Please help identify cause of paint blemish

[gaga]

Hi guys,

Need some help identifying the cause of a paint blemish on the car which looks like the below picture. I found this after pulling off my brand new car cover after only a week.

I thought the car cover may have had something to do with it but I'm not entirely sure. Reason being is I took alot of care to make sure the car was spotless and dry before putting it on. The car cover I used is the autotecnica stormguard http://www.autotecnica.com.au/covers_carcovers.html which I settled on after a bit of research, it also appeared to be very well fitted to my car. Another thing is that I don't see any other marks anywhere else on the car either so it doesn't seem to be any rubbing or some sort.

I already have people telling me it is clearcoat failure or oxidation, but would like a second opinion. I find it a bit bizarre because I did my research with car covers and I can't seem to find any instances where this has happened! Also there is only one blemish which is on the roof (pictured) and nowhere else. It is a quality car cover and was quite expensive so I don't know how this could have happened! Any help appreciated

At night w/ flash:


Daytime pictures:

[davey g-force]

Re: Please help identify cause of paint blemish

Hmm, I doubt that has anything to do with your car cover.

I have used one of those Autotechnica ones and they are good quality (though I'm not fond of the whole concept of a car cover any more).

We'll wait for someone else to chime in, but I fear the worst for your clear coat..

[gaga]

Re: Please help identify cause of paint blemish

Hmm, I doubt that has anything to do with your car cover.

I have used one of those Autotechnica ones and they are good quality (though I'm not fond of the whole concept of a car cover any more).

We'll wait for someone else to chime in, but I fear the worst for your clear coat..

Yeh I read dozens of reviews before settling on it, short of buying a custom one. But I am positive that the mark was non-existent when I washed and dried it prior to using the car cover, and within the space of a week this happened

[Selectchoice]

Re: Please help identify cause of paint blemish

Looks like your clear coat is missing in that spot to me. It could just be coincidence you've noticed it now and is nothing to do with the car cover.

I can't see how the cover could have done it unless perhaps it was somehow rubbing hard into the paint and has rubbed through the clear coat?

Whatever caused it, I feel your pain!

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Please help identify cause of paint blemish

It is highly doubtful that the car cover caused this; for it to cause such a problem why would it do so just in this one small area on the roof and nowhere else that the cover contacts the car? So let's see if we can't come up with some other, more viable possibilities. How old is the car? What's the dark spot in the middle of this lighter patch - is that a small chip? Did it rain while the cover was on the car or is there any way that moisture could have been trapped under the cover? If the cover isn't very breathable and moisture was trapped, and that is a chip, then it is possible that the moisture got into the chip and started working into the clear from there. The concept isn't all that different from those vinyl protective bras so many people put on the front of their cars and then just leave on all the time. Take one of those off after several weeks or worse, years, and we've the paint come off with them. At the very least we've seen large patches of the paint look cloudy or actually start to flake and peel.

[SVT Lightning]

Re: Please help identify cause of paint blemish

[gaga]

Re: Please help identify cause of paint blemish

It is highly doubtful that the car cover caused this; for it to cause such a problem why would it do so just in this one small area on the roof and nowhere else that the cover contacts the car? So let's see if we can't come up with some other, more viable possibilities. How old is the car? What's the dark spot in the middle of this lighter patch - is that a small chip? Did it rain while the cover was on the car or is there any way that moisture could have been trapped under the cover? If the cover isn't very breathable and moisture was trapped, and that is a chip, then it is possible that the moisture got into the chip and started working into the clear from there. The concept isn't all that different from those vinyl protective bras so many people put on the front of their cars and then just leave on all the time. Take one of those off after several weeks or worse, years, and we've the paint come off with them. At the very least we've seen large patches of the paint look cloudy or actually start to flake and peel.

Firstly, thanks for the reply. The car is a 1997 Supra, I don't believe the car has been ever resprayed and the paint is original. There is no chip in the middle of the patch, it is just a small area dot where the clearcoat hasn't lifted. The entire blemish feels consistent with the rest of the surrounding paintwork, although I initially tried to polish it out so now its smooth. The blemish is on an area where the cover made contact and was quite tight if my memory serves me correctly, so I don't think the rain could've got in there upwards. Unfortunately I didn't take any photos of it on but the cover was tight on the spoiler, front and rear bumper and the roof of the car.

I made sure that the car was spot clean and dry by washing it, drying it, to the extent I cleaned up any moisture/water in the engine bay, boot hatch and door trims as I have heard of mould appearing if this isn't done. I then left it out to dry in the sun for about 30 minutes, dusted it down once again with a microfibre cloth and then put the car cover on. Prior to the use of the car cover it was garaged for about a year and then sat in the sun/rain for a few months without issue.

