Alight, so my 2008 350z is getting too much sun. I thought I took pretty good care of it (wax, clay bar) atleast twice a year. I guess the az sun is catching up on it. Looks like beginning clear coat failure. I noticed it on the rear hatch first but now it looks like the roof is getting it too. Am I doomed or is there something that can be done. Is it possible to wet sand it and reapply clearcoat? Pics...

 

I don't recommend wet sanding it and reapplying clear cost because you'll be sanding paint off too. You'd have to repaint it but then it would come out uneven unless you're an expert at it. If I were you, I'd take it to a shop and save yourself the trouble.

By the way, doesn't waxing your car slowly wear out your paint/clearcoat?

 

No offense but from what it looks like in the photos, you were probably damaging your clear coat more and more every time you attempted to protect it. Clearly you were doing it wrong. Your clear coat shows severe wear and tons of scratches!

 

Maybe I'm not seeing it because of my monitor or being colorblind, but is there actually any discoloration on the hatch or roof? All I'm seeing is heavy swirl marks and scratches on the hatch and light swirls on the roof. Unless there's obvious oxidation, fading or color disparity your clear coat should be ok; it just needs to be polished to take out those defects. If you want to err on the side of caution you can take it to a detailer or body shop that has access to a paint thickness gauge to be sure.

On the practice of waxing and clay bar every six months, the former should probably be done more often and the latter less often. Old school wax won't last that long, so if that's as often as you want to apply a product I'd look into synthetic sealants or coatings. Claying does remove contaminants, but can also mar the paint in the process, so I usually only do it prior to polishing, so any damage that's put in is corrected right after.

 

find someone to do paint correction, it may be salvageable (and will get rid of all the horrid scratches).. then have them seal the paint if they can save it

 

I agree find a detailer that does paint correction as it might be salvageable.

I also agree you are doing something wrong when you are caring for your paint.

As for the waxing and claybaring, three months with a good sealant would be a better time interval especially if this car is sitting out in the sun all the time. Don't take your car to an automatic wash as it will just strip the wax off of your car. If you have to only use touchless car washes.

Using a clay bar should be as needed and twice a year is probably more than enough. Also be aware a clay bar will lightly mar the paint. There is less of a chance with fine clay and enough lubricant but it can still happen.

 

If you are able to save the paint, I suggest reviewing these videos showing you correct washing and polishing techniques. These will work for you old paint (once corrected) or new paint if you have to repaint your Z.

http://adamspolishes.com/video

 

also dont use dawn soap, it strips the wax

 

With my experience, with all the dust we get in az, the clear coat is going to get scratch. Its near impossible to advoid it. But if your paint is fading, youll need a shop to reclear it. No other way around. My roush is park out in the az sun 24/7 and the paint is actually starting to flake off.

 

If you don't touch dirty paint it won't scratch on it own. And if you are using proper washing techniques and have a good coating/sealant on the car it makes it much harder to introduce scratches as most of the dirt will come of as soon as you rinse it.

 

Looks like some scratches and swirl marks. I would Megs Ultimate compound and Swirl X before applying a good sealant and wax.

 

Menzerna is better.