0verboost Posted January 4, 2010 Share Posted January 4, 2010 The paint on some panels of my car is starting to show some crow feets. It really sucks ass because I think the only way to get rid of it is to repaint the car. From what I have researched... it's the clear coat or paint failing? Not sure if this was a common thing for Subarus but it sure is for the 2007+ Honda Civics. There are starting to have a lot of complaints about it now. I haven't took pics of my paint yet but here are some examples of what I am talking about. These are pics from Hondas. http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h298/stealthnight/P6070034-1.jpg http://imgur.com/7KChn.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rkl303 Posted January 4, 2010 Share Posted January 4, 2010 wow thats pretty bad. I see it here and tehre on my paint but wow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Euclid Posted January 5, 2010 Share Posted January 5, 2010 I've got it on the passenger side of my hood (above the turbo) and on the rear portion of my passenger side roof and c-pillar. Mine's in '05 OBP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeFromPA Posted January 5, 2010 Share Posted January 5, 2010 It affects 06+ Civics.....my SI has it on the spoiler. But it's all under the clearcoat and hardly noticeable 2 days after washing the car (due to dirt), so not a huge deal. And I'll be at 100k this coming December, so a few paint flaws are no big deal. Impossible to notice if there are any on my 08 LGT in SWP. Damn near impossible to see swirls too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ssej Posted January 5, 2010 Share Posted January 5, 2010 Try claybarring your car? I did that a little while back usinghttp://www.turtlewax.com/img/products/pd_ice_liquidclaykit.jpg and it got rid of a LOT of junk on my paint. Even where touchup paint had been applied, it made it look nearly invisible compared to before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brady Posted January 5, 2010 Share Posted January 5, 2010 I haven't seen this on my legacy, but that is definitely a case of failing paint or clearcoat. That's what my dad's 87 911 looks like on the whole right side of the car. It was obviously repainted at some point in the past, and not done properly (plus, I think they clear coated the car on that side and it's supposed to be a single stage black). It could be either the clearcoat failing, or it could be the paint beneath it. Either way, you are correct that the only way to correct that is to repaint. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OCDetails Posted January 6, 2010 Share Posted January 6, 2010 Ouch!!!! Yeah, that is dying clearcoat. Nothing you can do about it other than mourn. If it were contamination on the surface then you could clay it off, but when the paint is cracked like that, there isn't anything you can do to fix it. Clearcoat isn't much more than just clear paint and not some magic substance. Subaru did a really crappy job of clearcoating cars for the past five model years or so. I believe that has been the tune I've sung for the past five years in fact. I'm pretty shocked to see it on five year old paint though. Even for as crappy as the Subie clear is, I wouldn't expect it to do that on well maintained cars like Euclid's. This is the type of thing you usually see on cars that have sat in Arizona baking for several years without waxing or any type of protection from the elements. The bottom line is that the ONLY way to repair it is to repaint the panel. You'll have to sand it all down to the sheet metal and then respray entirely. Forget what the Civic guys will tell you about just removing the clear coat like it was some sort of plastic screen protector on their phone or something. You can't remove just the clear. It is all or nothing. Per panel you are looking at between $300 and $800 to repaint, so I would start saving up. Or if your car's paint is still under any type of warranty then I would take it up with SOA. This is the kind of thing that is fault of the factory and not necessarily 100% the fault of the owner. Historically you have to neglect your paint pretty bad to get it to do that, so it is ridiculous that four year old paint is doing it. Absolutely ridiculous. Of course it isn't suprising to me. I mean, my '05 Legacy front end looked worse in 6 months than my seven year old Accord did when I sold it. It only makes sense that a 4 year old Subaru would look worse than a 12 year old Subaru should look. Hell, my 1977 Subaru didn't even have cracked paint when I sold it in 1997, so that just tells you where our paint standards have gone in the last few decades. lol _________________________________________ “Cleanliness becomes more important as godliness becomes more unlikely.” O C D E T A I L S . C O M OCDETAILS BLOG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OCDetails Posted January 6, 2010 Share Posted January 6, 2010 NOTE: The worst part about clear coat fractures like that is that you can't ever wax or polish your car again without making them stand out even more. I detailed a car this summer that was covered in marks like that (crows feet is a great description of them) and I advised the owner of the problem. He honestly hadn't noticed them much since he just barely bought the car. I told him that he may not notice them now, but the second I put polish on the paint, it is going to fill in those cracks and I'll never be able to get it out and they are going to stand out from a mile away. I wish I would have taken before/after shots of it to illustrate the difference, but let's just say you could definitely see them. It seems to happen more on dark dark colors like dark greens and black. Pontiac is the most common problem car from what I have experienced, but I've seen it on older Toyota paint here and there as well. I haven't seen it on new paint jobs as much , but like I said, it takes some pretty serious neglect to get those types of marks usually. To see them in newer cars represents a serious problem with the factory paint process. _________________________________________ “Cleanliness becomes more important as godliness becomes more unlikely.” O C D E T A I L S . C O M OCDETAILS BLOG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0verboost Posted January 6, 2010 Author Share Posted January 6, 2010 I talked to Subaru about it and they are not going to do anything about it. I care but do not care at the same time. I'm just going to have to deal with the paint like this until I am able to drop some money on new paint. