So we went to Atlanta for 5 days for a high school event for our oldest. The Black XJR sat safely in the driveway while we were gone. No storm or rain damage to our home, in fact it does not appear that the power even went off.

However, below are two pictures of a new discoloration in the paint. I tried using a polishing compound but it has absolutely no effect. It's like it's under the paint and the finish is still good. How could this happen while it just sat for 5 days? It was NOT there when we left for Atlanta.

 

My first guess would be the clear coat is starting to fail.

 

looks like the clear coat is burned and starting to flake. happened last month on my XJR. easy enough for a paint shop to correct. A regular wax helps keep the clear coat flaking away.

 

Clear coat? I have only owned the car about 6 months and I have waxed it twice. I guess the damage could have already been done from previous neglect.

I will take it to a paint specialist and see what they say. Thanks for the responses.

 

The actual color layer on a modern car is very thin. In the old days cars had a thick layer of paint -- now they have a thin color layer and a thicker clear layer on top .. that's the clear coat.

The sun attacks and degrades this clear layer -- often breaking the bond at the color layer.

 

Waxing helps, but on cars this age the cumulative sun damage is almost inevitable. I keep my XJ6 covered and in the shade since I don't have a three car garage.

 

I re-waxed the hood a couple of weeks ago and the the spot gradually went away...completely!

Very bizarre.

 

Was there any roughness to the area harvest? The only way that would have gone away is if it were on top of the finish. When I first saw the pics, I thought sun burn, very common here in FL.

 

Did you have a car cover on? When I had my 308, I put my damp car cover on the paint ( dumb, I know ) and the next day I had the same spot.

What I think it is, is moisture trapped under the clear coat. It usually goes away within a few days when it's in the sun and it dries out. No wax from my experience will prevent this.

 

The surface was perfectly smooth, no roughness. Even polishing compound had no effect.

The spots showed up after torrential rains during the hurricane, so maybe the water theory is a good one. It has been sunny and the car is outside, maybe that's why it cleared up?

 

It was water under the clear coat, most times you get lucky and it finds its way out via the same path in which it went in. I was hoping that would happen on my XJS when water got trapped for a few days under a cover. It was the only time in 8 years I had it in the driveway covered as I needed the garage space to swap out my s/c on the XJR. Sometimes you win, sometimes not.

 

Time for a new set of clothes for that KAT.

 

Wow, things to remember even though I don't use a cover....mines stays in her Jag Cave.