Red 2014 Ford Fiesta clear paint coat starting to peel

Question

My wife's Fiesta's paint has started to peel under the rear window. It is not much (yet) but we would like to stop it getting worse and (if possible) make the already peeling bit look less obvious.

I've done some searching on the Internet and mostly found either "send it to the paint shop" or "sand it all down and spray it again" advice. Both sound, but the first is pricey and the 2nd is a bit past my abilities. Happy to do a little painting with a tiny brush (I'm happy with the stone chip repairs I've done in the past on my own car) but sanding and spraying is a step too far.

Is there another method that allows me to stop the problem getting worse and possibly covering up most of the peeling already there?

Here is a photo of the current situation:

Answer 1

The clearcoat in the image is peeling for one of two (or both) reasons. It has either lost its mechanical or chemical adhesion to the base coat. Unfortunately, once the peel has started, there's not much you can do about it but what you've already stated, and basically both are the same thing, only who is going to do the work is what is in question.

The best which can be done is to remove the current clear coat, scuff the paint, then shoot it again with another round (or two) of clear. You'll want to get this done before the paint itself starts deteriorating. Considering it is red, it's something you'll want to get done soon.

If you just want to do what's minimal, you could scrub off all of the clear which is peeling, then clean the surface as well as possible, and use some type of ceramic coat to keep the paint from deteriorating. Not going to say this will make it look any better, it'll just hopefully help it from getting any worse. In this scenario, the clear is going to continue peeling, so you'll have to keep up with it. You'd have to remove it as it peels, then put more ceramic coating onto the freshly exposed paint. It isn't going to be pretty, but it's about the best you could hope for while not incurring a major expense.