especially near the side of your car.




basically i was putting in his car seat, and he was rubbing the dew that was on the car, when i noticed i yelled at him, but he didn't drop anything, so i guess he was using his finger nails

i tried scratchx from meguiars, clay, and paint cleaner, nothing worked, so my body guy said he'll try to buff it out for free

 

yikes!!!

best of luck

 

The scratches do not look too deep, so you may want to try 3M light rubbing compound. It's clearcoat safe and does a great job on light surface scratches.

 

Let a professional detailer take a crack at that. I am sure they can get it out with little effort. Looks like light surface scratches to me.

 

I feel your pain.

I was driving home with my kids yesterday. My three year old was playing with a green gogurt (thats yogurt in a plastic tube) in her car seat. Don't ask me why I let her play with it. She squeezed it and it exploded all over my interior, mostly on the rear passenger headliner. Luckily, I got home before it dried and I was able to clean it up with wet rags and sponges. No spots thank god.

 

My 3 yr old knows when we take "Daddy's new black car"(meaning the TL) there will be NO eating or drinking in it. He reminds me each time. Mom's car is fine and so is dad's Jeep... But not the "new black car"!!! He's pretty funny about it.

 

I have taken out deeper scratches with my PC, like one said above it's a minor thing for a detailer or a body shop ( buy yourself a Porter Cable orbital buffer you never know if the 3 yo will strike again... )

 

now that's a smart 3 yr old hahahaah

 

i have a buffer at home, just don't want to burn a hole in the paint, plus the body shop guy (a friend) isn't charging me

 

At least he didn't try to wash your car with a rock.

 

Or even worse - wash your car with Comet!

Well I don't have a 3 year old (mine is 19yrs and at college), but even the wife knows, no food or drinks allowed (other than water bottles) in my TL.

 

I think I'd much rather be paying for a "buff job" than college tuition right now

 

Actually college is cheaper than kids dance classes (paid for those since she was 6 years thru high school graduation - scholarships in college make the TL an afforable vehicle for me and the misses. But she's a great kid - grooming her to be an entertainment lawyer so I can retire early.

 

and he was rubbing the dew that was on the car, when i noticed i yelled at him, but he didn't drop anything, so i guess he was using his finger nails


Next time take a breath...he was trying to help. The car is nice and expensive but the little folks are more important. I do feel your pain but it was really your fault wasn't it?

 

Kids these days. Scratching up classy cars.

 

Similar issue with computers. We have to have a PC strictly for our kids. My PC is strictly off limits to our kids!

 

yeah it was my fault for not watching him, i didn't make him cry, just a little yell to make him stop.

 

Put him up for adoption, sell to a nice family in need of a child, repaint car, end of story.

 

Lucky for me, my then 4-year old smacked my TL the first month I had it with the end of a broom. He was sweeping the grass off our driveway.

Now I don't obsess over the TL. Your better off.

Now if a dealer had done that to your car, .

Don

 

Does 3M make a protective film for children?

At least BAM BAM wasn't using Armor All while cleaning your TL. Save the pictures, you will enjoy relaying the experience to him when he is a teenager obsessing over his 1st car.

Now, remember, he's just a boy....remove the duct tape from him, give him a hug and tell him daddy does love him more than the mean car.

I hope the detail cures it.

 

If you kept the TL for many years, there would come a time when you'd look at those scratches and "I'd let him wash the car with a brillo pad if it would let me have a day with my 3 year old again".

He'll get older and one day you'll wish he was 3 again so he COULD do stuff like this. Trust me... look at it from this perspective and you'll be a happier man.

 

I agree. My mom told me when I was 3 I filled up my dad's gas tank with gravel rocks. He couldn't figure out why the car was running so rough. We get a good laugh out of that today. Kids will be kids

 

Yeah, but they have a hard time breathing once you "wrap 'em up".... and it's hard to get off them with all the "wriggling"

 

makes me..

 

I assume you punished the little one.

When my daughters were small, there were certain rules of behavior and property respect that were a must in our household. No eating in my car. No touching of daddy's "toys" (some of my toys would/will kill.. guns). In a word, you respect other people's property to the poiont of extreme.

Consequently, my daughters grew up to be responsible adults and really fine ladies. Granted, they're not as anal as their father, but I layed the ground work for them at a very early age.

Sorry you experience this incident. I suggest that next time, you put your "toy" ahead of your child's entertainment.

BTW, this is by no means a flame or such. Just a little help from a fellow site member.

 

Kids do this sorta stuff. Just let it go and be glad your child is happy and healthy, the TL is JUST a car. You'll drive it for a while and ditch it for something new, but your child is forever - he'll probably be taking care of you one day, actually. You will be old and unable to care for yourself and I'm sure you wouldn't want him jumping you about stuff you couldn't help.

