What's happening to my Paint/Clearcoat?

[TomyG]

This started pretty recently, in the winter. I notice that my roof had these little white dots spread out on the roof of the car.


Rear part of the roof.




Few weeks later things got worse. It had spread to my trunk.




The roof again.





Its smooth to the touch and doesn't come out, it seems to be under the clear coat, but I'm not really a paint expert. I'm not sure how this happened so suddenly so fast. My car has always had pretty good paint and looked damn good. Not really sure what my options are at this point, I don't want to make anything worse.

[JWreck]

Yikes! Have you gone over environment details - where do you park during the day, where do you park at night? They look too small and precise to be water spots from a sprinkler. Is there salt on the roads where you are? Or a de-icing agent if any kind?

How old is the car? Could it be oxidation from the sun? Do you have the same spots on the lower panels of the car? More questions than answers but maybe we can rule some stuff out.

[TomyG]

Yikes! Have you gone over environment details - where do you park during the day, where do you park at night? They look too small and precise to be water spots from a sprinkler. Is there salt on the roads where you are? Or a de-icing agent if any kind?

How old is the car? Could it be oxidation from the sun? Do you have the same spots on the lower panels of the car? More questions than answers but maybe we can rule some stuff out.

Car spent most of its time parked at the same place at the house(which has sap trees that are a pain in the spring, but I don't think its related) or work (nothing really around there). They don't use Salt here in Oregon AFAIK.

Car IS 15 years old, so I mean it could be oxidation, I don't know if thats what it could look like, but the spots seem to be only on the top sides (roof, trunk, little bit on the hood)

[Im-AUDI-here]

Car spent most of its time parked at the same place at the house(which has sap trees that are a pain in the spring, but I don't think its related) or work (nothing really around there). They don't use Salt here in Oregon AFAIK.

Car IS 15 years old, so I mean it could be oxidation, I don't know if thats what it could look like, but the spots seem to be only on the top sides (roof, trunk, little bit on the hood)

I'm no expert but it looks a lot like this image of clear coat failure.
http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/...tml#post334938

[TomyG]

Shit

[JWreck]

I'm no expert but it looks a lot like this image of clear coat failure.
http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/...tml#post334938

Great find, identical picture of the red car. Sorry OP, but perhaps you can feel a sense of closure knowing what the issue is? :(

[Im-AUDI-here]

Shit

I suggest you take it to a reputable body shop and get an expert opinion. If it is a clear coat failure then it looks like a repaint is in your future.

[TomyG]

Yeah that'll be probably my next step is to go see someone... not sure a full respray is worth it.. idk.

[Im-AUDI-here]

Yeah that'll be probably my next step is to go see someone... not sure a full respray is worth it.. idk.

You could always do a vinyl wrap. Should be cheaper than a respray.

[Avus RS4]

I have agree with everybody.
I took a real close look at the pics and it seems a if the clear has started to go.

[TomyG]

You could always do a vinyl wrap. Should be cheaper than a respray.

It has crossed my mind. I was questioning the durability of vinyl in the PNW rainy weather.

[Im-AUDI-here]

It has crossed my mind. I was questioning the durability of vinyl in the PNW rainy weather.

The vinyl should hold up just fine as long as it's installed correctly. 3M shows a max durability of 5 years but a quick Google search shows that a properly maintained vinyl wrap can last for up to 7. Something to think about.

[Hopperstien]

Just found this thread. I left for the weekend, and came back to this..............
its the same as the OP situation, just 20x worse. It is on the horizontal areas almost exclusively.

[henri12]

If it is the clear coat, there's no easy and cheap way to fix it. Repaint is the best solution.

[TomyG]

Yikes, on an 07 too.
I haven't gone to a bodyshop yet. I keep waiting for the mobile guys who do painting to show up at my work so I can ask them about it, but I keep missing them.

It's really weird. The dots seem to go away on mine, then come back a few days later... then go away again. I'm guessing its fluctuation in temperature but I'm not sure.

[AKPS4]

Becareful with vinyl. It won't stop the clear coat failure and could even make things worse as the vinyl will trap moisture in these voids in the clear coat.

[DetailersDomain]

how many miles on the car, have you done a an spot compounding or polishing?

