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Old 02-21-2015, 10:10 AM   #1
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Angry Someone keyed my new AS!

Yesterday I noticed that my new 2014 27' AS had been keyed. The scratch is about two feet long. Are there any fixes other than replacing the entire side panel costing me thousands of dollars? Needless to say I am very upset about this.
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Old 02-21-2015, 10:19 AM   #2
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Unfortunately shiny things (other peoples) bring out "bling-envy" in jerks. It's a job for a professional clear coat person.
I live near a very popular casino....in summer the RV lot is always packed.....but
never an Airstream in 4 years have I seen. Too risky.
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Old 02-21-2015, 10:30 AM   #3
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If you travel, they can take damage from a lot of sources, this is one of the more unfortunate. Check with your insurance about repairs. Or we can live with the scars from use.

It is important to do something temporary or permanent to protect the scratch from becoming a worsening scar of filiform corrosion. Treat it temporarily and regularly with CorrosionX until a permanent repair is done. Or carefully apply a more permanent line of protection with an acrylic clear coat pen.
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Old 02-21-2015, 10:36 AM   #4
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I feel your pain. Someone decided my Airstream would make a good target for their bb gun. A rivet would hide the ding left by the rivet, but the scratches caused by the window coming apart and hitting the side of the trailer could not be removed. Airstream said the only way to fix the scratches was to replace the panel. And you are right, the quote was many thousands of dollars. It sucks that there are people like this.
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Old 02-21-2015, 10:40 AM   #5
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You have to be philosophical about these things. Just sixteen hours (!) after I bought my Airstream Interstate, someone broke out the passenger-side front window and destroyed my dashboard with a crowbar or tire iron to remove the Kenwood head unit that they couldn't even use once the security lock-out activated when the wires were cut. Over $3500 worth of damage and I hadn't even gotten a chance to use it!

That took the "new" right off, and after I got it back from having the damage repaired I was a lot less concerned over the dings, nicks, and scratches of everyday use.
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Old 02-21-2015, 12:07 PM   #6
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Do not despair,
Go to a tool shop and get some polishing felt as well as some polishing rouge compound. The red rouge will work the best on aluminium. I refinish aluminium airplane models (antiques from the 50's 60's) and I remove deep scratches. I have a special polishing machine but I use my drill for the tight areas. First mask tape it all except for an inch or two, to try it out. Start you drill and make it turn on the compound so it gets coated with it. Then gently start to polish with the rouge on the scratch. As your felt turns black or dirty, just turn the drill on a piece of cloth, to remove some of the black (ps since your rig is new you might not even get the black oxide). There are also a lot of videos on Youtube on how to polish aluminium. If all fails, a metal shop should be able to do this for you. It is very fixable!

When you are done, polish over by hand with Hagerty 100 Aluminium and Stainless steel polish cream. You can buy it on Ebay, if you can't find it in town.

Here is what you will need (the red rouge works better on aluminium)

hope this helps and at least gives you hope.

al
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Old 02-21-2015, 12:15 PM   #7
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Her is the Hagerty

Forgot the picture for the final polish

al
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Old 02-21-2015, 12:18 PM   #8
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That sucks. Sorry to hear. People suck (sometimes). At least our scratches are self-inflicted.
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Old 02-21-2015, 12:52 PM   #9
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So so sorry! We live among "animals."
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Old 02-21-2015, 01:26 PM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by coazboyz View Post
Yesterday I noticed that my new 2014 27' AS had been keyed. The scratch is about two feet long. Are there any fixes other than replacing the entire side panel costing me thousands of dollars? Needless to say I am very upset about this.
Kids on bikes with worn out hand grips make scratches mistaken for key scratches.
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Old 02-21-2015, 03:02 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by r carl View Post
Kids on bikes with worn out hand grips make scratches mistaken for key scratches.
That is the way to look at it. Sometime it is done by accident, and not personal. Everything is fixable though. I know I have the skills to do this, but if I didn't I would go to a reputable metal fabricating place or body shop and have them buff it out. They probably couldn't take it totally away, but make it so your eyes don't go to it right away.
Like John Candy said to Steve Martin after their car was squeezed in between 2 rigs in Planes Trains and Automobiles " This will buff right out"



Al
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Old 02-21-2015, 04:44 PM   #12
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What about the clear coat? I think that buffing out would work with older models. Also the scratch was much higher than handlebars. Thanks for all the advice. I'm feeling a little better now.
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Old 02-22-2015, 07:18 AM   #13
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Beach patrol : No it self absorbed idiots ! Animals would not do this !
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Old 02-22-2015, 07:37 AM   #14
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Keyed Airstrean

I would recommend turning this into the police so a report is on file and then your insurance company.

Buffing a new trailer with clear coat will be a mistake

Take it to a AS dealer that has proper capability to bring back to new condition

Keep in mins when a patch type repair is made that will impact the value of the trailer when you trade or sell

This is what comprehensive insurance is for

Earl
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Old 02-22-2015, 07:43 AM   #15
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Yesterday I made an interesting accidental discovery. While spraying Corrosion X on the 7-way cord plug I got a bit of over spray on the trailer. Went to wipe it off and discovered that it removed some light scratches in the area. Light bulb went off! Went around the rest of the trailer and it removed almost all of the scratches that I could see. Funny part is that that these same scratches have defied the use of several other products specifically designed for scratch removal and cover up including a couple of high priced waxes. It also easily removed some left over glue residue from political bumper stickers put on the back of the trailer by the previous owner.
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Old 02-22-2015, 07:48 AM   #16
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Do what Earl says here. Appreciate the concern Round Robin has for you, however, that polish out won't work and you will end up with a big mess as you discover the clear coat and clad type aluminum sheeting. says.
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Old 02-22-2015, 11:13 PM   #17
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Thanks to all. Tomorrow I am going to do some research and contact Airstream and see what they have to say.
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Old 02-22-2015, 11:29 PM   #18
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Melody Ranch View Post
Do what Earl says here. Appreciate the concern Round Robin has for you, however, that polish out won't work and you will end up with a big mess as you discover the clear coat and clad type aluminum sheeting. says.

That is probably very good advice. Wish you good luck and I am sure the pros will be able to fix this.

Cheers

Al
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