paint damage from parking lot construction

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by galaxee, Feb 25, 2006.

  1. galaxee

    galaxee mostly benevolent

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    :angry: :angry: :angry: :angry: :angry:

    went out to wash my car this morning... in a perfectly good mood.

    wash the car, get to drying it, and i see these little silvery things on my black paint job.

    i say, hey Wth?

    wash the car again. with the slightly more abrasive side of the sponge.

    go to dry it.... Wth???

    it's like someone took glitter and evenly distributed it all over my BLACK car.

    i take the slightly more abrasive side of the sponge, pick a spot on the hood, and really scrub for a minute.

    no change. still little silvery things all over.

    i scrape at them gently with my thumbnail. then they come off.

    this stuff is everywhere! not just the paint- the plastic trim and the glass and the headlights and taillights and the bra are all covered in the stuff too. and it won't come off except by scraping at it with your thumbnail. and that would take what, maybe a full eight hour day or more to pull all that crap off my car...

    :angry: :angry: :angry: :angry: :angry:

    i am personally going to University Parking Services on monday and throwing a s*** fit over this. there's no way it could have happened on the road, because it wouldn't be EVENLY DISTRIBUTED EVERYWHERE. there's nothing in the air around my home parking lot. and for this to happen, i don't think a 20 minute sit at the target parking lot or the grocery store lot would cut it.

    i wanna throttle the person responsible for this.
    #$*&*%&^*)(#*&$*$(%*& construction!!!!!!!!!!
     
    #1 galaxee, Feb 25, 2006
  2. hobbit

    hobbit Senior Member

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    Can you identify what the little glittery things are made of?
    .
    _H*
     
    #2 hobbit, Feb 25, 2006
  3. galaxee

    galaxee mostly benevolent

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    DH is on his way home... said he'll check it out when he gets back tonight. i'm so pissed i can't even think of anything that it might be. looks metallic. slightly larger than grains of sand. well maybe i can pick some off and check em out. why oh why does my lab not have a simple light microscope???

    edit: ok they're actually slightly SMALLER than grains of sand. and they look white when i pick em off the car. but some of them disintegrate when i pick them off, so it's obviously not metal. either way... <_<
     
    #3 galaxee, Feb 25, 2006
  4. jpeachman

    jpeachman Junior Member

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    How aggravating :( ! Do you think claybarring will take it off without damage?

    Joe
     
    #4 jpeachman, Feb 25, 2006
  5. pinball

    pinball New Member

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    Sorry to hear aout this galaxee - I'd be soo p****d too.
    Would hot (but not too hot) water make them dissolve off perhaps ?
    I was thinking of soaking a sponge or towel and leaving it on for a few minutes.
    Pinball
    PS. I had a white car once that got sprayed by road tar - got that off with petrol
     
    #5 pinball, Feb 25, 2006
  6. Allannde

    Allannde Just a Senior

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    galaxee

    Your car is covered with Zaino isn' it? The spots will com off with what ever takes Zaino off. Then you will have to reapply it. Work, yes. Permant damage , no.

    Best of luck
     
    #6 Allannde, Feb 25, 2006
  7. DaveG

    DaveG Member

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    That was my first thought too - it's exactly the thing that claybarring is supposed to take off. Here's what I'd do:

    -Wash the car with dish detergent (Dawn or the like), this will take off all of the wax on the car, and hopefully some of the "glitter" too.

    -Claybar the car (follow the instructions, use lots of soap and water) - that should get rid of the rest of the glitter, but it will likely take a while...

    -Re-wax the car completely with the wax of your choice (as waxing is a pain, I'd use some good-quality wax).

    Dave
     
    #7 DaveG, Feb 25, 2006
  8. galaxee

    galaxee mostly benevolent

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    i'm thinking, considering how nasty this stuff is, and how stuck on the car it is, that the detergent wouldn't be able to get underneath the stuff that's stuck on the car to loosen it. it's that stuck. plus, all over the trim and the glass, which also requires scraping. the trim is the worst, because it's textured and the crap got in those little textured areas.... argh.

    going to have DH take it in for the guys in detail to look at monday. someone always owes him a favor, so i'm sure he can just call one in and have it taken care of. and if not, well, we'll have it professionally done on the university's dime. because i can and will complain LOUDLY.

    i'm just... so.... MAD!!! :angry:

    thanks for the replies, guys... will let you know how it turns out... sigh :(
     
    #8 galaxee, Feb 25, 2006
  9. Godiva

    Godiva AmeriKan Citizen

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    What a pain. I'd raise a stink. Especially since they didn't warn you. They should pay for professional detailing. (Then you should take care of it yourself.)

    I bought some plastic razor blades to remove a decal. While doing an entire car with them is a daunting task, if stripping the wax doesn't take them all off, what choice do you have?

    I'd strip it, scrap off as much as possible with the plastic razor blades, clay it and then detail it.

    I use Meguiar's, so if the blades and clay didn't take it all, I'd try Scratch-X, then #80 with a DA, then #83 with a DA.

    I'd also see if I could dissolve them rather than scrape them. Have you tried alcohol?
     
