Prius Clear Coat Bubbling and Peeling - 2008 Light Green

The old single stage paints needed to be maintained (buffed,waxed) to look good, so they were a lot of work. However, they never broke down like base coat/clear coat (bc/cc) does. So when it comes to really old cars, I suspect the economics swing back in favor of single stage once the car hits the point where the clear coat fails. Also the old single stage paints were not nearly as toxic as modern paints - no isothiocyanates. Back in the day one could go to Earl Schieb or Maaco and get a cheap paint job to fix up a car, often after some body work, or if you wanted a different color. There really isn't such a thing as a "cheap paint job" for bc/cc - it requires a tremendous amount of prep work and the workers need expensive protective equipment. There is still tractor paint though, which is I think enamel. That is supposedly able to handle sun and weather exposure better than bc/cc. Lots of videos of people (re)painting their cars with it. Colors tend to be, well, tractor appropriate. I think some work trucks can still be had from the factory with paint that isn't bc/cc, but I cannot swear to it.

 

They make a $30 epoxy like-Clear coat spray paint that you mix by pushing a button just before you spray it... But requires lots of prep work. Perhaps consider a vinyl wrap? It will also require sanding the surface so all the clear coat edges and paint chip edges are gone first, but easier in terms of not having to worry about color damage to the paint underneath.