Help Wanted For Our 2012 Nissan Versa

[lovenhim]

Hello everyone. My wife and I have a 2012 Nissan Versa S hatchback in black. I washed it and dried it today to get mug off of it. It is way too hot to start detailing it with clay bar and swirl removal with a DA polisher. That having been typed, I do plan to start cleaning the car well once it cools down a bit. I would like some advice please. As you can see the car is black and it has swirls in the clearcoat. Now, there is a spot on the right corner of the roof that is full of haze. It did not come off with just washing the car. The paint is smooth as the rest of the car and roof is. What in the world is going on here?

jsrdrnr | Flickr (https://www.flickr.com/photos/jsrdrnr)

[lovenhim]

Bump? Any takers on this one? LOL

[Paul A.]

I hate to say this but to me and from the photo it looks like the beginning of clearcoat failure. If that is the case there isn't anything that buffing or polishing will do. I hope it is not but would need to really see it in person to go any further.

If it is failure, the only fix is to repaint it.

The only thing I do in those cases is to attempt to brighten up what's left of the clear with a cleaner wax/sealant.

[DaveT435]

Like Paul said it's really hard to tell from just one picture, but it does look like CC failure. If you have a light colored hand applicator, or use a white buffing pad, put a little Rupes Blue on it and rub on it a little. If it comes up with black on it then it is CC failure. If you don't get any color it still can be very early failure but the base coat isn't completely exposed. If that's the case you may be able to lightly polish it, preferably by hand, and improve it a little bit. This could also remove the damaged clear and expose the base coat, if it does it was going to be exposed very soon anyway.

If you don't get color it could also be a reflection we're seeing and not clear coat failure.

You might try a couple more pics from different angles before you try anything. A closeup with good lighting so we can get a better look at it would be really helpful.

[lovenhim]

I went out and rubbed on the car a bit. I did not have a polish that was white or clear in color so I used what I had. Also, there is more to this story. Back in July 2012 when the car was two months old, it was hit by a flying tractor trailer tire. It did $5k in damage. I am wondering if the bodyshop repair is failing. The link from the first post has the pics of the damaged car....look at the roof, plus the new pics I took with the polish results.

[Mantilgh]

Wow.

I saw a flying truck tire cross the road from the other side drop down to busy underpass once. I’m glad I was a few seconds behind it.

Maybe the body shop did rotary polishing back there and thinned the clear down and is now failing.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[DaveT435]

My daughter and wife were driving to Galveston in really heavy traffic near Houston. My daughter did a lane change and there was an almost whole semi tire. That little Veloster didn't take it very well. That was 4K, worse than that was how much her insurance rates went up. They say she hit a stationary object. Yeah, a stationary object in the middle of a 6 lane highway during rush hour. As heavy as traffic was she was lucky to get to the side of the highway without getting hit.

[PaulMys]

My daughter and wife were driving to Galveston in really heavy traffic near Houston. My daughter did a lane change and there was an almost whole semi tire. That little Veloster didn't take it very well. That was 4K, worse than that was how much her insurance rates went up. They say she hit a stationary object. Yeah, a stationary object in the middle of a 6 lane highway during rush hour. As heavy as traffic was she was lucky to get to the side of the highway without getting hit.

That sucks. BS!!

[PaulMys]

I went out and rubbed on the car a bit. I did not have a polish that was white or clear in color so I used what I had. Also, there is more to this story. Back in July 2012 when the car was two months old, it was hit by a flying tractor trailer tire. It did $5k in damage. I am wondering if the bodyshop repair is failing. The link from the first post has the pics of the damaged car....look at the roof, plus the new pics I took with the polish results.

Damn. That was some serious damage.

I tend to agree with Mantilgh on this.

[SWETM]

I was to suggest that the base coat color looked thin. It would be very uncommon on factory paint. Since that part is repainted and I think filling too. That is an option it could be that the color coat was paintcoated very thin so the primer is showing through when lighting is on it. Know you could be fine if the coated the clearcoat as thick it should be. And it's hard to measure if that is the case. The paint thickness gauge reads down to the metall. So if there is fillers the reading would be unaccurate. Maybe you can get a sense of the paint thickness if they repainted the whole roof. It's possible to think it's so. If you have someone living near you with a paint thickness gauge and can help you out with getting measured. Or you have a bodyshop that can help you out nearby. Otherwise it's a game to polish that section that seems to be thin or if it is clearcoat failure beginning. You will be haveing to be prepared to go through the clearcoat if doing any polishing on it. And as noted before use a cleaner wax with a finishing foam pad if you want to be as safe you can if polishing it. If it's thin paint you can have quite a thick layer of clearcoat to work with. But that's a guess only and it's cause of the difference between factory paint and repainted. It's very hard to apply clearcoat as thin as the factory does. And it could also be wet sanded and compounded after they repainted it so it's thin clearcoat too because of that. You see it's much of what it could be and very hard to say what it exactly is. But there is something to think about which way to go with that spot or even the whole roof and other repainted areas if you have those.

How is the texture of the thinner looking paint on the roof? And after it's clayed you would feel. Maybe get help to look closer at how the paint looks if it's small pitting in it. And if a good light can be showing if it's under the clearcoat.

[dcjredline]

Clear coat failure for sure. Just enjoy the car as it is.

[lovenhim]

I have spoken to the body shop that did the work on the car back in 2012. The work has a limited lifetime warranty on it. I was told that they use the best quality items and paints that PPG makes and therefor that is why there is a warranty on it. I am waiting a call back on how the owner wants to handle this as we now live 3 hours away from the shop that did the work. The ball is rolling so now we will see what is next.