THe clearcoat on top of my maxima is beginning to flake a good bit, and I cant really afford to paint it right now...what are some things that i can do to minimize the damage to my paint, and minimize/stop the flaking of my clearcoat?

I can't post pictures right now, but i can explain the cirucmstances that started it. It began last summer as a spot of bird poop that stayed on the car through the course of a couple of 100+ degree summer days in direct sunlight. I got it washed off, and a few months later, it flaked off, and my body man told me not to touch it with anything, that it would make it worse. well, it continued to get bigger, and then i had to park it because of transmission trouble, and was unable ot wash it regularly, which started another spot on the other side of the top. the paint has gotten rather rough to the touch on the majority of the car, and i am planning to clay bar it when i get it back out of the shop, and do a full and total detail. my spolier acts like its gonna start next, and i really don't want it to. the spots on top are almost 3 feet long, and a few inches wide, right next to the rain gutters on both sides.

what can i do to minimize/stop this?

would that new NXT sealer from Meguair's do anything to help?

thanks everyone

Michael

 

wait, why are you clay baring? thats for like overspray and things of that nature, bird poop eats through clear coat like a champ unless you get it off fast. I would say that you would have to take it somewhere. you could try to wax around it to protect it if your gonna do anyhting. post a pic that wll help out. but for now i would call your body man and let him know and ask him what he thinks you can do to minimize it. i just say that cause he knows excatly what it looks like. the other thing i would do is if its not moving, put a car cover on it that will protect it from the elements like sun and rain unbtil you can move it, cause right now the UV rays are just killing your paint and clear coat

has the car ever been repainted before? it sounds like possibly they did not seal it right or something, if its 3 feet long

 

Likewise, has this car ever been repainted? Sometimes clear coat failure will happen "spontaneously", but usually on older cars that have never seen a coat of wax in its life. If you have a lot of acid rain or other pollution it may cause this as well.

Despite what your body man told you, you should definitely keep the whole car waxed, particularly areas that are facing failure if you can't get it repainted right away. Not using a wax to protect it (any wax, do NOT expect any miracles from NXT) only makes matters worse.

Definitely clay the rest of the car once you've had the damaged areas repainted, and keep the car waxed and, above all, clean. Bird bombs and dirty rain water left to dry and BAKE on paint can cause serious chemical damage and you may find yourself back at the bodyshop again if you neglect it too much.

Good luck!

 

it has been repainted, and i am driving it now, as i just got my tranny installed. I was gonna clay bar everything but the top to remove some of the stuff that is on the paint, and then do a full detail from there. I was planning to it as soon as the weather clears up.

I use meguairs, so if anyone has any suggestions about which of their products i need to use, any advice is appreciated...

will post pics whenthe weather dries up