Poor Camry 2011 paint job

[James Canon]

I have a new Camry 2011 SE, V6, fully loaded.

The clear coat is so terribly thin and soft. I clayed the car due to fall out while it was on the lot. (Keep in mind that I'm experienced with claying.) The clay smudged (scratch) the clear coat. I've never had this with any of my other cars (Jeep, Lexus, older camry).

I read that some other people are having the same experience. I am very upset to say the least, as I spent a lot of money on this fully loaded car. From my perspective, this kind of paint job puts it in the "lemon" category. Any thoughts? What to do?

[eyezack87]

If you are educated in clay barring a car, you will understand that it is essentially a super fine sandpaper. You put scratches at the microscopic level. It just sounds like you had a hard piece of contaminant that wasn't removed. Unfortunately that is life so buff away as they say!

My clear is hard as nails. M105 by Rotary and it barely dented it. Eventually I gave up and just put on my ceramic sealant I was testing out

[arabianobsession]

Many Camry owners are experiencing the same problem, myself included. I've done everything to get the clear scratches out and nothing has fixed it. Of course, black shows everything too.

Did you remember to wax and buff the car after using a clay bar? That is a must.

Personally, I'm going to wait a while, deal with the crappy paint, and then get it repainted a metallic black and have my paint guy put on multiple coats of clear.

[arabianobsession]

P.S.: OP, your title says "2001" Camry, I can't edit it for you.

[Snomax]

Originally Posted by arabianobsession

Many Camry owners are experiencing the same problem, myself included. I've done everything to get the clear scratches out and nothing has fixed it. Of course, black shows everything too.

Did you remember to wax and buff the car after using a clay bar? That is a must.

Personally, I'm going to wait a while, deal with the crappy paint, and then get it repainted a metallic black and have my paint guy put on multiple coats of clear.

Thats sounds like a good idea! What does a metallic paint job go for?

My black LE is starting to show the same symptoms.....PLUS I saw my first rock chip this weekend!

[arabianobsession]

It shouldn't be horribly expensive, as you're leaving the base color coat the same, and not changing it to something else (now THAT'S ridiculously expensive and time consuming). I'm figuring around 2 grand to add a metallic to the black and clear.

I've had my 11 SE for just over a year and it has 6400 miles-and about 7 rock chips

[eyeball96]

Originally Posted by arabianobsession

P.S.: OP, your title says "2001" Camry, I can't edit it for you.

Yeah you can Kristy!

I fixed it for ya!

[arabianobsession]

^How? I tried by using the edit button and it wouldn't let me.

But thank you!

[nagodesi]

Originally Posted by arabianobsession

I've had my 11 SE for just over a year and it has 6400 miles-and about 7 rock chips

Join the club more than 22 on the front hood itself..

[Nakattk]

I just purchased a 2011 camry le. The dealership did a crap job of cleaning the car and it has swirl marks everywhere. I was going to clay, Meguiar's Ultimate Polish, and Meguiar's NXT Generation Tech Wax the car this weekend. Now I am concerned as I do not want to mess up my paint. If the paint is bad on the 2011's what can you do besides a new paint job, just never clay it? I will never be rid of the swirl marks.

[g60txstyle]

I just got my 2011 camry used and keep finding new scratches on it every day. I just installed an ebay wing and it has better paint quality.

I was almost thinking that i bought a repainted car with super horribly thin clear coat.

[eyezack87]

Originally Posted by Nakattk

I just purchased a 2011 camry le. The dealership did a crap job of cleaning the car and it has swirl marks everywhere. I was going to clay, Meguiar's Ultimate Polish, and Meguiar's NXT Generation Tech Wax the car this weekend. Now I am concerned as I do not want to mess up my paint. If the paint is bad on the 2011's what can you do besides a new paint job, just never clay it? I will never be rid of the swirl marks.

I sure hope you know the proper way to wash a car to prevent your hard work from being removed again. Dealership cleanups are crap. I put signs to never wash my car all over my dash in both English and Spanish. Its something everyone needs to realize.

The ONLY way to make sure it doesn't get swirl marks is to not touch it. At all. Friction is your enemy as I stated above. If you would like to continue touching it, invest in a real ceramic sealant like CarPro CQuartz or Optimum Opticoat 2.0. I enjoy washing my car and having a stronger scratch resistant layer even though I don't need it

Originally Posted by g60txstyle

I just got my 2011 camry used and keep finding new scratches on it every day. I just installed an ebay wing and it has better paint quality.

I was almost thinking that i bought a repainted car with super horribly thin clear coat.

See my response above. Anyway, thats why I took a paint thickness gauge to my car before I signed the papers. Took over 300 readings on the body alone to make sure no touchup was used. OCD but I wanted a brand new car

[eyeball96]

Originally Posted by arabianobsession

^How? I tried by using the edit button and it wouldn't let me.

But thank you!

Edit through "Thread Tools" at the top of the page!

[BlackG5]

Originally Posted by arabianobsession

I've had my 11 SE for just over a year and it has 6400 miles-and about 7 rock chips

it's so frustrating when the car is so new cuz those chips stand out like a sore thumb and theres nothing to prevent them, unless of course you get the stupid expensive clear bra

and lol, 6400miles in 12 months? I do that in 2 months

[arabianobsession]

More like 6400 miles in almost 14 months
I've got the Mustang that I've been driving all summer and I used to live 7 miles from work, so it hasn't seen much road time. Sadly, 1000 of those miles were going to Detroit and back and 500 of those miles were going to my dad's and back.