Gooner
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Paint and birdshit, a bad combination.Just want a bit of advice on this. A local feathered yob decided to use my car as toilet a few weeks back and a combination of laziness, being too busy and poor weather meant I didn't wash it off until about 2 weeks later (I know that's poor show on my part). This has never been a problem on any car I've owned or run before so didn't see the problem. Until I washed it and found it removed some of the paint off with it!
As it was due it's service this week I thought I'd speak to the Ford dealer as surely a six month old car should have better paint protection. Our finance director (who runs our company car scheme) feels the same, but according to the stealer it's due to using water-based environmentally friendly paints.
Anyone else had this on their new or newish cars? It never happened on the Civic I had before and that was built in 2006 so surely used similar paints. I know most of you guys wouldn't leave crap on your cars that long but it definitely seems to represent poor quality on the part of Fords paint supplyer. I've got a pot of touch up, all I need is a weekend with decent weather and no threat of rain!
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gonnabuildabuggy
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marked the paint or physically removed it?
Had the bird been drinking bleach?
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SpecB
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Most warranties specifically exclude bird dropping damage.
I've had etching on my paint a couple of times even after immediately washing it off (especially in hot weather) but it seems to repair itself so I assume it only etched the sealant (I resealed each bit after washing the car).
Another thing with the seemingly self-repairing paint - I bought one of those Autosharp pens from the US to touch up a stone chip on the A pillar and when the pen eventually arrived the stone chip was nowhere to be seen. 
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GonnaBreakABuggy
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Bird droppings can etch through even old-style solvent-based 2-pack in a day or two.
They're full of corrosive lime, get them washed off asap!
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Guitar Zero
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Be specific about the damage - has it burnt through the laquer ?
If it's just etched the laquer - some scratch X will remove it. If it's burnt through the laquer - it will need painting properly.
It's not a problem with Ford's paint - bird shit is evil and it should be wiped off the first chance you get - even if it's just with some wet kitchen roll or a wet wipe.
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ALF
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I got stung with this recently too. The wood-pigeon poo I mentioned a while back (massive vile brown droppings) that I couldn't remove until given the "wet paper towel" advice, left some marks on the Audi, despite it being recently waxed. Similar droppings, left for longer, did nothing to the Focus - silver seems a strong colour! Luckily for me they are not in noticeable places, but it was a suprise - the paint on the Audi is strong!
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Gooner
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I know it's my own fault for not removing it quickly as I normally do but on the odd occasion I have left it for longer than I should on previous vehicles, I've never had it damage the paint. This is the best picture I could get with my camera, it's actually taken off the lacquer and the topcoat:
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SpecB
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That is bad. The most I have had is a roughening of the lacquer. That looks like it has actually cracked it and lifted it off.
Someone such as Chips Away may be able to do a smart repair - otherwise the bonnet will need a respray.
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Gooner
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Bonnet? It's the roof! I've got some touch up paint for £7 from Ford (I even managed to get permission to put it on the company credit card!) Trouble is it take 2 hours to dry and it's very difficult to tell if I the sun will remain for 2 hours at a time this weekend. I'll see what effect that has.
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SpecB
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I was guessing! 
Good luck with the touch up stuff.
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Chris M Wants a V-10
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Most car handbooks come with warnings to wash off bird crap ASAP. Usually such damage is excluded from paint warranties. Keep a pack of baby-wipes in the car at all times to remove such unwanted deposits
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Gooner
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Well that I can do seeing as we have two young children.
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Guitar Zero
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You can't touch that up
It's chips away for a smart repair or a respray.
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simonp
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I've just cleaned my car today and there's been a big pile of bird shit on the roof for about a month. No mark afterwards.
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Gooner
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| Guitar Zero wrote: | You can't touch that up
It's chips away for a smart repair or a respray. |
I tried today and it looks rubbish. I think I'll need to go over it with a cutting polish to blend it in. Simons experience is what I would expect. Six month old paint should be hardier than this. Very annoying. Still, could be worse, it could be me who pays for the car!
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Grampa
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I've had paint damage from leaving bird (usually seagulls here) shit unwashed - now I always wash it off immediately (usually just with wet kitchen roll rather than getting the hose, sponges etc) - I've even let a bucket of water and a sponge in the garden and asked someone to wash bird shit off the car whilst we've been on holiday - sad I know, but it does wreck havoc with paint.
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gonnabuildabuggy
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I left some on the other week for about a week and it's marked through the lacquer layer though I suspect I'm the only one who will notice.
I've learnt my lesson.
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