My DD A6 C5 - Opinions
 

So I have a 4.2L A6 C5

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1359353343

It basically looks like this except its paint is in terrible condition. the clear coat is flaking all over the place. It only has 110k on the clock and I own it so unless I feel like taking on a new car payment I'd like to fix the paint up some. The car runs great. I love everything about it aside form it's maintenance.

Mine is Champagne in color and has a tan interior. I was thinking the best way to take care of my crummy paint would be to wrap it with 3m 1080 vynl. I know it will take a while and patients but I figure i'll do it one panel at a time. The car already looks bad with its peeling. Shal I wrap it in chrome? haha

http://multimedia.3m.com/mws/mediawe...PbsQPbPPPPPP--

here are the colors. anyone have any experience or thoughts. I already have a good idea of what color i'm going to do. What color do you gents like? Matte/brushes/gloss/satin/carbon fiber?

wrapping disintegrating paint is like putting a band aid on an infected wound

Cost?

To wrap a whole car it costs a really good chunk of change. If you really think this is a good "solution" I'll be terrified.

Why not paint it then? Do the prep work yourself to lower the cost.

Exactly

100 bucks gets 15x5 ft. so for a few hundred bucks... I understand the bad paint is still under it. I'm not sure how i feel about if it's a good solution. It's one of a few I've considered.

Dude.

Its not a good solution. Its a terrible solution. If anyone tells you its good they're either trying to sell you the stuff, or completely and utterly retarded. This wrap stuff was never intended to replace paint. Ever.

Its literally a sticker.

I know you're smart enough to have all this in the back of your mind, but keep trying to fool yourself into it by being attracted to the lower cost.

This is almost like bandaids vs ems discussion, except even more silly.

PS: I know its not a couple hundred bux to wrap a whole car properly.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1359354664
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1359354664
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1359354664

These cars all turned out pretty good... I saw a benz the other day and asked the guy why he painted his brand new car and he told me it was wrapped with this stuff.

I'm not sold on anything that's why i brought it up. It's not a huge priority either just entertaining ideas at this point. I was talking about painting it when someone told me to just wrap it and i laughed. I later saw the benz and was actually pretty impressed with how it came out.

All those cars have good paint underneath the wrap.

Plastidip

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1359355409 :rofl:

this is stupid. but awesome at the same time. The matte bug i put up had clear-coat issues too. They cleaned up the bad spots and put it over. 75-80 % of my car has good paint. The only parts that have clear-coat peel are the tops. hood, trunk, around the sun roof.

I don't say this to justify it. Just to give better detail about my current paint.

so why not have just those spots re-sprayed or re-cleared?

Trust me I was doing the same thing as you with my current miata (had a couple spots that needed new clear/paint) and after much research ended up painting the whole car. Do it once, do it right, don't cover up problems, fix them.

I originally had the idea of taping off the body line from the top of the door along the fender since only the top needs a respray. I was working with a reputable body shop for a networking solution and asked what they thought about it and they told me that if i taped off the line and sanded down it would then create an edge on the old paint and that would eventually start peeling there and be a bad idea. He said honestly i'd just drive it like it is till it dies. If you are really concerned get a new card. Suggested it would be a 5k paint job.

I don't mean to be rude, but how much did that cost? I'm looking at a very clean silver NB with a 6 speed, but I'm not sure how I feel about silver in the long term.

Doing a complete color change is a different story than a clean up spray. There are tons of miatas out there and if you're patient you'll find the one you really want. If you're considering that then just find a fixer upper for half the price.

Its not that big a deal, just curious. Back 6ULs will give me the look I'm after.

Congrats on the purchase, looks like it will make a great ride when it's not in the shop.

I've owned it for 8 years and it's been rock solid. Outside of oil changes and a few hose replacements. The only time it's been in the shop was for timing belt change, water pump, t-stat service. My only gripe is parts pricing and I recently found a guy locally that parts audi's out.