“Invisible” Vandalism?

[cyberos]

Potential "invisible"vandalism....Need some thoughts from everyone. Today, I was parked at a local place in Anne Arundel County, Maryland and once I got back in the truck, noticed a sentry event of a women with a cigarette looking at the left drivers end of the truck. No foul play was observed so I ignored it and moved on. Once I got home, I proceeded to clean my car and noticed the the left b pillar was showing a distinctive mark appearing to spell "BVT" when wet which could not be removed after trying to clean it off multiple times. It virtually disappears when dry.

This caused me to further review the video and I noticed that the women was observing the exact same spot than proceeded to wait by her car and speaking with the her friend as if she was waiting for sentry mode to time out and go to sleep so she can do something between events. I know this is circumstantial evidence at best, but she have been the culprit?

Initial research suggests that that a cigarette butt is unlikely to have a heat intense enough to etch the glass, and that either someone a water-repellent substance or it was a factory residue. I just got the truck two weeks ago. Any thoughts here?

I can’t post the full videos since they are too long, but the main event of interest is attached.

Yeah, she drew “but[t]” with her cigarette. I’ve had vandals steal magnets off of my Cybertruck multiple times. If your graffiti isn’t noticeable then are you able to live with it?

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[chrisof94]

Interesting. This is it from the side. The cloudiness around the wording seems to support Grok’s conclusion. Hopefully a minor polish with a auto clay bar solves the problem

Yeah, she drew “but[t]” with her cigarette. I’ve had vandals steal magnets off of my Cybertruck multiple times. If your graffiti isn’t noticeable then are you able to live with it?

sorry to hear that happened to you. Yeah, I can live with it, it just sucks to know that it happened within two weeks of ownership, that it happened within 10 minutes of me arriving at the place, and that sentry mode didn’t capture the exact moment of vandalism. I’ll probably ask around to determine the actual cost to fix and then likely just put a carbon fiber PPF on it to cover it up.

 

[chrisof94]

Just a point of interest that may not be applicable to me since I can’t find any obvious plastic film but this looks very similar:

 

[dalton108]

sorry to hear that happened to you. Yeah, I can live with it, it just sucks to know that it happened within two weeks of ownership, that it happened within 10 minutes of me arriving at the place, and that sentry mode didn’t capture the exact moment of vandalism. I’ll probably ask around to determine the actual cost to fix and then likely just put a carbon fiber PPF on it to cover it up.

Oh heck I’m just now realizing we’re talking about the glass on the b-pillar rather than the side windows. That’ll be much easier/cheaper to fix. Carbon fiber PPF is definitely one way to go. And definitely take a look above because that is a plastic coating that could be easily damaged by her cigarette!!! Fingers crossed for you on that!! You might be able to just peel off the whole thing!

If it’s not the cover then the bad news is the b pillar camera housing is not covered in glass, it’s a plastic resin material and she definitely could’ve easily melted it with the cigarette. She knew what she was doing!

If that’s what’s going on the other good news is that those are easily replaceable. Couple hundred bucks I think.

 

[Tallgeese179]

One thing I discovered when I was doing paint correction on our X7 was that you can use glass as a worry free place to prime pads with polish or compound. I also noticed this did a really good/fast job at super cleaning glass. You could tell when you spray window cleaner, because it would completely wet out instead of beading. Now I will often used something like Rupes Yellow DA polish with a matching Yellow Pad to clean my glass before coating with a hydrophobic coating.

You could try a very light cutting polish, then a coarse compound if it doesn't work. Finally, if all else fails, pretty serious scratches can be removed from glass with Cerium Oxide and a Rayon or felt pad. The process is extremely messy, but I just wanted to share that nuclear option in case paint correction tools don't work.

There's even more specific products like this, but IMO you're just as well off using good paint correction products like Meguiars and Rupes.

 

[Crissa]

You do realize this happens to fingerprints and lipstick imperfectly washed off, right?

It's a classic 'message in the mirror' situation.

And no, a cigarette isn't going to 'burn off' a borosilicate layer. That sounds like gibberish.

-Crissa

 

[That Beast Mode]

I think it says BLT - Badass looking truck. In all seriousness, I think this might be factory. I had something similar on my truck too, mine was on the glass in the A pillar and I think it was someones initials. When I got it home for the first time it was filthy. I washed it and noticed writing too. I'm pretty sure mine is gone now, but I'll check next time I wash it. It could be the same thing. Maybe an easter egg of the guys at the factory having fun.

 

[REM]

I think it says BLT - Badass looking truck. In all seriousness, I think this might be factory. I had something similar on my truck too, mine was on the glass in the A pillar and I think it was someones initials. When I got it home for the first time it was filthy. I washed it and noticed writing too. I'm pretty sure mine is gone now, but I'll check next time I wash it. It could be the same thing. Maybe an easter egg of the guys at the factory having fun.

I agree, think the chick from the video is circumstantial and this appears to be someone's initials from the factory. maybe a final QC mark that is supposed to get washed at the Service Center?

I don't think this one is vandalism.

 

[chrisof94]

I agree, think the chick from the video is circumstantial and this appears to be someone's initials from the factory. maybe a final QC mark that is supposed to get washed at the Service Center?

I don't think this one is vandalism.

I’m also leaning towards it being from the factory. Guess I’ll be sending a message to the Tesla Service Center. Hopefully they don’t give too much pushback and just fix it under warranty. Need to figure out how to word the request…

 

[Patriot]

I think the lady was just checking out your amazing Cybertruck and those marks are from the factory or "dealership". If you can't get it off, take it to the service center and they will likely replace it if they can't remove it. It sounds like the factory probably writes something there during production for some reason, and they normally clean it off before delivery. The end of a cigarette would not have stayed hot enough long enough to do that (and certainly not that uniformly), and Sentry mode would have caught it. She didn't look like she was trying to do anything to your truck; she was just curious.

 

[BeFamousVideo]

Potential "invisible"vandalism....Need some thoughts from everyone. Today, I was parked at a local place in Anne Arundel County, Maryland and once I got back in the truck, noticed a sentry event of a women with a cigarette looking at the left drivers end of the truck. No foul play was observed so I ignored it and moved on. Once I got home, I proceeded to clean my car and noticed the the left b pillar was showing a distinctive mark appearing to spell "BVT" when wet which could not be removed after trying to clean it off multiple times. It virtually disappears when dry.

This caused me to further review the video and I noticed that the women was observing the exact same spot than proceeded to wait by her car and speaking with the her friend as if she was waiting for sentry mode to time out and go to sleep so she can do something between events. I know this is circumstantial evidence at best, but she have been the culprit?

Initial research suggests that that a cigarette butt is unlikely to have a heat intense enough to etch the glass, and that either someone applied a water-repellent substance or it was a factory residue. I just got the truck two weeks ago. Any thoughts here?

I can’t post the full videos since they are too long, but the main event of interest is attached.

IMO the person didn't get to finish the message. Maybe she was interrupted.
Try using BKF cleaner and rinse thoroughly afterwards with distilled water.

 

[DangBro]

Use a clay bar on it, should take of any surface contamination.

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