[TomyG]

how many miles on the car, have you done a an spot compounding or polishing?

140k. I have tried to hit a certain spot with compound but it didnt seem to help.

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[DetailersDomain]

time to consider a respray or vinyl or a good excuse to trade it in.

[TomyG]

time to consider a respray or vinyl or a good excuse to trade it in.

I was ready to accept it, but the fact that it comes and goes makes everything confusing.. like today its completely gone, I think it might come back when It gets warm again. But I'm not sure.

[Hopperstien]

After 3 days, mine had completely gone also, with nothing done to it. Has not showed its ugly face since. I'm at 116k miles, and she gets no garage love, but just did a fresh coat of wax. I've been car shopping, but dealer trade in values are ridiculous so I am going to have to try to sell it on the street.

There was only one time that the paint has done this prior, and it was 3 small spots that were almost exclusively where my bike rack was roof mounted, and it showed up a day after i had taken it off. It too went away after a few days.

So Weird.

[TomyG]

After 3 days, mine had completely gone also, with nothing done to it. Has not showed its ugly face since. I'm at 116k miles, and she gets no garage love, but just did a fresh coat of wax. I've been car shopping, but dealer trade in values are ridiculous so I am going to have to try to sell it on the street.

There was only one time that the paint has done this prior, and it was 3 small spots that were almost exclusively where my bike rack was roof mounted, and it showed up a day after i had taken it off. It too went away after a few days.

So Weird.

Hows it doing now?

Mine came back, seems the be only on the trunk now though.... And only on hotter days.

[oaybar007]

Wanted to bump this for anyone with red cars. This is clear coat failure. My car started this way about 2-3 years ago and the clear coat is now peeling off on all panels that have seen heavy sun exposure. I've simply been keeping my car clean and waxed to try to preserve what's left. Past that I'm not sure what's worth doing.

I've considered vinyl wrapping but I've got some rock chips on the hood down to bare metal and other deep scratches on other parts of the car that I wouldn't feel right covering without addressing. Seems the wrap would indeed trap moisture and possibly promote rust.

OP, do you still have your car? Anyone else respray or wrap or have you just dealt with it or gotten rid of the car?

[carmine914]

Quick interjection to this: what are the preventive steps one can take for clear coat failure? Is it as simple as regular sealant/wax details and avoid as much sun/salt/sap/birds as possible?

[pdqgp]

Quick interjection to this: what are the preventive steps one can take for clear coat failure? Is it as simple as regular sealant/wax details and avoid as much sun/salt/sap/birds as possible?

Finishes need protection from UV. Coatings or boosters or sealants that include UV Protection are key components. Also, when detailing a vehicle, regular removal of ferrous contaminants with products such as CarPro Iron-X is also key. If these contaminants are not removed they will oxidize and penetrate the clear coat thus allowing moisture and more oxidation to invade under it thus causing failure.

[TomyG]

Wanted to bump this for anyone with red cars. This is clear coat failure. My car started this way about 2-3 years ago and the clear coat is now peeling off on all panels that have seen heavy sun exposure. I've simply been keeping my car clean and waxed to try to preserve what's left. Past that I'm not sure what's worth doing.

I've considered vinyl wrapping but I've got some rock chips on the hood down to bare metal and other deep scratches on other parts of the car that I wouldn't feel right covering without addressing. Seems the wrap would indeed trap moisture and possibly promote rust.

OP, do you still have your car? Anyone else respray or wrap or have you just dealt with it or gotten rid of the car?

Well better late than never but I still have it. Though I just picked up a Black B8 S4 so won't have it for much longer.

You are correct... Although the trunk seems to be doing fine, the roof and hood is not.





Only the roof is really bad. And that spot came out of nowhere. I never saw it small, just one day noticed.. That.. I don't know if a certain Hailstorm accelerated the process.

I was going to just wrap the roof and respray the hood, but its on the pillars as well and at that point im sure in a few years the trunk will be go which pretty much calls for a full respray. Sooo I opted in a new car.

Its kind of a kick in the ass cause I put a lot of time into taking car of this car (I guess it needed even more religious UV protection)
BUT hey, it still looks pretty good