Paint Issue

[Rx-8]

My car is a 2004 rx8 and its color is velocity red. Unfortunately the place I am living (since August) has no garage and literally no shade. Once I am done with work my car has to stay in the sun fficeffice" />Thus, I thought that I really need to learn how to protect my car from the elements and the sunlight.

The paint of my car is in good condition. The problem is that the paint in some spots of my hood is not shiny. It simply looks not as red and when looking at these spots under direct sunlight they look white. Further, these areas do not feel as smooth as the rest of the car. I do not think that these spots are indicators of clear coat failure, but some sort of contaminants. What do you guys think?

The actions I am planning to take are:
1. Wash & dry the car
2. Clay
3. Color X (This is a polisher right?)
4. Wax (planning to get NXT 2.0)
5. Wax again

I hope that Claying the car and polishing it with Color X will get rid of these weird spots. Do you think that the above steps will take care of my problem or do I need to try abrasives such as Swirl X or Scratch X?

Thanks,
Theo

[greg0303]

Re: Paint Issue

Any chance of pictures?

It sounds like oxidation but clear coat failure may look very similar.

After washing and claying do some spot test. ColorX is only good for light oxidation. SwirlX or Ultimate Compound usually are more effective.

Will you be working by hand or with a polisher?

[Rx-8]

Re: Paint Issue

Any chance of pictures?

For some reason I could not upload the picture. Here is the direct link:

http://meguiarsonline.com/forums/photopost/data/1711/medium/paint_pics_287.JPG

I will be working by hand. I do not feel comfortable working with a polisher.

[Murr1525]

Re: Paint Issue

Doesnt look promising.... looks like CC Failure.

[Rx-8]

Re: Paint Issue

I have posted a direct link to my picture but it has not been uploaded yet. Until then I hope it is not CC failure.

[subjectzero]

Re: Paint Issue

I don't know, I think I agree with Rx-8. It sounds like you have some clear coat chipping away. That same thing is happening on the bumper of my old car. If it is a clear coat issue, I wouldn't use abrassives like swirlx. That's gonna go straight into the paint. I don't have a velocity red car, but mine is Ford's "candy apple red" I have the same fears you do. I don't have a garage or carport but thankfully my driveway is snug between my neighbors house and mine, the driveway doesn't get a whole lot of sun. I'm looking into standing up a prefab garage or at least a 3-walled carport before winter hits. All in all though, I'm sure when you go to work, you park your car in the sun for 8+ hours a day anyhow. You could throw a tarp/car cover over it for some protection as well.

[subjectzero]

Re: Paint Issue

Sorry didn't proof read my comment:

Let me clarify, swirlx is ok on paint w/o clearcoat according to the bottle but if you have chips of clearcoat missing, its not going to fix the issue, it could make it worse.

[Rx-8]

Re: Paint Issue

^The paint/clear coat is not chipping. There are just some spots (small) that do not look as red and feel a bit rough. By the way, do posts with pictures or links get a lot of time to be uploaded or am I doing something wrong?

[subjectzero]

Re: Paint Issue

My bad, when I said chipping, I was thinking of my previous car. You could see where it was flaking off. I agree this seems like is a wear into the clear coat. Maybe bird bombs left to long? It looks like they did attempt to post a pic but it failed to upload correctly. So its not just you, I can't see it either.

[Rx-8]

Re: Paint Issue

Here you are.

[Chris Thompson]

Re: Paint Issue

Judging by the picture and your description of how it feels, it is the beginning of cc failure.
I would use a very light polish just to try and get some oils back into the paint but I would not use anything abrasive. Once it starts, there is no remedy other than redoing the clear coat.
No sense in using Swirlx and taking away what little you have left.

[Rx-8]

Re: Paint Issue

That certainly destroyed my day. I was hoping it was not CC failure and I would be able to do something about it. So should I avoid claying it and just jump into waxing it?

[greg0303]

Re: Paint Issue

If you apply some gentle polish with foam applicator on those areas, which are not as red as the rest of the paint, you should get your applicator red. It would certainly indicate that the clear coat is gone.

[Rx-8]

Re: Paint Issue

^So am I looking into using color X? And if this is the case what is the next step? Just wax it?

[Murr1525]

Re: Paint Issue

Color and Wax would be fine. Dont rub too hard over the iffy areas.