need help identifying possible vandalism on paint

[xanatos]

I just got my M3 a few weeks ago, and recently noticed a weird non-shiny area in the paint that I swear was not there before. I think it is vandalism but I cannot figure out what caused it. In general the area in question is not shiny anymore but looks dull, like someone sanded it. Also you can see a bunch of circles indented into the paint, almost like from a power tool?
Does anyone know what caused this? and is it easy to buff out either by myself or bodyshop?

 

[355rockit]

Try Turtlewax speed compound applied and removed by hand. If just clear coat, it should make it look much better. Follow this with a good coat of wax on entire car. I've used on some pretty bad paint and made it look much better.

Turtle Wax Ice Speed Compound

 

[JeffK]

I could have been "touch up" that the service center did or honestly you could have probably done that if you cleaned it even once but that's almost too precise to be from a human.

100% doubt that it's vandalism.

 

[xanatos]

I could have been "touch up" that the service center did or honestly you could have probably done that if you cleaned it even once but that's almost too precise to be from a human.

100% doubt that it's vandalism.

The circles are what really gets to me though, that can't possibly be from a human right? so was it some rotating tool that caused it?
the car has never been in the service center yet, and when the car was delivered it didn't look like that, so not sure when it could have happened if not from vandals...

 

[JeffK]

The circles are what really gets to me though, that can't possibly be from a human right? so was it some rotating tool that caused it?
the car has never been in the service center yet, and when the car was delivered it didn't look like that, so not sure when it could have happened if not from vandals...

Well yeah, no doubt it's from a random orbital polisher.

It was looked at by the service center or delivery hub before you got it... It was probably done then and since then, the lighting hasn't been just right allowing you to see it.

It's easy to miss in diffuse lighting.

 

[Matt L]

I just got my M3 a few weeks ago, and recently noticed a weird non-shiny area in the paint that I swear was not there before. I think it is vandalism but I cannot figure out what caused it. In general the area in question is not shiny anymore but looks dull, like someone sanded it. Also you can see a bunch of circles indented into the paint, almost like from a power tool?
Does anyone know what caused this? and is it easy to buff out either by myself or bodyshop?

1 vote for some kid dry humping your ride.

It is a sexy car...can’t say that I blame him.

 

[BerTX]

I can't tell where the spots are located on the car. That might be a clue...

 

[xanatos]

Well yeah, no doubt it's from a random orbital polisher.

It was looked at by the service center or delivery hub before you got it... It was probably done then and since then, the lighting hasn't been just right allowing you to see it.

It's easy to miss in diffuse lighting.

Thanks so much! I looked again at the area, and I believe you are completely right! I noticed a small paint dimple in the area in question, so maybe they noticed the paint defect and tried to fix it using that orbiter you mentioned and didn't do a very good job afterwards to make it shiny again. I went back to look at pictures I took on delivery day, and noticed that since most of the pictures were outside in diffuse lighting I didn't see anything. But then I found a picture of it in my garage with harsher lighting and the dull area does seem to be there already. So at least that means it wasn't vandals, just my paranoia!

With that settled, should I try using that turtle wax ice compound as someone else suggested to buff out this area? or are there some other suggested methods?

 

[JeffK]

Thanks so much! I looked again at the area, and I believe you are completely right! I noticed a small paint dimple in the area in question, so maybe they noticed the paint defect and tried to fix it using that orbiter you mentioned and didn't do a very good job afterwards to make it shiny again. I went back to look at pictures I took on delivery day, and noticed that since most of the pictures were outside in diffuse lighting I didn't see anything. But then I found a picture of it in my garage with harsher lighting and the dull area does seem to be there already. So at least that means it wasn't vandals, just my paranoia!

With that settled, should I try using that turtle wax ice compound as someone else suggested to buff out this area? or is there some other suggested methods?

Wax might hide it, but it's temporary. A body shop or someone who specializes in paint repair could actually fix it. At that point though you might as well wrap it in PPF.

PPF might hide that altogether with even almost no paint correction.

No matter how careful you are and even with two bucket washing and all that, your paint will eventually get swirl marks.

 

[HighandDry]

Doubt that it's from a random orbital polisher. The whole reason for the random orbital is to prevent damage like that. It could be from a rotary polisher. Regardless, that looks like a easy fix. Just take it to an auto detailer and they should be able to correct that pretty easily.

 

[JeffK]

Doubt that it's from a random orbital polisher. The whole reason for the random orbital is to prevent damage like that. It could be from a rotary polisher. Regardless, that looks like a easy fix. Just take it to an auto detailer and they should be able to correct that pretty easily.

Both will cause marks like that if you haven't properly cleaned and clayed the paint before using it. It'll take some dust or small piece of dirt and grind it into the clear coat.

 

[NathanielHrnblwr]

dual action orbital polisher
scholl concepts s3 gold xxl
scholl concepts blue spider pad

clay the area first. follow up with a polish, then paint protectant. Most of that should come out with a little love.

 

[HighandDry]

Both will cause marks like that if you haven't properly cleaned and clayed the paint before using it. It'll take some dust or small piece of dirt and grind it into the clear coat.

I've been using a Flex dual action for 10 years and a rotary before that. It would take some doing to cause that with a dual action. "Dust" is not going to do that. Claying is not always necessary before polishing and the purpose of claying is not to prevent marring, it's done to remove deep contaminants.
My point being that a dual action polisher is very safe and it's very hard to cause damage like that with a dual action.