    #9 Godiva, Feb 25, 2006
  10. JackDodge

    JackDodge Gold Member

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    You're lucky it wasn't metal, otherwise, you would have a seriously scratched paint job by now. It sounds like some kind of plastic that is sticky enough to withstand washing but not sticky enough to become permanent. If it's soft enough, it may be adhering to the car from a combination of friction and the pliability of the material. If so, it's easiest to clean off under dry conditions instead of washing. When the car is completely dry, the crap may just come off with a light, gentle brushing with a terry cloth towel.
     
    #10 JackDodge, Feb 25, 2006
  11. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    wow, if only I had that kind of power. Most of my chips and dents are from university because of all that construction and stupid trucks that overload and spill gravel all over the road.
     
    #11 Tideland Prius, Feb 25, 2006
  12. fshagan

    fshagan Senior Member

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    Any sandblasting or concrete work going on? I had the same type of thing on a car, and it was from a building being sandblased down the street from the parking lot I had parked in.

    Take an inconspicious spot and try some white vinegar on it ... if it goes away, its probably concrete dust. You'll have to re-Zaino the car after using white vinegar. Clay bar also takes it off. The detail guy the contractor hired to fix all the cars in our parking lot used white vinegar, but some of the people went to their own detailer and he used clay bar (with the appropriate slimely spray stuff they use).
     
    #12 fshagan, Feb 25, 2006
  13. galaxee

    galaxee mostly benevolent

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    dry towel didn't do anything on the glass, or on a very small and inconspicuous area of paint.

    vinegar didn't work either.

    :(

    what's on my car???

    and DH is still sleeping off that 11 hour drive in the rain...

    i wanna cry. :(

    instead of doing that, though, i'm going to go try stoner's on the glass. see what something really volatile will do to this stuff.

    edit: i shouldn't be surprised. it didn't work either. the only thing that has worked is thumbnail power... maybe i'll head out and pick up a clay bar to see if it does anything. at this point i'm skeptical...
     
    #13 galaxee, Feb 26, 2006
  14. Frank Hudon

    Frank Hudon Senior Member

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    have a look at the other cars in the parking lot at work and see if they are afflicted with the same stuff, if not I'll bet you followed a cement truck on your way home.
     
    #14 Frank Hudon, Feb 26, 2006
  15. galaxee

    galaxee mostly benevolent

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    DH went and looked at it. i was hoping he'd say "oh i know what that is, here's what we do" and instead he came in saying "what the hell is that stuff"

    well, i went out and got a clay bar. didn't really have the $20 to buy it, but i'm so mad i went and did it anyway. tried a small area- the passenger side mirror housing and the small triangular window, along with a portion of the pillar.

    took me 20 minutes- i had to go over each area 3 times. it didn't do jack for the trim.

    and i haven't even seen a cement truck around here lately. this has to have happened in the past week.

    sent off an email to parking services... we'll see how responsive they are. i wonder if i can sic my insurance company on them somehow. i have comprehensive insurance... hmm. i'll have to go look at my policy.
     
    #15 galaxee, Feb 26, 2006
  16. Godiva

    Godiva AmeriKan Citizen

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    #16 Godiva, Feb 26, 2006
  17. galaxee

    galaxee mostly benevolent

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    well, i just got back from the detailer's... went to get an estimate and see if anyone would agree with me that it's from the construction site.

    i talked to the owner. super nice guy. he said he was sure it was construction overspray. he wrote up an estimate sheet and noted that he thought it was from the construction site that's right in the middle of my parking lot. so i'm heading down to parking services tomorrow. we'll see where this goes, but he told me i should have it done ASAP since the sun is so intense, it could cause more damage the longer it sits.

    thanks all for the replies and input. will keep you updated on what happens.

    :)

    -g
     
    #17 galaxee, Feb 26, 2006
  18. JackDodge

    JackDodge Gold Member

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    you can also use a credit card or company ID card. As long as the thing you're scraping with is softer than what you're scraping, it won't scratch. In this case, it would have to be softer than the paint job.
     
    #18 JackDodge, Feb 26, 2006
  19. galaxee

    galaxee mostly benevolent

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    went to the parking office today...

    they sent me to corporate risk management...

    they're going to send me to the contstruction company's risk management folks...

    as soon as they feel like calling me back with the phone number. :angry:

    i think i'm going to take a walk on my lunch break and find a phone number for their office myself.
     
    #19 galaxee, Feb 27, 2006
  20. Mystery Squid

    Mystery Squid Junior Member

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    Make the bastards PAY!

    On top of that, someone needs to get their a**-kicked. Turn on the Prius spotlight at night and rally all the BPC's...

    Or, find out who did it, and throw something on his car that will eat ALL the paint.

    :ph34r:

    Edit: Maybe try one of those non-toxic citrus based bug/tar/paint/glue removers? A long time ago, I had to remove some paint flecks off, and used some really toxic 3M stuff (not sure what it was called though, DH probably knows). It worked nicely, but not only did you need a wide open area, but a really good breathing mask...
     
    #20 Mystery Squid, Feb 27, 2006
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