Peeling Clear Coat

[Yo-Yo Ma's Cousin]

I'm planning on detailing my brothers old car. It's a neglected 2001 Rav4, and the paint on the roof, hood, and other horizontal parts all have severe clearcoat failure. Hood is pretty much completely covered in [what I believe is] peeling clearcoat. 

 

Don't currently have pictures, trying to acquire some to post to show the damage.
 

I think I remember @RayS doing a write up on a truck that had some pretty bad failure on the hood which resembled the damage of which I'm talking about. I think I also remember noting that Ray only washed the portion of the car with bad damage and then he didn't touch it after washing.

 

I know a repaint is required, and my goal for this detail is not to "fix" the damage. I was more curious if it's a bad idea to try and protect the damaged paint with a wax or sealant or ceramic spray coating. Or should I just wash and leave it alone?

 

Will try to update with pictures, but I would appreciate any recommendations or thoughts on this. Thanks.

[mc2hill]

Don't be surprised that your wash water will turn the color of the paint.  No reason not to added some protection to the surface, if you are doing the rest of the car. 

 

I will often treat the areas that are not polish-able with a cleaner/wax, just to make it look a little better. 

[Yo-Yo Ma's Cousin]

1 hour ago, mc2hill said:

Don't be surprised that your wash water will turn the color of the paint.  No reason not to added some protection to the surface, if you are doing the rest of the car. 

 

I will often treat the areas that are not polish-able with a cleaner/wax, just to make it look a little better. 

Thank you.

 

when you say cleaner/wax what product do you mean by that?

Edited December 5, 2019 by Yo-Yo Ma's Cousin

[Rich]

Wash it, dry it, and give it a good coat of wax.  That's about all you can do.  But it will look better than it did.  

[RayS]

4 hours ago, Yo-Yo Ma's Cousin said:

I'm planning on detailing my brothers old car. It's a neglected 2001 Rav4, and the paint on the roof, hood, and other horizontal parts all have severe clearcoat failure. Hood is pretty much completely covered in [what I believe is] peeling clearcoat. 

 

Don't currently have pictures, trying to acquire some to post to show the damage.
 

I think I remember @RayS doing a write up on a truck that had some pretty bad failure on the hood which resembled the damage of which I'm talking about. I think I also remember noting that Ray only washed the portion of the car with bad damage and then he didn't touch it after washing.

 

I know a repaint is required, and my goal for this detail is not to "fix" the damage. I was more curious if it's a bad idea to try and protect the damaged paint with a wax or sealant or ceramic spray coating. Or should I just wash and leave it alone?

 

Will try to update with pictures, but I would appreciate any recommendations or thoughts on this. Thanks.

Hi Juan,

I've done two that had clear coat failures.  The Mustang was a total failure and there was no saving it and a complete waste of effort to even protect it until we could get it repainted..    The Lexus was a different story, it had a clear coat that had peeled in multiple areas and after consulting the paint shot, it was recommended to protect the car since all it needed was a wet and and new clear coat.  

 

Here's the link to the Mustang and when you look at the first picture it is pretty obvious how bad the paint was.

 

 

I looked for a picture of the clear coat peeling and don't have one.  What I can tell you is the below the rear windows and above the door on the roof there were patches where the clear coat was gone.  When I say gone, it was completely gone and you could catch your finger nail on the edges.  I cleaned it up and put wax on it to protect the paint itself until it could go to the paint shop.  In all honestly, it never made it to the paint shop as a buyer came along and offered the right amount - so we said Good Bye...

 

If the paint itself is good or can be fixed with a wet sand, by all means protect it, your wallet will appreciate the difference between a clear coat replacement and complete repaint.  The price difference can hit the $6,000+ range.   Faded paint, not the clear coat, does not mean it has to be repainted, it could just be oxidation which according to deep it goes, can be corrected with wet sanding and then the clear coat provides the long term protect for the paint.

[Yo-Yo Ma's Cousin]

Thanks @Rich and @mc2hill

 

@RayS thank you as well. I do remember seeing the mustang, but the Lexus is new to me! Thanks for posting that I'll read that today.

 

This was the post I was thinking of:

 

[mc2hill]

17 hours ago, Yo-Yo Ma's Cousin said:

Thank you.

 

when you say cleaner/wax what product do you mean by that?

I used a Meg's product, but you could use Revive and any of Adam's waxes.  The cleaner/wax is a chemical 'polish' (like Revive) vs. an abrasive polish (like Adam's other polishes).

[Yo-Yo Ma's Cousin]

51 minutes ago, mc2hill said:

I used a Meg's product, but you could use Revive and any of Adam's waxes.  The cleaner/wax is a chemical 'polish' (like Revive) vs. an abrasive polish (like Adam's other polishes).

Ah I understand. Thank you. Good thing I packed my Revive to come with me.

[Yo-Yo Ma's Cousin]

Finally got some pictures.ill stay away from those spots with my swirls killer. In my imagination the damage was a lot worse so I was happy to see it wasn’t as bad as I thought...