Hello from the Pacific North West

[Amanda Moen]

Okay, going to try and keep this short since it's almost midnight.

I'm a 21 year old college student. I work at a car dealership in the service department.

My daily driver is a red 1992 Geo Metro LSi convertible that we bought 15 years ago as of Thursday, May 30th. It has been detailed, exterior, once, that I know of, since we purchased it. It currently appears to be more red-orange than red, and in some places it almost looks like a red-pink. Oxidation owns this car.

My fun car is a 2003 Honda Accord coupe EX V6 6MT with Navigation in Sapphire Blue Pearl. I've got some rubbing/scuff marks on the passenger side from having my portable fully-enclosed Costco garage rub against the car during a windstorm.

I've been trying to learn how to better detail my cars. My first step, don't let my dad wash my cars. He likes to use the long-handled brush that he got at Costco. I would like to keep my mom's 2006 Taffeta White Civic looking as new as possible.

Okay, that's all for now. I will post pictures of my two cars, and my mom's new Civic, and maybe even our '97 Odyssey, later.

[a.k.a. Patrick]

Amanda, welcome to the site............We're all here to help lend a hand......!
Will you be doing all of this detailing by hand ?

[Amanda Moen]

Originally Posted by a.k.a. Patrick

Amanda, welcome to the site............We're all here to help lend a hand......!
Will you be doing all of this detailing by hand ?

Thank you. As of right now, yep, I'll be doing stuff by hand. I don't have an orbital buffer, or anything like that. Plus, I'd be likely to do more damage than good.

Yesterday I used some polisher on the Accord, and the damage on the passenger side isn't nearly as noticeable as it was. It's not white anymore. It's still there, but you can't see it unless you're standing next to it, now. Before you could see it from several feet away.

I've given up on the rear bumper of the Accord, though. I noticed that the paint is peeling really bad at the base of it. I want to find out the name of the body/paint shop that my dealership uses. That way I know to never use them again. Thankfully, underneath the peeling paint is more Sapphire Blue Pearl paint, which may be the reason that it's peeling and chipping so bad. For my car's 5th birthday (August 2008) she's receiving a complete repaint, and full clearbra treatment.

[PrinzII]

Amanda,

You might want to be careful because that may be a sign of clearcoat failure.

[Amanda Moen]

Originally Posted by PrinzII

Amanda,

You might want to be careful because that may be a sign of clearcoat failure.

The rear bumper was actually repainted due to clearcoat failure caused by the taillights. The clearcoat was literally peeling off. The taillights had rough edges/burrs on them, so they'd rub against the body panels and cause the clearcoat failure. There was a TSB out for this problem, though.

I took it in to get fixed. When I got it back the paint looked worse. Instead of it being smooth and peeling it now had the texture of an orange peel. It looked like the body/paint shop had just applied another layer of clear coat. You could still see where the original clearcoat had been peeling off.

I took it back about a week later, and told my service writer that I wasn't happy, and wanted the body/paint shop to repaint it. The paint has been flaking off since the repaint. At least it's not where anybody can see it. Unless they're underneath the car.

I've given up on this paint. I feel that I'm not dealing with clearcoat failure anymore, but I'm dealing with paint failure. I've gotten use to crying every time I wash my car due to the paint chips that end up on my wash mitt.

I think it's really sad that the paint on our 16 year old Geo Metro convertible (that only had clearcoat added after the test drive to prevent rusting caused by the dealerships temporary plate scratching through the paint on the trunk) is holding up better than the paint on my 5 year old Accord.

The Metro has lots of spots on the hood where the paint is gone due to rocks, but the paint isn't peeling or flaking off at all. The Metro just needs some really good TLC to look good.

I'd expect the paint quality on a $28k car to be better than the paint on a $10k car, but that isn't the case. I do believe it's due to the changes in paint ingredients.

I've decided that, when I can afford to, I'm going to send the Accord to a good body/paint shop to get fixed up. Have the little dents taken care of, that 1mmX1mm rust spot on the roof taken care of, and repainted. Then she can sit until the paint cures. Once the paint is cured she gets to be covered in clearbra; front bumper, fenders, hood, A pillars, rear bumper, wing, etc.

I'm going to try and surf this forum more. Hopefully I'll learn lots and any future posts won't be me complaining so much about the paint.

[RDAVEX7]

Welcome from Yakima

[shine]

Welcome to Autopia. I've got some CC failure around my taillights as well, but its not a Honda. Failing paint/CC stinks.

Keep those brushes off the paint!