Clear coat problems

**tobeforever** · 04-26-2007, 07:53 AM

I have a 2004 COBRA that the clear coat is chipping off (only in certain spots)....the dealer says it is from rocks hitting the hood. I happen to know that the same dealer did some "body work" "a couple of years ago" on it. Sounds fishy to me...but why would it be chipping away on only a few spots and not all of the rock chipped spots. and why after only 2/3 years - now keep in mind the car is only 3 years old (in May 2007) So whats up do yall think they messed up the pait job by not adding some chemical to the clear coat when putting it on when they did the "body work" or is it normal for FORD clear coat to chip away after rocks hitting a 3 year old paint job. And also keep in mind not all rock spots are chipping away. Give me your feed back PLEASE.....I am going today to gripe about to dealer and I want to make sure all of my gripes are ligit....

**SpoiledMan** · 04-26-2007, 08:07 AM

Do you have any pictures?

**brwill2005** · 04-26-2007, 08:37 AM

Rocks can obviously cause damage to paint. The damage can be compounded by paint that is applied incorrectly. I have seen this first hand on my own vehicle. It would be difficult to prove that the dealer applied the paint incorrectly though. What size are the chips? I picture would definitely be great.

**tobeforever** · 04-26-2007, 08:56 AM

I do have pixs but not on the Computer to show you.....The chips started out really small and I dont believe it has really effected the paint under the clear coat - in other words I can still see the paint and I cannot see the metal or fiberglass whatever the hood is made out of...also there is NO indention where the rocks supposidly hit.....It is just the Clear coat lifting up from the paint.....Anyways to finish what I was saying...The chips started small and some are still but one has really gotten bigger about the size maybe a little bigger than a silver dollar. Others have remained smaller than a dime.....What do you think...????

**GTFreddy** · 04-26-2007, 10:48 AM

I think it might be clearcoat failure considering the size of the chips. Silver dollars are pretty big. Rock chips would have been small dimples into the clearcoat and quite possibly the paint. You should post some pictures for furthur analysis.

**itb76** · 04-26-2007, 11:48 AM

Yes, photos would definitely help. I have rock chips all over the front of my car, owing to the 155,000 miles that are on it. It was repainted with two stage about 117,000 miles ago (the thick paint probably contributed to the chipping). None of the chips have clear coat failure around them. Wife`s car has 168,000 miles, original paint, and no clear coat failure around the chips.

I would say something (contamination? improperly sanded?) caused the clear to not bond properly to the color coat.

**tobeforever** · 04-26-2007, 02:12 PM

Thank you all so very much for your opinions...We will see what happens tonight @ 4:30 I `ll post again tomorrow.....Any other opinions b/4 4PM are greatly appreciated....I will check one more time b/4 I leave work....

**tobeforever** · 04-26-2007, 02:14 PM

do you think maybe old paint too would that contribute to clear coat not sticking but wont that also chip away from vehicle.... I know the Dealer just has a quart of my paint just laying around...how old it is I wonder? by the way if it matters the color is mystic (green , purple, and blue)