Warning: That cheap primer I used for years finally bit me back on a BMW

I used to swear by the $20 gallon primer from the local auto paint supply place. Saved money, seemed fine, no complaints for like 5 years. Then last month I had a BMW 3-series come in with a quarter panel repair I sprayed three weeks prior. The customer called saying the paint was lifting at the edges, and sure enough I looked under a light and saw it peeling in sheets. Turns out that budget primer doesn't bond with modern clearcoats over time, especially on factory paint. I ended up redoing the whole panel for free and lost 4 hours of labor plus the paint cost. Now I use a quality epoxy primer at $85 a gallon and I test a small spot on every car before I commit. Has anyone else had a shop brand fail them like this with a specific paint system?

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1 Comment

hart.ryan3h ago

Ha, I gotta push back a little here man. A product failing after 5 years of zero issues sounds more like a prep mistake or a bad batch than proof that cheap primer is always junk. I've used budget stuff on tons of modern cars and never had peeling like that, so maybe check your surface prep or your activator ratios before blaming the whole product category.