Thorough investigation shows that the car was indeed painted AFTER it left the factory. Here are some pictures to document this :

1. The engine compartment is only painted gold as far as the fender line; the inner fenders were never painted gold. Indeed, it would have been impossible for the Tag Galyean body shop to paint the engine compartment with the engine installed !

   

2. Also the cowl area does not show any signs of gold paint underneath the hood line...

3. It also appears that the sill plates were NOT removed when the car was painted at the dealership! But they WERE removed when the car was painted black... Here's a picture of the right door jamb with the sill plate removed...

4. I removed the stainless trim piece that wraps around the right pillar corner. Once again, no gold paint underneath it, just primer. A better job was done when the car was repainted black!

5. The striker was painted gold...

6. And, later on, with the heater box and brake booster removed, the firewall showed nothing but primer...

   

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