Use of a plasma-polymerized (pp) layer under a polyurethane (PU) coating on aluminum dramatically improves the corrosion resistance. Compared to conventional polymer coatings, pp coatings are highly cross-linked, have better adhesion to substrates, and result in lower emission of volatile organic contents. Although past research has focused on the properties of comparatively thick pp films and on the use of pp films alone to protect metals, we consider here very thin pp coatings as a primer layer to improve corrosion resistance. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy combined with salt spray lab tests show that the corrosion resistance of a PU coating on top of app coating from hexamethyldisiloxane (HMDSO) is much better than that of a PU coating directly on Al 3003. The relatively poor pull-off adhesion between PU and pp-HMDSO is readily addressed using a gradient coating by depositing a pp maleic anhydride layer over the pp-HMDSO coating or by modifying the surface composition of the pp-HMDSO coating with N-2 plasma. X-ray photon spectroscopy analysis of the failure interface from pull-off tests makes clear that failure does not occur at the interface between the pp coating and the metal substrate. Field tests show the performance of the coating system with PU on a gradient coating on Al 3003 to be superior to that of a coating system of PU on chromate-treated Al 3003.