Fractured/Wrinkled Etching Popping up all over

[charlestek]

Per my previous thread: http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/auto-detailing-101/29503-paint-cracking-chipping.html I'm now had another spontaneous fractured/wrinkled spot appear during the last few weeks which definitely was not from a bird dropping.
It is similar to the picture in Mike Phillips post: http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/hot-topics-frequently-asked-questions/24924-two-types-bird-dropping-etchings.html

The picture from Mike's post is this: http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/719/BirdDroppingEtchingWrinkles.jpg
I also am getting a lot of tiny spots suddenly springing up where the paint is fractured such that you can dig your fingernail into the cracks. As in the photo below. It appears that none of these existed until after I polished my car with M205 and a PC on speed 6 with an orange pad, and then sealed the car. I am getting freaked out as these are appearing as time goes on and I feel that either the finish was fragile before I polished and my polishing pushed things over the edge, or my polishing and sealing caused the problem (less likely). What this amounts to is that I am going to have to get the roof repainted and probably the hood, if not worse. I bought the car 3 months ago and I have catastrophic vision of having to repaint the whole thing or getting rid of it.

Has anyone seen stuff like this progressively happen and worsen? Does it make sense that perhaps the clearcoat was thin and after I polished it it got thin enough to cause these issues??

http://www.skytomic.com/Chip.jpg

[Setec Astronomy]

Sheesh, I already suggested you switch to half-decaf like I have. Is this the end of the world? I had a car for 16 years, and believe me, it had plenty of defects, but I didn't sell the car because of them.

It's possible/likely that portions of your car have been repainted (even if you bought it from the original owner and he told it had never been repainted, people lie, and cars are also damaged in transit and on the dealer lot and get repainted without the owner knowing), so it may just be a crappy repaint, although IME spots like that are usually from bird poop. And yes, it's possible that they've become more noticeable now that you've shined things up.

Is something like this worth getting the car repainted for? Or selling the car? I dunno, if you had rust spots maybe, but the stuff in your pictures just isn't a threat to my masculinity. If it were me I'd just switch from Red Bull to herbal tea and try and get a good night's sleep.

[charlestek]

Setec,

I can't even drink decaf. I had the car looked at by a mechanic and my friend who owns a body shop. As far as a quick inspection by both, the car has no evidence of being repainted or having body work. The carfax is clean as far as any insurance work is concerned.

I can tolerate the damage staying static, but it is getting worse. Does this mean I can't polish the car again and have it get worse?

I'll have to take it to my friend that owns the body shop and see what he says.

[charlestek]

A similar thing is documented in the Meguiars Forum: Pesky problem on black Accord (pic) - Car Care Forums: Meguiar's Online (http://www.meguiarsonline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=43344&highlight=cracked+paint)

I'm trying to figure out what caused this. I don't have an electronic paint thickness guage, but the most logical suspect would be clearcoat that is too thin.

[Silverstone]

I wonder if a glaze would help hide it?

I had a repainted section of clear peel off the edge of the panel next to the tail light to where you could see the edge of the clear as a white line about a half inch long. I put a little touch up clear on it and now it's covered and that line is gone. Real close up it's not smooth but the white is gone so over all it looks a lot better. I wonder if this would work on your problem since it's so small and appears white. Or maybe even one of those Dr Colorchip scratch/chip repair kits to fill it in body color.

[Joe in PA]

My guess is that bird bombs and other paint damage were there when you purchased the vehicle. By polishing the paint, you either removed the minor swirls that were making them less noticeable or you removed whatever was used to hide them in terms of a glaze, filler or some other product.

[charlestek]

Silverstone,

Sealer might hide it a little.

Joe,

The trouble is that I looked at the paint ultra critcally after I removed the swirls with M205 and IPA'd the car. I would have seen the defects right then if that were the case.

As far as I'm concerned the things are progressively popping up as time goes on, which does not bode well at all. I'm suspecting that the clearcoat is thin such that moisture is getting underneath and causing the clearcoat to wrinkle/seperate from the base coat.

The tipoff might be that the car was previously owned by a woman who drove it 7 miles a day and said she used car washes. The paint, when I bought it looked pretty good. I really wonder if she and her boyfriend had the car polished improperly before selling
I have no way of telling except with a paint thickness guage.

