How much does it cost to fix my car’s peeling clear coat in Kalamazoo Michigan?

One of the most frequently asked questions we get from our customers at Autobody USA here in Kalamazoo Michigan is, “What is the price to fix the peeling clear coat of paint on my car?”  Before I throw a number at you let me explain a little bit about what the problem is.

What is peeling clear coat?

Our paint salesmen and other body shops in Kalamazoo call it “Paint delamination” because what is happening is the clear coat layer is actually flaking off of the basecoat below it. If it’s ever happened to you, then you know how frustrating it can be to look at every day.

Starting in the 1990’s car manufacturers started painting their cars with a two stage painting system. The first layer of paint is called the base coat, and then layers of clear coat were sprayed on top of the base coat. This allowed for a much deeper gloss with less paint than the previous single stage urethanes produced.

Why does clearcoat peel?

Even though the paint is a solvent based chemical and the clear coat should bond to the base coat, it can become compromised by something as simple as a scratch or nick and then over time, water, ad lots of sun like we get here in Kalamazoo, the clear coat starts to become chalky and cloudy and then begins to flake.

Sometimes poor quality repaint jobs are to blame. For example if the car has ever had any auto body work done or paint work done , the repainted areas could be peeling. Usually when tis happens it is because of a bad preparation problem from the person doing the painting.

So how much does it cost to fix peeling clearcoat right here in Michigan?

The short answer is anywhere from $500 to $10,000. But let me give you the parameters that determine the actual price to fix your peeling clearcoat for our particular market here in Kalamazoo Michigan.

Amount of clearcoat that is peeling:

Small Areas on one panel

If you only have a small area of delamination, there is a chance that we can contain the problem by fixing just that one panel, which would save you some money.  Price- $500-1,000.

Multiple peeling clearcoat spots

If you have multiple clusters of spots on several different panels, we will need to determine the best course of action.  Delamination does tend to affect an entire vehicle over time, due to conditions in the environment. Price estimate $1500- $5,000

The whole car is peeling

When this happens it is usually due to defects in the paint.  In situations like these it’s usually best to repaint the entire vehicle.

Multiple coats of peeling paint 

We can usually sand down the clear coated area and spray over top of the base coat. However if this has gone on for a long time and the base coat is compromised, or if your paint problem extends into layers beneath the clear coat, then the repair could require more hours and materials, since it would include a greater surface area to sand and more complicated paint-matching.  All of this would factor into the cost of your paint repair and bump you into the over $5,000 area

Auto Body Damage to the panels.

Most shops won’t simply re-spray clear coat over dented panels no matter how much you beg. Its just bad for business, and we won’t be able to guarantee the paint job. So if you have additional auto body damage along with the peeling clearcoat, you can expect to pay for the damage repair. You might as well anyway since we will have your car for a couple of days and we will be painting it, why not get those dents fixed at the same time.  Price $10,000 or more but you could file an insurance claim or use you collision.

For a free estimate for your clearcoat repair in Kalamazoo Michigan call us here at Autobody USA or use the schedule an appointment tool here on Autobody-Review.com and make an appointment to get a free estimate to see exactly what your repair costs will be.

If your car's paint ever becomes unsightly due to delamination or any other problem, bring it in to us and we can have it looking beautiful again in no time