My paint is starting to look/feel very strange... PLEASE Read/Respond!!

OBleedingMe

New Member
Apr 14, 2004
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I own a black 2005 Mustang GT. Lately, I have begun to notice something very strange with my paintjob. Before I describe the potential problem I am seeing/feeling, let me explain how I care for my paint.

- I wash it regularly. About every 500 miles or so. It is washed at a self-service car wash (no nasty brushes for my baby!) with Meguiar's Gold Class Car Wash. I use a Turtle Wax Ultra Soft Mitt to apply the suds.

- I rinse the suds off thoroughly and completely dry it with 100% cotton towels. I then return home, park it in the garage, and go over the car for any new drips that may have seeped out on the way back.

- I throw the towels and wash mitt in the washing machine and use laundry detergent. I use a new wash mitt usually by its third or fourth use because they tend to fall apart after awhile.

- For waxing, I first used Meguiar's Gold Class, but I found this wax quite a pain in the butt to buff out, so I switched to their three step system. Paint Cleaner, Polish, and Carnuba (sp??) Wax. I did the three-step system once, followed the directions to the letter, and have been using the Carnuba Wax on a stand-alone basis ever since. I usually wax every third washing. Between washings, if the car gets dirty, I will occasionally use Meguiar's Quick Detailer.

As you can see, I take meticulous care of my paintjob, so I was dismayed to find that on several areas of the car, particularly the lower ridge that runs the length of the doors/front fenders, the paint is beginning to feel rough. It's also showing up under my spoiler and my right tailight, of all places. There are a few small spots on my doors and my bumper that feel this way as well. The best way I can describe the texture of these areas is almost sandpapery - like someone ran something very coarse over the paint and it peeled off the clear coat. If a light is shone on these spots at the right angle, the rough spots appear faded or grayish in color, almost like there's a film over the area. I tried applying extra wax and buffing it, but that yielded nothing.

I have no idea what could be causing these rough spots. I did have paint work on the hood for scratches, but the hood is perfect and it wouldn't make sense for them to do anything to the door ridges and under the spoiler. And the right tailight baffales me. It's obviously not painted... yet it has the same texture as the rough spots on the painted portions of the car.

Has anyone else experienced these symptoms? Does anyone out there know what the heck this is? Oxidation or something? If I have to drag this car to the dealership (and I wouldn't be surprised if I had to, I've had a string of bad luck with this car from the day I owned it), I'd like to have some ammo so they don't try to get out of fixing it if it is indeed a warranty issue. :(
 
If it is on your taillight. I'm not sure it is a bad paint job. Around your taillight, yes. But on it, no. I would be more inclined to wonder if someone had vandalized your car. But if kept in th egarage. Then that is not terrible likely either. I would have body shop look at it. They might be able to give you a better idea.
 
OBleedingMe said:
I think I'm going to try and take a clay bar to it first, see if it's just embedded road debris.

Edit: PAUL! you beat me to it :D


hey - I'm new here but thought I'd chime in.


A friend had this on his 2001 GT - it was really weird...you'd run your hand along the paint and it'd be smooth and then all of a sudden it felt like sandpaper in one spot. the spots were pretty random too.

when you mentioned the paint work, that's what made me think it was the same thing: overspray. he had had a one or two things on his car repainted and ended up with these spots. they were rough and dull looking as you described.

after trying to get the body shop to fix them without any luck, he just carefully took a clay bar to the areas and after some good elbow grease, they came off cleanly.

give this a try - let me know how it goes.

good luck!

kristina
 
I have a black clearcoat '05 GT. It was made in OCT 04. I got it Nov 5. It has the condition you are describing. Look at it under magnification. You will see that it is UNDER the paint, infinite amounts of tiny inclusions in the factory paint. I have some that are quite large as well. Right now, it is not a problem for me a since the car is otherwise a pleasure to own/drive. I brought this condition to the attention of the dealership (salesman, service advisor and shop foreman) the consensus was that "You really don't want to mess with the factory paint job". I do not share that opinion, however I have not had an opportunity to "Raise Hell" over this. I am not sure what approach to take i.e. soft sell or hard ass. If you bring this up to the dealer, please advise on their position as I would like to get other opinions. Hope this helps put it in perspective for you. Thanks for bringing this up!
 
