Paint prep advice please

[Elkins45]

Regulars know I bought a 2012 Scion xB at a bargain price because the paint was peeling, a known defect for this color and year. Sadly, the original owners were a corporation and somehow the notification letter for the free repaint fell between the cracks.

I took it to the car wash today in preparation for giving it a Rustoleum paint job with foam rollers. The high pressure spray took off big sheets of the paint, but of course it wasn’t 100%. Since the roof is already rusty I’m going to lightly sand it before painting, but as you can see the primer is still in good shape on the side panels everywhere the paint has flaked.

What’s the best approach to remove the remaining paint? I hate to sand into what is otherwise a decent primer coat. Is a chemical stripper a reasonable approach or would it also remove the primer? Part of me says to just keep feeding quarters into the car wash sprayer but I know that won’t be 100% and the car wash guy probably already hates my guts for all the paint flakes I left behind. Heat gun?

Plastic scraper? (I already have a pack of 100 plastic razor blades) Man, scraping all that stuff off by hand would be a pain!

 

[ecotourist]

First thing I'd do is contact Toyota and explain. Maybe a free paint job is still in your future.

 

[Cujet]

Oh boy. If I were to guess, I'd say that the non sun baked surfaces will have better adhesion and will require mechanical removal. Paint stripper will get you down to the steel in places, no matter what you do, and will damage any remaining primer.

If that were mine, I'd first try a 13HP, 4000PSI pressure washer. One with a 5 degree nozzle. That's a brutal method, but may continue to peel the paint in the same manner.

Well there could always be a Scion xB coated with pickup truck bed liner... If you like that kind of thing

Note: Most commercial car washes have about 1200PSI at the nozzle. As that's the safe limit for most vehicles. There are some that are higher, but often have a fan nozzle.

 

[DuckRyder]

Agree with pressure washer.

Aggressive adhesive sheet - not sure how cheap you could get something but that’s probably the test Toyota used to see if it needed repaint. I know GM did the “tape test”.

If you strip and de trim, might be a candidate for Maaco.

 

[Tdbo]

If you strip and de trim, might be a candidate for Maaco.

This is what I'd do. See what they would charge for a respray of the whole thing.
If they give you a good number, find out what they would want for prep and do it yourself.

 

[Elkins45]

If you strip and de trim, might be a candidate for Maaco.

Closest Maaco to me is Indianapolis, almost three hours away. That’s probably not economical.

 

[SC Maintenance]

I would maybe plastic scraper as far as it will go easily, then feather sand the edge and paint away. Treat any rust with an inhibitor.

Both my white Nissans had small spots that lifted. Truck on the front fender. Xterra on the front pillar. I sraped off what was flaking and touched up - its been fine for years.

You don't know the rest will come off. Don't make more work for yourself just to roller over it with rustoleum which will only last a couple years anyway.

 

[Tdbo]

Closest Maaco to me is Indianapolis, almost three hours away. That’s probably not economical.

However at the end of it you would have a nice looking car with enhanced resale.
Something that presents better than a home-done roller job.
If not Maaco, see if you can find someone local that does bodywork as a side hustle that can spray it relatively economically and do it right.

 

[vavavroom]

When I was 16 I accidentally tripped some paint off my new-to-me NX T-Top with a pressure washer. I'd give the pressure washer a go.

 

[Owen Lucas]

How about a vinyl wrap? Can probably DIY but would be more expensive than paint.

 

[Exhaustgases]

You need to remove all that white paint, what ever is painted over it will just come off with it.
Even tractor paints or rustoleum is a 100 times better paint especially with a hardener, than that "non catalyzed" Latex water paint that was used on that car from the factory.
And you can have super durability by 2K clearing over it. Yes sand, you will want that primer sanded for some better quality paint to stick to it.
Any recall repaint would likely have been more latex water colors, a paint type that will not ever be used on any airliner or bridge.

 

[Elkins45]

.Any recall repaint would likely have been more latex water colors, a paint type that will not ever be used on any airliner or bridge.

Yeah…but I wouldn’t have been the one doing all the work.

 

[Elkins45]

How about a vinyl wrap? Can probably DIY but would be more expensive than paint.

I’ve been reading about those, but supposedly they only last 3-4 years in the sun.

 

[DuckRyder]

Id suggest doing a little research into why they peeled too, its been a long time but IIRC lots of GMs peeling issues were due to the primer finish not permitting adhesion, so its likely advisable to scuff the primer. (was that think built at NUMMI?)

IMO if you don't strip it its going to come off again where it wasn't stripped....

Check out "paint society" i think it is on tube of you if you haven't already...

 

[SC Maintenance]

The low VOC white paint peeling was an issue across many brands. When low VOC paints were mandated for automotive use, white was the one with most problems - across many brands. I have never found a reason why, but its clear white was a much bigger issue for everyone. Not to say specific companies didn't have other problems, but white seemed to be everyone's problem.

So I don't think you can lay it on the primer or metal treatment since its the same for every color, yet white is by far the worst.

 

[The Critic]

https://www.youtube.com/@PaintSociety/search?query=remove peeling paint

 

[crashz]

I'm having a white paint problem on my F250. Smaller issue but blew a chunk off of the bed while at the car wash this past week. Since its my daily driver and I want to prevent rust, I'll prep, prime and paint it, clearing after. But I'm going to try and match it with a small patch area.