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Weird spots on black spoiler....

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by bighouse, Nov 3, 2009.

  1. bighouse

    bighouse Active Member

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    Just washed my car today at lunchtime. Red paint looks great- but I noticed that my black spoiler surface has weird greyish spots on it. I'm thinking they may be light stains from the douglas fir and redwood pine cone seed pods that leave a red stain on surfaces when they get wet (like in the nighttime dew or settling fog).

    Anyway, I've Zaino'd the surfaces a few weeks ago...and will be doing so again in the near future, but I want to get rid of these nuisance spots. Anyone have any experience with these small red stains and know a good way to remove them from the black spoiler surface???
     
  2. Zesha

    Zesha Junior Member

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    I have the same problem on my Black Prius but the same Blotching is on the hood. Toyota of Escondido is is in denial that its a factory paint problem so Iam going straight to Toyota Customer Care to get the paint redone on the hood of my car
     
  3. venom700

    venom700 Just call me Brian...

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    I had some bird poop on my spoiler today & went to take it off when I got home. It was on there for less than an hour and it left marks behind. I tried using more cleaner but it didn't help. I had already Zaino'd my car. I even tried rubbing compound and no help. I guess the spoilers just flat out suck.
     
  4. bighouse

    bighouse Active Member

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    I managed to rub my spots out when I applied my Zaino Z5 today.
     
  5. grassyglen

    grassyglen New Member

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    Can either of you post pictures of the spots/blotches on your cars? I've got these gray spots that have shown up on the black door panel of the drivers side rear door. They dont seem to come off easy. Going to take it in soon and show the dealer. Should be fun.:thumb:
     
  6. bighouse

    bighouse Active Member

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    I will if they show up again!
     
  7. Welshdog

    Welshdog Member

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    Is the spoiler painted or is it just shiny plastic? I'm going to be detailing ours soon and I was wondering how to handle the spoiler - it has some spots on it. Paint and plastic are cleaned and polished using different methods and materials. I wonder if Zaino is effective on unpainted plastic?
     
  8. Bobsprius

    Bobsprius BobPrius

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    Here's my tip of the day:

    I use "Blue Magic" Plastic/Plexiglass cleaner wax. It is used for the clear shields on motorcycle helmets. I used to use it when I had my bike. Meguirs makes a product similar today for Plastic as well if Blue Magic is not available.

    It cleans and polishes the Black Spoiler wonderfully! I also use it on the front headlamp lens covers as well. If Blue Magic is not available another similar product for (Plexiglass/Polycarbonate) cleaner wax should do just fine.

    The greyish stains (birds, leaves sap) clean up nice and the finish has a good coat and it is much more stain resistant. Every few weeks or so should keep it looking good! :)
     
    1 person likes this.
  9. bighouse

    bighouse Active Member

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    Great tip, thanks! I'll go out and get some next week.
     
  10. PriusRos

    PriusRos A Fairly Senior Member - 2016 Prius Owner

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    I use Maguier's PlastX for the spoiler and headlight/taillight covers. Really makes them shine.
     
  11. bighouse

    bighouse Active Member

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    So, has it been determined if the spoiler is painted metal or plastic?
     
  12. Bobsprius

    Bobsprius BobPrius

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    PriusRos, totally agree I used that as well. It works like a charm and in the process we won't get that hazing plastic lenses on our headlamps as well!!

    Glad to see you know the same products! ;)
     
  13. Bobsprius

    Bobsprius BobPrius

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    I am guessing ..."Plastic" which is fine with me..no RUST! :)

    But it shines up great using the products I mentioned and PriusRos, so I am going to assume it's plastic based, on look, feel etc.
     
  14. 32kcolors

    32kcolors Senior Member

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    It's plastic, but we had a debate a while back whether it's painted plastic or high gloss plastic. Some of us said it has the orange peel effect, indicating it's painted plastic. Others can't see this orange peel effect and think it's just high gloss plastic.
     
  15. mindmachine

    mindmachine Member

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    Could it possibly be due to a hard water type of staining?
     
  16. wjterry

    wjterry New Member

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    I noticed some redish streaks on the door and roof of my '10, III later to learn that my leather brief case was the culprit. I could not wash them of no matter how hard I scrubbed then tried a small dab of tooth paste applied with a light circular motion of my bare finger. The very small grit in the paste apparently was enough to scrub the streaks off in a jiffy. I would not rub too hard as you may wind up with a small "over polished" area on the spoiler. As a woodworker, I have used tooth paste many times to rub out a fine finish on small table tops, etc. It's a great buffing compound with a very fine grit.
     
  17. bighouse

    bighouse Active Member

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    And, wjterry, do you floss your Prius too?
     
  18. wjterry

    wjterry New Member

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    Yes, it prefers the non waxed type. :p
     
  19. Welshdog

    Welshdog Member

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    Today as we were leaving the Chuy's in south Austin I noticed something amiss as we approached the car. The right side corner of the back bumper looked dirty, but in a horizontal direction. This is on a car that was just washed Wednesday with clear weather in the interim. On closer inspection it seems something had scraped along that outer corner and had marred the clear coat. I could tell it wasn't deep or permanent, but I had to wonder how the culprit managed to do this. I can only figure that the other vehicle had a similar flexible plastic bumper that was just the perfect height and shape to rub this part of the car car and no other.

    Anyway, I first tried some Poorboy's Spray and Gloss. It helped some, but there were still scuffs visible. Next came the Kit Scratch Out - a paste you rub on carefully and wipe off the haze. That cleared up the scuffing so I then hit the panel with Poorboy's non-abrasive Polish w/Carnauba using my Porter Cable polisher. That finished the job, perfect shine and no marks other than a small paint chip that I won't bother with on a lower panel like this.

    Thanks for the spoiler tips everyone - I'm going to try the Polish w/Carnauba first before I use anything stronger. I do have a plastic polish that I'll hold in reserve.
     
  20. bokone

    bokone Junior Member

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    Use a clay bar with some spray detail, it should take out the marks, then wax.