FASTBLAK said:
I have a black clearcoat '05 GT. It was made in OCT 04. I got it Nov 5. It has the condition you are describing. Look at it under magnification. You will see that it is UNDER the paint, infinite amounts of tiny inclusions in the factory paint. I have some that are quite large as well. Right now, it is not a problem for me a since the car is otherwise a pleasure to own/drive. I brought this condition to the attention of the dealership (salesman, service advisor and shop foreman) the consensus was that "You really don't want to mess with the factory paint job". I do not share that opinion, however I have not had an opportunity to "Raise Hell" over this. I am not sure what approach to take i.e. soft sell or hard ass. If you bring this up to the dealer, please advise on their position as I would like to get other opinions. Hope this helps put it in perspective for you. Thanks for bringing this up!

Just re-read your question, there is gray (primer?) under the paint. You may have been 'sandblasted' at some point while driving. Every chip in the paint I have shows as a gray spot.

I still recommend looking at it under magnification (10X if possible). This will go a long way in determining what it is.
 
It could be overspray from the hood work, or possibly "plastic rash": when cars are preped for paint paper is used for masking the immediate area and alot of shops use a sheet of plastic for the bulk of the car. Sometimes if the plastic is applied to the car before it's dryed from it's prepaint bath and then the heat cycle is used for paint cure, a blemish will be caused by the trapped moisture. Colorsand and polish is the way to remove this...take it back to the shop and ask them what they think, a professional with his hands on it will get you the quickest answer.
 
I also have that "film" look on my black 05 (on the trunk). It's not rough, however. I've mentioned it on these boards before. Meguiar's Scratch X seemed to do the trick. Compared to the other section of the trunk that had the same issue, most of it came off. Scratch X works in stages. It won't come off in one application, but after 2-3 times, it will work. Also, could this possibly be dried tree sap?

Good luck
 
Overspray

My hood was repainted I did not notice any overspray until I got it home in the garage under lights the car had overspray all over it .I took it back and they had to claybar the whole car. I am still finding some spots so I go over them now when I find them with a claybar.Make the dealer fix those spots if there are enough of them you will get A FREE detail. When you get it back demand that they show you the car in paint booth lights you will see the overspray.
 
Everyone who replyd is wrong
The sandpaper feel is Brake dust.

from the railroad car it was shipped on.

My 2000 taurus had that feel when I first washed it..I about crapped and drove straight to the dealer. he said that sometimes the cars in the front of each rail car get hot brake dust that comes off the trains and it is so hot it sticks to the clearcoat. it is only noticeable when you wash it and you are feeling the body areas. The dealer did an "Acid" wash for 60 seconds and it breaks loose the dust and then a rinse and its done. the acid is dilute and will not harm the paint.

take it to your dealer and get it done.

My paint was smooth as glass after and the paint looks great even after 5 years.
 
some prick egged my car(when I was in the house) and I got a white impact mark on my car. and speckels of paint missing and some metal showing.. is there some pepboy special that I can fix this with.. or am I SOL :(
 
Wash the car with Meguiars soap clay bar the whole car.Then use Meguiars Medallion paint cleaner.Use the back of your hand to feel the areas again.If the spots are still there.It could be Ford not painting the car right.Take it to the dealer and let them look at it.All these places you describe are very easy targets for road contaminents.Hope this helps.
 
Also use liquid detergent on the towels.The 3 step system isnt enough if the dirt is embeded in the clearcoat.If you have a black car the dirt is easily imbedded due to the sun and black getting so much hotter.Good luck.
 
boxerperson said:
Sounds like oxidation to me. Somebody painted your car wrong.

Take it to the dealer and demand that they re-paint it in their bodyshop under warranty.

SomeBODY? Hehe... Bad robot. Poor paint skills... No oil for you... LOL! J/K Boxerperson... Had to throw that in... I agree 100%!

Get it there NOW, meaning UNDER 12/12 Warranty (Bumper to bumper), just in case. IF there is a problem, it is NOT yet widely spread or heard of to initiate a TSB. DO NOT WAIT for the paint to come off.

Don't demand anything or you will get nowhere, but stand firm. You ARE entitled to an ENTIRE repaint IF there is a problem with the paint, and I think you qualify. Mine is black too, and have no issues... YET! You can bet I will watch for this!

The care of your vehicles should be just fine, and they should only ask if you used a machine car wash. Mine came with a bucket of care items, so I use that with Mothers stuff.