Bird Poop Etching on My Rivian @ Costa Mesa SC

[rryan]

Just thought I would share this as a heads-up for anyone taking delivery/getting service at the Costa Mesa SC.

I will spare all the details of how my service experience was awful with the Costa Mesa SC (drop-off process took way too long, had to re-explain service tickets that were already logged in the app w/ pictures, used the "within spec" excuse to not fix many items).

Unfortunately, I later noticed there were two large bird poop etchings in the paint (you can't see it when looking head-on, but very obvious when at just the right angle). I knew the service center left my car outside for the better part of 2 weeks (using app location feature) and clearly, they were not taking care of the paint. Not to mention I had to remotely turn on the climate control a couple of times as it was getting up to 120 degrees inside.

I'm debating if I go back to the service center to have them address the bird poop etching or go to a professional. I don't have confidence in their service center to fix this properly.

Any suggestions?

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[sherold]

Meguiars scratch-X or something similar is always a good first attempt with any etching, scuffing, light scratching, etc. I keep a bottle in my garage at all times. You can easily work small areas by hand without burning through clear coat. It might take several applications and some elbow grease but, you should be able to work that out. If its gotten deeper than that, you'll have to get more aggressive with polishing compounds and other tools.

 

[bd5400]

I mean…it’s a car. They get parked outside. Birds poop on them.

I find the idea that a service center would have to “take care” of your paint by not parking it outside or doing daily inspections and spot cleaning of vehicles a little far fetched. I also think it was totally unnecessary for you to be manually managing cabin temperatures.

 

[ORFynder]

Meguiar's Ultimate Compound. easy peasy with this stuff

 

[Thedude]

The service center won’t do anything for you and shouldn’t. It’s a car and the paint will show wear over time and under certain conditions. There’s also no need to worry about the interior temperature, the vehicle will turn climate control on if it is needed. Temps of 120° are nothing unusual for any vehicle interior temperature when left in the sun.

 

[rryan]

Cool. Thanks everyone! Hopefully an easy fix. I suppose I'm just venting a little.

 

[CharonPDX]

I mean…it’s a car. They get parked outside. Birds poop on them.

I find the idea that a service center would have to “take care” of your paint by not parking it outside or doing daily inspections and spot cleaning of vehicles a little far fetched. I also think it was totally unnecessary for you to be manually managing cabin temperatures.

Except when I see the car every day or every few days, and I see bird poop, I clean it immediately so it doesn't damage the clear coat.

So yes, if a vehicle is going to be sitting outside for multiple weeks, it should be taken care of.

 

[R1Tom]

Some serious Rivian sympathizers on here. If they want me to take care of the truck while it is in their possession sitting in a cue in a lot for a week or two, then it better be fully accessible to me the whole time. Which begs the question...why not have us bring our trucks in when they are really ready to look at them, and not cue them up on the lots?

 

[SANZC02]

Some serious Rivian sympathizers on here. If they want me to take care of the truck while it is in their possession sitting in a cue in a lot for a week or two, then it better be fully accessible to me the whole time. Which begs the question...why not have us bring our trucks in when they are really ready to look at them, and not cue them up on the lots?

Agreed, there certainly are some efficiencies they need to make in the service departments. I can see maybe getting it in a day early in case they are running ahead of schedule but if they can’t look at it for days or weeks there is no real value for anyone having it sit on their lots.

I know I for one would certainly reschedule if they got backed up and asked me knowing it was just going to sit on there lot.

 

[carmigo]

Cool. Thanks everyone! Hopefully an easy fix. I suppose I'm just venting a little.

Let it out, friend. Sounds like a frustrating experience. We all need to vent sometimes.

 

[mikehmb]

A few years back, I was doing some work with McLaren, and we did a tour of the Surrey facility. 10/10, highly recommended.

Out back, behind the paint shop, they had a bunch of customer cars awaiting work of some kind. An MP4-12C was sitting there, covered in dust, like an abandoned Pinto. May as well have drawn a dic pic on the rear window.

All I’m saying is if McLaren can do it, I don’t expect much more from a regular OEM.

Also - I use Meguiar’s Ultimate Compound to remove bird dirt residue. Worked great when the same thing happened on my M3 a few years ago (while parked at the dealer for what seemed like a month). Used it for some light pinstriping on the Rivian a few weeks back as well.

 

[Killer95Stang]

Cool. Thanks everyone! Hopefully an easy fix. I suppose I'm just venting a little.

I feel your pain, my R1S sat for 2 weeks before the 2 day repair that caused more damage than what I had taken the car for service in the first place. I took it in for front fender to door alignment and it came back with badly repaired scratched/chipped door edge, terrible wind noise and a dent over the door handle. I couldn't see the damage before I left because I got the car back filthy from sitting so long...?

 

[rryan]

I feel your pain, my R1S sat for 2 weeks before the 2 day repair that caused more damage than what I had taken the car for service in the first place. I took it in for front fender to door alignment and it came back with badly repaired scratched/chipped door edge, terrible wind noise and a dent over the door handle. I couldn't see the damage before I left because I got the car back filthy from sitting so long...?

Ya, the last thing I would have thought was to get my vehicle back in worse condition. I have several non-critical service issues that remain. Will probably wait a while to see if SC gets their Sh*t together first.

 

[R1Tom]

Ya, the last thing I would have thought was to get my vehicle back in worse condition. I have several non-critical service issues that remain. Will probably wait a while to see if SC gets their Sh*t together first.

That is mode I am in...it's not going in till crap is falling off or it has a critical fault....hoping they get it together before either...or if they ever actually replace tonneau..but mine works so I will wait that out for a long while too....

 

[JWreck]

Of course I’d love it if they kept my car inside in the climate controlled shop just like it’s kept in at home, but I also understand that nobody does that….

The real issue here is that they take so damn long to even look at the car. If they were faster about getting them in and out (faster = had more resources, better processes, etc), then it would be less of an issue.

FWIW it’s likely a pretty quick fix with the proper tools and knowledge. If you were nearby I’d say just swing by and we could knock it out - maybe there’s a hobbyist near you.

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