What could have caused this damage?? Its a brand new car...

[BPCrusher01]

There's an enormous hawk that lives in the forest surrounding my workplace. It seems to take particular offense to a few peoples' cars, especially a brand new A6. It's not unusual to see it perched on their roof, A-pillar, or mirror going to town on some person's rubber trim.

 

[Diggs24]

Did you lean on the car when applying the rainx? Could be a zipper or button or something that did that.

 

[joesid]

Im not sure what youre looking for me to confess to but I havent laid anything or done anything there.

Sorry, I didn't mean for it to come across that way! I definitely don't think you caused it. I'm guessing it happened at the dealer.

The day after I brought my GTI home, I noticed that one of the GTI badges on the front fender was slightly crooked and there were scratches above and below the badge. My dealer went with the "it looks like someone vandalized your car" story.

 

[dosjockey]

The only way I think a touchless car wash could do that much damage to rubber that quickly is if the chemical balance was off; but it certainly does look like there has been some chemical damage.

That pitting isn't caused by scratches, but the scratches look to be caused by abrasion. The paint imperfections... It doesn't really make sense.

So many different factors at play, there. What could eat rubber, then abrade rubber, then deeply scratch paint, and also abrade paint? That's a lot all at once. A pressure washer can do some of that, but not all of it.

Something ate that rubber. It could have been a poor dressing compound reaction. As far as what scratched it, yes. A pressure washer can do that, but in order to do that, someone would have needed to believe that it was so filthy it required just about point blank range to clean it off, and in that event, I'd ask why it was so filthy to begin with.

Hopefully I'm missing something, here.

 

[ReadTheBook]

Could be oil viscosity causing this. Maybe @GTIfan99 will weigh in.

Banned, I believe.

 

[Blindeye_03]

Sorry, I didn't mean for it to come across that way! I definitely don't think you caused it. I'm guessing it happened at the dealer.

The day after I brought my GTI home, I noticed that one of the GTI badges on the front fender was slightly crooked and there were scratches above and below the badge. My dealer went with the "it looks like someone vandalized your car" story.

No worries - I guess there are a few ways this could have occured. I looked at it today and it doesnt look as bad as it did last night with my 1300 lumen flash light shining on it. Ill see if claybaring works and then I can try to polish it I suppose. I have friends back in Atlanta that do detailing - I dont know anyone up here.

I wouldnt expect the dealer to make this right if they indeed did the damage because its been 3..4 weeks? And 600 miles after taking delivery of the car. When I took my SI home I saw that the dealer cut the glass with their knife removing the window sticker and curbed a wheel pretty bad. They fixed it because I called them as soon as I saw it at home (that same day).

Did you lean on the car when applying the rainx? Could be a zipper or button or something that did that.

I tried to do this (not really scratch the car) but Id have to lean over pretty exaggerated. However i did manage to scratch the hell out of my parking brake handle leaning all over the place inside the cabin cleaning the inside of the glass.

 

[_cruster]

The scratches on the trim look a heck of a lot like the work of a giant, rotating car wash brush. The marks on the hood/fender look like someone rubbing at a spot with a dirty or dry rag. My guess is that both are courtesy of dodgy dealer prep. Hard to tell from the pics but the paint marring doesn't look like anything that wouldn't be resolved by a good detail (and if I had to guess, same is true for the roughness you're feeling in the hood - probably rail dust or other "stuff" in the paint picked up from being transported and/or sitting before you got it).

Depending on your appetite for rage and frustration, might be worth going back to the dealer on the rubber pieces, although they will likely tell you that you did it yourself after you drove it off, and you should go pound sand.

I'd probably just look around for a good detailer in your area.

 

[Golfs everyday]

Drove by the VW dealer late once and saw cats sitting all over the cars. They ARE known assholes and live everywhere.

I've seen this happen before, not at a dealership but some fatarse cat was taking a nap on my neighbor's car's hood. When I saw the same cat near my other car (was between the front bumper and closed garage door with maybe 2 ft in between) I hit the panic button and blared the Hella SuperTones like a foot from its head. He jumped up like 3 ft and ran away. LOL Never saw the cat again.

 

[Tornado18GTI]

In my experience it's not unlikely for a "touchless" car wash to cause some this scratching. I had a scratch put on my window after going through a true touchless carwash. Those pressure washers can toss all sorts of shit at the paint particularly small debris that might be stuck in the plastic shroud just below the windshield. Honestly it might sound crazy but that is the first and last time I took my GTI through the touchless. I only put my 12" GLI through them now. My GTI sits in the garage and doesn't see salt or snow so no need for it. My car had under 1k miles when I first went through the wash and I know for a fact it inflicted several scratches and a good one on my side driver side window. I'm not sure if it was the wash itself or the dryer at the end throwing some serious wind at it.

 

[TheJokker]

There is a reason why people "hand wash only" their cars...

 

[Golfs everyday]

There is a reason why people "hand wash only" their cars...

So they can induce their own swirls. I suppose. But it’s also the drying that causes swirls too if done incorrectly

 

[imthanick_a]

So they can induce their own swirls. I suppose. But it’s also the drying that causes swirls too if done incorrectly

I've got a buddy who babies his truck like no other. He's had it for 2 years now and still has all the plastic stickers on the dials and radio screen and airbag tags and everything you normally take off as soon as you get a new car, keeps a blanket in his bed so he doesn't scratch his bedliner. But he hand washes it and it looks like he washes it with no water. Its a black truck with the absolute worst swirls I've ever seen...

 

[Blindeye_03]

In my experience it's not unlikely for a "touchless" car wash to cause some this scratching. I had a scratch put on my window after going through a true touchless carwash. Those pressure washers can toss all sorts of shit at the paint particularly small debris that might be stuck in the plastic shroud just below the windshield. Honestly it might sound crazy but that is the first and last time I took my GTI through the touchless. I only put my 12" GLI through them now. My GTI sits in the garage and doesn't see salt or snow so no need for it. My car had under 1k miles when I first went through the wash and I know for a fact it inflicted several scratches and a good one on my side driver side window. I'm not sure if it was the wash itself or the dryer at the end throwing some serious wind at it.

Thats so weird - This would be the first time in IDK how many years that I have only used touchless car washes (in addition to hand washing) and seen or heard of them damaging cars. I used to just avoid the ones with brushes since those have caused cars of mine to get scratched up.

So how are you guys washing your cars by hand in the winter when its freezing outside? Im not a fan of having salt on my car.

 

[Diggs24]

You don't. Water+salt=rust. Ice+salt=less rust.

That, and I drive my Saab.

 

[uberdot]

Though I don't wash my car very often, I learned a few tricks from my neighbor who has won several trophies for his GLI and Quattro show cars that work well for me.

If you use a few different buckets and a good synthetic chamois you won't get swirls. One bucket is for cleaning the chamois of debris and dirt only. Another for rinsing it. No high pressure washing. Minimal soap, if at all. That and a good hybrid wax sealant goes a long way. Car Guys/Chemical Guys have good ones.