 

[JeffK]

I've been using a Flex dual action for 10 years and a rotary before that. It would take some doing to cause that with a dual action. "Dust" is not going to do that. Claying is not always necessary before polishing and the purpose of claying is not to prevent marring, it's done to remove deep contaminants.
My point being that a dual action polisher is very safe and it's very hard to cause damage like that with a dual action.

You're assuming they used a dual action orbital polisher which might not have been the case. Many shops don't use dual action polishers because they take longer. The swirl marks are consistent with an orbital polisher though.
Ultimate Beginner's Guide to Car Buffers | The Art of Cleanliness

I'd argue that even with a dual action, this is entirely possible to do on a dirty surface since that puts even more pressure than when hand washing and you can get swirl marks of similar depth by hand washing, just not in that particular pattern. Polishers wouldn't work if they weren't capable of removing layers.

Add a piece of sand or grit in between the polisher and the clear coat such as by using a dirty pad and you're asking for trouble.

 

[sperkin]

I have these on my car. 4 spots on the hood and 2 on the fenders. It was caused by the poor detailing vendors done at Marina Del Ray DS. I took a DA polisher and compound/polish to remove it. Took awhile and a few tries to get the burn marks out.

Yours may be a little more difficult since it has fine cuts in it but I think you can get it smoothed and shiny again with a DA polisher.

 

[xanatos]

I have these on my car. 4 spots on the hood and 2 on the fenders. It was caused by the poor detailing vendors done at Marina Del Ray DS. I took a DA polisher and compound/polish to remove it. Took awhile and a few tries to get the burn marks out.

Yours may be a little more difficult since it has fine cuts in it but I think you can get it smoothed and shiny again with a DA polisher.

Thanks, good to know I am not the only one, and good to know it should be fixable by myself. Gives me hope!

 

[fseir]

I had something similar on my M3 (no scratches, just the lighter patch), that showed up several weeks after I took delivery. Posted about it here:

[URL="https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/posts/2711861/"]Light patch on paint just showed up today![/URL]

I’m positive it wasn’t there at delivery, and I never used a random orbital polisher, and only hand washed it with 2 bucket method, myself. Tesla took care of it. They sent it to a contracted body shop and repainted it, and thankfully, it turned out perfectly matched. In retrospect, I wonder if I caused it by using an electric pressure washer? I’ve since switched to using ONR, but will occasionally pre-soak the car with my foam cannon and do a quick rinse with the pressure washer. I am extremely careful to keep the wand moving and as far away from the surface as possible, just in case that was the cause.

In your case, some kind of mechanical device seems the more likely culprit, but it does reinforce the notion that Tesla paint is extremely soft — perhaps more so when the vehicle is new?

Good luck!

 

[jkoya]

I went back to look at pictures I took on delivery day, and noticed that since most of the pictures were outside in diffuse lighting I didn't see anything. But then I found a picture of it in my garage with harsher lighting and the dull area does seem to be there already. So at least that means it wasn't vandals, just my paranoia!

I took delivery outside in the rain with flat light. Due to the weather, I was finally able to wash the car about 2 weeks later and discovered a lot of swirl marks and light scratches on the hood and passenger front fender. I contacted Tesla and they added it to my due bill.

I have removed light scratches using an orbital polisher on my NSX, but they were only on the clear coat and did not go down to the primer. Hope whatever course of action you decide works out.

 

[sperkin]

I had something similar on my M3 (no scratches, just the lighter patch), that showed up several weeks after I took delivery. Posted about it here:

Light patch on paint just showed up today!

I’m positive it wasn’t there at delivery, and I never used a random orbital polisher, and only hand washed it with 2 bucket method, myself. Tesla took care of it. They sent it to a contracted body shop and repainted it, and thankfully, it turned out perfectly matched. In retrospect, I wonder if I caused it by using an electric pressure washer? I’ve since switched to using ONR, but will occasionally pre-soak the car with my foam cannon and do a quick rinse with the pressure washer. I am extremely careful to keep the wand moving and as far away from the surface as possible, just in case that was the cause.

In your case, some kind of mechanical device seems the more likely culprit, but it does reinforce the notion that Tesla paint is extremely soft — perhaps more so when the vehicle is new?

Good luck!

It’s not from pressure washer because I only use pressure washers on all my vehicles and have never seen this. That circle shape was a burn mark from their buffers.

It could be a glaze, but I have never used it before (or colored waxed). When I was a teenager, I have seen this on a neighbor’s red car before. Her Red car was shiny, but when I washed it, a lot of Red came off. I was worrried, but she told me her dad uses a color wax so it hid a lot of defects. I believe that’s what glazes does. They fill in scratches temporarily and comes off when you wash it. Maybe the detailers use something to cover it so it doesn’t show up until you washed it.

 

[xanatos]

Update: I was able to buff it out myself!
Thanks to everyone's replies here and after reading through many pages of the link JeffK posted (Ultimate Beginner's Guide to Car Buffers | The Art of Cleanliness)
I went to autozone and bought myself some meguiars ultimate compound and polish, and also a variety of foam polisher pads.
Went home, followed the instructions, starting with the compound first and then the polisher, and the dull spot is now gone!
The imprinted circles however are still there, although much harder to see now. Maybe I need something more abrasive to get rid of those, but for now this is good enough for me.
If I decide to venture more into this area, I might decide to get one of the DA orbital polishers mentioned like the "PORTER-CABLE 7424XP 6-Inch Variable-Speed Polisher" or "Griot's Garage 10813STDCRD 6" Dual Action Random Orbital Polisher with 10' Cord". But for now I am happy with the results just from hand polishing it.
thanks everyone, the replies were highly informative and I learned a new skill!