-September 2024 Special Lease Deals-
2024 Chevy Blazer EV lease from Bayway Auto Group Click here
2024 Jeep Grand Cherokee lease from Mark Dodge Click here
2025 Ram 1500 Factory Order Discounts from Mark Dodge Click here
2024 Chevy Blazer EV lease from Bayway Auto Group Click here
2024 Jeep Grand Cherokee lease from Mark Dodge Click here
2025 Ram 1500 Factory Order Discounts from Mark Dodge Click here
Comments
Thanks.
Joe W.
I don't know what they're from--they were there when we bought it--but it just *BUGS* me. Does Clearing off the body would help too, but the paint makes it not so noticeable.
thanks
I meant: If anyone can recommend something that can clear these residue stains off the glass (they're kind of whitish clear--but I don't know what they came from), it would be much appreciated. Something that does clearing off the body too that would help, but at this point the stains on the body are not as irritating, because the paint makes it not so noticeable.
Thanks again.
Wash the entire outside, concentrate on the areas with spots, with dishwashing detergent with grease cutters (like Dawn). This will remove the wax over the spots. Then go to Pep Boys, pick up a clay bar and a spray bottle of detailers wax (usually sold as a kit) to use as a lubricant. Use this combination. If this takes off the drops, wash the car again and re-wax.
If it doesn't work, you ;may have glass that's been etched by acid rain. Same with the paint. It happens a lot here in NE.
Could a body shop buff it out? Don't know.
Take Care.
Joe W.
I do believe that it could be acid rain. The car lived its entire life before we bought it in NC--from the first owner. While depressing, it would be an interesting little object lesson for our daughter, at least.
The steel wool? I don't know...I'm a big chicken when it comes to steel wooling glass, but I suppose if the other ones don't work I'll get some really really fine steel wool and try it on a relatively less visible part. I believe that it wouldn't damage *your* car, but with my luck it would completely etch mine!
hopeful for a clean shiny car and minty-fresh glass
thanks again
Thanks in advance all. Edmunds rocks!!
The Sandman :-)
The bumper cover on the left rear corner is pushed in, quite a bit of paint is scuffed off of that area, and the bumper cover has popped free at 3 points where it fastens to the LR quarter panel.
My questions:
What are the odds the bumper cover will need to be replaced? It doesn't appear to be creased.
How hard should I fight any gap between the body shop estimate and the insurance company's estimate? I've seen them try to save on paint/labor, and the results are jobs where my colorblind brother could see the mismatch.
How much damage should I look for on a suspect vehicle? No lights were broken. Should I be looking for dents if the damage appeared to have been done with the corner of their car? Any reason I should expect to find gold (the color of my car) paint? There were no traces of the other guy's paint on my car.
the bumper cover is the least of it... there is also the matter of the shock absorbing material underneath it, which is nasty expensive, usually looks like a real dense version of those "zillions of little boxes" light diffusing panels in ceiling-tile-supported troffers.
insurance companies vary widely... I got away with taking my 2000 explorer to the dealer's body shop, having them make the estimate, and then forwarding it on to the other person's insurance company. got a full payment on what was about $400 worth of damage for what looked like a ding and a scrape, and some fuzzed-up edges on the plastic bumper cap on the top. got all factory parts as a result.
get only estimates from the dealer, maybe another honda dealer, and one or two of the top independent shops in the area, not any lowball gyp joints. specify factory parts on the estimate. and see where that goes. if the insurance company wants to do a $1200 job for $10.95 including your deductible, I would push that up their ladder, and not call in the Marines right off the bat.
PS -- why in 'ell wasn't the car in the garage? for reasons such as this, and dopers with iron pipe who do smash and grabs, I don't even consider housing without a defined lockable garage space that is mine and mine alone. if you have junk in there, put it out in the rain and garage the car, which is a darned sight more valuable. if no garage, start checking the newspapers for a place to move to. I'm serious. get the ride under cover and let somebody else get rammed by drunks and goons.
That being said, with all the opportunities for paint and body work, we have found a shop that we trust and who has been doing all of our work for the last 10 years. We insist that this is where we have work done. Insurance companies have whined and balked and said that they have their shops, etc., etc. But we have stood our ground and have always gotten the work done, fully paid for, at the shop of our choosing. And we let the shop and the insurance company work out the details. BTW: this shop is at the high end of the spectrum, and their normal billing reflects it. Still, they have always worked things out for us so we have no out of pocket expenses.
Laquer thinner, nail polish remover, acetone, should not be used, except on glass, unless you are very familiar with this. It will take the gloss off your clear coat and might eat into some plastics.
