Less than a month into ownership, an apparently very full bird left a surprise in several spots on my new S40's roof. As soon as possible after discovering it, I hosed it off and toweled dried the car. Today, I noticed--in the right light--reminders of the spots. It looks like the paint's been etched by the acidic droppings, which were on the car a pretty short time. So, I'm looking for suggestions on returning the roof's paint to its pristine condition. I'm beginning to hate wildlife!!

:D Don't start shooting those birds down, now, OK?

Have you tried putting on some 'soft' wax?

Depending how bad it is, u might want to go to the dealer first and let them take care of it since the car is new.

IF you do it yourself, try using a compound that will remove swirls and scratches. U might still notice it if your looking for it in the right light, but if the dealer says its not bad enough to do anything, this should take care of it.

And dont forget to wax the entire roof after the compound.

Thanx for the suggestion. I'll give it a go and hope for the best. I don't think this damage is terribly deep. Looks like dulled paint. Hopefully some Meguiar's cleaner wax or swirl/scratch remover will do the trick.

I remember reading post last week or so about this same problem. The guy ended up bringing his car to the dealer and they fixed his paint with baking soda and water. Not too sure on the aplication but if you research it a little more Im sure you'll come across it sooneer or later. Limited info but hope this helps. :grin:

Well, Meguiar's should easily do the trick.

But at the same time, it would also serve you well to keep a can or two of the waxes at home, for you to DIY, especially on "long" weekends.
I.e. for Bugs and Tar Remover

On my hood right now, there is a stain of dried cement (cement!) of the size of a thumb nail. Yeah, that big.

I'm scratching it off slowly, as it's now pretty dried up already. I though at first it was just plain mud (and still wondering how it got there) but after using plain water and soft car detergents, it won't budge.

Who doesnt keep car cleaning products on hand at home?!

ME
LOL
It doesn't work on my car there is no clearcoat left on my car it is all gone.

Depends how much u are into car care ie polishes waxes etc. personally i would give it a good wash using Meguiars NXT car wash then once dry use Deep Crystal Polish personally (again) i would give the polish a few coats (apply buff off then re-apply) then after a few coats of polish layer on Meguiars NXT Wax should come up treat. :thumbsup:

(if only scotland had some decent weather at the moment i woyuld be doing the same) :(

dannymiami
Also, keep in mind that when you first get the car, the paint is still setting. Thus the clear coat on your car does not have any (or very little) wear. Any really acidic object (Large bugs, bird droppings from 50 foot pidgeons, etc) is going to be just a bit more noticeable to you. I know how you feel, the first time my car got bombed I thought the bird took at least 2 coats of paint off.
All of the suggestions above will help, best advise is clean it quick and keep the wax on it. You should be good to go.

Oh, and I don't agree with ampangbear... SHOOT the birds :gunsmilie:
Just kidding LOL

I can sense the satisfaction at the end of the day when all is done.

:clap:

I once made a BIG mistake of parking overnight under the shadows of such a big, friendly-looking tree, after a tiring and satisfying 2-hour DIY cleanup. *sigh* Some friendly-tree it was! I couldn't recognise my car in the morning after! It was SO full of bird-drops, the guys at the cleaners charged me for two rounds of cleaning as they had to spend longer on my car just to get the stuff off. *sigh*

Apparently, birds (mostly) also found the tree as 'friendly' looking and decided to sleep on the branches, at night. You know the results.

Swore to steer away from the tree from then onwards. :evil:

Hahaha... :haha:

Awww the satisfaction is brilliant...but me being me i just keep finding things to clean on the car right down to the rubber seals round the doors etc... i'm a keen detailer :thumbsup: when the weather is pretty good here in scotland here is a list of what i do (sorry its so long) :D

1. Thouroughly spray down paint work and under wheel arches with a garden hose

2. using Nxt car wash and a microfibre wash mitt clean 1 panel at a time of the car and rinse off immediately..continue for the whole of the car and thoroughly rinse car with water

3. chamois the whole cars paint work and door sils etc.

4. once paint is dry and in the shade from any sun i would clay the paint work using meguiars clay

5. using a Porter-Cable 7336SP polisher and poor boys proffesional polish polish the whole car and buff off with a microfibre towel

6. using Porter-Cable 7336SP polisher again and some P21S Carnauba Wax buff off with a microfibre towel this may ened a few coats to give maximum protection.

and if that is followed you should end up with a shine similar to my parteners hyundai coupe (see attached file)

Is it "bad" that on our last vacation, when we arrived at the hotel, I first unpacked the address and directions to the nearest car wash printed out from mapquest. My wife got a good laugh out of that one. But even she admits, she likes riding around in a nice looking car (don't they all?)

:haha:

Well niko, the S40 you got is spanking new still... It would be understandable... BTW, what colour is it? Is it in the Garage section? (I'll go check)...

If its a 9-year old like mine, :grin: the only times you can see their jaws drop is when my bulky one smokes them at the traffic lights (just like this morning). And since I don't always keep them as shiny as Grizzle's friend up there, normally its not a head-turner. Which is not necessarily bad, coz too much attention is not good anyways.

Yeah, I can relate to the attention (or stealth) thing. My new S40 is Red and it