Peeled paint with the power washer

[ducttapekz]

I have babied my Mach-E. Ceramic coating, never going to an automatic car wash, only rinsing with the power washer and hand washing. While power washing I got too close and some paint peeled off the bottom part of the door:

I was a little surprised it took paint off but I was closer than I should have been.

I got two estimates to fix it. The Ford Dealership's body shop estimated around 13 hours of removing both right wheels, the fender liners, the wheel house, pre and post repair scans. A non-Ford body shop was just going to order and install part LJ8Z5820879BA which seems to come painted. How hard of a job would this be to fix myself? Anyone ever tried?

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[Mach-Lee]

How many psi was the pressure washer for future reference? And what kind of/color tip did you use?

I would think you could just order a new door bottom trim and have that painted and installed.

 

[HuntingPudel]

I have babied my Mach-E. Ceramic coating, never going to an automatic car wash, only rinsing with the power washer and hand washing. While power washing I got too close and some paint peeled off the bottom part of the door:

I was a little surprised it took paint off but I was closer than I should have been.

I got two estimates to fix it. The Ford Dealership's body shop estimated around 13 hours of removing both right wheels, the fender liners, the wheel house, pre and post repair scans. A non-Ford body shop was just going to order and install part LJ8Z5820879BA which seems to come painted. How hard of a job would this be to fix myself? Anyone ever tried?

Not sure about this where you live, but if you were near where I live I would recommend a mobile body shop. The one I used fixed some vandalism damage to my front bumper for about $500. I can’t tell where the damage was. Body shops were quoting me $3-5K to repair the damage. ?‍?

 

[ChasingCoral]

I have babied my Mach-E. Ceramic coating, never going to an automatic car wash, only rinsing with the power washer and hand washing. While power washing I got too close and some paint peeled off the bottom part of the door:

I was a little surprised it took paint off but I was closer than I should have been.

I got two estimates to fix it. The Ford Dealership's body shop estimated around 13 hours of removing both right wheels, the fender liners, the wheel house, pre and post repair scans. A non-Ford body shop was just going to order and install part LJ8Z5820879BA which seems to come painted. How hard of a job would this be to fix myself? Anyone ever tried?

It's a simple remove and replace of that one panel. It's attached to the door. There is no need to remove wheels (who came up with that?!!!). I just had the same panel replaced after my wife bumped something hard with that panel and knocked it loose. It was 1/2 hour labor for that part. $303.18 for the panel (comes painted gloss black).

 

[azerik]

Ditch that stealership.
"Well to open the door we need to remove the front bumper, lights, hood, wheels and attempt to update it using Jimmy's Motorolla Razr from 1998. About $1579 in labor""

BTW my passenger side seems to be popping off at the back of the door, or could be my wife banging it into the curb when I told her, just let me move the car so you don't bang the curb. Only to find her looking at that piece very closely.. Me: "couldn't wait 15 seconds huh?"

 

[dmastro]

In what will undoubtedly be an unpopular opinion, I'm sure you could take it in and have someone mask off the area and blend in some touch up pretty cheap. No one but you will notice that small an area that low on the car.

 

[ducttapekz]

How many psi was the pressure washer for future reference? And what kind of/color tip did you use?

I would think you could just order a new door bottom trim and have that painted and installed.

It was a Ryobi 2800 psi with the white tip. But I was probably within 6" of the car trying to get a bug off and wasn't thinking.

I was thinking of just ordering that piece. It wasn't too expensive and I saw it comes painted. But the Ford Body Shop estimating the removal of so much stuff made it sound very difficult to change.

 

[ducttapekz]

It was 1/2 hour labor for that part. $303.18 for the panel (comes painted gloss black).

1/2 hour labor from a dealership service center or the body shop? I was a bit surprised the service center had me talk to the body shop.

 

[RickMachE]

I would use touch-up paint and forget about it.

 

[Mach-Lee]

It was a Ryobi 2800 psi with the white tip. But I was probably within 6" of the car trying to get a bug off and wasn't thinking.

That’s probably around 1500 psi then, which is nothing crazy for car washing. My guess is it had a paint flaw or rock chip that opened it up.

 

[jeffdawgfan]

Never, ever use a pressure washer on your car. It can rip trim off, damage paint, force water under seals into places it should not be.

 

[ARK]

Never, ever use a pressure washer on your car. It can rip trim off, damage paint, force water under seals into places it should not be.

That's my thought too, but for some reason a lot of people who are very careful with cleaning to avoid scratching seem to prefer it.

I'm no expert, but it seems if the car is aging or you have some sap or something that has really stuck on hard to the paint, a pressure washer raises the risk of ripping off some paint.

 

[COACH CHRIS]

Never, ever use a pressure washer on your car. It can rip trim off, damage paint, force water under seals into places it should not be.

Can confirm... used a pressure washer at a reasonable pressure (1000 PSI, blue tip maybe? Nothing I could hurt myself/others with) and water found its way into the car. Left water stains inside and they've been stubborn getting out. I'd just be cautious.

 

[Stanmckinney]

I would try touch up paint first.

 

[Schmedlack]

I have babied my Mach-E. Ceramic coating, never going to an automatic car wash, only rinsing with the power washer and hand washing. While power washing I got too close and some paint peeled off the bottom part of the door:

I was a little surprised it took paint off but I was closer than I should have been.

I got two estimates to fix it. The Ford Dealership's body shop estimated around 13 hours of removing both right wheels, the fender liners, the wheel house, pre and post repair scans. A non-Ford body shop was just going to order and install part LJ8Z5820879BA which seems to come painted. How hard of a job would this be to fix myself? Anyone ever tried?

There are car detailers who can fix damage like yours without replacing parts. A few years ago, a friend in the car business introduced me to a man who removed bumper gouges made by city parallel parking. He worked out of the trunk of his car going from dealer to dealer fixing urethane bumpers. My friend did not know exactly how he did it, but the bumpers looked perfect when he was done! (Color match and all). Maybe you can find someone with these skills where you live. Good luck.

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