Birdpoo damaged paintwork on car - advice pls

waterwatereverywhere

Hi,

Very foolishly didn't have time to clear bird poo off car before going away for 3 weeks ... 3 weeks when we had a heatwave which dried it on even more...came back to car bonnet very badly damaged. The paintwork has bubbled/blistered in several places on the bonnet.

I know I should have cleared it off but am still surprised and disappointed that the paintwork should be so badly affected in a relatively short period of time. I assume I wouldn't have any comeback against the car paintwork warranty because it is bird poo damage?

What is the best/cheapest way to fix this - would I need a complete bonnet re-spray or could just the spots be rubbed down and touched up, without it looking to bad afterwards?

Could I attempt this myself in any way - maybe try the smallest of the damaged areas first as a test? I am not technical and don't have any equipment but presumably there is stuff I could buy on ebay? If so what would I need to do a reasonable home repair?

Any advice gratefully received.

Iceweasel

Sorry to tell you this, but ......

A complete re-spray is needed by a professional - otherwise it'll look pants.

And it is entirely your own fault - no comeback against the car or the paint manufacturer.

"Didn't have time" is now coming back to bite you in the bum.

Did you not get a description of the bird that did it?

For the future - Halfords sell packets of wipes to remove bird !!!!! asap. But I use wet toilet paper - lay it on and wait 5 minutes.

I don't know why you are surprised that it damaged the paint.

arcon5

Get 3 quotes for repair. Choose the cheapest and get it sorted. I suspect a respray is the best option if you don't want it looking patchy.
Then send the invoice to the bird and if you hear nothin after 14 days then small claims is really your only option.

You'll need to find where its nested or where it was last known to have nested as the courts will require an address to serve papers.

As an aside, I rarely clean bird poo off straight away, sometimes weeks later and have never ever known it to cause damage like bubbling before. I'm sure this can't be normal

Nodding_Donkey

Maybe the bird had eaten a really, really hot curry the night before?

lesalanos

i would cover it with a nice decal sticker, maybe a flower http://www.hippymotors.co.uk/ or as a reminder a bird https://www.carstickers.com/Seagull_Car_Stickers_and_Decals.php

Avoriaz

How concerned are you about the appearance of your car?

In 1994 I bought a very nice one year old black BMW 325i with barely 6,000 miles on the clock. It was a nice looking car but it did have a noticeable mark on the bonnet from bird poo.

I owned that car for 17 years and never did anything about that mark. It just didn't bother me enough to spend money on a respray.

I replaced it with a 5 year old Golf three years ago. That has a small dent in one wing. Again I can't be bothered spending money on fixing what is a minor flaw in an otherwise decent looking car.

I keep my cars clean inside and out, check and top up oil, water and air etc regularly and they are properly serviced but I don't worry too much about minor cosmetic flaws.

Gavin83

I really hope for your sake the bird left a note.

karlie88

Have to say that this thread does remind me of:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nE9az5LeIYg

Strider590

Seen this sort of thing before, where I used to work there was a recycling facility nearby, the seagulls started eating all this rubbish and when it came out it was like acid rain........ Dozens of cars got damaged by it.

gilbert_and_sullivan

Someone in my family was too idle to clean the poo off their BMW roof and bonnet, they knew best, hence they had to live with the damage for the next 6 years, they now clean off bird poo asap.

waterwatereverywhere

Thanks for the replies, some helpful some not. I do find it unusual because I park under a tree and often get bird poo on the car - I have never been fanatical about cleaning it off and it has never in the previous years been any issue or caused this sort of damage. Just normal washing every week or two (sometimes 3) has been fine.

It is just this time, having been away for 3 weeks, when I understand the weather here was very hot and dry that it seems to have caused this damage - and yes I am surprised by the bad blistering caused in this short period of time. It did cross my mind to clean it before going away but I ran out of time.

I don't like the appearance but if it's going to be an expensive re-spray I may have to live with it.

One concern is if I leave it as is will it worsen - i.e. will the bubbles/blisters deteriorate further causing rust? If leave as it is is there something beyond normal wax I could apply to prevent further deterioration?

I will get some quotes, but I am minded to try to "improve" one of the smaller bits of damage myself and see how it ends up and if it looks really bad then I know I will have to get a professional respray. Any advice on how to go about a home repair - i.e. products and method?