The idiots that have been painting my apartment complex decided the smartest thing that they could possibly do would be to spray paint in the wind. Hence, every car in the parking lot got covered in a fine mist of white house paint, including my brand new 2007 MCSC. A couple of questions, will this come out? (Please say yes) Second, do I have to get this done right now? I am definitely making the painting company pay for my mini to be detailed or whatever needs to be done. I am wondering if I should wait for paint company insurance or get it before the paint cures (how long does that take?). I think the spray happened 3-4 days ago. I noticed it on friday night. It's a big stink here because the building and paint company are trying to keep it quiet.

 

Pull out the clay and starting claying today. Don't let it stay on your paint. Hopefully because your MINI is still new, the protectant on the convertible top is still intact so that you can just rinse it off with some car wash soap.

You may have trouble removing overspray on the textured arches or anywhere that isn't painted and smooth.

Good luck.

 

First, don't worry! This is a fairly easy problem to solve and is fixable. It will just take some time and/or elbow-grease to take care of. Having said that, I'm sorry to hear about this... what a frustration and hassle to deal with!

At this point there is no hurry. The paint is more than likely dry by now. It won't make a difference if you take care of it this minute or in a few weeks.

Quick question: Do you have any wax on the car? In particular, do you have a synthetic wax on the car? If so, the cleanup will be much easier. If not, no worries (just more time and work).

As for getting them to pay, it is obviously easier to hand them a bill from a detailer than to hand them a bill for your own work. Thus, try to find a detailer who can take care of it without drastic, unnecessary measures. Specifically, ask the detailer if they use claybar. Although any good detailer will, many high-volume cheapos do not even know what it is! A detailer will not have to abrade or use a polisher or anything to get the paint off. Only claybar. (I've know some unethical detailers to use this problem as a big money maker because people are so freaked out that they'll pay anything and let them do anything)

Claybar is your key. Without wax underneath, it may take numerous (tedious, though very easy) passes. With fairly fresh wax underneath, it really shouldn't take much time at all. This info should help you evaluate your detailer quote.

You could also do it yourself and bill them for your supply cost and then an hourly rate. Some people would look at a bill like that and treat it the same as a professional bill. Others would not. Either way, it's something to consider, as claying is very easy to do and very difficult to mess up.

Or, if the paint company idiots are stubborn and try to get out of paying for it, you may be better off just doing it yourself and save the headache of arguing with them. Although I have no idea how much paint is on there, nor if you have wax on the car, I'd say as a gross estimate that it would take you anywhere from 45 minutes to 4 hours to get it all off. It would probably take anywhere from 30 grams of clay to 200 grams of clay to do the job.

Hope that helps! Good luck!

-Heather

 

Ooo yeah... good point OctaneGuy! I didn't even notice that it's a convertible. (duh me) I agree... if you don't have much protectant on your top, you may have some trouble with the overspray there. Like Richard said though, it's likely your protectant is still strong (all new MINIs come with protectant on the top) so you should still be ok.

Don't use clay on your top... just car wash soap. If the soap isn't enough, I'd strongly suggest 303 Convertible Top Cleaner next.

-Heather

 

"Don't use clay on your top"
Why not???

 

thanks for all the quick replies. I'm taking my MCSC to one of the sponsors of the mini motoring club of the carolinas. Steve of Ultrashield of charlotte said it should come out with clay as you guys recommended. Hopefully, I can get the painting company to pay for it without taking them to court....

 

101- hope you get that paint off. did you contact your landlord and
painter's management as soon as it happened? its best to let them
know early and to have their insurance ready as well.

 

Similar thing happened to me back in the late-80's, 101. I had a black Thunderbird Turbo Coupe (gorgeous) and was parked at work one day. Unknown to me, they were painting an aircraft hanger half a mile away. There was just a light breeze that day... that was enough.

The aircraft hanger was light beige... not a good color on a black car. I must have had over a thousand tiny little beige dots all over the car. So did all the other cars in that parking lot but nobody else really seemed to care.

Took it into the local detailing shop, they had it for four hours. When they were done, you never would have known anything happened. I'm sure you'll have the same result.

My costs were covered by the Air Force. I would bet the paint company has insurance that will cover your costs.

Good luck !

 

Because you where not the only one to have this happen is probably for the best. See if you can get as many folks that had this happen to their cars together and go after them as a group.

Another important thing is what kind of paint they were using. Latex or oil based. The latex will not stick to any plastic very well, if at all, and should just scrub off with soap and water. Oil based paint will probably be tougher to get off.

My sons car had the same thing happen to it, and claying the paint worked very well, using lots of real soapy water.

Mark

 

Several other people noticed today that they had paint on their cars as well. This should be interesting since the painting company (which has been in business for 30 years) has never heard of that happening before--sounds very fishy. Anyway, the painting company and building are aware of the problem and hopefully a solution is on its way soon. Keeping my fingers crossed that it will all come out.

Not sure if the paint was oil or water based. I hope that the extra few days that the paint is on won't make a difference. I don't want to get this cleaned off until I know someone other than me will pay for it. Don't want to eliminate the evidence so they can deny the whole thing...