Clear coats are what is giving up, Stik. I hope they are getting better. They were really bad in the late 80’s early 90’s.
No, I’m talking about recent cars, made in the past 5 years or so. The paint is flaking off and leaving patches of primer exposed. Not just those godawful cars that have the peeling clear coats…
My 1995 Jaguar XJ-6s paint looks as good today as she did new. My wifes 2010 VW Eos looks like junk when they are parked next to each other. Guess the Brits used a better formula than the Germans.
I wash and wax them using the same products so it has to be the paint.
I have two cars, one made (or at least designed) across the Pacific, the other made in Illinois. One is from 2005, the other from 2009. These are the best paints I have ever had on a car. The clearcoat is holding up marvelously. I have not polished either. When I wash them they look like new.
We do keep them in the garage when not on the road. The UV in sunlight is extremely hard on virtually any material, and paints are no exception. I suspect today’s clearcoats must absorb a fair amount of UV to protect the paint below. Also, winters are very tough up here, with lots of salt put on the roads, but the rust and other corrosion I have seen in earlier times is largely gone today.
These are Fords. Parked outdoors or driven, 24/7. Washed regularly although the climate here is mild compared to most. Sunshine, clouds, damp sea air a few miles inland. Within a few years of service the paint started coming off in large patches on numerous of our cars. No clear topcoat deterioration on any of them, just paint flaking off.
The new paints have a label on them that shows they are defective: “Made in China”.
I suppose they are being mixed with the cheapest chemicals they can get their hands on and still charge for first quality
And to comply with the latest nanny state regulations…
I second that. I got that tip years ago from a Tom Cleaver build, I think it was, on Internet Modeler. It’s a darker color than the yellow used for the tail feathers on the Lexington’s air group or that the Army used.
The Lexington Air Group used a color called Lemon Yellow, FS# 13655. Which was also the same color used to denote aircraft of the sixth section in USN Squadrons on the cowl, fuselage band, and wing chevrons.
I live in Houston. Have owned a few cars never had any rust away. When I lived on Long Island back in the day they used to put salt on the road to melt the ice. Sodium chloride is probably the worst substance you could put down on the road. The salt ionizes in water and you get sodium ions and chloride ions. The sodium ions will corrode the steel in your car, and even eat at the road. Down here they use river sand for the rare roadway freezing. The only real problem is that very few people know how to drive on ice or snow.
To shed light on the Ford paint, they had a major issue with grounding the car bodies for electrostatic paint. The line producing fleet vehicles sufferd the most from the paint peeling. I worked at a Body Shop that was doing all the warranty repaints for the Police, Sheriff Depts, etc in the area where I lived. It was an epic mess.