Okay, so here's the story. My friend and I got home and I parked in my garage. Like an idiot, I had a tub filled with very little used brake fluid sitting in the corner of the garage. Not seeing the tub, my friend hit it with his foot and spilled brake fluid on my garage floor. I saw a few drops on the bottom corner of my rear bumper (near the wheel). I immediately (literally within less than 1 minute) got wet paper towels and wiped it off. Then I washed the whole rear bumper and quarter panel with car soap, rinsed, and dried. It doesn't look like any damage happened.

My question is how long would it take for there to be damage? Do you think there is any damage considering the few drops that were on there and how long it was on there?

Lesson learned: don't be a lazy ass and leave what is basically paint-thinner next to a car whose paint you constantly take care of.

 

Brake fluid contains petroleum distillates (aliphatic) solvents to ensure brake parts are kept clean, that's what also makes it an efficient paint stripper (along with other cleaners in the product) however it needs to dwell for a while before the solvents react with paint. So if you remove it reasonably quickly no harm will be done.

I know a guy (he was a lot younger then, but he dumped his girlfriend , so in retaliation she poured brake fluid on the roof of his Jag (as well as slashing the tyre and breaking the windshield) This guy (not me ) didn't notice it until next morning, but by then most of the Concours d’élégance Jag's paint was toast.