Hi there--

a couple of months ago, we acquired a silver xA. love it.

Last month, an egg hit the roof, splattered wide, and baked in the sun. I've never had a car before. Foolishly, I scrubbed the egg off with an SOS pad. Got the egg off, but also took off a good deal of the shiny finish. I am stupid. I've made the roof a scratchedy, dull mess.

I don't know what to do--I've searched the boards here, but I'm not sure of the seriousness of the damage I've inflicted. do i need a new paint job? touch-up paint?
is it likely i've completely removed the "clear coat" or can it be salvaged by some over the counter product?

obviously i'd like to do this inexpensively, if possible.

should i take it in to a dealer for advice? or will they take me for a ride and sell me some expensive, unnecessary solution?

any thoughts appreciated.

 

You can try the usual, claybar, polish, buffer, wax...

But it sounds like you may have done some serious damage, especially considering the weak paint on these Scions. I would talk to a detail or body shop before I talk to the dealer.

-THE DON

 

Unfortunetly, your best solution is to take it to a bodyshop and have them re-clear and or re-paint your roof....

Im guessing your looking at around $350 to repaint and clear...

It would make no sense to have a brand new scion with a bunch of $8 touch up paint on the roof......

 

thanks for the reply.

Anyone know of a decent detail/body shop in Chicago?

how much do you spose something like this might cost?
if, say they had to repaint the entire roof or something...

 

looks like we posted at the same time ocelot!

read my post!

 

chances are that the paint wasn't going to be that great after having a egg bake on it, but why why why would you ever even consider putting STEEL WOOL on your car/!

 

You scrubbed your car's surface with an SOS pad. Please...go to your local DMV and turn in your driver's license. You should not be allowed to have a car.

 

re-clear is only needed if the scratches are to deep to buff out re-paint sounds a little extreme, i doubt he sanded through the clear and base. I would try a good detailer and get it buffed before anything. And without pics this is just a guess so good luck!

 

DUH!! thats why i said im guessing!

 

Years ago, before she flipped it off the freeway at speed, my first wife scrubbed the bugs off the front of my limited edition (1573 of 3000) vehicle with the equivalent of a Scotchbrite pad...

It really IS possible to scrub right through the clearcoat and into the underlying paint. *sigh*

Ocelot, best bet is to head for a decent body shop and ask them what the least expensive fix is, AND what they would recommend.

Good luck.

 

yeah, good idea.
luckily, i don't have a license. it's really my wife's car i've destroyed. ostensibly, I'm to be learning to drive in the thing, but i may not be allowed to touch it after this stupidity.

thanks for the suggestions--
I'll try to take some pictures of the damage for your pleasure and further elucidation.

 

Yeah, dont feel bad ocelot- my brother washed my mom's brand new camry with a green pad. It was around $4,500 to fix!

 

I'm sorry, but I just can't get too sympathetic here. The guy took an SOS STEEL WOOL pad to his car!

 

1. Go down to your local store and get more SOS pads.
2. Repeat process all over car.
3. Take car to local Scion dealer and turn in.
4. Take bus from Scion dealer to local DMV and turn in Driver's License.
5. Take bus home and cry.
6. Remember you said you were stupid.

 

okay, so i got a quote from a body shop in evanston.

they want to charge me $1064 to repaint and refinish the roof panel and roof rails.
they say that in order to do it properly they have to take the windshield and antenna out, and that extra labor is why it's so much.

does this seem right to you all?

it seems like an awful lot to me, but i am the ignorant one. maybe I should get a second opinion. would the dealership maybe give me a better price?

 

Ocelot, it sounds like the body shop you went to is trying to do the job correctly (removing the glass and antenna) and that does make for more expense.

If you took it to a less quality shop (I won't mention names, but you've probably seen TV ads...) they would likely just mask those items rather than removing, but that is NOT a quality job.

You have a 'new' car there and it deserves being done right.

I'd personally take it to a couple more good shops, but suspect that price is not out of line...

Good luck.

 

Yes, that seems right.....

It is important to clearcoat from one edge to another.

with that said, removing the windshield seems a little extreme!

A body shop wants $150 to paint a grill (Not OEM) for my xB. The grill is mabey 3" wide the biggest.