‘Express/Savana GM Vans Still Peel:' Man Says White Paint Peels Faster on Cars. Is He Right?

"They sold it to Dodge too."

Photo by: j748m3p27yme5jho & Harold Eggar

Mike Hayden

By: Mike Hayden

Jul 27, 2025 at 1:00pm ET

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Fans of white vehicles may want to rethink their choice of paint unless they like paying to have it redone.

This is according to a short and likely sarcastic two-and-a-half-year-old video from the vehicle repair-themed YouTube channel Vehcor. The video is suddenly making the rounds again—this time thanks to TikTok.

In it, a man in a garage strolls around the front of a white Hyundai, showing its paint peeling above the wheels.

“If you ever wonder how GM solved its peeling paint problem from the late 90s and early 2000s, well,” the man says, “They got a new paint supplier, and apparently, sold all their paint and primer products to Hyundai.

Motor1 reached out to Vehcor over TikTok direct message, but didn’t receive a reply.

Vehcor, now on TikTok, reposted their clip just a few days ago after joining the platform, and it’s now drawing fresh attention and debate from car owners. It’s arguably unlikely Vehcor wanted people to take that claim at face value, but if you did, several things about it could be described as misleading.

For one thing, it isn’t exactly clear that General Motors already “solved” its paint-peeling problem years ago even if they have made changes in response to criticism. Meanwhile, while Hyundai has not actually appeared to receive any secondhand paint from GM, it has run into some of the same problems.

GM’s struggles with peeling paint go back decades. Starting in the late 1980s and continuing well into the 2000s, GM owners—especially of trucks and SUVs—reported widespread paint delamination, particularly on lighter colors like the white car in Vehcor’s video.

Drivers from Florida and Tennessee hit GM with a class-action lawsuit over peeling paint on models sold between 2015 and 2019.

That suit was dismissed in Florida. But similar complaints have popped up elsewhere. Drivers have also filled forums like Reddit with complaints about peeling paint.

And while it’s unclear that GM has “solved” its issues with peeling paint, they have made changes. Earlier this year, the company partnered with the manufacturing giant 3M on a new robotic painting system.

“Despite the many variables introduced across different color lines of vehicles and across shifts of individual operators, the same quality of repair will be executed day after day with consistency,” Marcus Pelletier told the trade magazine Assembly in March. “Automation can [also] help reduce cycle times and increase part quality. That, in turn, can protect and enhance brand perception, while helping to reduce dealer rework and warranty claims.”

For Hyundai’s part, they offered a warranty extension to owners of cars with white paint earlier this month.

“Certain Elantra, Sonata and Santa Fe Sport vehicles may exhibit peeling or bubbling of the white paint in various areas of the vehicle, most commonly on or around the hood, fender, and roof,” the company said in a statement. “At Hyundai, we are committed to providing vehicles of outstanding quality and value.”

TikTok commenters seemed to understand the issue with both brands. Some of them claimed that other brands had the same problem.

What do you think?

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Comments

“They sold it to Dodge too,” a user going by “Here to Bother You” wrote.

Said another, "The express/savana GM vans still peel to this day."