bfigard

check the pictures. There is no rubbing of any kind going on in the trunk with top down (huge clearance to carpet) and only happening on this one side.

If you look closely you can see a darker area around the worn down spot (like water has soaked in between the clearcoat and the paint). Ron's in Torrance quoted $300 to paint the panel around the rear window.

I live 2 miles from the ocean and work nearby (LA south beach cities) so my best guess is salt water in the air penetrated. You experts got any other knowledge?

bfigard

Here's a wider shot where you can see the weeping/darker area around the wound.

Pearlpower

iTrader: (2)

Very interesting. I realize you said there is no rubbing but that is what it appears to be. I would place a line of White Out there and try the opening closing routine a few times to see if it gets rubbed off.

Have not seen this come up as water really cannot get in between the two coats though clear can certainly wear away or get rubbed off. Difficult to tell with those pics. I would have to be there, rub the paint with my hand, take a very close look to know for sure.

Keep us posted.

NorCal430

Have you carefully watched the top fold into the trunk while someone else holds down the button?

Maybe it's rubbing during the closing process but not when it's completely seated in the trunk.

Let us know how it turns out.

ratha67

is that happening to both sides? or are those pictures of the same side...Your guess is as good as mine... I don't know what that area would have to rub against... But besides rubbing, I don't know how clear coat could come off like that... Maybe a stupid questions but, does it look like there is oxidation there? Is this something that could get buffed out?

XhyDra

iTrader: (8)

It could be oxidation,
if it is oxidation, judging from you living near the beach
then it's easily removed with a good machine buff,
as the other member mentioned try the white out and
see if it gets rubbed off if not, then it's a high change
that it could be oxidation, most of the time that's fixable.

Also having a good coat of wax on your car is a good idea
since it gets pretty moist out in the beach area at night or
in the mornings. The wax would most definitely protect the paint.

bfigard

Only on the one side. No hint of this on the other side.

It is certainly not rubbing anything. I have LuxLink and stood there watching it fold into the trunk. the part that's eroding clearcoat gets no closer than several inches to any surface inside the trunk even when folded down. If it were rubbing something inside, I should see paint residue (blue eventually) but there is none at all.

I will try a $100 buff before a $300 paint. I hope it's oxidation. I bought the car used, so maybe it's well hidden bad paint work finally showing through.

I have had no problem in other spots where I rested a rubber hose on the car to provide a stream of water to rub away birdchit with my finger, but I don't recall doing that in this spot.
The thing that has me really spooked is the darker "soaked area" that you can see on the roof strut if you look real closely at the picture. 4 to 6 inches in radius around the wound...slightly darker than the rest of the paint!

Other hypothesis: my car is outside and dewy every morning. Possibly the rising sun gets focused on that spot when bouncing off the trunk lid...maybe I'm slowly bleaching it right there because I park it at the same orientation every morning.

NorCal430

Now that you explain that you bought the car used and don't know the whole history, it's most likely one or more old repairs resurfacing.

Clearcoat repaints vary in quality from "almost factory finish" to "almost finished". The factory clear coat on these cars is excellent.

If you do a search on the entire forum I would be surprised if anyone with the original paint has had this type of problem.

bfigard

clean carfax.

are there any other ways to check for paint work in databases?

Pearlpower

iTrader: (2)

Would have to agree. Most likely prior paint work with low grade clear being used. I recently did some paint work on the sons car and though it is only worth 3k at most I still opted for Sherwin Williams (I like Dupont also) as it seems to flow better and I know in 2 years when we are about to sell it the clear will not be coming off. The base clear was less but the extra bucks was worth it IMO.

Hopefully it was just isolated damage and repair was limited to that one pillar.