Keep the kid safe with rules like don't play in the streets, but touching the car isn't going to hurt him.

 

I agree let it go. Zaino makes a great scratch remover. when my son was little, he upchucked all over the back of the passenger seat and floor in my wifes 2 week old Eclipse. you just gotta say oh well

 

Yep same here!!! I even feel like a bad mommy because my 1 yr old that still LOVES the bottle cries and cries for her milk.. Nope... she will wait until we get to our destination. Our Accord back seat looks sick from all the milk and cookie marks that constantly had to be cleaned up. I am going to baby this car.... my kids will eventually learn. At least I don't get a fight from my 4yr old.. she knows better

 

i didn't punish him, it's a car. i'll get over it

 

Details, details, details....

Reminds me of the time when I sent my nephew FedEx to visit Grandma....

Like I was supposed to know I needed to poke holes in the box???

 

you people are a little too nuts about the car.... It is just metal and plastic. And it is going to do nothing but wear out. That's life... Better yet build a separate garage, get a hepa filter, and only drive it 10 miles a week... If you cannot afford one do not get one if it gets a bit damaged and you are going to freak over it.

 

at least no one left any swirls with nails on center of your hood. but i feel your pain

 

It's just a car. There is nothing wrong with taking care of a car, but if your car is even remotely close to your kids on your list of priorities, you need professional help.

 

I hate to say it, but your feelings of being a bad mom are probably justly felt. Baby your kids, forget about that car. Maybe milk will condition the leather and prevent the inevitable sun damage. Here's to hoping your kids remember this when you're old.

 

Whatever... stop trying to imply that just because we are trying to teach our kids to be good and not make messes that we are bad parents.. that is BS! Yeah let's spend $35K on a car and let our kids trash it and do whatever they want... sure!!

 

Hope y'all didn't and don't think my reply was made in a mean spirited fashion. Please let me explain my reasoning.

When I was brought up, it was drilled into me that you learned to respect people be first respecting people's property. Children tend to think very literally and related to tangible things, so being taught not to lean or sit on a car, for example, is easy for a child to be taught.

The natural progression of this mentality is to learn to respect people. It worked from my brother and me, and for my two daughters as well.

Yep, it's just a car, but as such, it represents something that you own and care about. A child can learn that quickly and pick up on it quickly as well.

That's all I meant by my post. It's a respect thing with me.

 

How about we forget about you? This world doesnt need another pigs advice in order to plague everyone else with your french fry droppings and taco sauce smearing opinated advice. Maybe that pizza slice fumigation will attract the plus size model you are in search of when you rome the streets in your grimy car. Remember this when you finally clean your car.

 

Boy did I make some typos in that post.

Let's say you let your child do pretty much what they want with your car. And then yo get invited to a dinner party with some neighbors. You child, having not been taught that property is important, decides to jump on the neighbor's sofa and walk on their coffee table. If I were that neighbor, that child would never get that far because when their in my home, my domain, then my concept of discipline supercedes the child's parent's lack of same. I would put a stop to that kind of behavior immediately and my guess is the parents may not want to visit my home again.. at least not with their child.

You have to hurt your child some (both physically and emotionally) in order to instill discipline. There is nothing wrong with this.. it's both normal and natural. I am thankful for every spanking, every soap-in-mouth washing out, I ever got from my mother because I know that she kept me on the right path by doing this. Actually, I didn't get a lot of this because the fear of maybe getting this was enough after a bit.

Priorities and children? Priorities change all the time and sometimes within seconds. Certainly, your basic and fundamental priorities are your family and yourself; that's a given. But baby your children. I have to disagree a little here. Yes, do this some and to some degree, but raising children is a balancing act, as no two are the same. It's really not all that hard to raise good kids. I've done it and I've seen the results from parents who did not do it right.. did not hand out the discipline and teach the respect as they should have.

I'm on your side, TLGirl4. A measure of discipline, a healthy dose of teaching respect, a concerted effort to teach right and wrong. These are what turn a child into a successful and functioning adult. Life is full of rules and limitations. Best to start teaching that at an early age.

 

You and I are on the same page, completely!! It isn't just about "the car" it is about learning to respect things. I am not going to let my kids do what they want and make a mess of things! We are the parents that are here to guide them ad teach them right from wrong. I won't allow them to trash mine or anyone else's property. My parents did the same with me, and do I remember it?? YES!! Does it make me feel less of my mother? Heck no!! She made me the good person that I am today!

 

my 23 years old friend was in the back seat of my car the other week when his rootbeer can popped and got the entire back seat sticky...i guess you really have to teach them young.