So been on the hunt for the SC XF but just cant find the deal I want and need. Lately I have come across cars with the clear coat peeling like a old Dodge or . . So my question is this, if only the clear is peeling can it be wet sanded and shot with a high gloss clear? This is a deal maker or breaker so please guide me in the right direction. You Lube . .has me thinking I can go to walmart and get a few cans of clear and have a shine by Monday.

 

Excluding the silver windshield trim peeling clearcoat, which is not uncommon for Crossfires left outside, I've never seen or recall hearing about one having body clear coat peeling issues, so that seems to me would be a very rare one. The German body paint holds up very well. They use a mix of base solvents that cannot be used in the US. With a car with clear coat issues you fix one spot and the clear coat is likely to peel in another spot later. Maybe the car had been cheaply repainted at some time.

Are you looking to flip the car or keep it? Flipping it go with the rattle can solutions. There are many "how to's" for that on youtube. Looking for a keeper look at something else.

 

Well I was looking to keep the car. Its a black SRT-6 with a clean car fax showing no accidents. Seller tells me it must of been the carwash used over the years. Its not everywhere but it is a sad sight. We restore motorbikes so I was hoping we could wetsand the car and shot some clear over it. youtube cant be trusted so if it cant be saved I guess I can "wrap that rascal" I saw the 2020 AMG coupe in some cool colors.

I had noticed on my NA XF that the paint was much better than cars in the US. I have run across 2 XF's with peeling clearcoat and was hoping it could be saved.

 

Stop looking at crappy, abused cars that the owner's either didn't care about or didn't have the money to maintain.
Iv'e seen ONE Crossfire like that in eleven years of going to meet and looking at cars on lots.

See what I mean?

Say,you are not limiting yourself to a radius of, say, 100 miles of where you are, are you? My first XF was 90 miles from me, but my second was 2200 miles away and my third was 475 miles away.
I have NEVER regretting the purchase of any of these three cars. But I found MANY cars much closer that I'd never consider. It's worth the trip if you intended to keep the car and 'make it yours'.

It sounds like you are qualified to restore the car, most of us aren't. But what bugs me is, if the finish is that bad, was the car maintained and cared for properly? My bet is 'no'.

 

The paint on both my graphites is excellent, but they have lead a garaged and covered life. My son's 2007 XF spent four years in Tallahassee FL, frequently in a sunny parking lot, and there is evidence of peel or deterioration of the paint along the groves in the roof. That FL sun can kill any paint. Like any car, if properly prepared and painted, it will look good as new.

 

Hit the Nail on the head Hammer! I cant help myself and I am always trying to fix something and make it better. It could be that I am typical ALL American Lad living above his means and should be buying a Ford Focus. In fact I had given up on my hunt for a deal on a XF and picked up a "Ricer
Turbocharged / Intercooled Mazdaspeed3 and was spending money like crazy before I realized it was not what I wanted. I have been looking for a SRT-6 since I sold my Graphite NA Coupe. Car fax does not tell all but the 1st owner had it for 8 year and 110k miles and it only has 125k. The current owners are car folks so that makes me think that the car has been cared for and serviced by the owners since only 7 reported service records showing on the report. Its a southern car so the sun could be blamed I guess.

I do only search for cars on Facebook and 100 miles is as far as it searches so you are correct. It is hard for me to pay 10k for a SRT-6 or any car that is not my daily driver and may sit. I am only looking for deals so that may be my issue at hand. I dont find cars, they seem to find me. I would really rather find out that a member of the forum has successfully pulled this off in the past but I will keep checking. I will be going to see the car in person next week and that will tell all. I am interested in the SC setup on these cars and believe they are a work of art. If I have to wrap the car then I will in a way that it will be cool. Thanks for the input and I am open to suggestions. I just saw my first SRT-6 that had the wing delete kit which I will consider also. Its good to be back, keep it coming !

 

Well, I DO agree with that "Work of art" comment.

Expand your search, there are a LOT of Crossfires for sale nationwide. The one-way airplane rides I have taken to pick up my last two Crossfires were really fun adventures - and well worth it.
The drive home both times were memories I will carry forever!

 

I have traveled to pick up car and the ride home is a bonding experience I agree. I once flew to Miami to pick up a red Vert to drive home in the pouring rain non stop for 6 hours only to realize that the bulb in the check engine light had been pulled to hide issues. . I really think I can enjoy this car and bring it back but will not know until I drive it. I do love these cars and I am sorta tired of whoring around with a new one every few weeks, grates on the soul. The fact that I still have a box of parts sitting by my desk does not hurt either. Pics to follow, heading to wally world .. I hear they have rattle can clear on sale!!

