveA’s shoes, I’d be frustrated not only by the bad paint, but nearly as much so in having my brand new vehicle taken back for respray.

So I might try to first see if Rivian would ship a new properly painted hood to my nearest service center. I’d take the risk on paint match here in the interest of keeping my rig in service, as swapping the bonnet out at the service center should take no more than 1 day.

Second, if above doesn’t work for either party, perhaps have Rivian get it painted by a top paint shop locally. You’d only be out of the truck for 3-5 days.

Otherwise, I’m assuming that the Rivian Service Centers cannot do paint themselves (maybe that is incorrect), and that the truck would have to go back to Normal? If this is indeed the outcome, I’d be a bit outta my mind.

It’s got tiger striping along the roof on both sides too…saw it today in direct sunlight. ?‍ Guess I’ll see what they can do but I dunno…

 

[moosehead]

It’s got tiger striping along the roof on both sides too…saw it today in direct sunlight. ?‍ Guess I’ll see what they can do but I dunno…

Nooooooo! Awe hell.

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