bird poo damage

[jaz4uk1]

Washed car today and noticed some damage to paint finish. A small part of the boot has been surface damaged by bird droppings or something. It was not there when I washed so at some point a bird had dumped and then washed off.
Sorry but this is the first car that has had any damage by bird poo I have owned over the 45 years of car ownership.
The paint seems sub standard, it showed streaks before I first washed it, and after 7K miles has several stone chips and rash in front of the rear wheels. Its the red. Tried to wax out the bird poo but its surfaced damaged.
Is ceramic coating the way to go, but need to sort out the chips rash and bird poo damage first not looking good for 8 months old and 50+K car. soon will need a respray.

Guess the manual says remove the poo but hay its a car not my head.

 

[drpheta]

You said you tried to wax it out. You mean cleaner wax? I don't think that's similar to rubbing or polishing compound. These cars are painted essentially the same as other cars. MAYBE the coats are thinner, but it's still got enough clear on it to be able to be corrected polished out.

I suggest ceramic coating the car if you want to prevent chemical damage, though.

 

[byeLT4]

My Vette got 'etched' by a bird poop a few years ago so it's not limited to Teslas. The EV does seem more susceptible to rock chips though.

 

[jaz4uk1]

Will look to ceramic will it hide the swirls as well.

 

[byeLT4]

Ceramic alone will not but many installers will recommend a clay bar and polish before ceramic coating. The polishing should remove the swirls.

Edit- I should have used paint correction (like jjrandorin states below) vs polish.

 

[jjrandorin]

Will look to ceramic will it hide the swirls as well.

No, ceramic will not hide any swirls or hide that bird poo damage. It will accentuate anything that is visible in the paint, actually, which is why so many people do paint correction first. Any reputable detailer who applies this stuff will tell you that you need to do a paint correction (and charge you for it, or have it built into the price they are going to quote you for it).

If you are looking to do it yourself, you will need to address any and all paint issues before you apply ceramic, as all ceramic will do is basically "lock in" what you see right now, and make FUTURE stuff easier to deal with.

 

[jaz4uk1]

Thanks all

The swirls were from day one pick up did not notice as I picked up the car from the UK Birmingham NEC which was a massive tent so no natural light.

Will get one of the dealers local to me from this site to have a look and quote. I now dont like washing it in case I make it worse?

 

[byeLT4]

Good quality microfiber will be ok to use. I have about 10-12 that I rotate, my S has swirls but mostly since the day I bought it (used with 45k miles), it doesn't look that bad though (76k miles on her now). The last few Vettes I had were new, the microfibers kept them relatively swirl free for years. Plenty of vids showing proper use (lots of suds is most important imo).

 

[FastEddieB]

My 2022 M3LR Multi-coat Red already has blemishes from bird poo, insects, whatever.

Like my 2018 Honda Clarity, the paint just seems a tad “soft” and prone to issues. By comparison, our 2005 Honda Element has much more durable paint.

 

[Panel Gaps]

Wait what? Bird poo damages paint? How is that even possible?

 

[heavyD]

Wait what? Bird poo damages paint? How is that even possible?

Really? Bird dropping is acidic. Worst case scenario is bird dropping in hot sunlight as it will etch paint rapidly. I have seen it etch ppf in less than an hour. If you see bird dropping on your car's paint you should wash it off immediately.

 

[Apprunner]

I always keep something like Opti-clean in my trunk with a good micro-fiber rag and clean off anything like bird poo off the car ASAP. Most of the time, its on the glass so happy that a big portion of the exposed area for a Tesla is glass

 

[vegetaban]

I always keep something like Opti-clean in my trunk with a good micro-fiber rag and clean off anything like bird poo off the car ASAP. Most of the time, its on the glass so happy that a big portion of the exposed area for a Tesla is glass

I tend to wipe it clean with the fluid at gas stations immediately

 

[puffdaddy]

I had etching from bird poo (on my MC red) after one day in the parking lot at work. Not there in the morning and was after work 7 hours later. I tried to polish it out with my normal routine (Flex polisher and hex foam pad with Adams swirl and haze remover) to no avail. This has worked for other defects in the paint, and other cars, but the etching was still there. I finally got it out with a microfiber polishing pad (much more cutting power). This was with the car coated in Graphene! This is definitely soft paint!

 

[KenC]

Pictures?

 

[puffdaddy]

Pictures?

I don't know who that was addressed to but here is mine

 

[KenC]

It was for the OP, but your pic was helpful!

 

[N54TT]

Tesla paint, at least the black used for US built ones….is much softer than any other cars I’ve owned or detailed. It’ll scratch if you even look at it wrong lol. I’m a detailer enthusiast and did paint correction after taking delivery….before getting It PPF‘d. It only took one pass with a finishing polish on a finishing pad to get the results in the pics below.…where other cars would need multiple passes, a more aggressive polish and/or pad etc..

I‘ve had etching from bird poop at one point on all my cars…only real way to get rid of it is some paint correction. Once you get it corrected I suggest getting a ceramic coat. This is the first car I ceramic coated and was amazed when I came to my car with bird poop baking in the mid summer sun for hours, removed it with quick detail spray expecting to see it etched…and nothing! I was forever sold on ceramic coating lol

 

[AdamHLG]

Ceramic wont save you from bird poo. You need PPF. Ceramic on top of PPF even better so that you get the best qualities of both.

See my recent post about this here:

PPF saved the hood of my new 2022 Plaid

I recently took delivery of my blacked out MX Plaid in mid-April. I was trading in a 2017 X that I had treated with a ceramic coating - and LOVED the coating as it made her shine and she was so easy to wash. That car looked brand new for 4.5 years. So this time around, I make the plan with my...

teslamotorsclub.com

 

[jaz4uk1]

Here it is