Have I Messed up my ceramic coating?

[ifckedup]

My almost brand new MY is parked close to a great big beautiful chestnut tree. However, small flowers come off and they leak sap.

I read that denatured alcohol can remove sap. So I went to town with a sponge and this is the sad aftermath.

Tiny scratches from the sponge and the area underneath seems a bit coarse.

So I guess my question is: Is this fixable?

From what I’ve been able to google, adding some sealant might do the trick. Do you guys agree? If yes, what sealant would you recommend?

Thanks in advance!

 

[cmaster]

My almost brand new MY is parked close to a great big beautiful chestnut tree. However, small flowers come off and they leak sap.

I read that denatured alcohol can remove sap. So I went to town with a sponge and this is the sad aftermath.

View attachment 946646

View attachment 946647

Tiny scratches from the sponge and the area underneath seems a bit coarse.

So I guess my question is: Is this fixable?

From what I’ve been able to google, adding some sealant might do the trick. Do you guys agree? If yes, what sealant would you recommend?

Thanks in advance!

Yes, it can be fixed after you polish with a polishing compound and reapply the ceramic. Or, wait 2-3 years for the ceramic coating to wear off, and redo. Or, bring it to a local body shop and have them fix it. Or, you can hire an exterior detailer to fix it.

 

[jay1122]

if it is actually ceramic coated. The tree sap should wipe off easily during car wash or with microfiber towel. I can't imagine someone rubs car paint with sponge. With these deep scratches, you need to buff it hard. Possibly wet sand.

 

[acarney]

I would speak to the detail shop that did you ceramic coating.

If it came from the factory, well, you don't have ceramic and that is scratched deep into the clear coat. (Honestly even with ceramic that looks to be in the clear coat of the paint).

They likely can repair it and then apply ceramic over the top if you want, but that's not a DIY job for someone that isn't experienced.

 

[Pianewman]

Confused. Did you have the car ceramic coated? It doesn't look like it. You may be confusing "clear coat" with "ceramic."

You'll need to have an experienced detail shop correct this. Sorry.

 

[Geech72]

IDK that looks like more than just a sponge; unless you’re talking about the scotch brand green and yellow dish sponges - and you used the green side. If you wanna try something DIY I’d try a good polishing compound and an electric buffer with a firmer type paint correction pad. You can find plenty of videos on YouTube that show you how to do it. Just do one small area first to see how it goes before “going to town” on the rest of the hood.

 

[Dalecor]

Next time use something like Goo Gone. Did you use the green part of the sponge?

I’d recommend to take it to a body shop. You can fix it with a dual orbiter and the right products, but you should’t do that unless you decide to learn how to do it properly.

 

[Stew-2]

IDK that looks like more than just a sponge; unless you’re talking about the scotch brand green and yellow dish sponges - and you used the green side.

That was exactly my thought

 

[chucktaylur]

if it is actually ceramic coated. The tree sap should wipe off easily during car wash or with microfiber towel. I can't imagine someone rubs car paint with sponge. With these deep scratches, you need to buff it hard. Possibly wet sand.

This is not true. Things like sap and fallout will stick to ceramic coatings. When I plasti diped my emblems, I had a bit of overspray. A pressure washer didnt take it off. A contact wash with soap didnt take it off. It took goo gone to do the job.

 

[fiehlsport]

Did you use steel wool to clean the hood?

Whether it's ceramic coated or not, you ruined the clearcoat. It needs a professional polish with compound now. Aka, a repair. The matte gray spot looks like you actually rubbed through the main paint color as well, down to primer. But hard to tell 100% from the pic.

 

[jay1122]

This is not true. Things like sap and fallout will stick to ceramic coatings. When I plasti diped my emblems, I had a bit of overspray. A pressure washer didnt take it off. A contact wash with soap didnt take it off. It took goo gone to do the job.

I don't know about those plasti dip and other chemicals. But bird drops, tree saps and bug splats wipes off easily on ceramic coated surface. I usually use a detail solution on paper towel to wipe those things immediately after I see them. The key is to not let those things sit. If you let it sit and get baked under the sun for a week or two, it gets harder to remove. I apply ceramic coating myself once every year with full car polishing once a few year, it makes maintenance a lot easier and keeps the new car shine.

 

[ThomasD]

You can try to buff that out but it looks like buffing won't completely fix that. It looks like the Clear Coat is ruined.

 

[chan_man]

The photos do show the damage well, I would say try some Quixx scratch remover, it is not a harsh as polishing or rubbing compound. Use a little on one of the spots, start with #1 (repair) and use rub in using small circles, then use #2 to finish. Apply some wax over to finish or get some store bought ceramic wax coating. This will make the areas not as noticeable until you figure out a final fix.

Amazon.com

 

[Yelobird]

The photos do show the damage well, I would say try some Quixx scratch remover, it is not a harsh as polishing or rubbing compound. Use a little on one of the spots, start with #1 (repair) and use rub in using small circles, then use #2 to finish. Apply some wax over to finish or get some store bought ceramic wax coating. This will make the areas not as noticeable until you figure out a final fix.

Amazon.com

My suggestion.…. Based on how the OP DIY attempted to fix this from the start, my advice is do NOT try to do anything further! Take it to someone that knows how to fix/clean it and stop any further attempts to self fix!

 

[avs007]

Next time use a claybar. That removes tree sap effortlessly

 

[cmaster]

The ceramic kit from amazon say, "after applying ceramic coating, put car in shade"....He did do it correctly.

 

[Geech72]

The ceramic kit from amazon say, "after applying ceramic coating, put car in shade"....He did do it correctly.

I’ve done a DIY coating on two vehicles; which obviously makes me an expert. I learned from the first one that it makes it a whole lot easier if you have a well lit garage in which to do the coating. I did my first one outside, because my garage isn’t well lit, and was constantly battling against debris landing on the vehicle while in process. I bought some project lighting tools from Lowe’s before I did my 2nd, and it was a lot less stressful.

 

[Pianewman]

The ceramic kit from amazon say, "after applying ceramic coating, put car in shade"....He did do it correctly.

HAHAHAHAHA!

 

[Darmie]

Just a flesh wound. It will buff right out.

 

[Pianewman]

Sigh...72 hours...I guess we scared the OP away!