What is Cracking?

Prevent further auto body paint damage by maintaining your vehicle paint finish.

Cracking usually occurs when a car is 3 to 6 years old. It is found most commonly on the upper panels, which are readily exposed to the sun. It is the sun’s UV rays that hasten the breakdown of auto body paint.

Cracking begins slowly. But once the process is set in motion, it moves quickly. That’s why the sooner you treat this problem, the better!

As you can see from the timeline below, cracking begins with microchecking – microscopic breaks in the paint. It’s easy to mistake microchecking for the less serious problem of paint fading.

Cracks must be treated or they will spread and cause the metal below to rust and pit. To ensure the cracks don’t return, the affected area must be stripped down to bare metal before painting.

The problems with painting over cracking