2013 Orange Peel

[757driver]

There is a price difference between the Aspire and the Anthem to the tune of 60,000 give or take. Even with the IFS, aqua hot, glass tile inlay on floor, tile shower, electric coach, eight batteries, safe, etc in the Anthem perhaps there is a difference in the level and quality of paint finish below the floor level ( baggage doors) in the Aspire compared to the Anthem. That price difference has to come from somewhere other than the listed items. Not wet sanding the clearcoat on the baggage doors on the Aspire saves cost pure and simple. Some may not like the looks of it but in more ways than one you get what you pay for. I have seen an Aspire at the factory and the orange peel on the baggage doors does not look that bad at all.

I am sure the Cornerstone gets a better paint job and more layers of clear coat than the Anthem as it should. Just like a Mercedes gets a better paint job than a Toyota Yaris. Perhaps part of the recent 1% increase on the Aspire is to address the extra cost of wet sanding the baggage doors so that everything matches. Just my opinion.

Don

[turbo24]

Originally Posted by 72driver

There is a price difference between the Aspire and the Anthem to the tune of 60,000 give or take. Even with the IFS, aqua hot, glass tile inlay on floor, tile shower, electric coach, eight batteries, safe, etc in the Anthem perhaps there is a difference in the level and quality of paint finish below the floor level ( baggage doors) in the Aspire compared to the Anthem. That price difference has to come from somewhere other than the listed items. Not wet sanding the clearcoat on the baggage doors on the Aspire saves cost pure and simple. Some may not like the looks of it but in more ways than one you get what you pay for. I have seen an Aspire at the factory and the orange peel on the baggage doors does not look that bad at all.

I am sure the Cornerstone gets a better paint job and more layers of clear coat than the Anthem as it should. Just like a Mercedes gets a better paint job than a Toyota Yaris. Perhaps part of the recent 1% increase on the Aspire is to address the extra cost of wet sanding the baggage doors so that everything matches. Just my opinion.

Don

TS gave the higher end coaches more clear coats ( Limited had 5 coats of clear) I would assume EC does the same.

[rvbmw1]

I was hanging around the RVDirect Display area for the 2013 model Entegra's, checking out what's new for each line, Aspire, Anthem and Cornerstone, when I ran into Dan Miller the Owner of Precision Painting.

We started talking and Dan is very aware of all the information going around the InterNet about Orange Peel on the Entegra Coaches. From what he told me, this is not a PAINT issue!! This is a "Clear Coat" issue. The "orange peel problem" is cented on the Aspire only. Entegra has Precision Paint "wet sanding" the Aspire coach, but not the bays (below the floor line). Hense, the orange peel look. Clear Coating, by nature, has an orange peel when dry effect at application. If you don't "wet sand", there lies the problem.

Precision Paint and Jim Jacobs (Pres. of Entegra) got together and has worked out a deal where this should not be an issue anymore.
p.s. This was said at another blog, but I thought I should bring it over here. Hope this helps

[lp5151]

we can add our coach to the list of those with paint issues... we have dry spots, over spray, and what appears to be improper application of clear coat in that the paint surface was not "clean" and they applied clear coat over it, making it look like a permanent water spotted surface. currently have the coach at a paint shop getting one of 3 professional opinions and estimates to fix the problem. then will take facts and issues to Entergra for what I hope will be the beginning of a fix. fortunately we still have 10 months left on warranty.

[Kathryn]

Originally Posted by Robert L

...Not only that, I small piece of pain flaked off a cargo door when it touched a patio chair. The paint seems thin...

LOL! In other words, you banged a cargo door on a patio chair and got a nick ... !

Kathryn

[STJEANYVES]

I'm a new member of iRV2 Forum, and the owner of an Entegra Aspire 2013. I have a problem "Orange peel" around the cargo doors, and around the window of the slide-out. Has anyboby had this problem resolved by Entegra, and how did they fix it ?

[Robert L]

No, it TOUCHED a patio chair.....

Originally Posted by Kathryn

LOL! In other words, you banged a cargo door on a patio chair and got a nick ... !

