I have worked really hard to keep my 2007 Honda Fit looking good even though it is a daily driver. Last Friday it had rained a lot the night before and the alley beside the employee parking lot had more water than normal standing. Everyone drove through it only to find out that there was some sort of grease mixed with the water. Found out that weekend that Long John Silvers down below us had an event Thursday evening when the tanker that collects their old grease had a spill over. My car has grease on the lower portion and smells of fishy grease. I am not the only one but because my car is so low - I got the worse of it. I have grease on the floor of my garage and the entire garage smells. We have gone to LJS but have heard nothing from corporate. I called the WV DEP and nothing. Went to my insurance and they are covering the cost to attempt to let Honda clean it up and try to get it back to normal. Have to get rental car and be without the Fit for 2 days. They are saying if it can't be corrected, it may need repainted. Just hoping they can get it cleaned up and back to normal. Needless to say I am parking in an alternative spot. Here are some pictures:

 

Jeez that sucks. Some Dawn or other dishwashing soap could maybe get the grease off?

 

That will clean up. Simple Green will do it. Dawn might also work. We clean oil off of airplane bellies with Simple green.

 

I'd use the Dawn first. Our engine rebuilder uses that to de-grease parts.


There are a couple types of Simple Green but I'd try that on an inconspicuous area first. One guy said that it can attack the finish (but I've never used it on a car body, myself).

 

I agree that Dawn is a little weaker than Simple Green.

If you want to try Dawn first you should not hurt anything. One thing with Simple Green is it gets all of the oil out everything. That is a problem on aircraft because it removes the oil from the hinges on the ailerons, rudders, and horizontal stabilizer. So after using SG we have to re-lubricate those items again. This would not be an issue on a car.

If you use Dawn the problem is getting it all rinsed off again. Rinse it thoroughly and then take it to a car wash for as final washing to remove all of the soap streaks left by the Dawn.

BTW, SG will also remove all of the wax you have on the car. I do not know what Dawn will do to a wax job.

 

Dishwashing liquid also removes wax.

 

DON'T GO TO A DEALERSHIP.

Take the car to a professional detailer. Any one else will damage the car more.

 

I agree, a detailer is probably your best bet, then let it air out a bit.

 

if they are paying.....pay a professional since the panel underneath most likely has dried grease in the its nooks and crannies.

old fish-frying grease!!! damn that sucks!
Hope it gets resolved

 

I hate disrespectful idiots that aren't mindful of other peoples property. I once had an SUV park with a huge tow hitch ball about 1 inch from my front bumper. The car behind me was parked about 1 inch from my rear bumper! I was trapped! Luckily I had a buddy that helped me wiggle out of there...

 

I trust the dealership because they have a guy there who is a professional detailer and he came out personally to look it over. I have talked to him before and he is an OK guy. I also know a couple of people who detail on the side and both said do not use the Dawn because it will hurt the paint. Fit paint is so soft and they just felt it would be a bad idea. They plan to use a professional shampoo, they are going to clay bar it and see how that works. I thought about doing it myself because I always clay in the spring but if this doesn't work they will deal with the insurance to get it right. Just hope it doesn't raise my rates or they decide to drop me. Just so hard to know you've worked so hard to keep your car nice and then something like this happens.

 

Would insurance cover it? Could you not claim it as an act of vandalism? I'd try and sue long john silver. At least threaten them with a lawsuit and get them to pay for the detail work or your deductible if it needs a repaint. Hot oil can for sure do damage to clearcoat. Also, if fish oil got in the engine bay, it could cause foul smells when the engine heats up. They have caused you a profound prejudice including the fact you use the car for competitions. I'd sue their ass!

 

I use Dawn every time I want to get the wax off, never damaged my paint. But then again, I heard that not all Fit's have the same quality of paint (depends from color to color).

But it seems you'll get your problem resolved by the detailer hopefully.

 

We're in the same club. Beats the hell outta me how many inconsiderate id..ts are born everyday.
My GD has had its share of door dings. And to think, when parking at the supermarket, malls, work etc.... always look for a further away corner stall. Still, they manage to ding the doors.
Good thing my buddie is a dent guy so have been able to fix them plus some touch-up paint.
We can all sympathize with the OP. Just hope he can get restitution from the offenders.
Post your results and I also agree that you should have it done by a decent detailer - NOT THE DEALER!!!

 

I'll let you guys see the results and post up pictures just hoping that they can get it back to what it was before this happened. I stopped my LJS today and the manager gave me a phone number for corporate. I will call them on Tuesday. The car rental place called and wanted me to drive a Dodge Avenger - told them that would not work for me - 173 mph will get me into trouble!

 

173mph? The only way at Avenger would hit that speed would be if you shot it out of a cannon.

 

...or drove it off a cliff.

 

I'd try a good dishwashing'soap' like Cascade, the one rated highest by Consumer Reports, being careful to soak the area well.I've cleaned body parts before like trhat but still its a good idea to check an inconspicuous plce. Otherwise, there are some clreaning solutios specifically for greasy residue that you should locate on the net.
good luck.

 

Get a professional paint prep product and apply it to clean. All traces of oil and grease must be removed before painting and the proper product wont hurt the paint.

Look around for a local body shop supplier and ask them to recommend a product.

That will take care of the outside. The places in between where fishy liquid ran into will be the challenge.

The company that had the spill is responsible for not cleaning up their waste and so is the company they were visiting and perhaps the land owner.

Im not a guy who sues but if they cleaned up their spill then this wouldnt have happened so it is real negligence and not a fabricated reason for suing. Your insurance company will settle with you and then subrogate with their insurance to recover their loss. Happens all the time with insurance.

Businesses have insurance to cover situations like this and they may ot be happy about using it but that is why it is there.

 

Tell you my Honda dealership is the best. I took the car in yesterday morning and they got busy on it. Got a Kia Soul as the rental car - ugh! and got a call when I got off work telling me the car was ready to be picked up. All evidence of grease is gone as well as the smell. Car looks good enough to show! Finally talked with the manager of the insurance company for LJS today and they are sending me paper work to file a claim to their insurance carrier. If they will just reimburse my car insurance I will be happy. So glad that the Fit is restored and I can be happy once again.