1 Week Old Car Ruined Outside Bangkok Golf Club

[Forethat]

Saturday 27th I picked up my Pajero Sport. Last sunday I played a golf tournament at Bangkok Golf Club and parked the car on the parking place. When I came back 6 hours later the car was covered in what first appeared to be water spots. I also noticed that they golf club had irrigated the lawn. Unfortunately, it appears some pesticide was added to the water, and it has ruined the car completely. Three different car care companies have tried to clean the car but failed. The paintwork is completely ruined. The substance cant even be removed from the windshield! The damages are only visible at the roof, hood/bonnet and the side that was facing the lawn. The other side have no spots.

Any ideas of how to manage this and how to approach the golf club?

[soundman]

Collect all the facts, & pass them onto your insurance company.

[yesdavy]

This is most likely hard water spotting rather than any herbicide, since chemicals like this, at least at clubs where I have been affiliated, are distributed by a sprayer from a mobile tank rather than via the irrigation system. If you feel the need to pursue liability (is there such a thing in Thailand where they lay a tiny piece of bush on the road to keep you from driving into a construction site?), you may wish to check if they have video coverage of the parking lot. This could help you identify other cars that may have suffered the same problem.

In any event, when I have gotten hard water spots on any of my cars, the trick I have used to remove them is to dilute distilled white vinegar with water and test it on the windshield first to see what strength of dulution I need. Start with a mild dilution and increase the strength as needed. You can do the same on the paint. I have never had it harm the finishes and I have used the vinegar full strength. Of course, the longer the spots remain, the harder they are to remove, especially if the car has been in the hot sun for a prolonged time. I am surprised car detailers here do not know this old trick, but then maybe it will not work over here for some reason. Best of luck!

[Rimmer]

If the irrigation water came out of a deep tube well I would also suspect hard water that has been baked on by the sun.

I have this problem all the time with water from our well if the sun gets on it before it is wiped off.

I found a product in I think in Homeworks called DURAGLOSS 505 it's in a handy spray like the kitchen cleaner bottles and works well. If I remember they had several brands all claiming to be able to remove calcium from paintwork and winscreens.

My CRV was also one week old when we washed it in the sun and the water baked on to the surface so I know how you are feeling.

Gotta rub hard but I suspect it will come off all right, its the night driving distortion on the windows where you really notice it.

[CDNinKS]

The vinegar trick does work and is good advice, but another one that works is toothpaste (I like Darlie) it has just enough abrasive in it to polish out small things like this.

In the west you can buy rubbing compound (more abrasive) and polishing compound (less abrasive) in most hardware/car shops. These were products that you needed to use about yearly in the old days on pre clear coat paint jobs to remove oxidation. Have not seen them here though.......

[Forethat]

The question is where do I buy vinegar? I assume a bottle of Nam Blah wont do it...?

[stingray]

The question is where do I buy vinegar? I assume a bottle of Nam Blah wont do it...?

Vinegar you can buy in Foodland, i guess Tesco have it as well.

[MoonRiverOasis]

You say that you've had some auto detailing shops have a go at it - do you know what they actually tried though? If they've used a cutting compound without effect, that would indicate that the clear coat layer has been properly destroyed - in which case a respray will be the only option.

Note that a good detailer would come prepared with a fair collection of abrasive grades, and would perform patch tests to determine the correct level of cut to start off with. As they worked through the problem they would progressively drop to lower abrasive grades in order to bring the finish back to full gloss - if the auto detailers you went to didn't appear to do this then I'd say it's still worth having a go at.

If you wanted to have a go at repairing the paint yourself, here are some suggestions:

1. If the surface feels rough to the touch, you may have a combination of pitting and bonded contaminant. In this case, I'd recommend starting off with a clay bar. - this will safely and very effectively remove anything above the surface of the paint. Get a kit that includes both the clay and the spray lubricant.

2. Try a chemical paint cleaner - these have zero cut so there's no risk of doing any further damage to the finish. These can be hand applied, but I'd recommend machine application given the severity of the task and the size of the car though. You can buy Meguiars Deep Crystal Paint cleaner online, and can also (sometimes) find it in the bigger department stores like Robinson's and Central.

3. If you see some results with the chemical cleaner (and only if), but there's still areas of visible damage, I'd then recommend trying a diminishing abrasive compound like Scratch X. While this product does have a reasonable amount of cut initially, it breaks down fast so is safe for non-professional use. Again, given the severity of the task I'd recommend machine application. If you go with Scratch X you'll probably need two tubes of the stuff to complete the job.

If the chemical cleaner didn't appear to have much effect, you'll need much more specialized compounds and they'll definitely need machine application - I'd say forget about it being a DIY job.

As for the glass - a concur with the vinegar that's been recommended by others here.

I wouldn't recommend it on the paintwork however.

Edit: I guess it's worth pointing out that a properly professional full-SUV respray only comes in at around 30,000 to 40,000 Baht in Thailand - and would look better than new. You could quite easily spend 10,000 on products and an orbital buffer to do a DIY repair, and there's no guarantee that the damage is minimal enough to be something a DIY would be effective on.. So your best option might just be plenty of smiles and a discrete/friendly conversation with the course manager..

Edited April 6, 2010 by MoonRiverOasis

[Deeral]

HOLD ON!

Did you get any rain whilst you were there?

