# Anyone know what brake fluid damage looks like



## Vmlopes (Jan 8, 2012)

As above M3 in to garage for disc, pad and brake fluid flush, car came back and was washed immediately as dirty from journey, noticed this black mark just behind driver's door, whatever it is will not polish out have it with some G3 with a hex pad and not shifting it, in fact to me looks like it making it worse. The laquer looks different around it, there is no scratch or dent, to me looks like the paint / laquer has been compromised.

Spoke to the garage within 1hr of collecting the car, they have said that they were not aware of anything happening but will check ball CCTV and if found its their fault will repair.

Anyone familiar with what it could be, car was immaculate and it's not something I would have missed.









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## Jonnybbad (Jun 12, 2013)

Looks like it's been scraped on something and there's burn threw there aswell


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## chris chappell (Jun 6, 2007)

Looks like something has marked it and somebody has tried to polish it out and gone through.
Why is is always somebody else that causes damage to your stuff?😡😡


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## Caledoniandream (Oct 9, 2009)

Brake fluid is an very strong paint stripper, mostimes when it touch paint it will bubble up.


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## Vossman (Aug 5, 2010)

Caledoniandream said:


> Brake fluid is an very strong paint stripper, mostimes when it touch paint it will bubble up.


This /\

That looks like a kind of scuff.


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## Walesy. (Oct 1, 2009)

Does look like a chemical reaction from anything mate, I would say its more of scuff and been polished through the clear coat etc.


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## grunty-motor (Aug 11, 2016)

thats not brake fluid damage


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## Clyde (Feb 15, 2012)

Someone did this to one of my cars years ago (no idea why). From a distance I thought some kids had thrown toilet paper all over the car, but once I got closer it was foamed up and the paint and reacted (bubbled) underneath. What you have shown doesn't look like a brake fluid damage.


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## steveo3002 (Jan 30, 2006)

thats where someone has tried to polish out a scratch and burned through


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## Alan W (May 11, 2006)

Some paint colours use a dark grey primer coat and this looks like it has been exposed as a result of a scratch. The scratch has then been polished and the clearcoat and basecoat has been burnt through to expose more primer, unfortunately.

Alan W


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## Kerr (Mar 27, 2012)

Did the garage do a condition report prior to starting the work?

What did the mark look like before you burnt through the paint?


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## Itstony (Jan 19, 2018)

Agree Alan ^^^^^^^^^^ just don't ask how I know


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## GeeWhizRS (Nov 1, 2019)

Ooooo this looks like it's shaping up to be a popcorn thread. Garage trying to cover up a scratch they've done and buggered it up properly.


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## Alan W (May 11, 2006)

GeeWhizRS said:


> Garage trying to cover up a scratch they've done and buggered it up properly.


I think it is the OP that has polished the scratch and not the garage. 

Alan W


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## GeeWhizRS (Nov 1, 2019)

Alan W said:


> I think it is the OP that has polished the scratch and not the garage.


Hope not. I read it that the OP noticed the black mark, tried polishing it out and was making it worse. I assume this is because more paint is being removed and revealing more undercoat. Likely the garage tried to rectify a scratch and stopped when they polished through the paint.


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## Kerr (Mar 27, 2012)

GeeWhizRS said:


> Hope not. I read it that the OP noticed the black mark, tried polishing it out and was making it worse. I assume this is because more paint is being removed and revealing more undercoat. Likely the garage tried to rectify a scratch and stopped when they polished through the paint.


You can't extract that from the post.

The mark looks serious. It should have been obvious it was never going to polish out if it looked anything close to that before he started. The OP really shouldn't have tried to repair it if he was blaming the garage.

Trying to prove where the damage really happened is going to be difficult to work out now.

Hopefully the CCTV has caught something, which you'll need the garage to be honest enough to admit, or equally the mechanic to own up.


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## GeeWhizRS (Nov 1, 2019)

Kerr said:


> You can't extract that from the post.


Seems clear enough to me. Go read it again and this time say it out loud whilst moving your finger under the words.


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## cole_scirocco (Mar 5, 2012)

GeeWhizRS said:


> Seems clear enough to me. Go read it again and this time say it out loud whilst moving your finger under the words.


:lol:


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## Kerr (Mar 27, 2012)

GeeWhizRS said:


> Seems clear enough to me. Go read it again and this time say it out loud whilst moving your finger under the words.


Ask your mum to read it for you then.


