Gritter Bleeping Lorries

[Flip Martian]

I had my black Mazda MX-5 Mk 3 less than 24 hours. A gritter lorry drives towards and past me while I was waiting to turn right off the A5 between Towcester and Stony Stratford and "opens his bay doors" at that precise moment. I now have a pebble-dashed nose. More than a bit annoyed but I guess the lorry driver sure as hell got a kick out of it.

The local Milton Keynes Chips Away guy is coming to take a look on Friday - although I fear it may be a respray job. Getting 3M Ventureshield on it asap once that's done. I wasn't even planning on driving it much this winter and this happens... Just as well I had the roof up at the time. bd.

[okie592]

better than rwd'ing into a hedge. YO.

[Flip Martian]

I suppose so - but that wasn't something I was planning on doing either!

[duff]

You think he did it on purpose? Is he supposed to not grit across the junction?

A few stonechips never bothered me, shows an honest car.

[TheDoggingFather]

duff said:

A few stonechips never bothered me, shows an honest car.

i see your point, but pretty much straight out of the showroom it must be somewhat galling and you could forgive them if you had received them in the heat of a good hoon. Whilst effectively immobile, being pebbledashed by a passing truck is not that scenario.

[WokingWedger]

I was out with the roof on on Saturday and passed a gritter at low speed under the railway bridge near Gomshall.

Kind chap stopped the flinger for a few secs

I thought I was going to get grit in my face !

[swisstoni]

Given that the grit is supposed to stay on the road and not bounce into upstairs windows, I can't believe it comes out like bullets. Have you tried anything on the paint - it may be a lot less damaged than it looks?

[Ari]

It's actually salt isn't it? I'm surprised that chipped the paint.

I've driven past them on motorways, cringing at the fusillade of grit machine-gunning the car and expecting the worst but I don't think I've ever picked up an actual chip from it.

[lord trumpton]

Flip Martian said:

I had my black Mazda MX-5 Mk 3 less than 24 hours. A gritter lorry drives towards and past me while I was waiting to turn right off the A5 between Towcester and Stony Stratford and "opens his bay doors" at that precise moment. I now have a pebble-dashed nose. More than a bit annoyed but I guess the lorry driver sure as hell got a kick out of it.

The local Milton Keynes Chips Away guy is coming to take a look on Friday - although I fear it may be a respray job. Getting 3M Ventureshield on it asap once that's done. I wasn't even planning on driving it much this winter and this happens... Just as well I had the roof up at the time. bd.

whatever you do don't have film applied to the fresh paint for at least a month. the glue will react with the paint and if you need to remove the film then tbe paint will come with it. especially after a stty smart (bodge)repair.

[luckystrike]

Ari said:

It's actually salt isn't it? I'm surprised that chipped the paint.

I've driven past them on motorways, cringing at the fusillade of grit machine-gunning the car and expecting the worst but I don't think I've ever picked up an actual chip from it.

This is a point - are they just 'dust' marks from where the salt crystals have impacted possibly? I don't mean to imply that you can't tell the difference between chips and dirt but if you've just looked at the bumper and seen white marks then gone 'bks' and booked it for a respray it's worth double-checking in proper daylight as it were. I've lost count of the number of times I've kneejerked something like this and ordered parts off ebay to fix a problem that after calming down and investigating wasn't actually there.

[Willy Nilly]

Personally I'd park it in a humidity controlled building and never drive it.

[luckystrike]

Willy Nilly said:

Personally I'd park it in a humidity controlled building and never drive it.

Give the guy a break. It's a brand new car to him and he's rightfully pissed off that it's damaged through no fault of his own.

[Willy Nilly]

luckystrike said:

Willy Nilly said:

Personally I'd park it in a humidity controlled building and never drive it.

Give the guy a break. It's a brand new car to him and he's rightfully pissed off that it's damaged through no fault of his own.

bks. It's winter and if the roads weren't treated he's be moaning on here if he slid off the road, it's not like they treat the road with bits of granite. Run it through a car wash and the "damage" will be gone.

[luckystrike]

Willy Nilly said:

Run it through a car wash and the "damage" will be gone.

....which would effectively be what I suggested a few posts above, only without giving OP grief.

If it turns out the car is indeed damaged is he still not allowed to be upset?

[TheEnd]

If he's going to respray the front of the car everytime it gets a stone chip, that's fine, but not everyone want to hear the complaints.

[luckystrike]

Flip Martian said:

I had my black Mazda MX-5 Mk 3 less than 24 hours.

[Triumph Man]

Surely with an mx5 the resulting corrosion because of a salted road is more of a worry?


I jest, but I have actually had dreams of pulling chunks off my car's sills due to salt.

Edited by Triumph Man on Tuesday 16th December 20:17

[Clivey]

luckystrike said:

Willy Nilly said:

Run it through a car wash and the "damage" will be gone.

....which would effectively be what I suggested a few posts above, only without giving OP grief.

If it turns out the car is indeed damaged is he still not allowed to be upset?

I also would not be at all happy if the driver decided to deliberately shower my car (new or old) with road salt. People like that are of the same mentality as vandals.

[Willy Nilly]

Clivey said:

luckystrike said:

Willy Nilly said:

Run it through a car wash and the "damage" will be gone.

....which would effectively be what I suggested a few posts above, only without giving OP grief.

If it turns out the car is indeed damaged is he still not allowed to be upset?

I also would not be at all happy if the driver decided to deliberately shower my car (new or old) with road salt. People like that are of the same mentality as vandals.

He didn't, he just started the spreader where he finished the last load. I doubt he could even tell what was behind him other than a car. He's also probably under quite a bit of pressure to get the roads treated in a given time. The spreaders don't throw the stuff very far, so it doesn't need to be thrown out fast or very high.

Unless the car was painted with pastel water paints from The Early Learning Center it won't have been damaged.

[MoelyCrio]

Triumph Man said:

Surely with an mx5 the resulting corrosion because of a salted road is more of a worry?

Edited by Triumph Man on Tuesday 16th December 20:17

Yep, that fizzing noise from mine is gets annoying this time of year.