Hi folks,

Some idiot apparently backed into me while at work today leaving a rubber mark on my bumper. I'm guessing they were backing out of the space across the aisle from me, and caught me with their passenger tire as they reversed.

I got just a little of it to budge with spray wax. The marks on the black plastic piece below came off completely.

I was just leafing through the griot's catalog last night and they have a product called track spray advertised for rubber scuff marks. Anybody used it? Is there another approach I should try before laying down the $20 for a giant bottle of stuff I may never use again?

 

Bug and tar remover may work. Do you have a random orbiter polisher? Is the whitish looking line about the black paint reflection or a mark on the paint?

 

Just the light. The only imperfection remaining is the black streak.

I do have a buffer but my car has CQuartz on it so I want to try to get this off with a chemical so as not to polish off the coating.

 

Plus...I've never seen a buffer that didn't leave swirl marks. Best suited for trying to bring oxidized paint back to life. Bug & Tar Remover is your best bet.

 

Care to recommend one? Or all created equal?

 

Maybe try eucalyptus oil or tea tree oil.
They are both brilliant for removing most types of glue residue without effecting the underlying surface at all, so one or other might work on rubber.

 

+1. I'd give the eucalyptus oil a shot first if you can easily get it. I would have suggested Mother's Bug & Tar Remover, but I just noticed they now offer something specific to this situation:

 

Thanks. That stuff appears to be of the exact same ilk the griot's track spray I mentioned in the OP.

I'll look for some eucalyptus oil at the crunchy grocery store up the road that smells kinda funny.

 

I use GooGone, very good stuff.

 

I always start with the mildest and move up as needed. Can't remember what I used for the last rubber marks though. I think it might have been swirl mark remover or the finest polish, rubbed by hand, followed by retreating with whatever finish I'd used. Then, it was probably synthetic wax (Tech 2.0 paste). I later switched to polymer sealant and most recently have been toying with cQuartz.

 

Buffers and random orbitals are not the same. As you have the cquartz I wouldn't use either. Random orbitals are used to remove swirl marks more safely than a buffer.

 

I use the Mother's product often on my race car and it works great. I have used it on my street cars for tar removal and it was equally effective.

 

I would suggest a visit to a detail shop. Our cars paint is very "delicate" and this may be the best approach so as not to damage anything permanently.

Something similar happened to me on my BMW and my detailer had it off and clean for 10 bucks.

 

Inconsiderate a$$-hole! I'm happy that you only have that scratch as it could have been much worse. Especially since they didn't have the decency to leave a note. Karma.

 

Goof-off(xylene) will take off the rubber without damaging the clear coat. It will also take off the wax so you the need to wax it with a high caruba wax like Zymol.

 

Since you have Cquartz on the car I would stick to a Carpro product recommended as OK to apply over their coating such as Fixer.

I really want this hanger when I need to go to the dealer --- https://www.carpro-us.com/accessorie...tz-cquartz-uk/

 

I do everything myself. I have a fairly good selection of tools and products for this sort of thing, including a random orbital polisher. I even applied the cQuartz myself. I'm not sure I like it better than Menzerna Powerlock but it's hard to compare. This year we've had so much more rain than the last half decade that the car is looking like it was recently excavated most of the time.

 

Joe Gibbs Speed Clean. I was giving a bottle at the track by a professional race team and it safely cleans off the hot rubber thrown all over the car when tracking. Amazing stuff, highly recommended!

 

Thanks for the suggestions. I could not find any of the track inspired products on local shelves so I wound up using turtle wax bug & tar and it took it right off.