Kathryn

[Midniteoyl]

Originally Posted by rvbmw1

I was hanging around the RVDirect Display area for the 2013 model Entegra's, checking out what's new for each line, Aspire, Anthem and Cornerstone, when I ran into Dan Miller the Owner of Precision Painting.

We started talking and Dan is very aware of all the information going around the InterNet about Orange Peel on the Entegra Coaches. From what he told me, this is not a PAINT issue!! This is a "Clear Coat" issue. The "orange peel problem" is cented on the Aspire only. Entegra has Precision Paint "wet sanding" the Aspire coach, but not the bays (below the floor line). Hense, the orange peel look. Clear Coating, by nature, has an orange peel when dry effect at application. If you don't "wet sand", there lies the problem.

Precision Paint and Jim Jacobs (Pres. of Entegra) got together and has worked out a deal where this should not be an issue anymore.
p.s. This was said at another blog, but I thought I should bring it over here. Hope this helps

No.. while wet sanding (color sanding) can smooth out an orange peal, the orange peel shouldnt be there in the first place. Or at least, very minimal. You dont see all production cars and trucks getting a color sand. They are robot painted and cleared..

He's BS'ing..

[PanJH]

Originally Posted by Midniteoyl

No.. while wet sanding (color sanding) can smooth out an orange peal, the orange peel shouldnt be there in the first place. Or at least, very minimal. You dont see all production cars and trucks getting a color sand. They are robot painted and cleared..

He's BS'ing..

I agree... it's an operator/material issue. Gun setup ( pressure/nozzle) , distance from surface and having the right thinner/reducer for the ambient temp will will eliminate the problem. I used to custom paint cars and motorcycles and have experienced the problem and ways to fix it.
We plan to get an Aspire pretty soon, so I'll be on the look out for the quality of the paint.

[Leftyroth]

We just picked up our new 2013 Anthem RDQ on Wed and have taken it out for a 3 day shake out. Interior fit and finish is better than we expected. So far everything is working well and we love this coach.

The paint job is poor to say the least. Some area's look like they just sprayed paint and never wet sanded it or even put clear coat on. Other area's have swirl marks and sort of nicks and of course the orange peel. What really bothers me about this is that I wrote an e-mail to my salesperson and to Chuck the regional sales manager on some of the issues picked up on this forum about 6 weeks before the coach was completed. I also has a copy sent to the factory. Looks like my writing this as preventative medicine had no impact, on the contrary the paint job looks like it could have been done by some high school kid. Fortunately RV Orlando the dealer I bought from told me they would have it taken care of. Just annoying that a coach at this price point would leave the factory like this.

We also have a little concern about the wandering feel of the wheel. Robin reduced the air down to 110lb on the front tires and it seemed to help some but think this may be a Spartan issue.

We are dropping it back at the dealer on Saturday and will see how things turn out.

[Midniteoyl]

Precision Paint strikes again!!

Like I said, he was BS'ing..

[Robert L]

110 Lbs in the front? Isn't that 10 psi lower than what the tire manufacturer states for the weight?

I too thought I might have a wandering problem, but I never drove a Class A pusher, before my purchase, for any real length of time to make a fair comparison.

Keep us advised

Originally Posted by Leftyroth

We also have a little concern about the wandering feel of the wheel. Robin reduced the air down to 110lb on the front tires and it seemed to help some but think this may be a Spartan issue.

We are dropping it back at the dealer on Saturday and will see how things turn out.

[tnrzryd]

Originally Posted by Robert L

110 Lbs in the front? Isn't that 10 psi lower than what the tire manufacturer states for the weight?

I too thought I might have a wandering problem, but I never drove a Class A pusher, before my purchase, for any real length of time to make a fair comparison.

Keep us advised

To determine if the lowering of the tire pressure is safe, you really need to have the coach weighed (preferably a 4 corner weigh if possible). Once you know how much your coach weighs, then refer to the tire charts to determine the correct tire pressure.

[Razorrick]

I had my 2013 Aspire weighed and then contacted Spartan for proper inflation. They recommended 105 in fronts and 85 in rear and tag. Big difference than posted pressures in coach. Drives better to.