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## GeeWhizRS (Nov 1, 2019)

:lol:


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## Guest (Mar 10, 2020)

chris chappell said:


> Looks like something has marked it and somebody has tried to polish it out and gone through.
> Why is is always somebody else that causes damage to your stuff?😡😡


This.

That is a scratch someone has done a bother repair and polish on and burned though badly.

Given it's on a vertical panel I can't see it being brake fluid. Maybe the garage damaged it and tried to fix it?


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## Alan W (May 11, 2006)

Vmlopes said:


> ....... whatever it is will not polish out have it with some G3 with a hex pad and not shifting it, in fact to me looks like it making it worse.


How would the OP know what products had been used unless he had done the polishing himself?

He only found the scratch on his return from the garage.

Alan W


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## Vmlopes (Jan 8, 2012)

Guys, I have not burnt through it, the finish in that area looked weird and I only lightly tried to polish with a red hex pad, there is no way that G3 on that pad with a DA is going to go through unless I was just holding it there indefinitely.

Garage has reviewed the CCTV and nothing conclusive showing up but similarly cannot say that it wasn't there before hand, so has agreed to pay to put it right. No condition report done prior to me handing the keys over. Can't ask for more than that I guess.

Quarter panel has to be spayed and blended into the door also.

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## Max Inc (Apr 3, 2007)

Vmlopes said:


> Garage has reviewed the CCTV and nothing conclusive showing up but similarly cannot say that it wasn't there before hand, so has agreed to pay to put it right. No condition report done prior to me handing the keys over. Can't ask for more than that I guess.


Hats off to them for taking responsibility and looking after their reputation.


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## stonejedi (Feb 2, 2008)

It's definitely not brake fluid...looks to be a paint scuff of some sort.SJ.


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## Vmlopes (Jan 8, 2012)

Car was washed on Sunday no marks whatsoever, driven to the garage on following day in the rain, job could not be completed as new caliper bolts had to be ordered, driven back home on Monday evening and parked on my drive and untouched till Friday when it was driven back and job completed, as soon as got home car was washed and the damage spotted.

The car really has been nowhere else?

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## DaveReid (Jan 2, 2020)

Hello. 

Having seen this many times in the body shop that is a scratch that someone has flat and polished.

You can actually see the line through the centre hasn't been completely sanded out. The black/darkgrey is the primer or factory ecoat. the you have exposed basecoat in a ring around that. 

This looks a slightly different colour as it has no clearcoat over it. Then you can see where the clearcoat is cover the rest of the panel around that area. 

if you take a cotton cloth and a fine polish and give it a gentle rub you will pick up some colour o the cloth. this will confirm the garage have removed clearcoat. 

Dave


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## stonejedi (Feb 2, 2008)

if that is the case Dave the people who done the engineering work on the car damaged it while they were working on it and tried to do a smart repair that was done shoddily...That is the only sensible conclusion that can be made.SJ.


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## GeeWhizRS (Nov 1, 2019)

Exactly. But I was told I couldn't surmise that.
Glad it's getting sorted.


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## Kerr (Mar 27, 2012)

GeeWhizRS said:


> Exactly. But I was told I couldn't surmise that.
> Glad it's getting sorted.


You couldn't. Half the people in the thread didn't even read the original post or the error being pointed out a few times. Alan had corrected you before too. People are jumping ahead of themselves and think they are right only as others have also picked up the wrong end of the stick.

The OP said he could see a black mark, with no mention how bad it was, and no mention of the very obvious lacquer burn through. He then tried to buff it out and it got worse.

The black mark is very clearly through the paint. If it looked remotely close to what the first picture posted shows then it was clear what the issue was. This is where the OP should have gone back to the garage and taken up his case here. Trying to buff it out opened a whole can of worms.

If it's the car the OP has recently posted it's 18 years old and he's owned it for just a few weeks. It will have damage, it will have been painted and it'll probably have had marks buffed out previously.

I think the garage have been very good to take this one up. They very easily could have washed their hands on this one especially since the OP fully admitted he took a machine to it. The car didn't leave the garage with damage that bad.


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## DaveReid (Jan 2, 2020)

I think the fact that the garage have said they would do the scratch is brilliant.

They should be praised accordingly and in doing so they have also kept you as a customer.

There will always be a chance that something gets nicked or scratched in a workshop environment. 

The garages that own the problems and sort them out are always the ones to use as they are HONEST.


