Clear Coat Failure? Seeking Advice
 

Hi everyone,


I just got back from the dealership for routine maintenance and I wanted to find out about these spots on my cars paint (see pictures). The service manager tried buffing it out with some polish and microfiber towel with no results. He said it is edged into the clearcoat (probably from bird droppings or other contaminants) and can only be taken care of by repainting ($1500-$2000). It is also not covered by warranty, "because it is not a paint defect". In my opinion it should be covered by warranty, because shouldn't paint on todays cars withstand normal everyday environmental contaminants? I'm not pouring acid or bleach over the car.

I dont know what to do, because it is getting worse every week


So in my eyes I have a couple options:


Option 1: Pay a couple hundred dollars for a paint correction
Option 2: Repaint for a couple thousand dollars
Option 3: Wrap the car


Option 1 and 2 would be my last favorite, because the spots will probably appear again afterwards.


Any comments or suggestions?


Thank you!

It looks the same on my 2012 RAM 2500, my paint and body guy said that mine was from pine sap, he said to use a paint correction pen or have the whole hood repainted so either way it sucks.

Had this on my wife's red BMW and it's still there. Looks like bird poop ... Your warranty does not do anything to get this fixed :-(

I would suggest to find a very a few good local detailers and show them what you have that way you will know if it is possible to repair. If it really etched thru the clear coat then they can remove the clear coat, but if it's in the paint the repaint needed.

I bet a good detailer can improve it a great deal and maybe make it very hard to notice other than you.

If you go that way please report back with pics.
Christopher

It really does look like the clear cost is gone in the area. Bird dropping’s are very acidic and I had to have several panels painted on my DD Honda before it was completely repainted. The clear was eaten completely through. From the pics it looks like a repaint is unfortunately necessary. I’d still ask a detailed to look at it

Yes most detailers will do a test spot for you to see if it will do any good.

I really doubt a repaint is needed for an etching. Start with compound and a cutting pad. You can do this if you want to buy a dual action polisher. Next step would be wet sanding. Leave the wet sanding to a pro.

Thank you! Does anyone have any suggestions for detailers in Southwest Florida? Would you guys wrap it instead of a repaint? I dont want to spend all that money and then have the same spots in a couple of months.

Scott Harle, Autodermatology in Naples. Tell him I sent you.

If it was caused by environmental things like sap or bird droppings you will have the same problems with a wrap. Best bet is to get stuff like that off your car asap.


If the spot is properly removed it won't return. In order to fix it they will take a very very thin layer off the clear coat and polish it. That layer is not going to magically grow back.

Thanks Kirk!

You can prevent it from happening by using paint sealer, wax or ceramic coat, and making sure to remove bird droppings or sap within 24 hours.

I had an '06 Subaru that had some damaged paint because of bird droppings I didn't get to soon enough and I wasn't careful enough about maintaining the wax... sucks but this will happen with any car.

I'd attempt to have it repaired before I considered repainting.

I had mine ceramic coated, bugs and tar wipe right off. Hard to tell what it is but any good painter should be able to cut clear coat in and make it look right. If it is a factory defect under the paint it would take a respray.

Yes, it is not the dealers fault you did not clean the paint in due time. Just like driving on the highway and your front end is now the color lovebug and you dont wash for 2 months. It eats the clearcoat within 48 hours. I carry a bottle of quick detailer in the trunk specifically for bird droppings, etc. You gotta act quickly especially if baking in the sun...