Roof on s550 is going opaque, do I have a wrap or painted roof?

[Jerrycobra]

TLDR: So my roof started fading and cracking, based on the pictures posted, can you help me determine if this is a painted or wrapped roof? I got the car preowned so I have no idea how the roof was done up. Trying to figure out the course of action.

Hey all, new here, anyways, I purchased a preowned 2017 LB GT in the beginning of last year. The car had a gloss black roof, I have no idea if it was factory installed or aftermarket since I never got the sticker. Starting from a few months ago the roof started to loose its shine and even noticed some cracking. I do park it outside and try to wash it at least twice a month. I attached some pictures below. I am leaning towards a wrap, but I want to get some opinions to make sure. Either way its in bad shape so it will need to be redone anyways, or I can do a band-aid job and try to buff it a bit.

thanks everyone!

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[Ace]

To me it looks like the car was taken to an automatic car wash that is really hurting the paint (maybe with hard bristles instead of soft foam?), especially since all scratches seem to go in the same direction. You can see in the pictures that the blue has the same amount of scratches, but it just isn't as obvious as on black.

I think repainting or wrapping is a bit too much. Let a good company polish the paint and it should look like new. And of course search for a new car wash then

 

[Jerrycobra]

To me it looks like the car was taken to an automatic car wash that is really hurting the paint (maybe with hard bristles instead of soft foam?), especially since all scratches seem to go in the same direction. You can see in the pictures that the blue has the same amount of scratches, but it just isn't as obvious as on black.

I think repainting or wrapping is a bit too much. Let a good company polish the paint and it should look like new. And of course search for a new car wash then

Yea the car had some swirls when I got it, so the previous owners didn't do a very good job on taking care of the paint, but its not super bad and can be taken care of with a good buff. I have maguiars compounds and have done spot treatments, just not the whole car yet. Ever since I owned it I only use touchless self service washes.

But yea I am mostly focused on fixing the roof. If you look at picture 4 its actually a crack on the surface.

 

[lizardrko]

Those are some moderate to heavy scratches I would say. That will probably take a few passes with a couple different pads with a compound and finishing polish to restore that. Not so sure about that line in picture 4 you mentioned. From my perspective looks like that might need some sanding and touch up paint. Unless the lighting is off in the picture, it looks like it is below the clear coat.

Just my 2 cents: Those self touchless washes, while still miles better than machine washes with the bristles, the soap they use is normally a high pH soap. Meaning it will hurt whatever protection you put on the paint. If you cannot access a driveway because you live in an apartment, I would suggest take it to one of those manual car washes where you put the coins in. You can use the pressure washer and bring your own products/equipment to do a much better job. More time consuming yes, but a much better result.

 

[Jerrycobra]

Those are some moderate to heavy scratches I would say. That will probably take a few passes with a couple different pads with a compound and finishing polish to restore that. Not so sure about that line in picture 4 you mentioned. From my perspective looks like that might need some sanding and touch up paint. Unless the lighting is off in the picture, it looks like it is below the clear coat.

Just my 2 cents: Those self touchless washes, while still miles better than machine washes with the bristles, the soap they use is normally a high pH soap. Meaning it will hurt whatever protection you put on the paint. If you cannot access a driveway because you live in an apartment, I would suggest take it to one of those manual car washes where you put the coins in. You can use the pressure washer and bring your own products/equipment to do a much better job. More time consuming yes, but a much better result.

the line you see is definitely a crack like scratch, what's weird about it is it runs along the whole roof. The roof was in good condition with no fading, then it started fading after about 6 months in. As far as washing yea I use the coin op washes with the pressure gun, I think I only used an automated touch less carwash once with my daily, haha

 

[Jerrycobra]

Thanks for the tips, but mainly, can you guys help me from the pictures determine if this roof is a paint job or a warp job? figuring out which will help me determine the proper fix. If you look at the pictures of the edges it looks quick thick and has sharp edges, which makes me think is a wrap, looks a bit thick to be paint, but I can be wrong.

 

[Jhalil101]

My vote is for wrapped after looking at the edges on the last photo

 

[WD Pro]

If it helps for comparison, here are the lines that ford used to mask my edges :

I’ve not got a good picture of the back line sorry, this being the best :

Have a look here too : https://www.mustang6g.com/forums/threads/painting-roof.152204/#post-3104660

Hope that helps

WD

 

[Chef jpd]

I vote wrap not warp.

 

[FreePenguin]

take your finger, and try and lift a inconspicuous spot. if its a warp, it'll lift lol. its literally a sticker

 

[Jerrycobra]

played with it a bit more and its chipping rather than peeling, that is a bad sign, might be in for a expensive job.

 

[WD Pro]

Have you checked your vin ? I’m wondering if it’s a factory black roof or if it was painted later ?

Hope you get it sorted one way or another

WD

 

[Mike Pfeifer]

My vote is aftermarket paint job.

 

[Jerrycobra]

Have you checked your vin ? I’m wondering if it’s a factory black roof or if it was painted later ?

Hope you get it sorted one way or another

WD

how does one do that? I do not have the window sticker

 

[Jerrycobra]

If the paint really is failing you should still be covered under the 5/60 warranty. So no real bit out of pocket. There's also the 5yr corrosion warranty. So just take it to a dealer and let them sort it out

isn't factory bumper to bumper only 3/36? or am I missing something?

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