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## Kerr (Mar 27, 2012)

DaveReid said:


> I think the fact that the garage have said they would do the scratch is brilliant.
> 
> They should be praised accordingly and in doing so they have also kept you as a customer.
> 
> ...


The accusations on here is the garage damaged the car and then badly tried to cover it up. That's not honest.

However, I do believe there is hugely debatable grounds here. It's an old car that the OP has owned for a few weeks and will have missed marks and repairs.

I bet nearly everyone on here will admit that they've missed marks on a car initially, but when they see them they can't take their eyes off them.

Garages do damage cars. I also believe they also face many false accusations. Some are very clear and some are just people finding marks and putting 2 and 2 together.


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## GeeWhizRS (Nov 1, 2019)

Not sure you're reading the same thread as me Kerr luv. Seems pretty clear what's happened to me. The OP said the car was immaculate before going to the garage but was returned with a black mark. The OP said he tried polishing to remove the mark and the black mark worsened. So, it's pretty clear that someone else had already tried to polish that same spot and stopped when they realised they had gone through the paint. If you can't see that from what's in front of you then that's fine but please don't tell me what I can and cannot deduce from the details as I see them.
The OP has every right to try and remove the mark in any way he sees fit; it's his car. He didn't get to the idea that this had been burnt through until after he tried polishing it. Regardless of whether he made it worse or not, he did not create the damage in the first place.
The fact the garage is being so reasonable about it suggests to me (yes... there I go again) that in all likelihood they know a bit more about it than they are letting on. Again, I'm allowed to make this summation because it's just me voicing my opinion with the details in front of me; they call that free speech. You don't have to agree with it, you can say I am wrong, but please don't tell me what I can and can't do. If you can't play nice, I'm gonna tell my mum. :thumb:


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## EliteCarCare (Aug 25, 2006)

chris chappell said:


> Looks like something has marked it and somebody has tried to polish it out and gone through.
> Why is is always somebody else that causes damage to your stuff?😡😡


What he said, they've tried to polish out a mark or scratch and gone through the lacquer, hence why when you try to polish it the area will just get bigger as you're removing more lacquer!

Alex


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## Kerr (Mar 27, 2012)

GeeWhizRS said:


> Not sure you're reading the same thread as me Kerr luv. Seems pretty clear what's happened to me. The OP said the car was immaculate before going to the garage but was returned with a black mark. The OP said he tried polishing to remove the mark and the black mark worsened. So, it's pretty clear that someone else had already tried to polish that same spot and stopped when they realised they had gone through the paint. If you can't see that from what's in front of you then that's fine but please don't tell me what I can and cannot deduce from the details as I see them.
> The OP has every right to try and remove the mark in any way he sees fit; it's his car. He didn't get to the idea that this had been burnt through until after he tried polishing it. Regardless of whether he made it worse or not, he did not create the damage in the first place.
> The fact the garage is being so reasonable about it suggests to me (yes... there I go again) that in all likelihood they know a bit more about it than they are letting on. Again, I'm allowed to make this summation because it's just me voicing my opinion with the details in front of me; they call that free speech. You don't have to agree with it, you can say I am wrong, but please don't tell me what I can and can't do. If you can't play nice, I'm gonna tell my mum. :thumb:


You're just making things up as you go along further adding arms and legs to the story.

How exactly can you say from someone else's internet posts that it MUST have been the garage?

They know a bit more than they let on? Another massive assumption. Maybe they realise that a few hundred quid to repair the damage is cheaper than their reputation being damaged? Look how this thread has gone. ZERO evidence and you're jumping to conclusions. Just one person's versions of events.

How do you know the car was immaculate?

There is no logic to your understanding. It's purely guesswork.

It's an 18 year old car the OP has owned for just a few weeks. Even looking at the low resolution pictures I can see concerning things that I can say the car is not immaculate.

The car will have been painted before, the car will have had scratches polished out. The quality of the paint could be poor.

If the OP didn't realise that damage like that was burn through then I'm afraid he lacks knowledge. It's blatantly obvious.

Common sense says that if you're contesting damaged or faulty goods you return them as is. If you try and carry out repairs and make things worse it's pretty obvious why that wouldn't sit right.

It would be interesting to see the pictures of the damage of how it left the garage before it ended up like that.


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## Max Inc (Apr 3, 2007)

GeeWhizRS said:


> Ooooo this looks like it's shaping up to be a popcorn thread.


What really matters is the outcome and as far as this little accident is concerned, everything seems to be handled as it should, regardless of what happened or whose fault it is. And on that point, in a dispute and as disappointing as it may be, only matters what can be proven.

