Me and my friends were paying a prank on a girl by putting honey and chocolate on her 3- month old mini cooper at 3AM when it was 20 degrees outside. We got caught and thought everything would wash up easily because it froze. Her parents feel the need to get her car professionally detailed to get all the chocolate that supposively got stuck in the window seals and after she took it to an automatic car wash choclate smeared when she opened and closed her window. Her sunroof is actually stuck and wont open and say the total estimate would be anywhere from 200 to 2,000. Her dad might give us the chance to clean her car if we can prove to him we know exactly what products and chemicals we will use to get it out. PLEASE help me out before I become broke from a measly prank
Look-- while I suspect that any teenager who gets to drive around in a brand new Mini probably deserves some degree of prankishness thrown their way-- you NEVER mess with a person’s ride!
You do realize you’re on a forum full of car lovers, right? So don’t expect too much help.
In reality, the question you pose is something of a sticking point with many people. It’s one of those things that everybody seems to have their own ideas about what works best and what doesn’t. Personally, I can’t imagine dried honey being very easy to remove with any paint-safe product/chemical. I’ve seen vandalized cars with permanent stains from egg and shaving cream…I hope for your sake honey isn’t as bad.
As for the rubber seals around the window and sunroof, I’d expect warm water, a toothbrush and lots of plain ol’ elbow grease may be the best recourse for that.
The car should be professionally detailed first off. If the sunroof will not open in a warm shop this may mean the honey has congealed in the sunroof mechanism. Some of these can be a real pain to service and may involve a substantial amount of work. The chocolate may not be a big problem but dried honey can be pretty nasty stuff.
You and your friends screwed it up so my suggestion is for you and your friends to get part time jobs and pay whatever it takes to put the car back to its prior condition. And without your parents financial help IMHO.
Personally, if I were the dad I would not even offer you the opportunity to touch that car again since it’s possible amateur, inexperienced detailers could wind up causing even more damage.
If the paint winds up being blotched you’ll get a rude awakening in regards to the costs of a full, clear coat paint job.
(Got to thinking here. Many years ago someone went around in my neighborhood throwing eggs at cars, houses, etc. My car was one that got hit. The egg hit the back window but some of it ran onto the sheet metal underneath the window.
The egg had dried by the time I found it early the next morning. It caused a small blotch in the paint that could never be rubbed out with compound or waxed out. It was still there when I sold the car.)
Geez, screwing with someone’s car is tantamount to questioning the virtue of someone’s sister. You just don’t do it.
So, let’s see if I understand this correctly. You and your friends vandalized a new car and now you want to cheap-out on the repair of the damage to that new car.
Personally, I think that you should be very grateful if her family decides not to file a criminal complaint against you. In order to try to avoid that situation, I suggest that you pay the costs necessary to have all of the damage taken care of by a professional. Having the sunroof repaired properly could be very costly, but this is your responsibility, not someone else’s responsibility.
If you don’t have sufficient money right now, get a job so that you can pay back your parents or whomever you borrow the money from. Holding a job and saving money will also help you to gain some of the maturity that you currently lack.
Every teenager wants to be treated like an adult. If you show an adult sense of responsibility by paying to have the damage taken care of by a professional, you just might earn some of that respect that you undoubtedly crave.
I think that I’d ask the Dad to make an appointment with a professional detailer of his choice . . . . and then get the $$$ together to pay for this service and walk away. Sounds to me like you really gave the car a good bit of junk on it . . and then it (the junk) has worked itself into nooks and crannies . . possibly screwing up the paint as well. You guys will probably do more harm than good if you try to clean it. You’re lucky that you didn’t get criminally charged and ordered to pay for this clean up as restitution as part of your probation. Rocketman
I don’t know if it has sunk into your head yet that you are being given a chance to buy your way out of a court appearance. Anywhere between $200 and $2000 is a cheap payout to avoid having your own yellow sheet. Dig deep into your pockets to raise the dough. No more whining.
