Does this look like Gel Coat Oxidation?

[ChuckCooperDuke]

Discolored areas on driver side of coach - not sure if this is oxidation or some other road stain - any thoughts? Was going to try a Gel Coast Restorer product - does that seem to be a good first step?

[Pete'sMH]

Looks like you’ve got it going on behind the front wheel too. Whatever it is. Could it be environmental? From something picked up on the road.

[Lt Keefer]

Is that before or after washing?

[axis earl]

No matter what you do, gelcoat does not do well when exposed to the sun. Neither do those decals. I have never seen the discoloring as it appears but it has to be from sun damage. I would be curious if you try using McGuire's gelcoat finish restorer with a good orbital buffer to see if it removes the discoloring or only brings back the shiny finish. Eventually, you will have to decide what to do with the stickers because they will not hold up to the sun exposure.

[16ACE27]

Oxidation? No, I don't think so.

Looks like fiberglass repair areas that have discolored with age and UV light exposure. Has the coach been crunched in that area? Whats it look like behind that corner in the engine compartment area?

[dkoldman]

How old is it?

Has it been parked somewhere for extended period of time where only the parts that appear to be sun baked was exposed to the sun and the rest of the coach was not?

I have seen something similar to that look with a brand new boat cushions that were under a cover from the sun, but the Texas heat was so hot it basically cooked (baked) the surface of the material (but not the gel coat on the boat because I am am a wax nut).

Short of that, it may have been something that got repaired before you got the RV that just didn't have the same quality finish.

Unless you are good with orbital polishers, I would take to a professional wax detailing shop to at least get an estimate for what they recommend. I don't think they would charge $100 to buff it out.

[Coveman2]

I have the same problem on my Compass but it is above the windshield and around the skylight. I was quoted $100 just to do a test with rubbing compound and if that worked it would cost around $300-400 to fix it, its purely the time it would take and where its is located as they would have to use scaffolds to work on it.
Coveman2
2018 Thor Compass 23 TB

[Hodgepodge]

Do you have sprinklers that use well water? Reminds me of
Overspray stains caused by iron in the water. Just a thought.

[z28]

I have seen this occur before, if someone used a tire dressing when performing a detail job , it will cause the yellowing to occur. Once this happens there is no way to remove it. Cleaning and polishing will help but it will only improve it slightly.
Good luck

[Scott]

We have the same discoloration over our entire 2014 ACE 30.2. When we bought we paid for and exterior coating to help protect it. I now doubt that it was even applied. I did try to make a claim as part of the warranty for that product, but because I noticed it the fall and did nothing with until spring they wouldn't honor it. I'm not sure what we're going to do about and it sure is noticeable.

[LAEN]

I wax my rv yearly by hand and store in a COMPLETELY ENCLOSED storage. This is THE ONLY way to prevent fading & oxidation.

[Pete'sMH]

Originally Posted by LAEN

I wax my rv yearly by hand and store in a COMPLETELY ENCLOSED storage. This is THE ONLY way to prevent fading & oxidation.

Wish I had that option! I got so frustrated with the problem that I made sure full body paint was near the top of my “must have” list when I upgraded. So far so good.

[Yvonnemarc]

Originally Posted by Scott

We have the same discoloration over our entire 2014 ACE 30.2. When we bought we paid for and exterior coating to help protect it. I now doubt that it was even applied. I did try to make a claim as part of the warranty for that product, but because I noticed it the fall and did nothing with until spring they wouldn't honor it. I'm not sure what we're going to do about and it sure is noticeable.

Our 2017 30.2 has oxidation only above the drivers window. I wax and apply UV protection 303 product but this area seems to be the issue.
We also had the coating protection package applied and your assumption is the same as mine, they missed this area. Spring is arriving so I need to plow thru the verbiage to see how this is affected by the warranty.

[BradnKaren]

Originally Posted by Hodgepodge

Do you have sprinklers that use well water? Reminds me of
Overspray stains caused by iron in the water. Just a thought.

This is what it looks like to me also.