Dark line across my hood

[planet4ever]

I got home at dusk tonight and noticed what seemed at first to be a crack in the paint straight across the hood. It's a black line which is quite prominent against the Ocean Blue color. It caught my fingernail, but after inspecting it more closely I realize it is a fine line on top of the paint. It is absolutely straight, and absolutely perpendicular to the front-to-back axis of the car. It goes from about one inch from the edge of the hood on the drivers side to about six inches from the edge on the passenger side. It misses the windshield in the middle by about an inch.

I expect most of you will look at me in horror for this, but my idea of exterior car care is to run it through an automatic car wash every three or four months. I have 500+ miles on the LEAF and haven't touched the paint yet. I doubt seriously that a car wash will get rid of this line. Can someone give me a simple, yet inexpensive, suggestion for how to get rid of the line, remembering that I have not been, and will not be, washing my own car?

For what it's worth, I got a couple of fuzzy pictures of the line just before dark. I know, they look like they could be a reflection of a telephone wire, or something, but I assure you the line is on the hood itself.

Ray

From front left wheel

From passenger door

 

[Randy]

It's hard to tell without a wider view, but I have seen one Leaf that I can only assume was delivered "Hastily" by the dealer and it had marks that I think are similiar to what you're talking about. It seemed that a piece of plastic was put across the front of the hood for shipping/delivery and the residue wasn't removed completely when the plastic was taken off and the car delivered to the customer. This residue eventually picked up some dirt, etc. and became dark and noticable...

You might try to apply a coat of wax to the hood and see if you can remove the mark....

Randy

 

[OrientExpress]

Try some bug remover and see if that removes it.

 

[ggodman]

I would take it back to the dealer and let them deal with it.

 

[Coffee_Slurry]

Woosies. :lol:

It's just residue from the protective film on the car. That's the trailing edge. Mine had it too.

It buffs right off with a microfiber cloth. No need for harsh chemicals. A little elbow grease during your next wash & shine will have it gone.

 

[trentr]

I had it too. I thought someone keyed it or something, but it is just left over film like Groundloop is saying. No worries.. Did you get your car from Boardwalk? Looks like they are not doing a good job in the PDI process.

 

[planet4ever]

It buffs right off with a microfiber cloth. No need for harsh chemicals. A little elbow grease during your next wash & shine will have it gone.

Thanks, GroundLoop, I'll see if I can find some of this miracle stuff for sale somewhere - I hadn't heard of it before. Unfortunately my 73 year old elbows have become allergic to grease but I'll see if I can get them to tolerate a bit of it. My "next wash & shine"? That's a laugh. (See confession in first post.)

I am relieved that it's nothing serious, and thanks to Randy for explaining why I didn't see it earlier.

Ray

P.S. Nope, not Boardwalk, trentr, Stevens Creek.

 

[GeekEV]

Woosies. :lol:

It's just residue from the protective film on the car. That's the trailing edge. Mine had it too.

It buffs right off with a microfiber cloth. No need for harsh chemicals. A little elbow grease during your next wash & shine will have it gone.

+1

I had this too, though I noticed it day one and it looked like someone scored it with a razor knife. You mus not have noticed and now it's collected dirt on the residue. I gently buffed it off with a microfiber cloth - those things are great. You can find them just about anywhere. You can get a bulk pack of them at Costco for cheap, probably at any Walmart, Home Depot or auto parts store too. I won't take much elbow grease, just a light repetitive buffing should do it.

I would take it back to the dealer and let them deal with it.

That's a good option too. Mine was more than willing to take care of it, but it rubbed off so easy there was no need.

 

[DarkStar]

Mine had the same line on it. A little WD-40 and a microfiber cloth took care of it in 60 seconds.