Course of action - or does it need a new paint job?

[TomK]

Here are some suspicious paint blemishes I noticed. Are those signs of a clearcoat failure? Can it be fixed or does it have to be repainted? I'm not so much concerned about the looks, but rather whether it will get worse if not treated.

There are three pictures, the first picture is the original size to give some perspective, the next picture shows the area in question in zoom.

Thank You








Thank You

[TomK]

Re: Course of action - or does it need a new paint job?

bump

[greg0303]

Re: Course of action - or does it need a new paint job?

It certainly looks like a beginning of a clear coat peeling.

Unfortunately it's not a reversible process. You could gently polish the effected area with pure polish (like Deep Crystal Polish or M07 Show Car Glaze) for visual improvement.

The only way to fix it is to re-spray the paint. Every other solution offers only a temporary thing.

[rapport25]

Re: Course of action - or does it need a new paint job?

Hi,

Yes I'm with Greg. Clear coat failure.

A few questions before you rush off and get a respray.

(1) Where on the car is the clear coat failure?
(2) How long do you plan to keep the car?
(3) Depending on paint thickness around the area you could always touch up the paint and wet sand to blend it back. Not as easy as it sounds. I have seen a friend of mine do this here in the uk and the car looked great!!! One thing to bare in mind the uk does not hit high temps.

Hth's

Rappy

[TomK]

Re: Course of action - or does it need a new paint job?

Thank You for all the replies

(1) Where on the car is the clear coat failure?

It's on the hood.

(2) How long do you plan to keep the car?

Maybe 4 years. I'm not concerned about the looks as one can hardly see it. These are tiny spots, I'm just afraid that it will get worse if untreated. It's a Lexus LS so it's still worth some money even 4 years from now.

(3) Depending on paint thickness around the area you could always touch up the paint and wet sand to blend it back.

I always thought Lexus LS' had high quality paint jobs. The paint otherwise is pristine, I mean no swirls or anything and the previous owner took good care of it (at least mechanically speaking and also inside). I'm located in Texas.

[rapport25]

Re: Course of action - or does it need a new paint job?

As they are tiny spots. I would treat them as a rock chip. I would tap off the surrounding area use some abbrasive paper to key the surface and fill with a colour match the same black.

Dont worry about using a clear coat just use the black with a tooth pick or cocktail stick as you will have far more control than a touch up pen.

Fill the area gradually to build up a nice even coat. Allow to dry for 24 hrs.

Then blend to the existing paint level with extra fine paper 3000 or 2500. Not saying this will fix it for ever but at least it will slow the process down.

Apply some cutting compound via a d/a to shine the repair back to flawless finish.

Hth's,

Rappy