After a week of my car in a municipal garage i noticed defect in on my paint. It felt greasy to the touch and after washing it off the paint looks to be permanently damaged. You can see it also stained the wheel arches.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/willsisti/5919287485/http://www.flickr.com/photos/willsisti/5919287485/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/willsisti/, on Flickr

Any ideas what could of caused this? More importantly whats this gonna set me back? :-/

 

I’d take it to a bodyshop or detail shop and see if it can be polished or wetsand/buffed off first.

Mark

 

How do you find a good body shop. I have done most of my body/paint work at the dealership only because insurance was paying the bill. If i am paying my self, i would like to find a place more reasonable.

 

Let’s put it this way... if a customer pulled into my bodyshop and I had to spend 10-15 minutes wetsanding and buffing a spot like that, I wouldn’t charge them.

And I most certainly wouldn’t have charged a fellow mini owner.

Point is, if the shop is cool about it, he may charge you 20 bucks top. Do yourself one favor, take it to an independent shop, not a “pro” shop for an insurance company... they’re not more than a production shop who won’t give a crap.


HTH’s,

Mark

 

Thanks for the advice. I searched the forum and found 3 shops nearby that are recommended.

 

Great, glad to hear it... like I said, they really shouldn’t charge you.

Mark

 

Have you let the lot know of the damage?

I had a similar issue, where they were doing construction on one of the levels, and the guys spraying it out didn't sufficiently mask off the levels. . .I had tiny bits of over spray on the bonnet, and roof. . .the company ended up footing the bill.

 

Thats a good idea. I will go back tomorrow and take a look at the spot i parked in to see if i can find the source.

 

It couldn't hurt. I know most lots have the, "Not responsible for items lost/stolen. . ."typical CYA stuff, the only thing they may have on their side, you didn't report it to them before leaving the premises.

Good luck though, I hope it is all a simple matter of someones elbow grease, and a lot of microfiber towels.

 

Id do a bit of polishing compound before the body shop to see if that works.

 

There have been a couple of threads about residual cosmoline seeping out between body panels and slightly staining paint and arches. Cosmoline is used as moisture barrier during shipping from England and is washed off when it gets here. I think it has usually shown up in hot weather.

 

Thanks for the pointers. I brought to a local body shop and they guy cleared it up with some compound for no charge. Thanks for the tip OrangeCrush!

 

Not a problem, glad it worked out for you....


Mark

 

Now the only decision is if i want to replace the black wheel arch. I think i will just live with it for a while.

 

Mask off the flare, wipe and degrease it real good, and spray a thin coat of satin black bumper coat on it and you will be good to go. You will never know it was there.

Mark

 

I've done this before also and had worked out well. Or sometimes spraying black paint on a lint free wrag and light rubbing it on works great on slightly rough plastic.