Is the Paint on Your Car Peeling? This Could Be Why

Delamination

On top of the base color of your paint is a protective clear coat. If you spot an area where the clear coat is peeling off of your car, that is delamination. Once this begins, it compromises the clear coat in the surrounding area which will allow it to continue to spread further and further. The issue may have started at the factory with too little clear coat being applied. At home, exposure of the vehicle to bird sap or bird excrement are notorious for disrupting the clear coat if left to dry on the vehicle. 

If the vehicle had a repair in that area, there are a few errors the body shop may have committed in the process. First, to save money, the body shop may not have used the recommended primer, sealer, or clear coat with the pigmented base coat being applied. The incompatibility between the systems allows opportunity for failure. Second, if the clear coat was "blended" within the repaired panel, meaning the clear coat material was only applied to a portion of the panel, the edge of the new clear coat will not adhere as well as applying it over the entire panel all the way to each panel edge. The third major omission occurring to save money is not removing exterior moldings from the repaired panel. Removing the molding requires more time and there is a high probability of the molding breaking since it's made to go on and stay on. Similar to the issue with blending the clear coat within the panel, the clear coat cannot be applied all the way to the panel edge because the molding covers a portion of the panel. Eventually these body shop errors will result in the clear coat failing. 

Peeling

Peeling is the pulling away of the full paint job, base color and clear coat, from the panel underneath. For peeling to occur, the wear and tear on your vehicle has to be considerable. General Motors and Chrysler vehicles had a past issue stemming from not sealing their e-coat before applying the colored base coat. E-coat is for corrosion protection but it is susceptible to Ultraviolet (UV) sun rays causing breakdown. Without a sealer being applied, the UV rays penetrated through the base coat and disrupted the e-coat layer, ultimately leading to the paint peeling. This same issue may occur at the body shop if the shop does not properly seal the new part before applying colored base coat. 

Rust

When there are areas of chipped paint, moisture will penetrate into the area, and metal oxidation leads to rust. Use a reputable auto body shop that will properly correct paint defects before oxidation can occur. For non-painted areas, such as the under body, particularly on trucks in New England, be sure to wash your vehicle frequently to remove deposited salts kicked up from the winter treated roadways. 

Fading

As vehicles age, the colored pigments in the paint will begin to fade. Red pigmented paint is especially susceptible to fading, transitioning from red to orange in appearance over time. The UV rays from the sun are the main contributor to paint fade and to a lesser extent airborne pollutants. The consumer can do little about this other than trying to garage their vehicle when not in use to reduce UV exposure. 

Whitening of Clear Coat

A whitish haze may appear within the top clear coat with vehicle age or sometime after having a body repair performed. The whitish haze is the clear coat chemically breaking down, usually due to extreme exposure to UV rays. This happens more often in southern regions where the sun hits the Earth more directly. The roof and hood are the most susceptible portions of the vehicle since the rays are most direct on these areas.

After a repair, the panel should be not waxed for 90 days to ensure the clear coat is fully hardened. Waxing it sooner than that will weaken the clear coat leading to premature failure. As discussed earlier, if a clear coat is blended within the panel, the edge of the clear coat blend is thin and will fail quickly under the UV rays leading to hazing and then delamination. 

How Can I Fix It?

There are many solutions for DIY paint peeling repair that you can find. But, it is a risk you have to be willing to take. Handling paint peeling properly can be tricky and if you attempt to handle it yourself, you could end up with a bigger mess than when you started. The best solution is to bring it to your auto body shop and have them handle the repair. Auto body shops are skilled in repairing paint peeling on your vehicle. Once your car is fixed, prevention is key. Small things that you can do in order to help prevent any peeling is:

• Keep your car out of the sun as much as possible
• Wash it frequently and carefully
• Wax your car occasionally, but only 90 days after a repair
• Get rid of bird droppings, tree sap, or dirt as soon as possible

Peeling Paint? Call Ray’s!

If you notice that your vehicle has fading or failing paint, it is important that you bring it in right away. Don’t let the spots get bigger. Ray’s Automotive has years of experience in expertly painting vehicles. Let us help your restore your vehicle back to new! Give Ray’s Automotive a call today!