As cars age, you often begin to see discoloration, staining, peeling… all sorts of problems appearing with paint. Although these can be staved off with regular washing and waxing, many have specific, sometimes preventable causes. At Robert’s Collision and Repair, we’ve seen it all when it comes to paint job problems, and we have all the tools and talent to sand down, repaint, repair, and wax your car’s paint job until it is seamless and shiny again. But just in case you’ve got some professional curiosity about how paint problems develop, here’s a few common reasons paint can wear:
Craters and air pockets can develop and mess up a vehicle’s paint job. These are a result of a bad paint job, to begin with. To paint cars, we use a spray gun to coat the vehicle evenly, but if the gun is too close to the car or is moved too slowly, air bubbles can form and when they pop, it peels back that paint. This happens pretty quickly after a paint job is first done, rather than a symptom of wear and tear. Unfortunately, the only solve for this is to sand and repaint, this time though have an expert do it like the ones here at Robert’s Collision and Repair!
Similar bumps and bubbles can appear on the car’s paint job but instead, they swell up more than they pop. This is due to moisture that is present underneath the paint and is common in areas with frequent humidity. The same look issue can result from oil, grease, or rust lying underneath the paint job. As with craters, just about the only thing you can do is either have it painted over (which will result in a patchwork look) or have it sanded down, have the moisture, rust, or whatever is causing the lift solved, and then a new even coat applied.
Each car is painted with three layers; a primer to help adhere paint to the car’s body, the paint itself, and a top coat to seal it off. Peeling happens when any of those layers stop sticking together. The top coat can peel away from the paint, or paint from primer, or primer from the car itself. This can happen because either the paint was not applied and layer correctly in the first place, or if the paint is seriously damaged by a scratch or dent, exposing the layers to the elements and causing it to start peeling. For example, moisture, rust, or dirt and grime can begin accumulating underneath the paint layers starting at the scratch and exacerbate the peeling. There’s not much else that can be done to solve this, apart from sanding down and starting over for a better seal.
The most common problem you’ll see is chalking, which results in this creamy white discoloration pictured above. It is also frequently referred to as fading, oxidation, or weathering. This happens when, over time, the pigments in the paint itself start dulling because they aren’t getting protected from the sun and elements due to a lack of protective coatings like wax or lacquer. There are a couple ways we can repair this kind of discoloration at Robert’s Collision and Repair. One way to go about it is to sand down and repaint and refinish, usually a go-to solution for most paint issue. We can also regloss to protect the pigments again, and it can bring back some of the brightness your car’s color had before the fading. Washing, waxing, and polishing your car regularly can help prevent this from starting in the first place too.
These are just a handful of issues you can see with paint on a car, immediately or over time. There are many other ways car paint can wear down too. If you have any questions or concerns about your car’s paint fading, peeling, or discoloring in any way, give us a call at Robert’s Collision & Repair! We’ll be able to determine what the issue is with your car’s paint, and work to recolor your vehicle from there! Learn more on our web page about vehicle paint; https://www.roberts-autorepair.com//auto-body. See you next time!