i think my car suffered from a bad paint job. i just noticed tonight huge marks on the bonnet that stretches from the headlights to the windshield wipers. they look sorta like scratches but when you feel the body, it's normal. and u can't see them in the daylight. they're very visible when under street lamps and whatnot.

i called my MA but he wasn't there, so the dealership said i should call back in the morning and try to bring the car in so they can buff it. HOPEFULLY that works. i don't want something drastic like having a new bonnet installed.

anyone else have this problem? i know it's kinda hard to explain but i don't know if it's possible to take pictures. extreme lighting causes the marks to disappear (at least on one side). my friend shone a flashlight closely and we couldn't see the mark. but the other mark is very visible even with the light.

ahhh so frustrating

 

Never had this problem on my MCS, but another car that had some repairs and paint. In normal daylight the car looked beautiful, but at night and especially if there was moisture or dew in the air, you would see a large area that didn’t match the rest of the car. When I told the shop that had done the repairs they sent a person to my house. He used a clay bar and buffer to make the car look fantastic.

I hope this is all that is needed for your MINI. If not a new bonnet will take little time to install.




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You can't be a real country unless you have a beer and an airline - it helps if you have some kind of a football team, or some nuclear weapons, but at the very least you need a beer. - Frank Zappa

 

I'd be willing to bet that your car received a hasty repair (i.e., repainting a scratched bonnet) at the VPC. If you care - and a good case can be made for not caring - your dealer may be able to find out. But at any rate, they can/will also fix it...hopefully with little more than the clay bar and/or buffing described above. Good luck!

 

If it was damaged prior to you taking deliveray, it is supposed to be disclosed. Not to conclude that it was, but if so I think that would be worth considering when getting the paint right.

My somewhat uneducated guess is that a clay bar will fix it. Hope so!

 

I had some interesting "marks" on my roof when I got my MCS. Again they were not obvious, but as I cared for the exterior they became apparent. I tried several normal processes to try and remove or correct the marks but with little success. Finally I took it to a detail shop and they used clay bar to take the finish down to the base. They then thoroughly cleaned and waxed the car. TADA! No more marks.

 

Mine was. is the same way. Both of my doors had been given some serious rubbing.
One was cleaned up in the showroom, in front of customers, to the salesmans insistance. The other door wouldn't clear up dispite the kid leaning on the wheel removing what precous clear was left. I finaly couldn't watch anymore and asked him to stop. After a few washes I was so disgusted I took the car back. Mini agreed to repaint the door. I was reluctant since the car has a fair amount of orange peel in the base color coat. I figured this would be tough to recreate, even if they matched the color perfectly.
On my fourth wax job it finally faded away. I don't know if a clay bar is good for a paint job as new as yours, especialy on paint that seems as soft as the MINI's does.

Basicaly the dealer scratched up your clear coat. They most likely used a wheel in a attempt to hide some other imperfection. Letting them wheel again is probably not going to help your clear coat much.
Your dealer will play dumb and say it may have happened before he got it, but as stated they would have to declared that to you officailly.

Live with it a few weeks if can. You try hand rubbing in circles with a swirl remover under a flourescent light for a bit before getting midevil on it's ars with the clay bar.

Good luck.

 

During transit, does MINI put on those white bonnet, root, bumper protector
sheets on the panels to protect from the weather and droppings? could it
be the residue remains from that sheet of plastic?

not sure.... but if your dealer won't do anything and you're stuck
with that bonnet, try claybar-ing it and see if that removes the scuffing.
If that doesn't work, see if some ScrathcX might be able to buff it out.

There are some swirls on my car when i took delivery...most dealers
wipe the cars too much or something and swirls the paintjob almost
all the time. I used some Scratchx to remove alot of it, but some are
just too deep so used some wax. going to try polymer wax (ZainoBro's)
as soon as it gets warmer next spring. :smile:

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03MCS IB/Blk: 123, Aerokit, R90 17x7, TK5 16x7, 6CDMP3, and a few more.

 

i have a black 2004 MCS and above the back right fender, I have bad paint. all it looks like to me is that they got lazy while painting it on the assembly line. I have been meaning to ask my dealer about it, thanks for the reminder.

 

I had several nasty long clearcoat scratches on the hood, doors, rear quarter panels...it was probably my dealer that made them. I just got rid of them today. I used a 3M Rubbing Compound that got rid of most of them, then the Pinnacle Polish finished it off. Spot polished with the 3M and fully polished the whole car with Pinnacle Body Cleansing Lotion and Pinnacle Souveran Wax. And I clay barred the whole care before any of the above. No more scratches. The car is only 3 weeks old, but looks ten times better than it did coming off the showroom floor.

 

I had the same thing on my roof.

I figured out after looking at it for a while that it was in the shape of checkers. My car had the checker decal on it and they took it off. It still showed remnants of the decal after they peeled it. The claybar and a nice wax did the trick

 

thanks everyone. i took it to the dealership earlier today and my MA said he's never noticed anything like that before. (even though it showed up on other coopers they had on the lot.) BUT he argues it's just shadow from the surrounding lighting. UGH!

so i guess i'll have to try removing them on my own.