Have you seen anything like this before?

[DaveT435]

Went to prep my son's van for Opti-Coat this afternoon and when we started washing the roof this is what we saw.The van is only 2 weeks old.http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/uploads/45136/20130901_170239.jpeg

[XSSIVE]

Could it be some sort of dried product (compound, polish, wax?) that the car dealers prep guy splattered all over? It looks to be on the rubber trim so that makes me think it's not scratches. Did you try washing it off or waterless washing it off?

[DaveT435]

Could it be some sort of dried product (compound, polish, wax?) that the car dealers prep guy splattered all over? It looks to be on the rubber trim so that makes me think it's not scratches. Did you try washing it off or waterless washing it off?

Yes we washed the whole vehicle. It is on the trim also. It's definitely scratches, I just can't figure out what would do it. My wife said a cat...I guess it's possible if it was trying to catch a small bug or something and scratching at it.

[XSSIVE]

Wow, crazy it looks like compound splatter in the picture. Perhaps some form of tree limb or pricker bush or something hit it? I've polished out cat scratches from a friends hood before (evil neighbor cat caught stretching on the warm hood) and they were longer marks and spaced like the cats paws not so short and isolated. But I guess if the little bugger was going nuts trying to kill a bug or maybe saw it's reflection they could do something like that.

[DaveT435]

That's wild!! Looks like a bunch of swimmers'

lol I've sure never seen anything like it. The scratches are deep too. If they aren't through the clear they are close. The bad thing is that I don't see how it would happened during transport or at the dealership either. At two weeks old I'm afraid they are going to tell him they aren't going to cover it.

[DaveT435]

Wow, crazy it looks like compound splatter in the picture. Perhaps some form of tree limb or pricker bush or something hit it? I've polished out cat scratches from a friends hood before (evil neighbor cat caught stretching on the warm hood) and they were longer marks and spaced like the cats paws not so short and isolated. But I guess if the little bugger was going nuts trying to kill a bug or maybe saw it's reflection they could do something like that.
We thought of the tree branch thing...but there would be scratches all along the hood unless a branch broke and came down on it...but then I'm sure there would be a dent.

[DaveT435]

Wow, crazy it looks like compound splatter in the picture. Perhaps some form of tree limb or pricker bush or something hit it? I've polished out cat scratches from a friends hood before (evil neighbor cat caught stretching on the warm hood) and they were longer marks and spaced like the cats paws not so short and isolated. But I guess if the little bugger was going nuts trying to kill a bug or maybe saw it's reflection they could do something like that.

So the cat scratches that you saw really didn't look much like these?? I would imagine they were longer too weren't they??

[Helltopay]

Did he happen to fly one of those football team flags from the window? I had one break on me and one of the brass grommets did about the same damage to the roof of my car. The damage occurred before I realized what was happening.

[DaveT435]

Did he happen to fly one of those football team flags from the window? I had one break on me and one of the brass grommets did about the same damage to the roof of my car. The damage occurred before I realized what was happening.

No nothing like that. The van is only two weeks old. The only other thing I can think of is the dealership was running it through a swirlmaster and something broke...

[swanicyouth]

Thats not from a cat, or from a tree branch. That's from some type of tie down used during transport with something metal on it whipping into the paint over and over. Maybe something hanging with a buckle.

As you can see, the damage is mostly in the center, then there is some lighter damage to one side, but the other side (front?) the damage stops abruptly. Whatever it was, it was obviously focused on the area of most damage, but could reach the area of least damage - but it's not evenly distributed in a circle.

That leads me to believe it was something "whipping it" over and over, but it was only being pushed in one direction, maybe by the wind or gravity.

That damage obviously happened over a period of time. The dealer owes you a fix. I'd be even more pissed at them for not inspecting the vehicle more thoroughly, as they are paid to do via the manufacturer's PDR.

[SR99]

That's bizarre. Too short and too many to be cat claw scratches. This would be a true test for the Dr. ColorChip Squirt 'N Squeegee kit (take good before/after photos or a video, and maybe they'll pay you to use it on one of their commercials ;)

[DaveT435]

Thats not from a cat, or from a tree branch. That's from some type of tie down used during transport with something metal on it whipping into the paint over and over. Maybe something hanging with a buckle.

As you can see, the damage is mostly in the center, then there is some lighter damage to one side, but the other side (front?) the damage stops abruptly. Whatever it was, it was obviously focused on the area of most damage, but could reach the area of least damage - but it's not evenly distributed in a circle.

That leads me to believe it was something "whipping it" over and over, but it was only being pushed in one direction, maybe by the wind or gravity.

That damage obviously happened over a period of time. The dealer owes you a fix. I'd be even more pissed at them for not inspecting the vehicle more thoroughly, as they are paid to do via the manufacturer's PDR.

Great thinking!! Thank you. That is the only thing that make sense.

[Setec Astronomy]

Thats not from a cat, or from a tree branch. That's from some type of tie down used during transport with something metal on it whipping into the paint over and over. Maybe something hanging with a buckle.

Bingo. Probably just a chain hanging down. Seen this before unfortunately.

[XSSIVE]

So the cat scratches that you saw really didn't look much like these?? I would imagine they were longer too weren't they??

They were long lines 4-6". He was really stretching out on the warm hood doing some form of cat yoga or something haha.

[SYMAWD]

Possibly during transport. Cars on the top of a car carrier are pretty high up. Does that van come wrapped with paint protection from the factory (the peel off stuff or full "bag")?