This is a little more infuriating than “mildly infuriating” but I can’t think of a better place to post it

Edit: I’d like to clarify that I live in East Tennessee, not an area like Florida! I do appreciate the hints that it might be clearcoat goblins though, and I’ve left a saucer of milk and cheese out to ward them away

  • @Adulated_Aspersion@lemmy.world
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    1152 months ago

    Unless you saw a person do this, I would assume that the stranger is the sun.

    Sun damages the clear coat, causing it to bubble. The bubbles continue to expand and then crack. When you drive, the turbulence from wind force pulls the flaky clear off.

  • @WhiteOakBayou@lemmy.world
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    152 months ago

    Maybe a person but I’ve had that happen too and didn’t suspect anyone. My friend who does auto body work said it was because I never wax my truck and park in the sun. Hopefully it’s the same for you. Here’s to a better day!

    • @Ironfacebuster@lemmy.worldOP
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      22 months ago

      Just curious, did it also have those streaks? Obviously my first thought was fingernails (could be because I have the urge to peel cracking clear coat and I’m projecting lol). It’s just bizarre happening when it did, and where I live since it’s essentially been cloudy and overcast just about every day this month! I needed to get it fixed regardless, so no harm no foul I guess?

      Thanks for the tips, and here’s to perfect clear coat and smooth paint to you!

      • Glimpythegoblin
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        12 months ago

        My current car is shedding its clear coat. It looks like it has streaks like that all over it. I think it’s just where the clear first lifts. I doubt it’s a random attack.

      • nomad
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        12 months ago

        The streaks kinda look like someone poured a liquid there which migrated outwards under the paint. Maybe paint thinner or break fluid? Any neighborhood beef?

  • @waz@feddit.uk
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    102 months ago

    That’s a stonechip, the impact mark is the little white dot slightly off centre of the patch of missing clearcoat. Then you can see the almost water mark streaks as moisture has crept under it from that mark, as the adhesion to the layer below is slowly destroyed with heat and cold cycles. Then either wind or washing the car has lifted it and it peeled off. Jetwashing the car is the biggest risk for these little defects.

    • @Ironfacebuster@lemmy.worldOP
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      12 months ago

      Not necessarily a stone chip, but likely a tree branch chip that started it! This is the rear wing on my car so I feel like a stone hitting it is a little unlikely, but ultimately not impossible I suppose. The spot wasn’t growing at all when I originally noticed it, then one day it was massive. I always took care around it because I obviously didn’t want to make it worse by washing it.

      I suppose it’s possible that the horrendous rain around here did it though!

        • bizarroland
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          22 months ago

          For real, they make like a $30 can of 2K clear coat that has a little button in the bottom. Watch some YouTube videos on how to apply it, tape off or mask off everything around it, respray and you’re done.

    • @Ironfacebuster@lemmy.worldOP
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      32 months ago

      No, I’m just assuming based on the streaks left by what I assumed to be nails

      I didn’t know that sub existed, thanks! I’ll wait on posting there until I’ve confirmed it was actually fingernails, since the other comments said it may be something else 😉

  • FartsWithAnAccent
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    42 months ago

    Looks like it might’ve just worn away or was impacted by some road debris maybe, I don’t know that I’d jump straight to a person intentionally doing this.

    • @Ironfacebuster@lemmy.worldOP
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      -12 months ago

      The couple of reasons I jumped straight to it being a person are the streaks that really look like nail marks and the area I live in. People around here (without giving away EXACTLY where I live, of course) are either young and reckless or on some sort of drug (be it meth, opiates, etc). I can absolutely see someone walking up to it in a parking lot, seeing the already cracking clearcoat, and chipping away at it!

      I was hoping to get some comments asking for more information so I could give more relevant answers, but everyone seems to be assuming I live in suntown USA!

      • FartsWithAnAccent
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        12 months ago

        Doesn’t need to be super sunny, but either way some clear coat repair will fix it up!