There is another thing which I found yesterday while removing the cover: There was a small piece of bandaid-like material or tape that was on the underside of the car cover. Didn't think that much of it at the time so I threw it away but I retrieved it from the bin today. This would have been on with the car as I bought it new and didn't think it would be dirty on the underside. Pictures below, unfortunately I didn't take note of where it was positioned at the time and just ripped it off, but the size of it is about the size of the blemish. I don't know if this is a wild theory but it may help explain how it happened.

[HCAD]

Re: Please help identify cause of paint blemish

I've seen cloudy spots like that appear under magnets people put on their cars, like the one supporting their favorite sports team. Water, heat and humidity will cause that and it's usually UNDER the clearcoat. In some cases I've seen it disappear after being out in full sun for a while.

It is possible that the band-aid like material had some chemical (moisture) on it, and it was indeed on top of your spot. I've seen odder things happen. Have you left the car out in the sun any since noticing this damage?

[gaga]

Re: Please help identify cause of paint blemish

Just wondering if anyone else has anything to add to this? Going through a claims process at the moment so would like to gather as much information as possible.

[mx5 1999]

Re: Please help identify cause of paint blemish

I have a 1999 red MX5 & recently bought the same car cover and only put it on when car is dry. also I bought the smallest - but for my car it drapes all the way to the ground.

My car has also developed a 'blemish' on the front drivers guard.

One spot about 50 mm in dia and quite noticable ( where the cover fits snugg & hangs over) and another area on the same guard but is more like a streak & only noticable when the light catches it ( here the cover drapes past the spot)

Cant image the cover in itself is an issue, however, the car is parked on grass. All I can think is moisture from the grass evaporates, gets trapped & has caused a clear coat blemish.

Any thoughts as I have to park the car outside, would like to use a cover - but not if its going to trap moisture under it.

[davey g-force]

Re: Please help identify cause of paint blemish

I have a 1999 red MX5 & recently bought the same car cover and only put it on when car is dry. also I bought the smallest - but for my car it drapes all the way to the ground.

My car has also developed a 'blemish' on the front drivers guard.

One spot about 50 mm in dia and quite noticable ( where the cover fits snugg & hangs over) and another area on the same guard but is more like a streak & only noticable when the light catches it ( here the cover drapes past the spot)

Cant image the cover in itself is an issue, however, the car is parked on grass. All I can think is moisture from the grass evaporates, gets trapped & has caused a clear coat blemish.

Any thoughts as I have to park the car outside, would like to use a cover - but not if its going to trap moisture under it.

Some photos would help. Does it look similar to the OP's blemish?

[gaga]

Re: Please help identify cause of paint blemish

Just wanted to update this thread between what's been going on. Decided to go through a claims process, for damages to my car via the local Repco store from which I bought it from. This meant that Repco took care of relaying all the information and I was advised by them it would be best to go through that route. I thought this may have been the best way to go but it has proved difficult from the get go as they appeared to be provide very little concern for my cause and failed to return my calls on all occasions.


What happened next was that I was required to return the car cover to Autotecnica for evaluation, and it was returned to me in the new year with the following statement:





This statement was despite the fact that I had indicated I made sure the car was completely dry and cool before placing the cover on, and they had decided it was safer (for them) to assume I was unable to follow instruction.


When I pulled off the cover for the very first time, there was a piece of what packaging/bandaid type material under the cover, and I thought this may have contributed to what had happened as it was roughly the same size as the blemish. I decided to take the risk of putting the car cover back on as I had just bought new headlights and I wanted to protect them from yellowing which is very common with Supras.


The cover was put on around Sunday, and was pulled off yesterday after a week of continual rain. This is what I found immediately after peeling back the cover:








There was a pool of water (much more than when the pic was taken due to sliding down the windscreen) resting on exactly the area where my original blemish was. On initial inspection I thought I was lucky in that it hadn't incurred any further damage, however in better light I later saw a much larger area was affected albeit not as pronounced, presumably due to the lack of heat and sun this week.


I decided to further test out the cover by placing the affected area atop a bucket, pouring some water on it and letting it rest overnight.





Unsurprisingly a substantial amount of water had leaked past the cover, and in fact when I squeezed the affected area with my hand it leaked water like a sponge. Obviously Autotecnica had failed to do any testing when the cover was returned to them.


I am now in the position where I am 100% confident that the damage incurred to my car was directly the result of a defective cover, and am planning to claim for my repairs to that panel as well as a replacement cover. What's even more annoying is that I now would want to respray the entire car, as the damaged panel extends to the rear quarters, the roof and the front which means half the car will be resprayed anyway.


Does anybody know what the best process is from here? I am unsure whether I should go back to Repco and deal with them, or whether I should contact Autotecnica myself. Either way, I am concerned that they will try and avoid to cover any damages considering their response so far.


If anyone has any contacts or information regarding such consumer claims, any help would be appreciated.