 

unfortunately, the cars that tend to “find you” appear to be a little crappy AKA Abused

Want a great place to start, buy a better used car, expand your search beyond 100 miles and look at all platforms. Don’t just stick with One medium. Face book is not the “be all to end all”

want to but a cheap SRT. Buy this one https://www.copart.com/lot/50165160/...-6-mo-columbia

want a SRT without problems, I’ll will cost more THAN 10k

 

Nice find on co parts but a little beyond my skill set. I have bought and sold several cars this year and have done ok, Its not about the money , I simply love cars. Hell, I bought a drop top smart car and it was a blast. I learn something new on every project which keeps me young. Pushing 60 yo I need all the help I can get. If I wanted fast I would go back to Vettes, even the C6 Vert I had last year with the LS2 had more HP than these cars can make on a good day. My passion is restoring Vintage Motorcycles and I still enjoy that the most but if a man does anything all the time, it tends to get old and boring. Simply put my taste in car is in line with my taste in women, I love them all. The Mazdaspeed3 I have this month is a beast, Turbocharged/Intercooled 6 speed manual trans with LSD and with the upgraded turbo and a few tricks it will smoke most cars. I am selling it in the morning and the guy is driving in from LA to buy it. (Lower Alabama)

Getting back to the question at hand, has anyone on this forum ever repaired a car XF with peeling clearcoat and if so could you please share the fix? Is the paint on these car water based, single stage or base clear? It seems that the mid 2000's at least in the states I believe they started using water based paint to save the earth. Thanks in advance for any input or knowledge you can share on the subject. Always have enjoyed this forum and owning these fine cars.

 

you are correct. I just blew out my acl and in a brace so I may just stick to bikes for the winter and heal up EDIT TO POST 10/15/2020

I will be headed out in the morning to hopefully see " Jimmy_blue_eye" Silver Blue Roadster SRT_6 that is for sale locally and then a Coupe so I may be coming home with another XF on Friday. Blown ACL or not, I have to have a car to work on over the winter months or the building of the bikes seems to get old. Updates will be coming.

 

If you have the tools and the skill to do the work, I think it would be worth trying the wet sanding and spraying clearcoat but I definitely would not use a rattle can. I guess it depends on what you would be paying for the car but generally you’ll be better off starting with the best car possible as any car can become a money pit. When we bought our 2004 coupe there was a 2006 SRT six with 95,000 miles for sale for $9500. That was out of our price range so we didn’t look at it and ended up paying $4200 for our limited coupe The main attraction for the one we bought was that it had only 36,000 miles but I’ve already spent $1500 on top of the purchase price trying to bring it back to top condition and will probably spend another $1000 before I’m satisfied with it. Since buying our crossfire I have seen a few very low mileage crossfires for sale here on the forum for very good prices. A couple of them were in California and one was a manual transmission which would have ruled it out for us anyway but the point is that there are good deals to be had on very good cars if you are willing to travel.

 

<sigh> From reading these posts, it seems our hopes of seeing rising value in Crossfires is still years in the future. If a 2005 coupe with 36k miles is only $4200, then they are certainly not appreciating. Owning one will continue to be a labor of love or just the desire to have an unusual but fun-to-drive vehicle, an orphan from the stormy relationship between Chrysler and Daimler. I don't learn. I just added a 2018 Maserati Ghibli to my fleet, the bastard child of a Fiat-Chrysler relationship. I also enjoy the hell out of driving and detailing my two 2005s, even if I only was able to put 1000 miles on each this summer. Kind of tough to go anywhere when avoiding covid exposure.
Good luck with the painting. I, too, would avoid rattle can but it is a cheap fix.

 

Goldwing, our 2004 coupe was far from mint condition and the seller was hurting for money due to COVID-19. He was asking $5700. The car literally had mice in it when we bought it, the headliner is sagging, There is no sound from the stereo, the rearview mirror was missing and although it had a clean title there is evidence that it was in an accident and had body work done to it. I too hope that values will increase eventually but I might like to add another crossfire or two to my car collection if I ever get a garage large enough to contain everything.

 

I do enjoy project but the truth of the matter is I have to many of them. Restoring these old Honda Mini's and bringing them back from the dead is something that I enjoy. Now that the ether has wore off and I OWN a SRT-6 then I dont think the car can be sanded down and simply clear. If you did you would still see the high and low spots of the peeling clear. So now do I say screw it and do a vinyl wrap or take the time to sand the car , fix any dings in the doors and respray. This car is at a Crossroad and the owner loved the car and I told them I would send pics of the build so hold on to your hat, I have a million questions about this unique car. Picked it up Friday , drove the 2 hours drive back to Middle Tn after feeding my wife dinner and telling her what an amazing car it was and what I had planned. I emptied the box of parts of of the car. ( Needwings CC, coolant divider kit, filters, etc) and took it to the paint shop to drop it off with a handful of cash. I guess I really need to start a build thread

My first XF was a Graphite NA Coupe that I picked up for 1600 cash. That was mostly because it was mid summer and the fan blower would not blow AC for the girl showing me the car, it was hot. I brought it home and with the help of this forum had the christmas tree dash all fixed and no unwanted lights and all the other things that they are known for we fixed. I am really hoping that I can count on that help again to make this car my one of a kind Hotrod that will scare women and children when I floor it. I bought this car to keep and make it fun and fast. I am ready to get to the bottom of my Supercharger issue ( it does not kick on like it should) I downloaded the service manual and found engine in the index but I was hoping it would have a section on the SC and the troubleshooting steps. If someone could point me in the right direction I guess I need to get reading. I was told it started coming in and out so Rob sold them the updated pump and someone installed it but it still did the same thing. . The two wired looked great on the back of the clutch. . I am going to make sure the pump has power to it when it should. I also ordered a new revised RCM that will be here on Monday and will be sending the old one out to tightend . Lets get started!