I was near Mataphut recently and although I didn't notice the shower myself, I came back and my car was covered in water marks - they DID in fact wash off.

However if there are factories up wind of where you parked, you might want to check for emissions on that day.

[Forethat]

HOLD ON!

Did you get any rain whilst you were there?

I was near Mataphut recently and although I didn't notice the shower myself, I came back and my car was covered in water marks - they DID in fact wash off.

However if there are factories up wind of where you parked, you might want to check for emissions on that day.

No rain. Sunday was very hot and sunny.

I am more and more beginning to believe in the limescale theory, I make that judgement based on the fact that vinegar appears to have SOME effect on the spots. The problem here appears to be the sheer amount, probably the result of a black car baking in the sun for six hours while the irrigation system slowly sprinkles the car. In fact, if you wanted to commit murder to a car by limescale, this would probably be the optimal method. I have worked for six hours on the car with vinegar today, but I probably have at least the entire day tomorrow left to work. The problem is the level of strength required to remove the spots, I haven't been this sore since I did my military service...

[BSJ]

Hope you parked the vehicle in the shade. Not just for your benefit.....the car care products work best on a cooler surface.

[Forethat]

Hope you parked the vehicle in the shade. Not just for your benefit.....the car care products work best on a cooler surface.

Well, obviously when it happened it was parked outside. When I'm home it's parked in the garage.

[soundman]

Edit: I guess it's worth pointing out that a properly professional full-SUV respray only comes in at around 30,000 to 40,000 Baht in Thailand - and would look better than new. You could quite easily spend 10,000 on products and an orbital buffer to do a DIY repair, and there's no guarantee that the damage is minimal enough to be something a DIY would be effective on.. So your best option might just be plenty of smiles and a discrete/friendly conversation with the course manager..

I have to agree with this, the car was less than a week old, "new paint", all this pollishing and buffing will not make the paint "new" again. In fact, with a new car, you can always tell after it has had its first cut and polish. No going back to "new paint" status.

If I was the OP, I would be claiming a new car, or at the very least a new paint job from my first insurance, and the insurance people can go and follow that up with whoever they feel is responsible.

[Forethat]

I have had two conversations with Bangkok Golf Club. They have checked with the people performing the work in the area in question (garden in direct relation to the entrance) and can confirm that no chemicals were used. Furthermore, they fail completely to accept any type of responsibility and say they are "sorry" for ruining a brand new car.

[Bobr]

I have had two conversations with Bangkok Golf Club. They have checked with the people performing the work in the area in question (garden in direct relation to the entrance) and can confirm that no chemicals were used. Furthermore, they fail completely to accept any type of responsibility and say they are "sorry" for ruining a brand new car.

[/quote

I would be highly surprised if they said anything else.

[Deeral]

I have had two conversations with Bangkok Golf Club. They have checked with the people performing the work in the area in question (garden in direct relation to the entrance) and can confirm that no chemicals were used. Furthermore, they fail completely to accept any type of responsibility and say they are "sorry" for ruining a brand new car.

I would inform them you intend to make a formal claim - see what happens - in Thailand it is always the fault of the customer irst - but this attitude can change in the face of a mounting legal action ................. unless they have you killed!

[culicine]

If you told the insurance company you know where it happened (the golf course), then they might ask you to pursue the golf course management for compensation. I had the same problem with my car - our relatives dog took a liking to the rear mudflap and skirt on my car. We had to tell them it was some unidentified dog that did it - otherwise we were asked to pursue my relatives for compensation. Perhaps its best to say to your insurance company you don't know where the damage occured?

I wonder if the golf course uses recycled water (that may have salts or other waste) that is beneficial to growth of grass. My village does that when they water the grass around here - it smells sometimes so I assume the water is not all that clean. Would it be possible to sneak a sample of water from their sprinklers and get it tested?

[Paul123456]

"ruined the car completely"????

Seems to be just the paint. At least the rest of the car is still OK. Good luck getting a new paint job from the golf company or insurance company.

Edited April 14, 2010 by Paul123456

[jonwilly]

'T Cut' is what I used back in UK to restore car paint work.

I do not know if it's available in Thailand but would imagine so or a local equivalent.

john

[sras]

Another poster made a great (and proper, in my opinion) suggestion:

Contact your insurance company and tell them what happened and let them photograph the car,

the damage, and then go after the people responsible.

I have AXA First Class insurance and they have been really good to me. I would not hesitate

to contact them if my car was damaged. Once I was having dinner and returned to my car

to find key scratches on all four doors and two other panels. (Apparently some drunk person

ran a key around the car). AXA told me to file a police report (which I did) and they paid

100% to have the car repainted. Great service!!

So, I also suggest to you, to be complete, file a police report. This makes it much easier

for your insurance company (or you) in the future. It is free and it is good to have a copy

of the report.

Good luck and keep smiling !

Edited April 18, 2010 by silkroadasia

[rizla]

To remove hard water spots on glass, Use 1 part vineger with 3 parts baking powder (sodium bicarbonate) mix into a paste and apply with a sponge then was off...does work...

[rizla]

Any update OP, hope you got things sorted....

[INTJ]

Even if it is resprayed by the insurance company the quality of the finish will be nowhere near that of the original paint from the factory, especially in black. I would insist that it is at least painted by the Mitsubishi dealer - don't let them outsource it to a private contractor.

Cheers