Pardon the interruption, please carry on ... 🍿🍿🍿


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## GeeWhizRS (Nov 1, 2019)

Kerr said:


> How exactly can you say from someone else's internet posts that it MUST have been the garage?


If the details provided are correct, as in, "car was immaculate" and then it is thereafter marked... it's not a massive leap is it?



Kerr said:


> They know a bit more than they let on? Another massive assumption. Maybe they realise that a few hundred quid to repair the damage is cheaper than their reputation being damaged? Look how this thread has gone. ZERO evidence and you're jumping to conclusions.


I said "in all likelihood they know a bit more about it than they are letting on." but you seemed to omit the first part. Would you offer to pay for a repair for damage that you had not caused? It's one thing if it's a tenner for a new wheel trim or such, but not a few hundred quid for a paint job. People will try this on all the time with garages.



Kerr said:


> Just one person's versions of events.


Clearly. Aren't all opening posts on this forum the same? You can only go off what the OP details. i.e. How do you know the car was immaculate? Because he said so in his opening post. This is not a court of law Kerr, we are just shooting the breeze here.



Kerr said:


> There is no logic to your understanding. It's purely guesswork.


I would argue there is some logic. I would query though why you are making a big deal about this?



Kerr said:


> It's an 18 year old car the OP has owned for just a few weeks. Even looking at the low resolution pictures I can see concerning things that I can say the car is not immaculate.


Looks pretty damned tidy to me assuming this is the same motor. https://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=418565



Kerr said:


> The car will have been painted before, the car will have had scratches polished out. The quality of the paint could be poor.


 I refer you to your earlier comments of 'It's purely guesswork.'



Kerr said:


> If the OP didn't realise that damage like that was burn through then I'm afraid he lacks knowledge. It's blatantly obvious.


If he does or he doesn't (and it's off of you to say so in my opinion) who are you to say he can't try and polish out a mark on his own car?



Kerr said:


> Common sense says that if you're contesting damaged or faulty goods you return them as is. If you try and carry out repairs and make things worse it's pretty obvious why that wouldn't sit right.


I agree to some degree but I would argue he was trying to sort it himself so save hassle all round. Could you imagine if it was just a bit of grease and he returned the car and a mechanic took a cloth and just wiped it off? Regardless of whether he made it worse or not, it will in all likelihood not affect the cost of the repair.



Kerr said:


> It would be interesting to see the pictures of the damage of how it left the garage before it ended up like that.


I agree.


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## stonejedi (Feb 2, 2008)

Kerr your not in the garage trade by any chance?I have been around the mechanical trade for years now and their is no firm that would be prepared to fix damage to a car unless they knew 100% that their was a possibility that one of their workers done it,if they fixed every customer’s alleged problem they would be out of business,I can only speak for myself but I know every mark on my track car when it happens as i don’t just wash my car i look at the panels in good light and with my sun gun for every mark if their are any fresh ones,I don’t think anyone is jumping to conclusions in this thread i just think that members that have commented on this thread have just stated their Personal opinions which should be respected.SJ.


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## Kerr (Mar 27, 2012)

GeeWhizRS said:


> If the details provided are correct, as in, "car was immaculate" and then it is thereafter marked... it's not a massive leap is it?
> 
> I said "in all likelihood they know a bit more about it than they are letting on." but you seemed to omit the first part. Would you offer to pay for a repair for damage that you had not caused? It's one thing if it's a tenner for a new wheel trim or such, but not a few hundred quid for a paint job. People will try this on all the time with garages.
> 
> ...


Yes, it's a massive leap. There is no logic.

It's very common for companies to carry out work they aren't sure they are responsible for. Reputation is everything to companies. They'll get that done at trade price and the cost will be less than a bad review. They should have inspected the car on drop off and kept themselves and the customer in the right. They haven't covered their own backside. They don't think it was them and their CCTV has failed to show anything up either.

I'm not making a big deal of it. It's just a discussion. A few of us just thought it was really odd how many posters in this thread failed to read the opening post before making up their own version of events. They missed what the OP clearly said.

How many 18 year old cars with 100k+ miles do you know that have immaculate original paint? If you do look closely you might see a big give away. I'll not draw the OP's eyes to it, but it's very unusual for cars to get to 18 years old with zero damage or corrosion.

If you are going to accuse a garage of causing damage to your car then damaging it worse really isn't the way to go about it. If you're disputing damage and come back with a huge chunk out the side of it like that they'll be thinking no way did it leave here looking like that.