Pay for professional detailing. Work overtime if you have to. Don’t try to do this yourself. And don’t stop at just getting your mess corrected…pay for a complete job…you owe her that. And, if she needs to rent a car while the mess you made is corrected, you need to pay for that too.
You and your friends messed her up big time. Make good.
The good news for you is that chocolate and honey should both yield to hot water and soap. My wife runs a chocolate shop and I have experience cleaning it up. Warm to hot water and soap should do it. Anything above 100 degrees will melt chocolate, and the part that gets sticky is cocoa butter, which is a fat and soap will dissolve it. Honey is water soluble, so just plain hot water should do it, though soap helps there, too. I’ve had to clean honey out of some of the equipment at my wife’s shop. If it got into a window or sunroof motor you may be looking at the cost of replacing the motor. Most other stuff can be cleaned off and re-lubed.
As others have said. You should suck it up and pay. It will take a pro to get the mess cleaned out of the window mechanisms.
If I were her Dad, I’d make you and your friends LICK off all of the honey and chocolate. And anything left behind would have to be cleaned with hot, sudsy water. Then I would want a new wax job because those cleaning chemicals would get rid of the original wax or at least dull the factory clear coat. If you didn’t agree, I’d haul your butts into small claims Court. You screwed up. Now live with it and remember this lesson learned—the hard way. No sympathy for the devil(s). P.S.: Small claims Court is a civil matter, not criminal.
While Small Claims Court is indeed in the arena of civil proceedings, this young man could also be charged with Vandalism/Willful Destruction of Property (depending on the venue), which is a criminal matter.
He should open up that piggy bank and pay as much as is necessary for a professional to properly take care of the young woman’s car. By attempting to do it himself, on the cheap, he is minimizing the situation, rather than accepting that he has damaged someone else’s property.
His attempt to minimize the situation smacks of failure to accept responsibility for his actions, a behavior that is rampant in our society today. And, failure to accept responsibility for one’s actions is one of the biggest problems that our society faces today, IMHO.
Take it to a DIY car wash with a pressure spray wand. I suspect that if honey and chocolate can get into a part, then so can pressurized hot water with soap. Try it out and if things work, you’re done!
Pay no attention to the people ranting at you. You came here for help and should not be made to regret asking for help.
Would you be so forgiving if they had done this to your car?
You would willingly hand them the keys and say have at it before they drive off?
At this point we don’t even know if these people are even old enough to have a drivers license or if the state should even give them one.
Thanks
I know fully realize the implications of my prank I have never done something like this before and I don’t plan on doing it in the future. However, I do not think that any of your claims of me and my friend being vandals is correct. We put the products on with the intent of just playing a joke on a girl not to destroy her car. But before I get carried away this site is a site to talk about cars not about my decisions even though the information might be useful I just want to know how to either help myself or someone else clean it up before it became a burden so thank you to the people that actually answered my question. To the people who feel like I’m a criminal remember way back to your teenage years and all the times you screwed up and ask yourself how you would like to be treated in this case. If it is the same then so be it I have nothing wrong but everyone is bound to make mistakes
The law considers pranks on property as vandalism.
Agreed. Now get it professionally cleaned before you cause more harm by attempting to clean it yourself. Wait . . that’s what I said earlier, except that I said you were lucky to not have been criminally charged. If you screw up the removal and cause bigger problems, then the Dad can still file the criminal complaint for destruction of property but it will cover the additional damage you cause trying to clean it. I don’t think that you’re a criminal . . . I think you’re a kid asking for advice . . . . take the advice and show a little remorse. Rocketman
I wonder if any of the individuals who are in this blog can let me know what ended up cleaning the car above. Someone just did this very same thing to me.
I doubt if anyone from 11 years ago will respond. If you have full coverage insurance call the company. If not call local detail shops and get professional advice . Also file a police report for vandalism
Frankly, I think you deserve to be broke from your prank. If that were my car, you’d be out more than money.