I paid a fair amount for the car and the problems are making me upset. Like I said, it'd be ok if the defects were not increasing, but everytime I use the car, I'm afraid to look closely at the finish now.

[Niele]

Sell the car.

It is clear that this issue is very upsetting to you, and it looks like the situation is only going to get worse. So, if I were you, I would just cut my losses and sell the car ASAP to someone that doesn't care about the current condition of the paint. The longer you wait, the worse the paint will get and the harder it will get for you to sell the car.

[Setec Astronomy]

Sell the car.

It is clear that this issue is very upsetting to you, and it looks like the situation is only going to get worse. So, if I were you, I would just cut my losses and sell the car ASAP to someone that doesn't care about the current condition of the paint. The longer you wait, the worse the paint will get and the harder it will get for you to sell the car.

+1. And think of the time you will save making threads about it!

[charlestek]

Yeah, I've thought about it. I'd have to buy another cheap car to use before I sell this car and until I could buy a replacement, which is going to cost something plus whatever I might take as a loss on this car. Unless I traded in at a dealership where I would badly lose on the trade-in. That money could go to repainting the roof and hood instead provided the rest of the car will not do the same thing. As I'm not working, the finances complicate things somewhat.

[Setec Astronomy]

The paint, when I bought it looked pretty good. I really wonder if she and her boyfriend had the car polished improperly before selling. I paid a fair amount for the car and the problems are making me upset.

So is the problem really that your ego is bruised? That you are upset about paying more than you should have? If I had a nickel for every time I got lied to or paid more than I should have or felt betrayed when I bought a used car...well, I'd have 15 cents. Which is why I don't like buying used cars, it's always a crapshoot.


As I'm not working, the finances complicate things somewhat.

That being said, how about sucking it up and living with it? Daily drivers aren't perfect, used cars aren't perfect, even new cars aren't perfect...life isn't perfect. What is that in they say in the AA meetings? Ah, here it is: "grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference".

You're not the first guy to get groined on a used car, nor will you be the last. If you ever take your car out of the garage, it's subject to hail, door dings, curb scrapes, etc. I know somebody who knows somebody with a Corvette garage-queen...his wife was trying to get something off a shelf and knocked a paint can off onto the hood of the 'Vette...so even in the garage it's not safe, and you don't even have a garage, anyway.

:nomore:

[Midnight1700]

I have seen this many times. It's the early stages of clear coat failure. The only real fix it to have it repainted. You can hind some of it using various products, but again, it's just the beginning...

[charlestek]

Yeah, I'll take it to a few body shops to see what costs are involved in repainting. A month ago the body shops I took it to were trying to tell me that the spots were from tree sap or bird droppings, which makes me suspicious of how good those shops really are. If they have to take the paint down to bare metal, I'm sure the costs will be more. The next time if I buy another car, it would be good to have a thickness guage. This is one I found on ebay: paint-thickness.com (http://www.paint-thickness.com/)

If I get a job soon, I might have some wiggle room in paying for painting, but you have to weigh those costs against what I could sell the car for, which I imagine will be a lot less than normal because of the paint issues.

Thanks for the input in this thread. In my other thread on this issue people were telling me it wasn't a clearcoat failure issue, but now I know that it is for sure.

[Joe in PA]

Uh those body shops? They seem to know more than you are giving them credit for ......

[Setec Astronomy]

As much as I'm trying to stay out of this thread because I feel like I'm banging my head against a wall...


...you have to weigh those costs against what I could sell the car for, which I imagine will be a lot less than normal because of the paint issues.

A lot less than a normal 7-8 yo car? Because you think the paint on those is perfect, and they don't have any bird etches or door dings, etc.? Normal people don't see these things, and normal cars that ARE BRAND NEW frequently have bird etches on them from sitting on the lot, much less 7 yo cars.


In my other thread on this issue people were telling me it wasn't a clearcoat failure issue, but now I know that it is for sure.

Um, technically, of course a bird etch is clearcoat failure. However, the pictures you have shown are not what we normally call "clearcoat failure" which is widespread and caused by UV damage (which can be accelerated by overpolishing or sanding which thins the clearcoat).

I'm still having trouble with the whole doom-and-gloom scenario that this seems to represent for you. I understand you may be having some problems in your life, but you need to get a grip and get some perspective on this. Having a few problem spots on your car is not a life-altering experience like not having a job might be.