Clear Coat

[Glenn 'Stinky' Stankevicius]

I am looking to buy a late model Holden for a quick project but there is a problem with the paint.
On the sides of the car the clear has deteriorated and become milky and patchy. To quote the owner "The paint looks fine when it's wet"

Is this a cut and polish job or will I need to sand back and re-clear it?

If I need to re-clear, can I do it at home with acrylic?

[HARKO]

Stinky it sounds like the paint protection has fallen off .
Take it to a detailer - a respectable one and ask their opinion about reapplying it.
Ive got a feeling they will have to take off the protection on the whole panel before reapplying  so let us know how you get on .

[Glenn 'Stinky' Stankevicius]

Thanks Harko,
Paint Protection? so is that different to a normal metallic/clear system?
The problem is mainly the doors as the car has sat under a tree and only cops the sun on one side in the morning and on the other in the afternoon.

[Addo]

What colour is it, metalic or solid? and what year model is it? I think pre June 94 holdens were still finished in acrylic. 2 pac after that. If pre 94 and metalic there's a pretty good chance the acrylic clear may be beyond repair. If a solid colour a good buff might freshen it up and  with a good quality polish it might hang in there for a while.
Addo

[Glenn 'Stinky' Stankevicius]

It's a 1992 VP Berlina with the Maroon metallic paint, I am only interested in doing the interior and flogging it off. So I don't want to mess around with other things too much, given the age I realise there will be some other work though.

[HARKO]

Yeah Stink paint protection is not clear ,
Its all a bit vaugue but I did hear my sister talking to her mate the detailer once about her Zot box protoge Mazda that also had that stuff fall off it alot like you say
And he was saying bring it in and we will reaply it  

[Addo]

A 92 commodore with a metallic paint job exposed to sun and the elements down one side showing signs of clear degrading. Hmmm, fairly standard for a acrylic era commodore. I doubt paint protection has any thing to do with it. The clear eventually breaks down with sunlight. you never saw much in the way of extended warranties from paint manufacturers when it came to acrylic. You could rub it down and reclear it but you would have inconsistencies through the remaining colour and any chips or marks would look hideous under a new coat of clear. The only real way of fixing the problem is to repaint the side. If the rest of the paint is in really good nick it would look fine but if it's a little sad instead of one side of the car looking bad, one side would look good and the rest would look bad in contrast.
Play around with a few "wet look" type polishes in small areas and you might get lucky for a temporary fix but they are usually laced with silicon which will give you no end of trouble if you decide to do any paintwork within a hundred yards of it.
Hope this helps but the prognosis isn't good.
Addo

[Addo]

Sorry, I just read your original post again, I should change my responce to both sides!