my95tsi

iTrader: (2)

So I was washing my car a few weeks ago and noticed two rather large scratches on my front bumper, one was right next to the headlight and the other was right in the middle of the bumper below the grill. Both scratches were about 1/16 of an inch wide and went down to the bare platic leaving a deep groove. The bumper plastic itself appeared to not be effected.

So here it is 3 weeks later and I now have about 8-10 more of these scratches varying anywhere from and 1/8 of an inch to 1 /1/2 inches long! The width and length of each stratch varies but all are down the bare plastic. I had my front bumper repainted almost a year ago and have not had any issues since the last few weeks. Now keep in mind I drive 70 miles a day, 90% of which is one the highway. However this is just getting ridiculous. I can't even begin to imagine what is causing this. It's not parking damage because the all are different sizes and one is in an odd place, right below the passenger side headlight running left to right on the upper part of the bumper. I don't even know how a rock could hit there and cause a groove?

My front bumper has minor rock chips and these don't even go down to the bare plastic, what could cause a groove so clean and so deep into the paint? I want to say it's defective paint but i've never had issue until now. The sratches are so deep it easily catches my finger nail because they are paint thickness deep. The paint seems to be very tough because if I tried to pick at the sratches to see how easily the paint chips it's not effected at all.

I'm completely at a loss and have no idea what to do......

whitebeast

iTrader: (5)

Do you have any pic of it?

Rikg35

One of two things that are messing with you.. La chupacabbra or el sasquatch!!

anthrax144

Do you park where somebody has to squeeze in between a barrier and your car? Could be a purse or workbelt (think construction) that is causing it. Just stabbing in the dark. No way it's happening during the drive as that would be a single impact mark, not a long scratch.

my95tsi

iTrader: (2)

I'm going to try to post pics but i'm telling you it's not happening when i'm parked somewhere. I park in a private garage at work which is away from other cars. What's really odd is that I have 2 scratches that are right next to both my drivers side and passenger side headlights in the same spot on both sides. The scracthes go beneath the headlight where nothing can even get to. I'm telling you i'm at a complete loss.

my95tsi

iTrader: (2)

my95tsi

iTrader: (2)

The bottom picture shows the largest of the scratches which is nearly 2 inches long. As you can see each scratch is similar in shape, pointed ends with the thicker center down the bare plastic. However each scratch runs a different direction and is a different length. What's odd is the similarity in the scratches on both the drivers side and passenger side headlight. The drivers side happened first and the passenger side happened weeks later.

tenaciousF

iTrader: (1)

Maybe stress cracks since its only on the poly bumper cover. Headlight corners are prime areas for stress cracks, others cracks could be caused by debris impact. My S2k had similar cracks in the headlight corners after the bumper was replaced/painted took about 9 months for them to show up.

my95tsi

iTrader: (2)

Interesting.... I was leaning more in that direction as to a reason why these were appearing, but it's still hard to believe. The bumper doesn't flex in these areas when I push on it. Also a crack would be less of a clean wide cut on the paint but more of a fine cut with a jagged line.

Hmm the more i think of it the more these do look like they could caused by stress. The ones by the headlights seem like that could be the case but the ones in the center of the bumper don't make any sense.

Gville350

iTrader: (10)

Is that an OEM bumper with OEM paint?

lexuslivin

Could it be some kind of animal?

You can try dr color chip or langka to try to cover those.

my95tsi

iTrader: (2)

No as I stated in my original posted I had the front bumper repainted almost a year ago. I am thinking it could be stress cracks but they are pretty wide and clean to be a stress crack.

flipmode

iTrader: (1)

Somebody trying to pry off and steal your headlights? I dunno, its definitely strange

my95tsi

iTrader: (2)

No, there is no damage to the headlights and the damae isn't extensive to where I would assume someone was using a tool to pry my headlights. Most of the sratches are in the flat front of the bumper.

Lil4cyl

If you didn't have a top notch bodyshop do the paint work, its possible they maybe did not add enough flex agent in the paint when they sprayed it.