CAR My 1999 eclipse, do you like it? :X v. trying to figure out wtf happened to the top

[Alexqzilla]

I think I posted it in the wrong forum :X

I've had it for less than a year, 128k miles on it, runs beautifully, but it looks like someone poured acid on the top and scratched the hell out of it with an iron brush or something! Has anyone seen this before? Does it greatly reduce the value of it?

Now for the bad part

Do you like my car?

 

[Pogi]

That car looks great! Post some more pictures!

 

[project15]

It probably did it to itself because it's sad that it doesn't have a turbo.

 

[Stunner4Life]

The clear coat is wearing off on your DSM. In some DSMs the factory clear coat wasn't the best of quality so this is what happens. I've seen this on more than a few DSMs over the years.

The scratches seem to be due to bad car washing techniques. The scratches were probably not as noticeable before the clear coat went bad. It doesn't seem that they were deliberate since they only appear in the faded areas.
I may have an explanation of why they are more noticeable now than before but it may sound too confusing...

The bad clear coat does reduce the value of your car greatly because it makes the car look pretty bad in comparison to a similar car with good clear and paint. You could try to take a polishing wheel to the whole car and put more time towards the problem areas and wax the heck out of it; this method is probably the cheapest and most effective way to try to restore the paint. But the only true method of repair is to strip the clear coat and paint then repaint it (a good paint job is very expensive, will probably be near or even exceed the value of your car).

In the end, it's your car, if you enjoy it and can live with its minor problems then don't worry about it. DSMs are fun cars whether they are turbo or non-turbo, just put down the windows and savor the ride. (I use to have one and still miss it even though it had its problems over the years.)

CLIFFS: Your Eclipse clear coat is in the middle of wearing off. The problem with its clear coat does reduce the value of the car. If you enjoy your car even with its clear coat problem then don't worry about it as long as it runs, drives, and gets you where you need to be without any problems.

 

[Lucifer]

Go back to lurking.