So I look out my kitchen window this afternoon and I see a bunch of dirt on my hood. I think nothing of this at first. Later I go outside and realize that this is not just dirt, but rather footprints. So now I'm pissed. I clean the footprints and then I see a long 3+ft scratch on the hood. Now I'm really pissed. Then I'm looking at my NBP hood and I am thinking, man this paint really sparkles in the sun, and that's when I realize that it's not the car paint, but rather spray paint.

I was at my father-in-laws house last night in Queens and parked in front of his garage. Some punks must've jumped on my hood to add some more graffiti to his garage door. The paint sprayed all over my hood, front grill and one of my fenders (just a bunch of tiny circles of paint from splashing)

I know, I know, I shouldn't have parked my car there, and I certainly won't be going back there with my car again.

Two questions
1) How can I get rid of the spray paint? I tried to wash it off, but no luck.

2) What can I use to hide the scratch? It's not a wide scratch, but is deep enough to feel, but not deep enough to go through the paint.

Any help is really appreciated.

I guess I'm lucky, they could've spray painted the car instead of the door, or they could have dented the hood while jumping on it.

 

Damn! Use a clay bar to remove the spray paint. Go to your dealership and see if they have a company that does small touch-up paint work. They should be able to make it look like new again. They are called Colors on Parade or something like that around here. Good luck!

 

rubbing compound sometimes does the trick too... give it a try. It couldn't hurt.

And this is why I do not leave my car in Philly overnight.

The amazing thing is that places like NYC, Philly, LA, Atlanta are having a hard time understanding why nobody vists unless they HAVE to. Dude... those places are human cesspools, why the hell would I want to go there?

 

It sounds like it's overspray so a car detailer can probably get it off and fix up that scratch while they're at it.

 

Clay Bar will do the job trust me! If for some reason it doesn't I know a professional detailer can get it off. A friend of mine had his subaru spray painted a little over a year ago.

 

sorry to hear that. Living in Queens myself I always worry about someone doing that to me. By the way what part of Queens were you at?

 

DO NOT USE RUBBING COMPOUND!!!

You will scratch the paint. Then it will all have to be buffed out. The clay bar is great or mineral spirits/ paint thinner will get it. But rember, these products will remove all protection your paint has so shcedule a good wax/polish job immediately after.

 

Yes but the clay bar is the safest method for clearcoat!

 

It was in Elmhurst.

 

Thanks for the suggestions. I bought a clay bar tonight and I will try it in my garage tomorrow. I also bought some ScratchX that I'll try on the scratch once I finish (hopefully) removing the paint.

 

If they put freeking motion sensors on the alarm systems.... If you live in westchester you may want to steer clear of Bam Margera and Jonny Knoxvill when they are in there car destruction wars. Not that I wouldnt trust people here, but double check with your dealer on what you can do too.

 

time for a CF hood, about 2 bills. hehehe

 

I would rather have a messed up hood than a $200 carbon fiber hood. A good quality CF hood will cost you min. $450 especially for the TL.

 

Agreed... That CF hood on ebay for 2 bills has got to be IFFY at best... Look at $500 for a good one (which I haven't seen yet anywhere..)

 

Really?

Didn't know that, or at least when I had to use it, it didn't scratch mine.

But, yeah... better safe than sorry.

 

Well, I tried the clay bar and it worked awesome. I think that I got all of the overspray off (I can't be 100% sure b/c I was working in my garage). It just took a bunch of elbow grease.

It's amazing how great that the clay bar works, although I think that it would take me forever to clay bar the entire car (I only did the hood, front fenders and front bumper). I didn't try to clay bar the headlight covers b/c I read that you shouldn't do so on plastic (has anyone tried to clay bar the light covers?)

I also tried to the ScratchX on the scratches, but this didn't really do the trick. It made it better, but I can still see it...Damn black car. I guess that I have to bring it to a pro detailer to get this buffed out. I'll ask my dealer who they use.

Thanks for all of the help. Yesterday I had visions of $100s of $'s of repairs. Now if I can just get my father-in-law to sell his house and move to a better neighborhood.

 

sorry to hear that. i cant stand driving into queens. they have the highest rate of theft in nyc. i worry all the time when i do travel into that borough. good luck with the car.

 

heh.. atlanta.. cesspool..

yeah .. it is.. if I can find a great job somewhere back up north or mid west, i'm outta here.
Sick of this rathole they try to call a progressive city.. the only thing they are more progressive than is maybe birmingham.

 

Elbow grease? Are you sure you used enough lubricant? I just use soapy water. I removed the overspray from when I painted my calipers. I didn't even know I had overspray, until I noticed red specks all over my black paint in the sun one day.

Then later on, when visiting a friend, I found I had HUUUUGE white splotches all over the sides of my car. Turns out the freeway must've had wet paint or something.

Claybar was awesome for getting even that out. With soapy water, I did the entire car in about 10-15 minutes.

God bless the clay bar

 

Yeah, a bunch of the overspray came off without much work, but most of it took a lot of pressure to get off. I found that the more lubricant (clay magic) that I used , the less overspray that the clay bar removed., so i just used enough lubricant so that the clay bar could slide without sticking. There were literally thousands of tiny circles of blue spray paint all over my hood, front fenders and front bumper.

 

Sorry to hear about the vandalism. I hope you get your car taken care of soon. I just posted a thread along the same line. Someone tried to pry off my lid spoiler but ended up scraping the paint and slightly damaging the bottom of the spoiler. It's fixed but I worry if they would try again.

dsc888

 

Read this article : http://meguiarsonline.com/forums/sho...?threadid=1516

And try your scratch-x again. It can be a finnicky product if not used correctly.

 

Thanks, I just read that page a few days ago. I am going to try this on Sat. It would be great if the ScratchX directions actually explain how we should use it.

 

yeah I hear ya, the instructions on the packaging are poor at best. that tutorial helps a bunch. good luck