Have an '06 now for about three years with a little paint issue on the top of the left fender. At some time, before I owned the car, it was damaged and fender was painted. "NOW" the clear coat they used has been peeling and looks unsightly. The paint and body shops want way too much to do this minor repair. Need how to DIY information to make it look better. It's just the top and not the whoie fender I'm wanting to make look better. How do I remove the clear coat so I can buff out the paint and spray on new clear coat? Thanks for any help!

 

I do not think what you are attempting is possible with out it being an obvious repair.

The way I see it you will have to have color coat (sapphire silver is it?) because you can't sand the clear coat down and avoid the color coat. Thus, if you are going to color coat the paint you will need to get a close match if you want it to look like the hood, door etc and that purchase will be enough to do the entire fender.

I'm sure it depends on where exactly you live, but I think doing a complete fender should not cost over $800. Shop around and just for kicks check the price of just paint at a supply house. Decent paint is not cheap. When I did my wing it was over $200 for paint, reducer and additive.

 

YouTube is your friend with this repair.

you should be able to wet sand 1500/2000 to remove the loose material and smooth it out. Careful along the edge, that’s where the paint is thin and it’s easy to sand through.

then mask off hood and surrounding areas.

Use a gray scotch bright pad lightly on the clear around the sanded area. You want to give it something to stick to. Spray 2 stage clear. Leave it for 24 hours. You should be able to buff it up

Give it a try, you can’t make it worse

but don’t use single stage clear. It will Not hold up

 

This doesn't apply to the OP

"but don’t use single stage clear. It will Not hold up" @UrbanE

I use single stage PPG Omni MTK products which are a two component acrylic urethane and find they work really well. They develop a deep luster almost like over coating with a thick epoxy.
The silver windshield trim on my Limited I painted with the single stage back in Sept 2016 and it looks new. I think the double stage paints get hard and brittle where as the single stage is sorta softer and will give a little instead of chipping. PPG Omni holds up really well.
I painted the wing on my Limited with single stage about two years back. It matches the rest of the car pretty good, again with a deep luster.
I don't know why they get a bad wrap. I really like them.

Just my two cents for what is worth.