Troubling paint issue on customer's car

[NiemansDetailing]

Hello! Recently I had a customer come to me with a unique paint issue that I was unable to remedy.

The customer has a 2006 Acura TSX in Carbon Pearl Grey that had a bumper cover installed, and he says that after it rained he left the wet bumper cover on for a couple days and upon removal he discovered discoloration on the front of his hood. When I saw the issue to me it looks like possibly some sort of etching caused by the water, even though the clear coat still looked pretty glossy. So I went ahead and prepped the area for correction, first went with a light pass of M205 on a orange Hex-Logic pad. Pretty much no effect except it looks glossier (duh). So I go ahead with a more aggressive 2-step first M105 then M205. Still no effect! Clear coat looks super glossy but the discoloration remains.

I didn't feel safe proceeding any further, so I waxed the area and told the customer I'd had to look into this further, as I've never really seen a defect like this before.

I'm worried it's an issue with the paint underneath, but it doesn't really add up for me. Has anyone else encountered something like this? Is it fixable?

Here's some photos of the paint issue, I've highlighted the area as it's really faint, and hard to see.

[Bobby B.]

That looks like moisture trapped under the clear coat. This happens often with Bumper Covers, Plastic Tarps and Magnetic Signs. The best thing to do is just sit the vehicle in the sun and hopefully it will cure itself over time. Good luck!

[NiemansDetailing]

Super interesting! I'll tell the customer, thanks for the reply!