Was just thinking 'bout this issue and realized, the high top eliminates any roof paint (there are a couple wind/sun worn patches up there). Also has a bug guard on the hood and some vinyl/rubber/aluminum trim along fenders and running boards. Maybe these little "accessories" saved my white.

 

if Lawyers drove express vans this would have been a class action lawsuit and fixed 15 years ago ,

I bet it does not happen on a WHITE Caddy or Mercedes !

 

I wonder if is had something to do with most companies / corporations ordering white paint?

In example: GM customers with older vans are not left without wanting, or those who can not afford to cycle their trucks, leases, are exposed, literally, giving perceived credence to the first rate customers.

 

Has anyone had one repainted after the original paint started pealing off?

Did the new paint job stick?

What was the fix for this? Did the van have to be sand blasted down to metal?

 

Don't pressure wash the hood. If it has stone chips the water goes through the chips under the paint and blows all of the paint off the hood. It is important to use touch-up paint on the hood regularly and wash it by hand.

 

Call it primer failure or paint failure, it doesn't matter, the problem is the paint is not adhering.
Both paint shops I spoke to said they have to completely remove all paint, prep, then re-spray. They do not take it to the metal - paint does stick to the primer with proper prep.
I am doing the affected areas on my van one at a time with rattle cans at home.
FYI my van is 2011 and has been babied - hand washed, always waxed, always touched up rock chips. It does sit in the sun, but the only affect this could have on adhesion is temperature (since the adhesion layer is protected by the paint).

I'm sure the factory job simply wasn't prepped right, or poor quality materials were used, or both. Then time and temperature swings take their toll, and paint peels off.

 

It is funny that it is never addressed though. Or at least it appears that it's never addressed.

 

Back in the day, in the 1960's and earlier, it was common for white paint to have lead in it. Not sure why, but that's how lots of white houses were painted, and commercial truck paint also had lead in it, particularly white paint. That said, I've seen lots of non-GM vehicles with white paint that didn't peel, including my old mid-1980's 5.0 Mustang. Not one bit of white paint ever came off that car, even with a pressurized car-wash wand. And this issue isn't new, as the white paint on our 1989 Chevy K-1500 pickup also peeled the paint off the hood and roof. And white isn't the only color. Dark blue metallic seems to be an issue as well, with lots of GM vehicles. 30 years & its still going on?

Forest Green metallic and metallic Silver, which my current Chevrolet's are colored, have no such issues at all. I love my Chevrolet's, but GM needs to fix this issue.

 

It's not just a paint additive. Lead carbonate is a white powder salt. It is the thing that gives paint its white color and has been used by potters and painters for millennia. Of course it's banned now and replaced with Titanium dioxide.

Apparently when Titanium dioxide absorbs UV light, it causes "photocatalytic activity" which can degrade surrounding binders, resulting in embrittlement and chalking.

So the greenie weenies in their infinite wisdom, think that sending vehicles to the shredder even faster is somehow more environmentally friendly.

 

That's quite interesting, MMJ. Yeah, the greenies don't seem to see that much of what they do, is transfer a toxic or other such materials to another source. Sure, the
100 percent electrically driven cars don't emit "smog" but beyond the use of solar power or hydro-electric power, the electricity comes from coal or nuclear power, maybe a small amount from natural-gas powered electrical generators. And then when the batteries finally use up their "lifetime" recharges, it can be pretty toxic to recycle them.