WRXs have cheap paintjobs but they are b/c (at least all the recent-vintage Subies I've ever had/done were). No, no, that "cheap" comment is not a flame or anything
I had one for a few years and got to know its paint pretty well. Heh heh, gotta remember that it's an Imprezza, not exactly a Bentley-quality vehicle, no matter how fast them make it go, that's why they're affordable, lightweight, and *so* good performance-wise. There are areas that aren't cleared, mostly out of the way spots like under the hood, in the jambs, etc. If you hit those you can get some paint transfer that might give you a
Any stone chips can cause the same thing. With red, it only takes a *little* pigment from the color coat to give you the pink pad thing.
If you were suffering clearcoat failure, you'd know it! The affected areas would look like crap.
I wouldn't do anything between washes unless I got a bird bomb. Subie clear isn't all that hard and I'd worry about marring it. It doesn't take long to wash a WRX, so I'd try to not touch the paint with *anything* except when doing a full wash/detail.
The stupid CC is coming off o the hoodscoop, and the apparently repainted pass fender and front bumper. Not sure if the hood was done(carfax told me it had an accident after I noticed the replaced fender). Either way, Subaru's don't have the greatest paint. But that's ok, I like the car plenty despite that. I can always get it painted a custom color.