I was hoping someone could give me some insight on this, as I've never understood it.

I'm not sure if anyone else has seen this, or if its just something prominent in my area. However, it seems to be very popular to coat a vehicle in flat, gray primer and just leave it that way with no paint over it. Personally I don't see the appeal in how it looks, but maybe thats just my opinion. A lot of the vehicles I see like this have had lots of money poured into engine mods, aftermarket headlights/taillights, underglow, etc. So, the only reasons I can come up with are:

1) They ran out of money to finish the paint job. Why bother to primer it at all, when it will just have to be done all over again?

2) They plan to paint it later. Again, after driving through the weather it will need to be primered again anyway.

3) Its to protect against rust on bare spots in the factory paint. I can kind of understand this one, but most of the vehicles I see painted this way aren't old enough to have that many bare spots in the factory paint.

If anyone else has noticed this trend, or does it themselves, I was just curious what the appeal is. Is there a functional reason you do it, or do you like how it looks?

 

its a trend...google "rusto rods"
you will see what i mean...i think it works for older antique vehicles...not so much modern ones.

i know you stated grey....but i think its the same idea.
now a satin finish i can understand...esp black or red.

 

Honestly, it`s actually not just primer, it`s paint with a special "flat" clear on top of it. If it was only primer, it would not last long at all. It`s i`m guessing a new fad ,, In my area there is a flat black Caddy CTS running around. There are also other colors, i`ve seen flat blue so far.

 

Back in the mid 80's I used to see that all the time. I figured it was partially because
A) faded paint, odd colored fenders, and Bondo looked even worse
2) they did a bunch of work right before winter and couldn't shoot it until summer
III) they could afford a few spray cans but didn't realize how expensive automotive paint really is (I knew the feeling well, but I couldn't even afford the cans of primer)

But I have to admit that some of the matte black jobs I've seen lately are impressive. Even thought about it a couple times, but I suspect getting an even coat of flat is harder than a coat of gloss

 

Lol.. what goes around comes around. Big fad in the late fifties thru early sixties.

And yeah.. some of the guys just do the primer DO think it's like paint.

- My cousin painted his car with a vacuum cleaner spray attachment. After he was done, he said he was trying to start "Orange Peel is Cool" fad.

 

It actually does look alright on older, antique vehicles because it gives it a look of preservation. I would rather see a classic car in primer than watch it slowly waste away to rust. What I don't understand are these 90's models and newer vehicles that are coated in flat primer. I know a lot of 90's paint jobs start to degenerate over time due to the prominent clear coat problems, but I would rather have patchy clear coat than gray primer.

Black primer is a lot better, but still it seems the idea of a nice paint job conjures up a picture of gloss shining in the sun. The only way to get black primer to shine is have it under heavy rain at all times.

The best thing I've seen had to be a few nights ago in a Walmart parking lot. Someone had a cheapo 80's model Ford car. It had factory rims with rattle can chrome, and instead of spending money on ACTUAL primer they painted the rest of the car in a rattle-can semi-gloss gray the same color as gray automotive primer.

 

I like the look of unfinished vehicles personally.