What could’ve caused this?

Eldorado2k

Eldorado2k

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Could ammonia left to dry have caused this? Or what do you guys think?

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Cause:?
Try WD40 or Acetone. If that doesn't work I us Purple metal polish. It's similar to the Mothers mag polish.
 
Yes it look's like some sort of etching they might have to buy new trim pieces.
 
Chemical etching of some sort......perhaps something they drove through? Maybe, because of the color of the car, and the fact that it's clearcoated, it does not show on the paint? Brine they use on roads in the winter?
 
Was the car detailed recently? If yes, which products were exposed to the trim?
 
My first thought is iron remover as well.

Ive also had bh touchless and iron remover stain black "b piller" door trim pieces that had clear coat failure.

Wish i had an answer for ya eldo, never messed with ammonia.

First guess is still iron remover that dried.

Is it now rough to touch it? Like it etched into it?

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No history as this car was recently purchased used as is.

Next question: The owners manual states that the bright metal trim on the vehicle is made of either chrome, aluminum, or stainless steel. What would you call that trim? Stainless steel or aluminum?

And if it is either of those 2, the aluminum would therefore be clearcoated, right? Stainless would not? Maybe I’m overthinking this last part, but I find it hard to believe they’d use bare uncoated metal for that trim, because if they did, then that would mean someone could “mess it up” and accidentally change the finish if they were to take some metal polish to it and possibly turn it chrome, which would be disastrous..

Should they even be calling clearcoated trim aluminum? I dunno.

So what is it?
 
Also, the reason I leaned towards Ammonia as my initial thought was because in order for someone to make that big of a mistake, you’d kinda think someone would be leaning more towards the lower level of the totem pole aka Average Joe on his worst day, which would fall in line with arming himself with Windex of all things… Whereas anyone even knowing about and almost certainly using iron remover, especially anywhere beyond the wheels is likely to be at the very least a DIY driveway detailer.


Average Joe doesn’t really know about iron removers. That’s above his pay grade. They’re lucky if they even know what clay is. Lol. And even if he did, you gotta be REALLY stupid to screw up iron decon THAT bad. Lol.
On a late model Cadillac of all things? Ain’t happening.
 
Dunno. Try a little test spot of aluminum polish by hand on the worst damaged spot. At this point judging by the look of it, it cant make it look any worse lol

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opie said:
Dunno. Try a little test spot of aluminum polish by hand on the worst damaged spot. At this point judging by the look of it, it cant make it look any worse lol

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BTW, this car is not in my hands. Not my situation, so I’m not actually dealing with it. Lol.

That’s why my main interest was with what could’ve caused it. Even though I’m usually interested in how to fix these sort of things, this time I actually don’t really care. Lol

It belongs to a guy on a different forum. I’m not at the forefront of advising a solution this time around. I sure would love to know how it happened though.
 
Looks like some sort of chemical etching/discoloration to me.

I'd go with aluminum on the trim. And I would second your notion that it would be coated/anodized.
 
Chrome dipped plastic trim with some clear coat finish on them.

Look's like iron decon has dried.
 
When I worked at a tunnel wash, our bug cleaner would do that to certain materials on the finish, especially textured black trim.
 
dlc95 said:
When I worked at a tunnel wash, our bug cleaner would do that to certain materials on the finish, especially textured black trim.
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Seems plausible. That kinda seems like a position where something like that could wind up getting sprayed when things are malfunctioning.
 
Cheap trim etched by an acidic product for sure.

Let him know he's screwed, Ric.

Then call him a "Chowder Head" for me........:laughing::laughing::laughing:
 
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