# Small Surface Scratches in the Paint



## djdub (Oct 23, 2004)

Well, I have had my GTO for 2 1/2 weeks and in that time I have had it to the dealership twice to get some surface scratches polished out of the paint. They were like 3" diameter areas of very faint, short scratches. The dealership was very professional and polished them for no cost. Well, yesterday I was washing the car and noticed more scrathes like this as well as a long shallow scratch across the trunk lid near the back window, one on the trunk under the spoiler, another across the side of the spoiler, and yet another across the gas cap. There was a clump of scratches (much like the ones I had taken care of by the dealer) on the roof, but this time there was even a small scratch in the rear window underneath these other scratches. I took it to the dealer to find out what was going on and they asked if I had taken it to an automatic car wash, which I haven't, I only hand wash using the Mr. Clean Auto-Dry filtration system car wash. So the only thing that touches the car is a soft wash mitt

My questions are... what is going on here?
Is the paint on the GTO that soft that dirt particles are scratching the surface?
If I get the car professionally polished and waxed, will this take care of these minor scrathes?
Is it possible that these scratches were already there before I bought the car, the dealer polished them out and from washing it the scratches came to the surface again?

I have to admit that the wash mitt I was using was a little old (like 3 months) but not filthy by any means. I did hand wash the mitt before using it.


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## rcline33 (Oct 6, 2004)

I also noticed some scrathces in my paint. I thought there were more than there should have been considering it is a new car. I haven't taken it back to the dealer because you can only notice them if you look really close but I don't blame you for taking it back. I would bet that if you had it detailed that it would take care of all the little scratches as long as they not very deep. I wonder if this happens in shipment?


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## badtmpdgoat (Nov 9, 2004)

*scatches*

I too have many little scrtaches,,,having a black paint scheme just enhances them..Anyone else still trying to get that friggin shipping tape goo off? :shutme


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## sboylan (Nov 14, 2004)

Are you kidding me? That goo is enough to drive me insane! Other than that I found some small tar-like bumps on mine?!?!?! Am I the only one with this issue?


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## TulsaGTO (Oct 3, 2004)

sboylan said:


> Are you kidding me? That goo is enough to drive me insane! Other than that I found some small tar-like bumps on mine?!?!?! Am I the only one with this issue?


The tar-like bumps are most likely dust in the paint. There is no way to get rid of them without repainting. Mine has 5 or 6 throughout the car, and I have not seen one without them. I have never had a car that had "perfect paint."

The tar could also be rail-dust, which is difficult to get off without clay-barring the car. I clayed mine and then waxed and lots of stuff came off.

The goo is a pain. I used mineral spirits to loosen mine and then lightly scratched it off with my fingernail, followed with a fresh coat of wax. Don't know what this stuff is, but it sure is sticky. 

Throw a good coat of wax on your GTO and don't worry too much about the paint. Then, go have a good drive.


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## sboylan (Nov 14, 2004)

TulsaGTO said:


> The tar-like bumps are most likely dust in the paint. There is no way to get rid of them without repainting. Mine has 5 or 6 throughout the car, and I have not seen one without them. I have never had a car that had "perfect paint."
> 
> The tar could also be rail-dust, which is difficult to get off without clay-barring the car. I clayed mine and then waxed and lots of stuff came off.
> 
> ...


The exact reason I went with silver, I have always had black in the past and though IMO is the best looking color (clean) it ends up owning you and over time you can see the deteriation in the color coating. I almost thought about making notes and taking pictures to document all minor details upon delivery as I am leasing it, but I am sure this is taking it too far?


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