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeFromPA Posted January 6, 2010 Share Posted January 6, 2010 As OCD has said, the best way to deal with it (in my opinion) when it's not severe is to just thoroughly protect the paint. The spoiler on my 06 Civic SI started doing it around 35-40k miles. At first it was so little I thought it was embedded contamination or a very limited spot. Wasn't worth it to me to argue for it getting fixed and have my car out of commission for several days. Now, at 80k miles and slightly less than 4 years since I picked it up off the truck with 4 miles on it, the spoiler is lightly peppered with that stuff across the entire top (oddly enough, I haven't seen it on the sides or underside). It does pop-out when the car is polished and sealed, but it also seems to slow down the new development. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OCDetails Posted January 6, 2010 Share Posted January 6, 2010 I talked to Subaru about it and they are not going to do anything about it. I care but do not care at the same time. I'm just going to have to deal with the paint like this until I am able to drop some money on new paint. Just be advised that if this is going to impact the entire car that it just took your condition from Excellent to Poor when you try to sell it. You are looking at somewhere around $2 or $3 thousand bucks worth of a hit if you try and trade it in. That is significant if this is something that is the fault of SOA anyway. The paint on your car is the most expensive part of the entire vehicle. To reapply a factory quality paint job can cost between $6000 and $12000 bucks depending on the size and color. We are talking serious money here. I've seen cars totaled out by insurance companies due to nothing more than paint damage. Some cars have clear coats on them that are $60,000 per gallon. Jay Leno reviewed the new Vette and said that was what they use on the carbon fiber on that car. Anyway, don't blow this off unless you are comfortable losing a lot of money in the value of your car. Don't wait till you can afford to repaint it either. That will never happen. As soon as you have enough to cover your deductible then I would make an insurance claim on it if you care about the car at all. Those marks never appear just one here and there. They spread until your entire panel is covered with them and the car looks like crap. Take it to a body shop and see if they can tell you what caused it and then take that info back to SOA. Honestly, if it were my car I'd be getting a lawyer involved. It is unacceptable for a factory paint job to last less time than a $500 MAACO paint job. Granted, I am the type to get a little more outraged at this kind of thing than most, but it is still something you can get justifiably pissed off about. _________________________________________ “Cleanliness becomes more important as godliness becomes more unlikely.” O C D E T A I L S . C O M OCDETAILS BLOG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darkness of Death Posted January 6, 2010 Share Posted January 6, 2010 subaru is known for their "soft" paint...that's why i comes off so easily Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OCDetails Posted January 19, 2010 Share Posted January 19, 2010 subaru is known for their "soft" paint... that's why i comes off so easily They are certainly becoming known for it, that is for sure. Up till 2005 Subaru actually had really good paint. It was rally proof paint, but now it is so fragile that city driving will chip the hell out of it. Seriously, I've seen ten year old Subies that spend 80% of their time either in AutoX events or off road Rally events that have better looking paint than some of the 2007 WRXs that I've worked on. Subaru has shit for paint in the last five years and everybody but Subaru seems to acknowledge that. _________________________________________ “Cleanliness becomes more important as godliness becomes more unlikely.” O C D E T A I L S . C O M OCDETAILS BLOG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exsterminator Posted January 19, 2010 Share Posted January 19, 2010 I have only had my OB XT for 7 months and the paint was the first and most apparent difference in quality between Subaru and our other car (04 X5). The Subie paint chips and scratches so easily, I am wary of even letting my family touch it! The BMW paint has been bullet proof, really takes a ding from a rock on the freeway to make a chip. With the other crappy fitment issues I have experienced, as much as I like the engine in the car and the AWD, this will be my last Subaru and I will spend the extra cash on a premium marque. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtyDirtyHouse Posted January 28, 2010 Share Posted January 28, 2010 Mine OBP 05 Leggy is doing this too. AAARRRrrrrrrrrrr the hood AND front fenders towards the headlight. 5 year old clearcoat that has been maticulously cared for with proper washing AND waxing AND stored in a covered garage?????????? You've gotta be kidding me!! This PISSES me off! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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