miniz

Has anyone detailed the cars with really bad factory clear coat? I've noticed that most of the newer Toyota's that are made in America have really bad clear coat. The Camry and Sienna come to mind. The clear coat on the front bumper is absolute 100% junk. It makes Chrysler look good. Bugs eat right through it and it is just about impossible to buff. The stuff acts like a sponge. You put compound on and it absorbs right into the paint. Same thing with wax. Then it look even worse and needs to be repainted. I've seen it on many, many of these American Toyota's. This problem is almost non existent on Japanese built Lexus, however they suffer from clear coat that easily chips and scratches, but doesn't 100% fail.

eyezack87

iTrader: (4)

I would advise against buffing a car with poor clearcoat. Its much easier to just save the detail money towards a repaint in the future. For me, I was already planning a repaint so I did it anyway since I have the stuff bought already. Sure enough, my roof and trunk are going and now I can't wait to repaint my car

MJImport

iTrader: (1)

I'm kinda glad to hear someone else is having this problem and I'm not crazy, haha
My hood for some reason acts like it absorbs wax/compound and looks worse after detailing, like there's a haze which can't be buffed off.
I'm not sure if it's the factory paint or not.

miniz

The problem is that these are newer cars and I don't own them. We are talking about cars that only 2-5 years old. There is no reason for the paint to be failing, besides poor quality.

eyezack87

iTrader: (4)

Hmm, if thats the case, then I highly doubt the owners take very good care of them with the right car care products. For instance, using Dawn repeatedly over and over will eventually dry out the paint. Reason why I know is because my dad did that to his van and the paint failed 4 years later. Theres many reasons why they may have failed. Not using the right products and never ever waxing are just a small set of examples

miniz

While this is true in some cases, it isn't in others. I've worked on cars that have been well taken care of and they have severe paint damage due to crappy low end water based paints and ultra thin clear coat. Toyota needs to change this.

eyezack87

iTrader: (4)

Interesting, I have not worked any of these cars with poor clearcoats. The only ones I actually do see are dark red and dark green pigments under the clearcoat. I've seen plenty of those lying around but I always figured that it was the color since I see quite a few green Lexii like that as well

My gf's light green Camry and my best friends white Avalon are in top condition though. I do have to add that the Avalon had some extreme oxidation (easily taken care of) but I figure thats what all whites have a problem with since my white Dodge had the exact same problem. I'll keep a look out for more Toyotas though...

miniz

Go find some Sienna's (04-09 body style) in a parking lot and take a look at the front bumper. I've seen it on every single one. Bugs that have eaten right through the clear coat, yellowed headlamps, low gloss on the bumpers, ect... I've seen it on Camry Solara's too (04-08). Both vehicles are made in America.