This is occurring on my 99' Saab that's been sitting the driveway for the past 2 years. It started with the front bumper in a small spot, then progressively expanded to other areas. For the past 5 weeks, it's been at the far back of my area (basically an overflow lot for neighbors) as I needed the driveway space for something else. Anyways, wasn't until it was put back in the driveway (night time) something near the sunroof caught my eye- it was peeling there too? Even worse, it's all cloudy? 

 

 

Any idea what's going on? I'm 98% sure it's the factory paint and clear coat as I've yet to find ANY signs of a respray ANYWHERE. If it was a respray, it was a 100% high-end spray as it had no defects. I've had the car since Oct. 11', and I'm puzzled why this is happening? At first I thought maybe the tire shine spray did something to the front bumper as I'd spray some on a rag then wipe the bumper trim to give it a "just detailed" look, but the fact the roof is now destroyed makes wonder if someone might have vandalized it with a chemical that doesn't react immediately? ANYONE experience this phenomena before? I'm rather upset as the car was a 9/10 visually before parking it, now it needs a complete respray of the clear at least. 

The peeling is a pretty common issue and affects many brands, some search time will yield lots of results. There's a few "remedies" out there. Good luck!

Thanks for the response. I've yet to see another Saab 9-3 (or even a 9-5 for that matter) have this issue. Even junk yard cars are devoid of this. Car is also a common Saab color too. I know what you referring to though. GM had a bunch of cars with the issue in the mid 90's, but I think my 99' was pre-GM ownership (other than being an investor in Saab).

 

 

I'm thinking it occurred from using a tire shine product on the molding trim as well as the sunroof trim some time back. Would wet the tires with it, then would wet a rag with tire shine and wipe all the exterior plastic trim down to give it a "detailed" look. Seems like it might have been "blown" back onto the painted surfaces from incoming air while driving (top of bumper cover has it bad as does immediate area behind the sunroof but nowhere else) and might have interacted with the clear coat while under direct sunlight. Apparently spray on suntan lotion does a very similar thing to clear coats (clouds it) if applied directly and essentially ruins the finish.

 

Car will need paint/prep to correct unfortunately. There are zero signs of previous body or paint work on the car, so feel pretty confident it's original.

Sun damage. That's the usual cause and it happens on everything. This is especially common on vehicles that don't get waxed often enough (or ever), and no doubt you've taken care of the car since purchase, but I'm guessing you probably don't know the previous owners cleaning/waxing habits.

 

Bumpers often get repainted and don't "look" like they've been, because they get kind of a rough life anyway, with getting bugs and sand blasted and such while driving. Normally of the clear on a bumper starts peeling, it will be on the sides or near a corner, or on the top side that is the most exposed to the sun.

 

And obviously this also applies to the roof as well, since it's exposed to the sun almost all the time. The area around the sunroof tends to flex a bit while the car is moving, which can eventually lead to cracks forming that allow the clear to start peeling.