IS_Sunny

iTrader: (1)

I've recently noticed an odd paint problem on my 2006 IS350. The car is Tungsten Pearl in color and unfortunately kept outside uncovered (APT complex).

Most of the paint on the car is fine; as to be expected for being 5 years old.
There are however two-three spots on the car where the paint is becoming "hazy, foggy, and or cloudy..."

I've not used any type of scratch remover or cleaner on these specific spots, yet they are getting worse and worse while the rest of the car is unaffected.

1. Passenger side mirror. The entire top of the mirror assembly is has a cloudy white haze forming on the paint. The drivers side mirror is flawless. The rest of the passenger mirror is fine as well.


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2. The drivers side hood line (in front of the mirror) has about a foot long streak of this haze going on. It looks as if there is wax on that part of the car that hasn't been wiped off. But of course there isn't... The rest of the hood or quarter panel is unaffected. Just a strips of haze running down the length.



It's very hard to capture the long streak of discoloration on the hood line. The above picture shows a more defined circle of the problem, but this continues for basically 12-15 inches down the line of the hood.


I've tried to clean this off with car washing soap, elbow grease, etc... nothing seems to help. Yet it does seem to be getting a bit worse as time goes on. I'm afraid that within a year or so these spots will have spread and basically destroyed my paint.

I have no idea what this is. I've tried searching but using the words "hazy" "cloudy" or "foggy" yield some headlight restoration sites / threads 90% of the time.


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Guitarman

Although seeing the car in person would be best, from my experience in paint and body work I suspect the car has had some (poor quality) paintwork done in a couple spots. The area on the door looks to me, like burn thru of the base coat during sanding, the hazy streaks sound like the halo you get when spraying clear over a repair onto existing clear and not blending in. . The mirror...wow, suspiciously looks like someone taped off a part of it ( I'm seeing what looks like a delineation outline where it was taped), and looks as though it was painted with a shaker can (Dupli-Color etc.) Shaker clear sprayed thin has no UV resistance and will cloud up in a year or 2...

Now, I could of course be wrong here, but this is my educated guesses based on your description and photos.

If I'm at all correct, only repainting will solve it, and I'm sorry to have to tell you that.

I hope otherwise, Good luck

Guitarman

I forgot to ask if you're the original owner, if not, that would explain a lot.

And, even if you are, there are always cars that get to the dealerships with transit damage, that the dealerships have taken care of via their body shop or a freelancer, but....damn....I just can believe a shoddy repair like that could occur on the dealership level, but then, stranger things have happened...

My neighbor's Mercury Grand Marquis was bought new many years ago, and i detailed it regularly, and had a repainted fender, and the clear was no where near as high quality as the oem paint, almost looked like single stage metallic to me, very hazy and low gloss...

He didn't notice, but I sure did.

Dan

embolism

yeah that looks like burn through on that body line

very easy to do if you're using a rotary and don't know what you're doing. Could have been done by a hack at the dealership or previous owner.

97-SC300

iTrader: (17)

I agree with embo.

Unfortunately that does lok like a burnt clearcoat at the fender body line. The mirrors looks like not much clearcoat is left, probably from all the sun exposure over the years. I've noticed mirrors are a common area where clearcoat fades first.

IS_Sunny

iTrader: (1)

Sorry for the late follow-up. Busy Busy.
Also, thanks for the replies guys. Helpful stuff indeed.

Here's a bit more info based on the replies.

I think I should clarify that side mirror has a clear bra on it. That distinct line you see on the mirror (with the dirt on the edges) is the clear bra itself. Was that maybe what you meant when you said taped off?

Oddly, the paint on the mirror under the clear bra is normal and unlike that white hazy residue you see.

I'm not the first owner, but I do have all the records of work done.
The car did have a front driver side minor collision and got a new bumper. Nothing on the left side of the car has been damaged... which is weird as the only two parts affected by this paint problem are the Left hood line and the Right side mirror.

This makes no sense to me since even the bumper, which was replaced, has no sign of this haze clear-coat / paint.

Same deal with the hood line "burn through". That spot is obviously having an issue, yet the paint all around that area, on the entire rest of the hood or front quarter panel is perfectly fine.

Anyway, I suppose the next question is what is the fix for this? Can someone spot sand and "re-clear" the small(ish) affected areas?

Is there anything I can or should try / do to help improve this or at least not allow it to get worse?

Again, thanks for the time and help. Some serious knowledge on this forum that I unfortunately lack

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eyezack87

iTrader: (4)

Burns don't happen uniformly. You have to remember a buffing pad is a foam circle. If it burns, it'll burn only that spot. The fix is to reclear it again if possible. Make sure the shop doesn't touch any other section if you can force them not to

Guitarman

That's funny IS _Sunny, because it looked very much like a clear film on the mirror, but you hadn't mentioned it so I considered the next possibility of someone spraying that part of the mirror.

Thanks for clearing that up for myself and the others!

embolism

while the clearcoat on cars today is thin (and getting thinner all the time to cut costs) body lines typically have less clear because it migrates off of edges when drying.

knowing this, when pro's use a rotary on a car, they typically tape up body lines and transition points so they don't burn through the thinner areas on a car.

It literally takes seconds to burn through depending on the speed, pad and compound combination.

only thing to do now is to get the area recleared, though it won't be as hard as the factory clear. There have been some success stories with spot repairs and catalyzed clears you can buy in a rattle can (there is a catalyst in the can which makes it dry much harder -- can is only good for one use though and you need to wear eye protection and respirator and tape up large area to protect from overspray). It is not easy to blend clearcoat though and you might end up causing more damage than anything.

Another option is to put on opticoat. It is a permanent resin that will prevent the spot from getting any bigger. It is a coating that never needs to be waxed and after 3 months will be harder than the clearcoat on your car which helps reduce wash-induced marring and swirls. Read up on it. Might be the easiest way to go if you can live with the look of the trouble spots as they are now...