Is it normal for engine bay to be partially painted?

I looked under the bonnet of my new Citroen C5 X yesterday, and was surprised that the engine bay is only partially painted in the body colour. It actually looks a mess, like an overspray.

So most of the engine bay has what looks like a primer coat, and some of it is in the blue body colour. It looks terrible.

Is this normal on a new car these days?

Asked on 27 September 2022 by Kevin Watson

Answered by Lawrence Allan
This is very common these days - we more often than not have new cars in with only partly painted engine bays or just with overspray. Manufacturers do not want to spend time and money (and increase the environmental impact) painting areas of the car that are not normally visible, and with today's galvanised cars there is much less risk of premature rust.
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