Brian7

iTrader: (2)

It looks like tiny little spider web cracks in the clear coat to me. Maybe if there were some clear coat product I could drip onto the surface that would fill all the voids and ensure no wax or anything will get underneath and really start peeling up the clear? I assume this kind of damage is from bird crap since the rest of the car doesn't have this going on. I'm thinking a product similar to what "fixes" chips and cracks in windshields. Any ideas?

97-SC300

iTrader: (17)

You need to repaint that.

http://www.detailingspot.com/?page_id=224

msrnjenn

You can buy clear coat automotive paint at any auto parts store for less than $10. I think it's called scratch fix something. I recently just purchased some for my IS , a portion of the clear coat got eaten away by something.

Brian7

iTrader: (2)

I figured that would be worst case scenario. It is a pretty small area so I'll probably wait until paint gets worse before resorting to a respray.

Yeah I thought I'd try that out. Maybe use it like Dr Colorchip and squeegee it on then wipe the excess off. All it needs to do is fill in the voids/cracks in the clear coat to seal them up so the problem doesn't get worse. Frankly don't even want to wax/seal the paint in that area in fear of slick products getting underneath and compounding the problem.

97-SC300

iTrader: (17)

I would not bother with touchup work. Will only make it worse.

Dr. Colorchip's absolute cheapest kit is $39.99 + $10 shipping. That's $50 down the drain because it won't fill anything like you think it would. What part of the car is this damage on? If it's on some small part like a side mirror, just remove it and have a shop respray it very cheaply.

Waxing won't hurt anything or speed up the failure of the clearcoat, but it also won't really help or slow down the problem, so a bit of a waste of time. What you're dealing with is permanent paint damage that was most likely caused by something acidic left to sit on the surface of the paint.

97-SC300

iTrader: (17)

Another thing about Dr. Colorchip is, although it's a good product and I've used it on countless cars many times, it's not a product that will make your car "perfect". It's a "10 ft" product that will make looking at your car not as much of an eye sore. In other words, it fills in white chips with the base color so from a distance it looks alot better. They don't have clearcoat either, just the base and reducer to remove the blobs.

With a metallic paint, getting a great match is just not going to happen on a spot repair, most Dr. Colorchip metallics that I've used are quite a bit off and smearing that stuff on top of the damage on your paint will only make it look worse. Would not recommend.

Brian7

iTrader: (2)

I think you misunderstood what I was saying. I was considering smearing a clear coat over the affected area and wiping it clean after the clear has settled into all the nooks and crannies, similar to what you do with Dr Colorchip kits. This is to essentially seal off any other kind of contaminants from getting underneath the clear coat. I've seen a lot of Toyota clear coat jobs ruined by people who were religious about washing and waxing their vehicles. Just my theory is all

97-SC300

iTrader: (17)

I've never tried it or heard of people doing this. May or may not work with clearcoat. Worth a try. You have nothing to lose as that panel needs a respray anyways. If you're happy with the results, then job well done!

Just make sure you scuff up the area pretty good before applying clearcoat. Otherwise it will just peel off shortly.

2URGSE

Looks like bird poop etching. Might be able to wet sand but I would hire a professional to do that.

Blkexcoupe

iTrader: (8)

If you did that, then the paint levels would be different, and I think it would be an even bigger eyesore.

What technique are these people using when they religiously wash and wax their cars? The only time I've seen clear coat fail on toyotas is from neglect and not regularly washing it. The dirt acts as a sandpaper and destroys the paint.

Brian7

iTrader: (2)

Yeah I may try it out. I want to get Dr Colorchip for the front of the hood anyway, I could probably use their blending solution on clear coat too which would remove the "dual layer" look to the clear coat and only fill in the areas that needed it.

As for the Toyotas I've seen that the clear coat gets ruined on is Imperial Jade Mica Toyotas. All 3 owners I've seen with that color truck are pretty **** about cleaning them and all 3 have BAD clear coat issues to the point where they just wrapped the bad sections in vinyl. Maybe it was just that color or model that had those issues but my one friend said he really didn't start to have issues with his clear coat until he started waxing and polishing his truck. It makes sense though if you think about it, wax is a lubricant or has lubricating properties. If you have imperfections in your clear coat, cracks, chips, scratches etc that go into the paint layer, enough waxing will slowly start to get underneath the clear coat which will compound the problem. Enough dirt build up and it will fill those imperfections instead of work their way under the clear coat. This is all just my views on the topic, I wouldn't take them as fact since there are a lot of variables but obviously want to leave this open for discussion.