Jmai22

Hey guys. well i had my car for about a little over 6 months. love the car everything is great except this one thing has been bothering me ever since i got my car. The previous owner use to live in a hot area and he said the paint started fading so he had the whole car repainted. My car now has this very dull and not sharp reflection to it. I believe its called orange peel. I was wondering what i should do to fix it. Should i get my entire car Color sanded. or should i get my car repainted. Color sanding will cost me 200-300 dollars and not for sure gonna fix the problem. I had a little part of my car done and it looks ok but some of the paint came off so part of my primer(i think what its called) is showing its white. and my car is black.

can someone give me some info on Color sanding?? pros and cons. also Can someone point me to a good place to get my car painted or color sanded. i'm the the LA/OC area. Thanks everyone. if someone wanta a picture i can go snap a shot if that will help.

Pearlpower

iTrader: (2)

I am not sure what your experience with color sanding is but it is not for a beginner. Orange peel does not cause fade or non-reflection. Orange peel is the tiny little bumps on the paint surface that closely resembles orange peel. This would come from the original painting process and does not appear over time.
Orange peel is best seen when viewing the suface at an angle.
If your paint is faded, I suggest a #2 mild cutting compound to bring that shine back. Folow with a good polish and wax.
Color sanding can bring an awesome shine/luster to paint, however I would try the compound first as improper color sanding can result going right through the clear to the paint.

Jmai22

i think you mis understood me. When the previous owner had it the paint was faded and he took it to get it repainted before he sold me the car. the orange peel has been there since i have had the car. its really obvious when its really sunny out and you stand next to my car. the reflection is rather blurry. i'm not going to be doing the color sanding myself. a shop is.

Pearlpower

iTrader: (2)

By chance do you know where the car was painted?
What type of paint of used?
1 stage/ 2 stage?

Jmai22

thats the thing everyone keeps asking me. i have NO idea. and i no longer have contact with this guy. as i said before. i had a small part of the bottom of my back door color sanded and some of the paint came off. so there is a little bit of white showing. but the reflection in that spot is soo much clearer.

Pearlpower

iTrader: (2)

Well.

It is tough to answer without the car in front of me.

I would strongly suggest taking the car to a reputable paint/body shop.

The thing is, if it is a 1 stage Urethane job from a Maaco,1 day, or Earl Sheib paint shop , color sanding is not an option since they put some clear in with the paint and color sanding will ruin what little shine their paint has.

If paint is coming off and the paint is a 2 stage, than the paint is past the clear stage which is not good.

I would take it to a shop and they can give an honest assessment.

Jmai22

yeah the guy that did the little part of my car he showed me the sand paper and i clearly saw black coming off on the sand paper. so what are my options now?? do i have to repaint the entire car??. how much will that cost me. Same color paint job.

Pearlpower

iTrader: (2)

Same color paint job. Two stage with good quality paint such as Dupont will run around 1500-3500.
Some places can do a decent job for around 1000.00.Best thing to do os to look at cars on the lot that have already been painted.
Stay away from the Maacos,1 Days, and so forth.
The only issue is the repaint. Was the entire car repainted?
If so, why. All of that repaint paint has to be removed if it was not done properly.
Otherwise your new paint may fall off later.

Jmai22

hehe. thanks for the help man. the car was repainted because the previous owner lived in a hot area. and the paint started to fade.