Clear Coat Failure or Chemical

[2black1s]

Here's my opinion...

That is not dye-back. Dye-back occurs within the first few months of painting as the paint hardens and cures. Hold-out is the term I'm familiar with and use to describe this phenomenon. The better the "hold-out", the less the paint will change in appearance during the cure process.

What you are seeing is definitely clear-coat failure of a panel that has been repainted at some point. Repainted panels will never have the same durability as the factory applied finish. Any time you see a car with one panel degrading faster than the rest of the car, you can with near certainty, deduce that the panel has been repainted.

While you can improve the appearance of the deck lid shown, you can never return it to its original luster. The failure process has already begun and whatever improvement you make will be limited by that fact. Additionally, the improvement will not be long lived. That panel will continue to degrade at a faster rate than the rest of the car with its original factory paint.

[Mike Phillips]

Here's my opinion...

That is not dye-back. Dye-back occurs within the first few months of painting as the paint hardens and cures. Hold-out is the term I'm familiar with and use to describe this phenomenon. The better the "hold-out", the less the paint will change in appearance during the cure process.

Great insight - thanks for adding this.

What you are seeing is definitely clear-coat failure of a panel that has been repainted at some point. Repainted panels will never have the same durability as the factory applied finish. Any time you see a car with one panel degrading faster than the rest of the car, you can with near certainty, deduce that the panel has been repainted.

This is my guess too.


That and after the re-paint - not doing anything. By not doing anything, I mean not doing anything to the re-painted panel and probably not doing anything to the entire car.

Most people look at their car as transportation and treat it as such.

[Rsurfer]

Great insight - thanks for adding this.




This is my guess too.


That and after the re-paint - not doing anything. By not doing anything, I mean not doing anything to the re-painted panel and probably not doing anything to the entire car.

Most people look at their car as transportation and treat it as such.

It's called "Patina" Mike. A lot of newer cars have that look around here.

[Thomkirby]

Maybe you did this already?

I would have asked them,

Did you buy the car new? If so, did you get the trunk lid repainted?


If they say they bought the car used? Then ask them if the previous owner shared any collision work that had been done?


There's a ROOT CAUSE for one panel out of the entire car to fade like shown in the picture above and my guess is the panel was re-painted and then neglected. A simple quality buff and seal after the paint cured would have and could have probably refined the final cured paint and sealed and protected it from further degradation.


Most people don't take care of their cars be they new or used.

Yes those were my exact questions.

Car was inherited over a 1-1/2 years ago, so they knew it was fine at that time.

Sometime recently they noticed the trunk lid was distorted as shown in the photo. They had not parked it outside nor stored in offsite and NEVER had any body work.

They did mentioned that their husband had washed it twice, could that have caused it???

Ignorance is bliss.....

[2black1s]

Yes those were my exact questions.

Car was inherited over a 1-1/2 years ago, so they knew it was fine at that time.

Sometime recently they noticed the trunk lid was distorted as shown in the photo. They had not parked it outside nor stored in offsite and NEVER had any body work.

They did mentioned that their husband had washed it twice, could that have caused it???

Ignorance is bliss.....

First, I doubt that "it was fine" 1 1/2 years ago. It may have been fine to the non-discriminatory eye of the general population, but it was not fine. To the experienced eye I'm sure there were signs of the impending failure.

As for the damage being caused from washing... Not a chance!

The damage you are seeing is from the sun. The sun is one of the most destructive forces your paint finish will ever see. The problem is that the damage occurs slowly over time so most people will never notice it until it's too late. That's your case.

[Rsurfer]

First, I doubt that "it was fine" 1 1/2 years ago. It may have been fine to the non-discriminatory eye of the general population, but it was not fine. To the experienced eye I'm sure there were signs of the impending failure.

As for the damage being caused from washing... Not a chance!

The damage you are seeing is from the sun. The sun is one of the most destructive forces your paint finish will ever see. The problem is that the damage occurs slowly over time so most people will never notice it until it's too late. That's your case.

I agree with you about UV being destructive, but if you notice, the rear quarter panels and the vertical trunk lid is nowhere as bad as the lid itself.

Your guess on what caused this is as good as mine, but it sure doesn't look like UV damage to me.

[2black1s]

I agree with you about UV being destructive, but if you notice, the rear quarter panels and the vertical trunk lid is nowhere as bad as the lid itself.

Your guess on what caused this is as good as mine, but it sure doesn't look like UV damage to me.

While online diagnosis, without first-hand in-person knowledge, cannot be absolute, I'd bet the farm that the condition shown is most certainly UV damage.

The reason the 1/4 panel horizontal surfaces are in better condition is because they are the original paint, which is infinitely more durable than the repainted deck lid.

As for the vertical surface of the deck lid not being as bad as the horizontal surface, that in itself is strong evidence indicating UV exposure as the cause... The vertical surface is not subjected to the same UV levels as the horizontal surface so of course it would be expected to be in better condition.

It is also possible that when the deck lid was repainted, only the horizontal surface was painted with a taped featheredge at the body line.

[Rsurfer]

Yes those were my exact questions.

Car was inherited over a 1-1/2 years ago, so they knew it was fine at that time.

Sometime recently they noticed the trunk lid was distorted as shown in the photo. They had not parked it outside nor stored in offsite and NEVER had any body work.

They did mentioned that their husband had washed it twice, could that have caused it???

Ignorance is bliss.....

While online diagnosis, without first-hand in-person knowledge, cannot be absolute, I'd bet the farm that the condition shown is most certainly UV damage.

The reason the 1/4 panel horizontal surfaces are in better condition is because they are the original paint, which is infinitely more durable than the repainted deck lid.

As for the vertical surface of the deck lid not being as bad as the horizontal surface, that in itself is strong evidence indicating UV damage as the cause... The vertical surface is not subjected to the same UV levels as the horizontal surface so of course it would be expected to be in better condition.

It is also possible that when the deck lid was repainted, only the horizontal surface was painted with a taped featheredge at the body line.

OP claims that car has not been parked outdoors, so how can it be exposed to UV?

[2black1s]

OP claims that car has not been parked outdoors, so how can it be exposed to UV?

I can't answer your question... But I still stand by my assessment 100%.

The OP also states that the car has NEVER had any bodywork.

I find that to be inconsistent with the evidence of a single panel degrading significantly more than any other panel on the car. Like I said in one of my previous posts, "Any time you see a car with one panel degrading faster than the rest of the car, you can with near certainty, deduce that the panel has been repainted".