The clay is a good starting point. There are fine polishes and glazes made for auto paint, glass and plastic that might do the job if other things fail to.
I just recently bought this car (99 Neon) and have noticed some discoloration around the drivers side window. It looks as if the drivers side window was broken (I have found broken glass under the drivers seat) and someone taped some plastic to it. But there is some discoloration.
Also, there are door edge guards glued on to the doors with some type of black tacky adhesive. I can pull the guards off easily but I am worried that the adhesive will not come off.
What would you recommend to remove these from my finish? I cant really afford to take it to a detailing shop and have them do it.
Thanks in advance
that would be somewhat evil, and you'd almost have to slit it off with a blade if you couldn't roll little pieces of it off with the ball of your thumb, and keep that up a while until it finally came off.
My first thought was to just clean the windshields and let the ice melt off as the car warmed up. But, when I've done that in the past, the bottom of the ice melts first and slides off in sheets. That sounds like it will scratch the paint.
All advice welcome.
Thanks! Karl7777
virtually everything else except light trucks and truck-based SUVs, there has been a shattering to a cellular shock baffle, and it has to be replaced. this is a decidedly expensive deal, I have heard $1000 and up. obviously, this is dependent on the model and make.
light trucks and truck-based SUVs, probably just a brace needs to be hammered down off the truck or a new one put on.
if the trunk is not aligned right to the frame of the car, you have body damage to the unibody of the car as well as a bumper baffle, this will need to be pulled out or new metal put on, or possibly a bondo job depending on the damage.
you need a legitimate examination by a good body shop familiar with modern cars to know what's up and what the cost is. since your profile says you're a honda driver, you probably need some body work as well as a refit under the clever plastic "bumper" cover, which has some pretty good paint on it.
Do you really think waxing is bad for a car's finish?
"bonds with the finish" is a little iffy for me, because you have to wipe it off with a dry rag afterwards, right?
any wax over a brand new paint job is not good, because the paint has to breathe out the last solvent to finish setting up a tight film for a week or two.
other than that, it is much better to wax a clean car to keep the nasties away than it is to drag spikes over the finish, rub in kosher salt, and spray it down with hot fuming acid.
There are two discussion groups at Edmunds devoted to this. "Store Bought Waxes" and Zaino Car Polish".
JW
But no, I'm not fan of car washes. I've seen a new coat of wax disappear in a couple of washes that way, along with fine scratches (on dark finishes). But the thing about the sun burning off the wax sounds suspicious to me. Why not try a coat of wax and see how long it lasts?
In addition, with the sort of washing I'm describing, there are people on some of the boards here who claim that some of the new polymers will last up to a year. I doubt that, too, as it sounds extreme.
JW
bird stuff - is very hard on your car's finish, but a good protectant will help. Getting it off as quick as possible helps too. Put a wet-soapy rag over the dried on stuff for several minutes to lossen it up.
So, recently the opportunity came up for me to get a 1986 Buick Skylark (N-body, not X-body) for free. I've seen the car; I didn't get to start it up, but I checked it out. Under the hood looked clean, no obvious oil leaks. The fluids were all full and the trans fluid looked clean, though it could use an oil change and a new air filter. The interior was not bad, needed a good cleaning and a new headliner. The catch is that the car was wrecked in the rear. The rear quarter panel and wheelhouse are smashed in. The car is still driveable; the rear wheels and shocks are not damaged, and the taillight bar and trunk lid are fine. The current owners drove the car for two months in this condition. It appears to be just the left rear quarter and wheelhouse that are crunched.
So, I'm wondering, would it be possible to find one of these cars in a junkyard, torch off a section of the body, cut off the damaged area on this car, and just weld in the new rear quarter? I don't have to make this decision anytime soon, as the Buick is sitting in a friend-of-a-friend's driveway and probably will stay there and rust into nothing before they get rid of it. It's just a thought that I had. Opinions?
-Andrew L
shop.store.yahoo.com/rodi/usc77240.html
cvfsupplycompany.com/succupdenpul.html
Thanks for any advice.
BTW, I hate birds. I don't know what they like about my car so much. Someone told me blue attracts birds. I don't believe it. Does anyone know if this is true?
You can use touch up paint but it is nearly impossible to get it so it's 'invisible.' I've even done some I'm embarrassed to say that have looked worse when I'm done!
As a result, the 3M (and other products) plastic sheeting (invisible bra) has become very popular. You may know about it. It can be installed reasonably and, to my way of thinking, is worth it if you're going to keep your daily driver and want it to look good.
The only downside I've heard of is that people who like a huge shine to their paint complain that it looks duller to them and they don't like the faint line the edge of the material shows across the surface.
JW