Imagine it was a bit of grease? I don't think anyone would end up with a machine polisher out to remove grease.


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## garage_dweller (Apr 10, 2018)

I’ve never known a small garage to do an inspection of the car on drop off, some dealerships might do it but it’s not something I’ve ever experienced with a small garage. 

In fact I’ve never experienced it with any car I’ve dropped off to get work done at either a dealership or small local garage. 


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## ollienoclue (Jan 30, 2017)

Stuff happens, they have insurance for some things and plain honesty for the rest.

Years ago my Uncle had a van in his garage and it fell off the two post lift. No way of concealing that with a DA... Came clean, paid for repair and he is firm friends with the bloke today.


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## Max Inc (Apr 3, 2007)

Whichever way you want to look at it, a couple of things are clear.

First, we will never know what happened. Even though both theories are plausible they remain unproven. 

Secondly, the decision to sort out the repair was nothing but a good business decision IMHO. If the garage found something on CCTV, it would be terrible to admit as it could easily backfire. And even if they didn't, it is always the better strategy to keep the client happy. 

The cost of the repair is relatively small, you avoid the bad publicity and retain the client. You also avoid wasting time dealing with the complaint (time which can be used to make money instead). In the end you will be perceived as an honest business who does the right thing, thus attracting more clients.

This is good publicity for them and advertising costs money. You can look at it that way.


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## Kerr (Mar 27, 2012)

garage_dweller said:


> I've never known a small garage to do an inspection of the car on drop off, some dealerships might do it but it's not something I've ever experienced with a small garage.
> 
> In fact I've never experienced it with any car I've dropped off to get work done at either a dealership or small local garage.
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Some do and some don't. Quite a few video the car prior to starting work. I'll need to find the thread where a customer's car was damaged in a main dealer car park.

The garage would not accept responsibility as he parked it there and they would only accept damages from when they moved the car.

I always video my car before drop off. I also do the same with courtesy cars as all too often I find damage on them.

Quite a few times I've driven off and not noticed some damage until a little later in different light. The garages have always been ok with that.


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## garage_dweller (Apr 10, 2018)

Kerr said:


> Some do and some don't. Quite a few video the car prior to starting work. I'll need to find the thread where a customer's car was damaged in a main dealer car park.
> 
> The garage would not accept responsibility as he parked it there and they would only accept damages from when they moved the car.
> 
> ...


You must go to posher places than me 

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## Kerr (Mar 27, 2012)

garage_dweller said:


> You must go to posher places than me
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Ah you're Kilmarnock. You'll be happy if your car is still there when you go back?:lol:


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## garage_dweller (Apr 10, 2018)

Kerr said:


> Ah you're Kilmarnock. You'll be happy if your car is still there when you go back?:lol:




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## chris chappell (Jun 6, 2007)

Stand by for the next thrilling episode of this story as the car gets taken in for paintwork, they make a right balls up of it and it ends up looking worse than it did with the burnt through paint!!!!
It's just GOT TO happen😂😂


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## Vmlopes (Jan 8, 2012)

Wow this has gone sideways.....car booked in for early next month so lets see.

On a better note steering wheel retrimmed.









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## Vmlopes (Jan 8, 2012)

GeeWhizRS said:


> If the details provided are correct, as in, "car was immaculate" and then it is thereafter marked... it's not a massive leap is it?
> 
> I said "in all likelihood they know a bit more about it than they are letting on." but you seemed to omit the first part. Would you offer to pay for a repair for damage that you had not caused? It's one thing if it's a tenner for a new wheel trim or such, but not a few hundred quid for a paint job. People will try this on all the time with garages.
> 
> ...


So to be clear this was not a bit if grease or dirt, as I stated before the car was washed as soon as I got it back.

Photo of after washing, I have had no machine or anything near it, other than power washer, snow foam and shampoo, if anyone on this forum would miss this kind of damage on their car, then they need to go to Specsavers.

And then another of only a very light pass, which you can clearly see has not improved matters but made it marginally worse.
















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## GeeWhizRS (Nov 1, 2019)

Wasn't implying it was grease mate, was just using that as an example. Thanks for the pics and nice wheel.


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## percymon (Jun 27, 2007)

Hopefully the garage sort is out to your satisfaction - funny they 'didnt catch anything on CCTV' when in fact it looks like someone tried to rectify a mark - that would be minutes of footage.


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