draco

The other day I noticed something above my passenger rear door (Lexus RX). I thought it was some dirt or a water spot so I rubbed it with my finger to clean it and it looks as though this was a bubble (unsure what caused it) and now I have what appears to be damaged paint work. I think the clear coat has been damaged but not sure. Any advise on (1) what this is? Is it just clear coat (2) how to fix it as it's quite obvious now

theory816

Yea, that looks like clear coat chipping off

zmcgovern4

iTrader: (2)

It looks like clear coat failure.

This panel would need to be repainted to resolve the issues.

-Zach

UDel

It looks like clearcoat failure. You can try polishing it out as sometimes hard water/sap/bird stains will cause a spot like that which can be polished out. If it is clearcoat failure unfortunately it will just get worse, it will bubble out more and eventually flake off and other parts near it will start doing it too. It is going to have to be re painted and re cleared. What year is the RX?

User 41924

I'm curious. How old is the RX, and is this factory paint? What causes this? Over aggressive polishing? Bird or Sap issues as UDel suggests?

fnqiaopo

This panel would need to be repainted to resolve the issues.

ComponY

Looks like the clear coat has been burned through.

Lots of things can cause this. Over buffing, chemicals, or even something hitting it, and rubbing against it. Causing it to burn (but that is RARE).

dicer

Clear coat separation, and most likely because the base coat was a water base and the clear is a Urethane. You will never seen water base paint on a Boeing plane, nor a bridge, nor a navy ship. And that example is why.

And if you think you need a full repaint then you have nothing to lose giving this product a try. Just feather out the area and mask outside the feather a few inches or more and reclear coat it with multiple coats then sand the surface smooth.


http://www.eastwood.com/eastwood-s-2...oss-clear.html

http://www.spraymax.com/index.php?id=361&L=1

UDel

That is what I would recommend trying. Urethane aerosol base coat and then 2K clear spray, Spraymax makes the same basic 2K clear. I actually tried this on my car and my dads car and the results were pretty good to very good. Remember to use a respirator especially with the clear and roll the tape but he could get away with repairing that if he really wanted to for less then $60 or $70.

dicer

Base coat is the Color. You just need the clear it still has the color still there. Just don't over sand the color, just very lightly maybe 800 or 1000 grit, but the clear needs to be feathered. If you play with the color you need a many thousand dollar paint color mix station if you want a match, just try to use whats there.

dicer

I could be wrong about the grit to use on the color, maybe a light bit with a gray scotchbrite or something for scratching paint for prep. You don't want scratches to show through the clear.

UDel

I have heard different things from different people on if you need to repaint and then clear or can just spray clear over old clear. Some have said the 2K clear won't bond properly/won't last as long over old clear and it needs fresh paint to bond properly. We went with fresh paint just to be on the safe side when we did it but if it will bond properly and last as long just sprayed on old clear then that is great and saves a extra step and some money.

dicer

Well yeah you would be correct if the right paint is used. But just remember one thing. Some places including the factory's use WATER base paint as the color. So unlike the good stuff the clear has nothing to bond to there is no chemical bond to water putty. The water paint is 1K meaning no harder its not an epoxy. And that is why many newish cars have the clear delaminating from the color coat, just like the one on this thread. He has absolutely nothing to loose trying to do what I say to do. If it doesn't work get the stinking repaint. But if you do repaint strip the whole car and only use 100% 2K paint top quality Urethane.