All, Washed and waxed my 8 the other day and found some disturbing sights. Looks like about 1000 different scratches below my pass side h/light. Both my wife and I can't tell if it's been keyed (again) or other damage. It's not like any other key marks I've ever seen. I was up in Kansas this past week and the BIG ice storm completely covered my car with about an inch of ice for 3 days and I don't know if this could have caused it or not. It almost looks like safety glass when it breaks. Lines mostly straight and uniform. It doesn't look random enough for a key-job. I don't know if it is a possible paint defect or not. Also, has anyone else encounter this type of unexplained damage. Thanx for the help, Greg

Also, I am attempting to attach pics for the first time on this site so, I don't know if it will work or not. They were taken tonight and you can see the damage ok, but not great. I will take some ones tomm and hopefully they will turn out a little better.

 

AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! That hurts to look at. Mine is in the shop as we speak getting the paint fixed. I have no idea what that could be. Almost like a steel brush that has 5 wires left. Have you clay barred it (dont know if that would work or not doesnt look like it). Hope things turn out good somehow. BTW sorry that you got assigned to Wichita Falls LOL

 

that's not damaged by key or any sort of PRANK way
i can see different patterns of scratch
something must have slid through

 

do you have any dogs/cats?
looks like claw marks
are they deep? ie. are the scratches on the clear coat only, if so, most likely you can get them buffed out.

 

I have the same thing but MUCH worst, do you ever park your car in backwards or parrallel park, someone can scratch your car pulling out, and you said there was ice, probobly someone barely swiped your car going really slow and the ice rubbed against the paint..I'm sure if someone was gonna key your car that wouldn't be the spot to do it.

 

dang, thats horrible guys. I hope all of your cars get better. It just stinks when the paint on our car is damaged. I haven't checked closely enough to see if I have any... now i'm scared.

 

that's really odd, seems like maybe frosted ice did that? otherwise, i really don't know. from the looks of it, you can probably buff some of it out.

 

it definitely was NOT ice...I live in minnesota and I've had ice coat every car I've ever owned hundreds of times...never seen anything like your pics

now you mentioned being 'keyed' before...please elaborate
(I have a theory on why someone keyed you if that is what occured)

 

I've been keyed to death before, and that doesn't look like it, not at all. Probably ice, like others have noted. It can probably be buffed out well, but I'd spring for a pro to do it (or get insurance to cover it, if possible).

 

You'd know better than me about ice, being from the Snowy North. :D But that's absolutely not a key job, either, unless it was a one-year-old who did it. Looks barely deep enough for a plastic credit card, let alone a metal key.

 

I'm not sure if it was keyed either, reallly it is kind of weird

just makes you wonder...

or maybe there was something caught in his washing tools?

this is a Mystery for Scooby Doo!

 

i doubt someone would go through the trouble to key underneath your headlight, usually it's just fender to fender.

 

This area in particular looks like animal scratches to me. I can visualize an animal--wild or domestic--seeing something of interest attached to the fender under the ice and scratching away until the ice is gone and the spot exposed. But hey, this is just a guess.

 

Looks very familiar...I would say it's the result of a car wash (not by hand).

 

That's what I thought too. But, I can't figure out what could have caused it to pattern that way...

 

Yeah, 2 dogs and 2 cats. Cats are always inside. And the dogs only go out back... There are a few stray cats that run around the neighborhood.

And yes, they seem to be fairly shallow scratches. So, I'll try my best to buff them out.

 

I was keyed on the top of my trunk the first week I owned her. I was able to buff the majority of it out where you REALLY have to look @ where the damage was done. My theory is the whole Sunlight Silver thing again...

 

I've never taken my car to any car washes. Don't trust 'em. I've always done it @ the house. And, I use a sheepskin glove and always clean it before using.

 

I tried to take a few more pics this morning. Some are ok but I can't get a decent pic of directly below the light(where the bumper starts to bend down).

 

This may or may not be the cause, but my wifes explorer has the same type of scratches. Took me a while to figure out, but in the end I found that when she visits her mom, she parks out front near some bushes. On several occassions she parked close enough to the bushs to make contact, and on a windy day, the leaves and twigs did that type of scratch job to her paint. Totally random, but yet, uniform.

edit: yet in some of those pictures, it almost appears that the bumper was compressed a bit. I had a 96 Trans Am, and a buddy of mine sat on the front bumper, pushing it in a bit due to his weight. In my best explanation, it "spider-webbed" the paint, even though the bumper returned to normal. Do you think another car backed into yours, just not hard enough to cause more damage?

 

It's quite possible. To the naked eye I don't see any damage other than the paint. I thought the same thing about the spider-web effect. It really looks like the bumper got creased/bent somehow and the paint and clearcoat gave way. I'll have to take it to a pro and get his/her opinion... As far as the bushes are concerned, I haven't parked near any as of late.

 

Ok thats just bizarre!! Could they be paint cracks? Maybe for some reason the paint cracked under the clearcoat??

Good luck!!

- Irish

 

DAMMIT!!!!!!! Figured it out. Looked under the bumper (opening in front of the oil cooler) and found a big *** crack. So you guys were right, the bumper was pushed in by someone/something. This makes me so friggin angry I could cry...
I will take pics here shortly and show the crack. I repeat--DAMMIT!!!!!!!!

 

Here are a few pics of the nasty crack. I wonder if insurance will pay to have it repaired if I have zero idea as to what could have hit it???

 

Okay - that's IT! I will never park my car anywhere except my own garage for the rest of my LIFE! I'm so sorry that happened to you. Probably some fat-@ss SUV who didn't even notice. I hope her toddler puked in her backseat!