Lesson learned about paint and bird crap

So it's been a while since I've washed my truck. It's been raining for weeks on end, so I figured what's the point? Anyway, it was a beautiful sunny day today so I washed my truck, and found this sitting underneath the spot where a pile of bird crap had been (for a week or so). I had heard people say that bird crap can ruin the finish, but I've never had any problems with past vehicles (though they weren't vehicles that I really cared about). I always figured it was just one of those things people say when they're super anal about their vehicles. Guess I was wrong. As you can see, it caused the paint to actually flake off down to the primer.

 

Holy crap! Sorry.

 

Dang. What are those birds eating to crap acid like that.

 

OUCH that really sucks. I think everyone wishes someone would create a bird shit repellent

 

They have it is called a pellet gun.

 

It may just be impurities in / on the clearcoat. Try a claybar, or rubbing compound like Scratch X. It worked on mine!

 

yeah, bird crap ate the clear coat on my camry, was not a good day when i found that out

 

Shooting the little bastards would be fun as hell but I think the neighbors and maybe the police would have a problem with that, but who knows.

 

No such luck. Unfortunately, the paint is physically flaked off (It's hard to tell in the pictures, though).

I'm pretty certain they're related to the creatures from the Alien trilogy.... If I shot them, as suggested above, the blood just might eat through the whole truck.

Haha, I get strange/concerned looks from the people in my building when they get on the elevator and see me with an axe, or slingshot, or fishing rod.... I'm pretty sure a firearm (even if it was just a pellet gun) would result in complaints to the building management (not that I wouldn't do it), but I'm sure firing it in the city would be a bad idea

 

Maybe if you try a silencer on the gun you may be able to get away with it

 

thats shitty

 

Similar damage to clear coat on my g/f's Scion tC. She taught me about how shitty Toyota paints are so I take extra care of mine. Even though she doesn't wear any jewelry on her hands, her fingernails scratch the hell out of the scalloped part of the door where the door handles are.

 

Hell , my fingernail scratches are all there is under the driver's door handle , and my fingernails are usually bashed pretty short ( carpenter )

 

I agree. I don't understand what's up with this paint on these trucks. I'm forced to keep a cover on my tuck since my off street parking is located under a big bird habitting tree. My 2006 if I left any kind of bird crap or any sort of "colored" debris it would leave orange and yellow stains in my silver paint that nothing even claying wouldn't get out. It's so hard to keep the paint looking nice.

 

Me too, OP. I went out of town with my truck on the highway. When I got back, it started raining the next couple of days. So, I figured I could go without a wash for a couple of days. WRONG, now I still have remnants of bug splats on my lower grill area, after washing it. Will eventually buy some clay to clean it.

 

shitty....literally.

 

Yeah, the thing about some birds, is that they'll eat ANYTHING, especially seagulls, which we have tons of around here.

And a lot of the shit they eat aint natural shit, but more acidic shit, shit that has bad shit in it that can strip paint and shit. And when they shit that shit out, the shit gets all over your shit and eats the holy shit out of any clear coat protective shit you have.

 

So................pretty much its shit?

 

Well, I did know it was cheap paint they use... first trip back home for Christmas when the truck was only a month old, I had half a dozen rock chips in the hood, plus two big ones on the roof. Drove my old Neon for five years, and my old Topaz for five years before that, and I think they each only had one or two chips on them. And that was in the harsh Calgary winters where there's always gravel on the roads to bombard the cars.

Plus like you said the underside of my door handle is scratched to hell, and I have reasonably short finger nails. But seriously, I didn't expect this. Eating through the clear coat is one thing, but through the paint it's self in such a short time is unbelievable.

No shit eh!! Judging by the size of the turd I'm guessing it was a seagull, which are one of the ones that eat anything and everything.

 

Definitely sucks. I'm almost fanatical about cleaning that crap (pun intended) off. I keep a bottle of Meguiar's detail spray and a rag in the truck.

It isn't just Toyota, however. Most imports seem to have shitty paint, including the Nissan I had prior to this.