Oxidation, Clear Coat Failure, or ?

[reubenfs]

I'm trying to determine what these 'defects' are. The car is my 2002 VW Jetta. The paint has been neglected for several years now. It's a daily driver that sits outside most of the year. I've read Mike's post on here and other member's as well in regards to oxidation and clear coat failure but I'm still unable to determine what I'm dealing with here. The major issues were with the hood and roof panels.

I've already completed the detailing but I'm still left with a few problem spots. I used a PC7424 and started with the Kompressor orange pad w/ XMT#2, then moved up to the purple pad, & finally attempted a wool pad. I wasn't too comfortable with the wool pad so I stepped backed down to the purple which was able to fix most of the hood & roof panels but it took several slow long passes and still left a few problem spots. XMT#2 was the most aggressive product I had available at the time.

I'm just trying to better verify what I'm left with here and what steps I should take next. I took a few before pictures and this is one of the hood.

I recorded a video for one of the problems on the hood which can be seen here (Oxidation or CC Failure? on Vimeo). The video was shot while the car was garaged.

I'll take better pictures of the other problem areas tomorrow.

Thanks in advance!

 

[swanicyouth]

It looks to me like the clear coat is "bad" - exactly what's wrong I don't know. It may be the beginning of CC failure, but its kind of hard to tell from the lighting. It almost looks like severe water spot etching or severe orange peel. Clear coat doesn't really oxidize, I guess it could if its severely neglected though. We're the trouble areas ever re-painted?

Assuming everything that was done that could be done with a DA (you did try wool pads - and your sure its not "haze from aggressive polishing, as the areas are isolated?); the next step would be to get a paint thickness gauge and see how thick the paint is there.

If its CC failure there is not much you can do, if its etching or some other imperfection in the clear coat (and the paint is thick enough) you may be able to wet-sand it away.

However, before I tried wet sanding (and after I measured the paint), you may want to try a more aggressive "leveling" type compound to see if it can be improved.

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

From the video it looks kind of like some kind of staining or clear coat failure...


My new truck had some kind of chemical staining but it was all topical and buffed off with ease...

1987 Chevy 4x4 Monster Truck "Before & After" Pictures

XMT #2 isn't very aggressive, it's a Fine Cut Polish so it might be possible something with more cut could abrade off enough damaged paint to expose a fresh base.

Of course if it is clear coat failure, any further abrading will just make the paint worse...


We really need some good pictures to take a better guess at the problem...

The paint being 11 years old, exposed to the outdoors and neglected are the recipe for clear coat failure.

The last nail in the coffin will be if the only places you're seeing this problem are horizontal surfaces. Is this the case?

 

[reubenfs]

We're the trouble areas ever re-painted?

Assuming everything that was done that could be done with a DA (you did try wool pads - and your sure its not "haze from aggressive polishing, as the areas are isolated?); the next step would be to get a paint thickness gauge and see how thick the paint is there.

However, before I tried wet sanding (and after I measured the paint), you may want to try a more aggressive "leveling" type compound to see if it can be improved.

The car was in an accident but I can't recall if the hood was damaged or repainted at all. I'll need to look back for the paperwork. It wouldn't explain the problem on the roof panels though as I'm fairly certain that has never been repainted.

I'm pretty sure it's not haze from aggressive polishing but this is only the second time I've done any polishing on any car so I could be wrong. From all the reading and videos I've watched on here, I'd like to think I took all the proper steps and best care.

From the video it looks kind of like some kind of staining or clear coat failure...

My new truck had some kind of chemical staining but it was all topical and buffed off with ease...

XMT #2 isn't very aggressive, it's a Fine Cut Polish so it might be possible something with more cut could abrade off enough damaged paint to expose a fresh base.

Of course if it is clear coat failure, any further abrading will just make the paint worse...

We really need some good pictures to take a better guess at the problem...

The paint being 11 years old, exposed to the outdoors and neglected are the recipe for clear coat failure.

The last nail in the coffin will be if the only places you're seeing this problem are horizontal surfaces. Is this the case?

The chemical staining on the truck you posted doesn't seem to be similar to what I'm seeing on my car. I started with the least aggressive and went up as far as I could with the products I already had on hand. I wasn't ready to go past that until I could confirm I wouldn't be causing more damage.

I've taken some additional pictures of the areas on my hood & roof panel but it was very difficulty to capture on camera. It's one of those have to be at the right angle with the right lighting situations.

This is the spot on the hood that I posted a video of above. It's hard to notice even under the natural sunlight.

Same spot at an angle from the front.

Still same spot at a slight different angle from the front.

I attempted a side and rear angle but I couldn't capture what I was seeing from my end.

This is the other problem area on the roof panel. It's much more noticeable from most angles you look at it. It looks very faded, almost a whitish-gray color.

Same spot on roof panel at another angle.

And another angle.

Looking back at the pictures myself, I'm leaning towards it being clear coat problem. The problem areas does seem to be isolated to only the horizontal panels minus my trunk lid.

Here's a link to the gallery if you need bigger photos: 2013-05-22 Post Detailing Problem Areas - AutogeekOnline Gallery

 

[Evan.J]

I will have to say clear coat failure.

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

I concur...

The pictures show clear coat failure.


I think what most people have done when their paint is at this stage of the game is to wash the affected areas and then avoid abrading the paint and instead use only non-cleaning waxes, sealants or coatings.


I remember somewhere on this forum a person in a similar situation used either Optimum Car Wax for their LSP or Optimum Opti-Coat II and then crossed their fingers.

 

[Chase.Barnett]

I concur...

The pictures show clear coat failure.


I think what most people have done when their paint is at this stage of the game is to wash the affected areas and then avoid abrading the paint and instead use only non-cleaning waxes, sealants or coatings.


I remember somewhere on this forum a person in a similar situation used either Optimum Car Wax for their LSP or Optimum Opti-Coat II and then crossed their fingers.

Did the paint grow back? Im the MAN