Hello all. I have a 2-week old TL 6MT with about 200 miles on it. I bought the car and left town a day later. When I returned, a bird had left a present on the hood of the car.

I washed it, and the damage from the bird appears to be permanent. I tried soap and water, quick detailer, bug and tar remover, and finally cleaner wax. It is like the birdcrap etched the paint, and there is a permanent dull spot in the shape of the poo.

Have you found that your Acura has soft, weak paint? I called my dealer and he helpfully suggested that I rub it out with compound. Really? A 2 week old car? Should I rub it out every time a bird craps on it??? By the time it was a year old the paint would be gone.

By the way, I have several other cars getting crapped on by these same birds. An 07 Yukon, 06 Mini, 06 Scion, and 2010 Subaru Legacy. None of them have suffered permanent birdcrap damage, just my new Acura.

Is there something wrong with my paint? Have any of you had issues?

I realize that this can be rubbed out, but I find it strange that this is needed at all.

Thanks!

 

Yeah, I got a couple bird crap damage here and there. Luckily it's very small and hardly noticeable. Unfortunately, bird poop is highly acidic and left too long on the paint, it will permanently etch it....esp. on cars with thin, soft paint like Acura. (Never had a problem on my German cars). Your best bet is to remove it immediately once you see it....which is why I always keep a bottle of spray cleaner and detailer in my trunk. Never use compound for anything....unless you want a ton of swirl marks and damaged paint. If it's real bad, go take it to a body shop.


GO BLACKHAWKS!!

 

I had the same problem because my house has many trees where birds perch. Bird crap with the sun is a terrible combination. You mentioned that you left your car unattended for some time, well that will definitely etch discoloration on your paint, esp for that long. I would agree with PetesTL, as soon as you notice bird crap take care of it promptly esp with thin, soft paint with the new TL's...

I always keep a microfiber towel for these issues. Try some scratch remover compound with light abrasives...maybe that will help.

 

Acura is well known for having very soft clearcoat. It's not actually the paint that is soft. The good news is that the etching is just in the clearcoat. I doubt that the etching has gone past that. Compound will be way to aggressive, but using some polish with abrasives will help to smooth out the etching.

It seems like having soft clear coat is a bad thing, but its nice from a detailing sense. It's much easier to polish Honda/Acura paint because you can use much less aggressive pads and polish. I helped my friend detail his BMW 3 in Jet Black... damn that clear coat is rock hard, especially in jet black.

Where it sucks is when you have rocks hit your car on the freeway... Acura clear coat just chips right off and usually takes some paint with it. 1st purchase I made was a bottle of touchup paint.

With any car - bird crap eats through clearcoat. Clean that off asap when you see it.

 

seems even nissans have a tougher clearcoat than acuras...

 

What color is your car ?

mine is black [CBP], and bird bomb drops tend to be more visible than on white...

I guess if you have trees near your car, it's worth getting a car cover to protect your baby when you are away...

 

Hey Pete.

Good to know that the soft clearcoat makes it easy to detail. But I still have to say that this is really a lot of etching, and like I mentioned, with all of my other cars you can just wash it off. I've owned something like 50 cars and I have to say that I have never see aggressive etching like on this one.

Trust me when I say that the others have had more crap on them for much longer without sustaining damage. It did not sit in the sun for 2 weeks, maybe 3-4 days in the shade at the most, depending on when the bird hit it.

But thanks for the info.

Mike

 

Yea its only good for detailing...it sucks for everything else.
Nissan/Infiniti and BMW are known for rock hard clear coat. They both have pluses and minues.

 

Yeah, mine is black too.