Hey guys,

I was washing my car today when I encountered what looked to be a blackish gray tar or overspray on the lower part of my front fender. It was must have been picked up by my tire and was sprayed up onto my fender. I tried washing it with soap, tar remover and even a light polishing compound with no luck.

I am guessing it was brake fluid or some other type of solvent. Since I don't wash my car often it just sat on my paint until today. Darn it!

The affected area is about 3" x 8". It basically looks like a little bit of tar that was sprayed up on my lower fender. It looks very minor, but I am still bummed out. My car is flawless expect for this flaw. My car is gray and the splatters look dark gray, so they are not too obvious.

The question is this; Should I leave it alone and try to forget about it or have the fender repainted? Which would affect the car's value more?

Thanks guys.
George

 

try this http://www.microfiber-products-online.com/07240mp.html

 

John,

I tried rubbing compound and that did nothing to restore the paint. I think whatever it was it ate through my clear coat and stained my color coat.

Is claybar more aggressive than the rubbing compound?

Thanks.

 

yes, works in a different way...rubbing compound actually wears into your paint. creating very fine scratches. and may possibly work the contaminants in deeper. a clay bar pulls contaminants from your paint without being abrasive

first step should be clay. then rubbing compound. if neither works - wet sand (I suggest bringing it to a proffesional)


how about a picture of the piant? a body shop will usually try to sell you a respray, but it may not be entirely necessary.

 

Try 3m imperial hand glaze or meguire scratch X also.

 

don't fret though if none of them work. bumpers are meant to be resprayed and there is no way to tell if it has been resprayed as long as it was done right. paint meters only work on metal parts. i wouldn't be deterred from buying a car if the owner told me it had been resprayed as long as the rest of the front end didn't show any signs of repair. if you want to, you can take a few high-res digital pics of the area as proof why you did the respray so as not to prove it was from an accident

 

Hey guys,

I will try some of the products suggested. Thanks for the tips. Unfortunately, the panel in question is one of my front fenders (metal). I like your idea of taking photos for proof. Do you feel the same way if it is a fender being repainted?

Thanks.

 

In my humble opinion as a professional detailer, clay should be your first line of defense. The link to Mother's clay bar is a good one, although it might not be aggressive enough, You may want another brand called Clay Magic, the blue kind, or what I use, Zymöl’s Lehm Klay and Lehm Lube. Once the affected area looks better, you need to polish it and then wax it. If you could take a picture, I could better remedy your problem. The issue with repainting is that it needs to be documented and it will affect your resale value a bit. But if you document it well and get the work done at a reputable shop, the new owner will know you weren't painting the bumper because of an accident. Hope this helps