Lumina paint issue

[BostonKev]

Hi all, I have a 96 white Lumina with a definite paint flaking issue. The passenger side is perfect but the driver's side reas and roof are flaking pretty terribly. Is this common on these? Thank you

[gw84]

I don't know why, but most of the luminas that I see that have that problem are white. I think most luminas have paint issues, dating back to the early 90's. My '93 has paint issues on the rear bumper and trunk. So, in answer to your question, this is very common.

[spmccord]

Unfortunately it's very common...I have a white 97 Lumina and the trunk and passenger side quarter panel are peeling...If you look closely, it looks like the undercoating is almost shiny...not good!

[BostonKev]

I know the car is a bit older now, but don't you think there would have been a recall about this? It's pretty sad.

[gw84]

*Update* Like I said, my 93 lumina has paint issues. Well I just bought a 99LTZ and sure enough: there are three spots on the front bumper where the clearcoat has begun to peel. Two of them are fairly small (half dollar), but the other is huge, like the size of a tennis ball. What a shame, such good cars but paint has always been an issue.

[jeffcoslacker]

Originally Posted by gw84

*Update* Like I said, my 93 lumina has paint issues. Well I just bought a 99LTZ and sure enough: there are three spots on the front bumper where the clearcoat has begun to peel. Two of them are fairly small (half dollar), but the other is huge, like the size of a tennis ball. What a shame, such good cars but paint has always been an issue.

My '97's white is perfect, and it's sat outside all it's life...seems to be just certain ones, as I've seen another exactly like mine peeling horribly...

My friend is a painter for a GM dealership...he tells me sometimes it's due to cutting curing time after primer/paint at the factory when they are trying to get production back up after labor problems...I dunno, could be...

[gw84]

anything's possible I guess. My LTZ is Dark Carmine Red Metallic, not white. But it's just the clearcoat that's peeling (not the paint). Same thing happened to my 93...just clearcoat. Is there anything I can do to stop the clearcoat from peeling farther? Both vehicles had the peeling clearcoat problem when I got them. I keep them waxed, that's all I know to do.

[jeffcoslacker]

Originally Posted by gw84

. I keep them waxed, that's all I know to do.

Maybe that's the problem? I've never waxed a white car in my life...I can't explain the red one though...

No, once the clear starts to go, there's no stopping it. Except for just stripping and redoing the whole flat...even spot painting it, it'll come back around the repair eventually...

My sister had a '88 Baretta that peeled all around the car BELOW the pinstripes when it got old...I thought that was odd so I asked my friend about it...

He said the reason was, it was one that had the problem with peeling paint on the flats when it was newer. GM was obligated to strip and repaint them under the finish warrantee, but some dealers cut time and made money by only stripping them down to the pinstripe line, then spraying the top half of the car, blending to the bottom, buff it all out, and restripe, and they looked like the whole car was fresh paint, the dealers billed the General for a whole job that they didn't do, and the paint began to peel off below the pinstripe line years later, when they were well out of warrantee...

[gw84]

This may be a dumb question but is it possible to just remove the clearcoat (on the affected area) and only redo that, or would I have to have the whole paint job redone, down to the metal???

[jeffcoslacker]

Originally Posted by gw84

This may be a dumb question but is it possible to just remove the clearcoat (on the affected area) and only redo that, or would I have to have the whole paint job redone, down to the metal???

Stripped to the metal, if you want it to last more than a year...sometimes putting a new layer of paint over paint that's delaminating will only speed up the deterioration as it tries to bond with the faulty layer and stresses it more, in turn breaking its bond with the primer coat...and no, you can't strip a clear coat off...you could wet sand it and feather it out well beyond the edges of the area that was affected, then recoat, and it'd look good for a while, but like rust and cancer, there's just no stopping it once it starts without getting rid of the original problem...the bad bond between layers.

[gw84]

just got to thinking....the bumper is not metal, duh! Would I still have to strip it all the way down?...to the plastic or fiberglass (whatever that thing is made out of

[jeffcoslacker]

Originally Posted by gw84

just got to thinking....the bumper is not metal, duh! Would I still have to strip it all the way down?...to the plastic or fiberglass (whatever that thing is made out of

It takes a specially mixed paint to stay on those bumper covers, because of thermal qualites of the plastic and flexibility I guess...

[gw84]

I'll just let mine go for now. It doesn't look too noticeable. But if (or maybe when) it starts getting worse, I'll have to decide where to go from there.

[tblake]

yeah, or could just take the bumper off, and redo that all the way down. I am needing to that to my rear bumper, the thing is a little cracked in places and i fear will start flaking shortly.