What is salt and pepper on car paint?
Also calledSalt & pepper effect, Salt and pepper effect
Very small black specks spread through a light metallic colour, sealed under the clear coat. They come from spraying a waterborne metallic basecoat too wet. It is a spraying fault, not dirt. It usually only shows once the clear coat is on, so the shop may not have seen it.
What kind of repair does it need?
The colour coat and the clear coat both come off and go back on. Polishing only reaches the clear coat above the specks.
This is a workmanship fault. The question is not what it costs you. Paid work must be done with care and skill, so it belongs back with the shop that did it.
What to do next
Go back to the shop that painted it and say salt and pepper, which is the trade term. Ask them to look in daylight. If they say it is dirt, ask them to look again. Salt and pepper is even and spread through the colour. Dirt is scattered, and near the surface you can usually feel it.
Sources
- Standoxpaint maker
When using waterborne basecoats: over wetting of metallic basecoat produces very small black specks in light basecoat colors
- Queensland Government (Office of Fair Trading)government
A business guarantees they provide their services with due care and skill.
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