Hi All,

I'm posting the issue I'm having on my 2003 Mini Cooper S to get some suggestions..

Several month ago, the paint on my mini started fade out from the top of the hood. Not sure if you can see it clearly from the pictures, but it basically looks like all clear coat are off (non-glossy at all). I see some light scratches too.

I went to the local detail shop/body shop they have no idea what is causing this.

The white spot on the picture was from detail shop, they tried to some acid and wipe it off. That didn't do anything.

Do you know if it's manufactural issue? or any suggestions? It looks like sunburn but I don't understand why it didn't start on the roof top. (my roof top looks perfect)

I'm trying to sell this car and afraid how much the dealer will deduct value for this..

Any suggestions or any ideas would be appreciated. Thank you guys.

 

No idea or suggestions?

 

Wow. That acid made it worse :(

Give it a wax with Nufinish, then go trade it

 

It looks like your bonnet may have been repainted at one time. If the roof is body color and still very glossy, then I would definitely suspect a repaint. It may be possible for a body shop to shoot a coat of clear over the existing paint job, if its not too badly degraded.

 

Thank you guys for the reply. I might just try to wax it out first...

Thank you again!!

 

Use NuFinish. It'll work better and last longer than other waxes

 

+1
I kinda suspect it was resprayed...
If it was due to care or environmental issues I would expect the roof, etc to look similar....
Perhaps a NON-OEM paint system was used...like a single stage paint that did not require a clear-coat...
that could explain why the paint looks oxidized.....like an older car in the PRE-clear-coat days.....

 

Single stage paintjobs, at least decent ones, don't just start rapidly fading all of a sudden like this though, they also usually won't look quite as clear and crisp as a modern paint and clear style job.

 

respray clearcoat has a tendency to delaminate after 5 years or so in a large number of cases

pictures aren't totally clear to me but I'd bet a dollar that's what's up. You can't just shoot more clear over it - well not if you expect it to last long. It needs to be sanded, base color sprayed and then cleared . . .

 

Thank you for all of your responses.

There is a very high possibility it could be repainted. This is my 6 yrs with the mini and it started faded out last year (exactly 5 yrs) and I got an used car.

What would be my best option in terms of the cost if I'm going to sell this car in couple month?

Should I get a re-paint job done? or just put clear coat on it? or just simply get a used hood?

 

Imo, since the car is pretty old, you will not get what you spend on the repair back....you might just want to live with it, and take the deduction when you sell it.
looks like your only other option is a respray....so be without the car for a few days plus the cost, then hope the paint is a good match....
liklyhood of finding a good hood in the same color, then swapping it out with the labour, and having the paint match ok is kinda remote....
only way to tell is ask a paint/bodyshop for an estimate...might get lucky on the paint cost, but i'm thinking if you need a rental for 3 days plus the cost of the respray....adds up.

 

1. You might want to at least ask a GOOD detail guy to look at it. My recommendations are off of poor pictures so MAYBE this is a recoverable situation

2. If you need to respray - just accepting a lower sell/trade cost is viable - don't do it and eat the loss. (this is what I would do)

3. If you decide to respray - color matching is no longer an issue as the color codes and mix formulas are readily available to any decent body shop; they can match the ORIGINAL color. BUT the mixers come out to 'original' color and if yours has faded, well then . . . but it appears you have a 'dark silver' which does not fade nearly as much as a metallic red ... don't forget the stripes, which changed fade under them and do you plan to replace? .....

 

Plasti dip it!

 

Thank you, I guess getting an estimate from paintshop will be the first thing I need to do. Trying to sell this car with webuyanycar.com and I heard they deduct so much for the paint job fails.

 

Thank you, I'm planning to go to detailshop & paintshop this weekend try to get the estimate. If they call over 1k for repaint then I would just accept the deduction.

 

This is what I'm thinking also....that hood has been painted in the paint. Probably a low quality clear was sprayed on it, and that's what it's fading. Your best bet is to take it by a body shop and ask them what they can do.

 

bring it over, I'll respray and clear for the cost of materials plus lunch

I was an assistant instructor of auto body repair at a votec hs for a time

we can make it look great for long enough to sell it!

but note that even a spray quart of a high metallic color plus a decent clear will cost as much as $300 just for materials . . . add in labor for prep and painting and you get to ouch fast. I decided to learn how to shoot auto paints when repainting a classic Mini bonnet cost me nearly $500.

(a job like this can be turned around in a day ... base spray coats go down within minutes of each other and clear must go down close after that. A qwik dry clear is safe to deliver in a few hours)

 

Not sure if it is the same issue you are having, but I had fading/oxidation on the center of my hood pretty bad. I had really good luck with the 3M Paint Restoration Kit. I got it at Pep Boys and it comes with most of the stuff you need aside from a polisher/orbital sander.

http://www.shop3m.com/60455054274.html

I only have so many photos of the before since I was ashamed of the way it looked, but here is a pic of after I had done the passenger side and compared it to the undone drivers side.




And here is the after. The stuff worked amazing.