Apologies if this should be in the Discussion section, as it's not a mechanical issue.
Problem: My father has a 2000/V Accord 1.8 Sport in dark metallic green, 27,000 miles, purchased 5 months (and 9,000 miles) ago from a main dealer as a "Honda Approved" used car.
Very happy with the car but, when washing it last week (it lives outside and is washed weekly), it was found that bird droppings on the bonnet appear to have removed the lacquer (he describes it as now having dull patches where these deposits were washed off).
He's somewhat disappointed that the paintwork doesn't appear to be too resilient to what is a pretty common problem (although he seems to think the colour may be attracting our feathered friends to leave their "autographs"). The car is booked in for its first service next week and is still under it's 12 month standard Honda used warranty, so he will mention it to the dealer - he's not overly bothered with the outcome but will see what they suggest.
Is this an isolated problem, or have other people with metallic Hondas suffered a similar issue? Or non-metallic Hondas, come to that. I know that the answer is probably to wash the car more often, but it's surprising that these deposits were no older than a week and still did so much damage. By comparison, my 16-year old metallic VW Jetta gets washed about once every 3 months and doesn't have any damage to the lacquer!
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Due to my own stupidity, I succeeded in removing the top lacquer finish to my metallic also. leaving a dulled area. I can only recommend several (at least 10) coats of the highest quality resin polish and then a protective sealer. This has resulted in the finish being about 90% restored.
Do be careful that the polish you use does not 'cut' the paint further. T-cut and the like will probably do more harm than good - go straight for the high quality wax.
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Thanks for the comments Cheeky. My dad let slip that "even T-Cut didn't sort it out", but it didn't sound like it made it any worse. I'll point him in the direction of my tub of Zymol at the back of the garage...
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This is a common problem on all newer cars so dont blame Honda. Its due to the use of water based paints. Bird droppings are very corrosive to modern finishes if not washed off asap.
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When I said goodbye to my Audi 100 after ten years of use from new, apart from one pinhole of rust the only blemishes on the paintwork had been caused by bird droppings. Clean them off as soon as you see them.
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