[MikeAR303]

I've got a darkened spot on the paint that looks somewhat like a birthmark near the fuel door. I could swear I wiped all of the gas off with a damp towel the only time I got any that dripped on there.

I'm thinking it must be something I just didn't notice when I took delivery of the car, as there are a few other things such as the passenger's side door insert having a gap between it and the painted area that I'm just beginning to notice as well.

Hopefully there is some way to get rid of this without repainting that panel... it's pretty ugly and I know it will annoy the hell out of me.

 

[MikeAR303]

...

So do any of you detailing nerds have any suggestions/ideas?

 

[MattG]

I've never dealt with this before, but...if you assume only the very topmost layer of the clearcoat in that area was affected, you could use a mild polish to remove some of the clearcoat in that area and take the stain with it.

 

[MikeAR303]

Thanks Matt... I'll look into trying that.

Anyone else with suggestions or has anyone else experienced this? Any suggestions on what brand of polish to use?

 

[zvezdah1]

Mike, have you tried just maybe applying a little wax and buffing to the area, sometime if it's just a surface discolorationg that might fix. If that, then maybe go with very light polish.
Chris

 

[khamai]

Mike,
Will the spot show up in a pix? Post it & let us see it. Might help...

Kiyoshi

 

[MikeAR303]

I'll try to get a picture of it tonight... but I'm not sure if it will show as it's one of those strange marks that you only see in certain lighting at a certain angle.

 

[huggy bear]

I'll try to get a picture of it tonight... but I'm not sure if it will show as it's one of those strange marks that you only see in certain lighting at a certain angle.

In other words it's only in your imagination. j/k

 

[MikeAR303]

I tried to get a picture of it last night but couldn't get one to turn out...

I also tried using a light wax on it, which made it shine more but didn't get rid of the mark or make it any less evident.

I'm going to be taking the car to the dealer next week to get my passenger side door handle looked at again, as well as a few other small issues including a dark fingerprint underneath the starshield in front, so I'll have them look at this as well.

 

[Stan]

>>>I tried to get a picture of it last night but couldn't get one to turn out... I also tried using a light wax on it, which made it shine more but didn't get rid of the mark or make it any less evident.
I'm going to be taking the car to the dealer next week to get my passenger side door handle looked at again, as well as a few other small issues including a dark fingerprint underneath the starshield in front, so I'll have them look at this as well.<<<

Could it be a paint burn from the dealer's buffer? I saw one of those on a Storm Ti at the recent PA Elise get together.

The Elise has all those curves and edges and might be a hard car to buff out compared to an SUV.