Touch-Up Paint on Delivery?

[FivePointO]

Hi all,

Just picked up a new 2025 Raptor 37. Missed this before I drove it off the lot last week, but noticed while working under the hood, that three fender bolts and the two hood hinge bracket nuts on the passenger side and one fender bolt on the driver side has touch up paint applied. I know vehicles get damaged in transport, but it seems strange that just one on the driver side was touched with multiple on the passenger side. Dealer claims it arrived to them with no damage. Curious if this is something anyone else has seen, perhaps panels were adjusted during inspection before leaving the factory -- but is this something that the factory would actually do?

It's just odd and especially after another Raptor I looked at a week ago prior to picking this one up was new and the dealer claimed they had to touch up a scratch on the rear fender. Their story didn't quite make sense so I pulled the invoice from the Body Shop that did the scratch "repair" only for the invoice to actually show frame rail damage and repair totaling $2500 nowhere near where the dealer claimed the "scratch" was.

 

[SurfRaptor]

I'd be curious what's under those large washers. My best guess is that an idiot employee at the dealer had to adjust the hood and tore up the bolts trying to break them free? The body shop stepped in after but went with high gloss?

 

[FivePointO]

I was partially thinking the same. Dealer I purchased it at doesn't have a body shop though which is why I was curious if may this was done during assembly inspection or maybe because they don't have one, a mechanic just brushed touch-up paint on them because it's matte.

 

[greatone99]

I was partially thinking the same. Dealer I purchased it at doesn't have a body shop though which is why I was curious if may this was done during assembly inspection or maybe because they don't have one, a mechanic just brushed touch-up paint on them because it's matte.

either way it looks like shit

 

[Bullet Bob]

Ford has what is calls "The Rubber Hammer Squad" at the factory. They go around straightening out misfit parts. At times they loosen bolts to rearrange a fender/door/hood ect.. and they chip the paint on the nuts and bolts and normally touch them up just as you have pictured. A buddy of mine got to see them in action during a private factory tour. He said that it's impressive what they straighten out very quickly. With that said, you're right about transport damage. One of my past Raptors got a softball sized dent in the bed during transport. Fortunately, they were able to PDR it (Paintless Dent Repair) and it turned out perfect in the end. I'm hearing more and more of transport damage in recent years.

 

[FivePointO]

Interesting. Appreciate the insight. I was just trying to figure out if something were damaged and repaired. Doesn't seem to be the case though given if the front end and/or both fenders were damaged, I'd expect all the hood hinge nuts and fender bolts to show signs of "wrenching" rather than the two hinge nuts and fender bolts on the passenger side and just the single front fender bolt on the driver side. Given the ones that were loosened, it does seem like it was for panel adjustments. . .or at least that's what I'll tell myself. Although down the road, if I sell it or trade it in, I'm sure I'll enjoy the back-and-forth with a dealer telling me these are tell-tale signs it was in an accident.

Found some GT500 pictures that look like the exact same touch-up paint:

https://www.fordgt500.com/threads/hood-hinge-paint-issue-touch-ups.206387/