Super White Tacoma. Rough Paint On The Hood & Roof. What Now?

I have a 2010 Super White Tacoma. It's never been waxed. It wasn't washed for many years. It lives outside near an interstate highway in Dallas, Texas, so it gets lots of sun and air pollution. The paint wasn't chalky, just very dull. There were black spots on the paint that a touchless car wash couldn't remove. It looked like I had parked next to a fire and gotten soot all over it.

I took it for a spinning brush wash, claying, and hand wax at a car wash. The brushes took the black spots off the sides. After a lot of rubbing, the clay removed the black spots on the hood and roof. The car wash manager wouldn't wax it because the paint on the hood and roof isn't smooth to the touch like the sides of the truck.

They're just a car wash. They couldn't fix the rough hood and roof and they couldn't tell me what needed to be done to fix it.

I don't see any missing paint on the hood and roof. Everything is still white. It's shiny enough after the wax and clay that I can see reflections of other cars on the hood, but the horizontal surfaces, including the hood, feel rough.

I don't expect to make it beautiful again, but it seems like there should be a way to smooth out the hood and roof so I can get the truck waxed or polished and keep it that way to save the paint from more damage. I'm trying to avoid the cost of repainting it. I can't do any of the work myself right now. I need to know what it really needs and how much that should cost so I don't get screwed when I go looking for someone to do it for me.

Thanks for any advice you can provide.

 

Please post up some pictures as that will help us make better suggestions. What brand of clay were you using? You may need something more aggressive.

I would start first by purchasing Carpro IronX, this will remove any industrial fallout and who knows what else you will have on there. Then get a new clay bar, I would suggest something more aggressive than what is sold at Autozone or Walmart.

First things first....need pictures.

 

Most likely, the clear/paint coat has oxidized from exposure to the sun and elements.

The only "fix" I know of....is to wet sand it with a 4000 grit paper followed with a 2K urethane clear coat.

Think of the surface magnified. It will look like mountains and valleys. You are feeling the peaks of the mountains. The Wax is filling the valleys.

Sanding with wet 4000 will change the mountain peaks to plateaus. The 2K clear coat will be like a glacier covering the plateaus and filling the valleys. Plus the 2K is very tough finish.

 

Super white paint is single stage not the typical color then clear coat on top if it. White paint after that many years is starting to oxidize. Hence the panels that face the sun are failing before the sides that aren't as direct of a hit.

Polishing is the solution though as ace said some prep work before hand is recommended. The iron remover will break down the ferrous metal bits, clay helps pull out the rest. Not sure what the black spots are though it sounds like tar, of course there are products that break it down as well for easier removal. Just something to help the clay since claying can be a little too aggressive if you're at the point of using it as a scrubber.

 

Thanks for the replies!

Ace96, I don't have anything to photograph. The wash and clay took off the black stuff. I didn't take a photo before the black stuff was gone. All I have now is white paint. I can feel the hood and roof are rough, but I can't capture that with a camera. I don't know what brand of clay or lube they used. I wasn't close enough to see. All I could see was them spraying lube from a spray bottle and rubbing. Sorry I don't have more for you.

Knute and Gorram, that's great! It sounds like it should be fixable by a good detailer. That's what I was hoping. I was concerned I was going to get told it needed a repaint because the remaining paint was too thin or it needed some sort of bizarre expensive treatment.

I don't know what the black stuff was. It wasn't like sticky tar. I guess it could have been asphalt bits. The truck is usually parked next to a busy asphalt road. A little past that, there's a busy interstate highway. Maybe rubber particles from tires. It was all over the paint, including behind the exterior door handles. I could wet a finger and scrub it off. When I did, it just looked like black dirt on my finger. I thought it could be ferrous metal bits, but I expected those to be rust colored. There was no pattern. The black stuff was uniformly distributed all over the truck like it settled there while the truck was parked. I first saw it on the hood, then the roof, then the sides. It didn't happen quickly. It took years. I thought it was just dirt that would come off in a brushless car wash until I tried that and found out it was stuck to the paint pretty well.

 

Yes, shouldn't be an issue for a good detailer. Do not take it back to the car wash place. You should be able to tackle this yourself. Wash vehicle, spray on Iron X, let set then rinse. Use clay bar with a detail spray for lube while paint is wet. I'd recommend Adam's Polishes medium clay, I have used this with great success. Big box brand will do but may require more elbow grease.

 

White is a single stage paint, so there's no clear coat to keep it shiny. I would attempt do a compound polish. You probably need to use a really aggressive polish since the paint has been neglected for a long time. That would remove the oxidation (dulling) from the paint. Then go over with a fine polish. After that apply a wax.

 

Thanks, ace96 and ppham444!