I ask for everyones help...Is this clearcoat damage?

J

JZPWR

New member
I kindly ask for all suggestions and advice on how can I tackle fixing this if it is fixable, I'm afraid its something that doesn't look fixable and looks like the dreaded clearcoat being gone. :sadpace: After moving to FL I started Personally detailing and washing my family's cars. makes me so upset at the situation and myself...Thank you in advance, here's my story:



This our family's baby, bought originally in New York when we lived there as a dealer demo. It's a 1999 LX470 with now 54,500 miles. Over the last 3 years when moving to Florida I've learned a lot about detailing, what products are good and what techniques to use even if you just have your hands and nothing else. When this vehicle was bought I didn't have such specific knowledge about detailing although I did know how to do a proper wash. It was waxed and topped with spray waxed and covered up back for the winter in NY. I cleaned the interior and washed it for my dad and applied spray wax as its our road trip/special occasion vehicle.



It was always covered since there was no garage at our old house in NY. Ever since my dad bought the vehicle I always noticed a very very slight haze or so at the hood that looked a bit off color but only can be scene at a certain angle, I thought nothing of it as I was 14 or so at the time. I didn't say anything although I seriously wish I did and have him take it up to the dealership.



Now I'm in FL for the last 3 years and over the last 8 months I started to drive it out and it was parked outside, I washed it and applied NXT 2.0 Wax regularly, lately though I noticed the impression/spots on the hood are a bit more noticeable and I saw some new ones at the roof. Is this clearcoat damage, if not what is it and what can be done to correct it? The vehicle is going into the Garage ASAP as it's saddens me to even see this happening to such a great vehicle. Here are the pics and thank you once again:



Hood



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1004543.jpg




Roof



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1004545f.jpg
 
It is a little hard to tell with the pictures. . Usually, CC failure starts with crows feet (think very small slashes /// \\\\) that will eventually cross and expand. Does it look like that or does it look like a stain?
 
longdx said:
It is a little hard to tell with the pictures. . Usually, CC failure starts with crows feet (think very small slashes /// \\\\) that will eventually cross and expand. Does it look like that or does it look like a stain?
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Looks like white stains as seen on the roof pics and at the bottom of the 2nd hood picture, it's hard to see when looking at the truck, you have to go directly over the hood at a certain angle to really see things. It looks more like a spotty pattern. I googled up what you mean by crow's feet and entered in crow's feet clearcoat in google images and saw what you meant. It starts as slashes all over the place...I don't really see that on the hood and roof. Is this oxidation then or something else as it doesn't seem to be clearcoat failure. It would be great to confirm that it's not and if I can do something about it. Any suggestions and advice is greatly appreciated. I would be greatly happy if this is something I can correct.



Thank you all!
 
Question for the pros, is there any way that he could do a test with a mf towel or applicator with some sort of OTC product/compound?
 
MOthers Phase 1 or Meguiars Step 1 (about $5 at Walmart or similar) or Scratch X would all give some "below the surface" chemical cleaning that would start to clean it up if it was a stain.



Is really dry or feels bumpy to the touch?
 
No bumpyness at all, smooth actually when you run your hand over it. Also after reading up I wonder if these are blemishes as I saw some paint blemish pictures and wonder if this can be it. If so, I also saw that scratch X can help. I think I'll get some scratch x and apply it by hand. Also is Scratch X more aggressive than Stage 1 Paint Cleaner? Thanks for the replies, I appreciate it and would love to hear some more takes on this situation.



Thank You
 
ScratchX is more abrasive then Step 1. ScratchX contains abrasive and chemical cleaners, Step 1 is just chemical cleaners.



CC failure often feels dry to the touch, IME atleast!
 
Ahh when I applied wax the area still had the slickness property a while back. I guess I try out the Scratch X and see whats up after I give it a wash. I was planning to run some clay on it as well. Thanks for the replies once again!
 
If your going to try to polish it out, use a machine. This will cut the clear evenly and not in one spot. One member did this by hand and by putting too much pressure on his finger tips, he went right through the clear.
 
Yikes...I have no UDM or PC, guess like I have to find a different way to handle this. What do you think it is in the paint?
 
JZPWR said:
Yikes...I have no UDM or PC, guess like I have to find a different way to handle this. What do you think it is in the paint?
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Hard to say by the pictures, but if you can't feel it, probably not etched into the paint. If you do decide to go the scratch X route, go lighty. Good Luck!
 
I definitely will, that seems like atleast something to attempt and I'll be very very light with it once I get a chance to wash it and then try that out. I'm still baffled of what this can be as I tried myself looking around to see if anything came across anything similiar.



The Roof pictures tell it much more, the hood itself has a cloudy texture when you look at it on a certain angle and at the very top of it has 2 of those spots like what you have in the roof pictures. Thanks again for your help.
 
This is so weird! My mechanic had the same suv LX470 and with the same color, and with the same paint problem. But this one had more spots!



It looks like to me the base of the paint is breaking down. If you sand and buff you will be just wasting your time. You will need to paint the entire truck.
 
ibidu1 said:
This is so weird! My mechanic had the same suv LX470 and with the same color, and with the same paint problem. But this one had more spots!



It looks like to me the base of the paint is breaking down. If you sand and buff you will be just wasting your time. You will need to paint the entire truck.
Click to expand...



Really...wow...I wonder what's going on there....did his have more spots or do mine do? What did he end up doing?
 
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