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Unexplained spoiler damage... can it be fixed?

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by danep, Mar 14, 2019.

  1. danep

    danep Junior Member

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    I have a 2010 Prius, and in the last few months, I've noticed some odd damage on the top of my rear spoiler that seems to be getting worse over time. It looks like abrasion or sun damage.
    spoiler1.jpg spoiler2.jpg
    Overaggressive washing or general sun damage are the only explanations I can think of. I don't wash my car often, and when I do it's usually a professional hand-wash. It has been through an automated wash but only two or three times over its life. I know automated washes are bad, but are they really this bad? And why would the damage take so long to come up? As for sun damage... it's been parked on the street most of its life but I still wouldn't expect this.

    More importantly, does anyone have any ideas how to repair this? I had it washed and waxed just last month, and if anything the damage has become more pronounced since then... :(
     
    #1 danep, Mar 14, 2019
  2. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    Car lives outside you have a very dark color lots of pigment which means it will fade fast unless hyper vigilant about wax.

    Very very common on all cars with plastic spoiler and 9 years old and lives outside.
     
    #2 edthefox5, Mar 14, 2019
  3. orenji

    orenji Senior Member

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    Only way to repair is have it painted or vinyl wrap it.
     
    #3 orenji, Mar 14, 2019
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  4. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    Ours has done battle with our garage door about 4 times now. The garage door always mercifully jumps it's track, and the damage to the spoiler is superficial. I'm cagey now, have wrapped the metal bar on the garage door that's doing the hitting. For the record, it's me that's done the deed, every time... :whistle::oops::whistle:

    Anyway yeah: paint, or plasti-dip??
     
    #4 Mendel Leisk, Mar 14, 2019
  5. Grit

    Grit Senior Member

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    Time to update my signature
     
    #5 Grit, Mar 14, 2019
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  6. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    Harumph...
     
    #6 Mendel Leisk, Mar 14, 2019
  7. tankyuong

    tankyuong Senior Member

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    Just spray paint it
     
    #7 tankyuong, Mar 14, 2019
  8. Robert Holt

    Robert Holt Senior Member

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    I have not had my spoiler off, and I cannot tell if the spoiler is just a piece of formed plastic like an injection-molded ski, or a true fiberglass layup. IF it is true fiberglass, I recall there were ways to replace the gel-coat surface finish on sailboats, and I suspect that applying a new surface layer of resin over the problem area would work. You might have to match a polyester+catalyst type of fiberglass versus an 2-part-epoxy-based type of fiberglass in the original spoiler to be completely compatible if you tried that approach.
    BUT, if the spoiler is just plastic, then any re-surfacing would have to be compatible with that particular plastic. (Although for plastic I personally would be tempted to thoroughly clean it and try 1-2 layers of UV-resistant polyurethane, but if that was chemically incompatibile it could further damage the surface. Tiz a puzzlement.
     
    #8 Robert Holt, Mar 15, 2019
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