Pressure washed my '19 Cement, paint literally chipped off.....

A few months ago I had purchased a commercial grade power washer for home projects and for chits and giggles I used my new power washer on a freshly received quarter sized rock chip on my 2017 Lexus, it was getting repainted in the next few weeks anyways but decided to see how powerful my new commercial grade pressure wash was since it said it could chip away at paint.

It didn't even remove a single piece of paint from a rock chip the size of a quarter. I even got inches to the rock chip with my nozzle, didn't phase it at all. I've have washed my cars and previous cars for 10-12 years or so with a pressure washer, never had an issue with paint.

Picture of said rock chip:





In regards to my taco, this morning I went out there and felt the rocker panel, it still feels soft and even feels like its soaked even. The analogy I can give is that it feels like slightly hardened play dough. The rocker panel on my cement just feels vastly different than the paint above it.

 

Wrong! Couldn’t be more wrong. Pressure washers can safely be used on vehicles DAILY without harm as long as they have a fanned nozzle and aren’t held too close to the paint. Some gas power washers designed for heavy industrial use or deep scouring of stone are also too powerful.

 

To all the posters on here that say you shouldn't use your pressure washer to wash your car . What should you do go to the car wash and pay to use someone else's pressure washer ?

 

Its cause Toyota started using cheap Chinese paint to save money, I would either Lemon law or sell the truck and get a Ridgeline they are still using superior paint from San Francisco. Toyotas quality is really going down hill people better start thinking twice before buying a Toyota these days.

 

I do detail work on the side from time to time and IMO, a pressure washer should never even come close to a vehicle.

 

A break for a Public Service message:
https://www.grammarly.com/blog/to-too/


Now back to original programming...

 

This thread is going to go nowhere with the # of opinions.

At the end of the day Toyota is not going to touch it if OP even so much as whispers he used a pressure washer.

 

Um, no.

Nice googling.

0 degree nozzle?.... Does anyone use a zero degree nozzle outside of cutting steel or using it in manufacturing applications? Pressure washers you buy from Lowes and homedept don't even come with a zero degree nozzle.

Now since I have a degree in physics. I'm gonna do the math for you on that one. If water out of the nozzle is 243 mph at an orifice size of 0.052, then the speed of the water out of the nozzle in a 40 degree nozzle (The nozzle that I used), that has an orifice of 0.150", is 84.24 MPH.

So the speed of the water out of the point of exit of the nozzle is 84.24 mph and the force reduces dramatically the further away from the nozzle you are.


So, I was almost right in saying that driving at 80mph in the rain does more to your paint than a pressure washer. It's actually about the same...... Which means a pressure washer, isn't gonna do squat on your paint job. Nice try though you thought you were being smart.

Edit: Also the same article you referenced even says, that double the distance away from the nozzle, you halve the force. SO, with a zero degree nozzle, at one inch away from the nozzle, the speed is about 12.79 MPH.

 

I already purchased some touch up paint. I'm not even bothering trying to claim warranty. No one said anything about claiming warranty anyways.

 

I didn’t say you did.

Not sure if automotivetouchup.com has cement in stock but I’d go with their system if you want something better than a paint pen.

 

A garden hose and a couple buckets works great.

 

For sale, pressure washer. Only used to wash vehicles, but I just learned that using it will void my warranty.

Like seriously, is it better to use the 2 bucket method, probably but I worked with a guy who had a pressure washing business on the side. One of his accounts was a construction company and he pressure washed the dump trucks once a month, I helped him a few times and never saw any indication we were removing paint, and this was with a big machine that was built on a trailer to tow around.

 

Simple. Take it to the dealer and ask them why the paint flaked off. If they say it is defective, they will fix it. If they say you f'ed up, they wont.

 

This sucks. Thanks for sharing for others to not repeat the error.

 

The paint is crap on these trucks. I've had my truck for over a year and the paint looks like I have 300k miles on it, yet I only have 20k. If I took a pressure washer to my truck, I'd loose more paint.

 

I have 3 different 40 degree tips for my pressure washer. They were made for a 3.5, 3.0, and 2.5 gpm pressure washer. I can get pressure from about 650 PSI to 900 PSI depending on which one I use.

They’re all perfectly safe to use on paint. Check your equipment with a pressure gauge, stay under 1000 psi, and you’ll be fine. If you don’t have a pressure gauge, blast your hand/foot. If it hurts, don’t use it on your car.

 

Toyota shoots BASF from the factory.
The new Corolla comes with a high performance self healing polymer clear coat.
But that was a nice try.

P.s. everything is made in China except babies, they are made in Vachina.

 

A navy submariner vet once told me that they sometimes used to walk around where there was a suspected pin hole sized water leak holding a board in front of them because they did not want to walk through a high psi stream of water they couldn't see.

 

Sorry to see this OP, and understand that you and others regularly use pressure washers, but I would never EVER consider using one on a car/truck that I cared about other than using a foam cannon attachment. Other than to avoid having to use a wash rag or mitt, I don't see the purpose.

 

You still need to use a mitt / 2 bucket wash with a foam cannon, it just helps eliminate potential swirls, etc. with a presoak.