Paint issue under rear reg plate

[Wawg29]

I’ve just removed my rear number plate on my 2012 Jazz Si and where the lipped part of the number plate sat the paint underneath has issues. I tried polishing by hand and some wet sanding but it hasn’t corrected it.
I’ve had to refit the old lipped plate and put my new reg plate on top of it to cover the area.
Has anyone else had this issue?
What has caused it?
Is it anything to worry about?
Will attacking it with a DA and cutting compound make it any better?
Do you think it’s below the lacquer?

Thanks for any knowledgeable help 😁

[Lord Voltermore]

My guess is the damage was caused by the dealers advertisng plate  vibrating against the paintwork causing some slight damage, plus it was also trapping rain/wash water for  longer than normal at the damaged site. Made worse because hatchback tailgates pick up more than their fair share of gritty, salty road dirt. 

If water has penetrated  underneath the laquer layer  ,or worst still attacked the base colour or primers   I think it will only get worse unless its rubbed down to near enough bare metal   and the rust treated and relaquered  in some way .

On the plus side, rather than having to colour match and blend a large area of metallic paint and laquer  You could possibly just paint  the affected area, perhaps reproducing the  shape of the dealers plate . That way you could use any suitable colour you have to hand,including black .

 . If you chose to replace the dealers plate to hide your repairs  you could try bending it slightly so it doesnt contact the paintwork   , but it might still trap water.  Same if you tried padding  it with foam  sticky trim fixing tape etc.     

[jazzphil]

I've wanted to remove my plate for this reason, but I'm put off by the tamper-proof screws used by the original supplying dealer to hold the plate in place.  Anyone know the best plan of attack to remove them?

[embee]

Depends what sort of tamperproof screws they are. You can buy sets of "bits" for tamperproof screws from all the usual places, Screwfix or ebay etc for not a lot of money but obviously they only serve the more common types design. Often called "security bits".
Example https://www.screwfix.com/p/1-4-hex-shank-mixed-security-bit-set-33-pieces/2840v but you can find sets for significantly less cash if you hunt around.

[Lord Voltermore]

There are lots of  videos and guides on line  on how to remove them so i wont be revealing anything the criminals dont already know. 

you can buy anti tamper screws  on line, or at halfords etc that come with the required screwdriver bit.  If you can find a kit that needs the same bit/key  as your existing screws  this may be a cost effective way to get the bit and  replacement screws rather than buying a whole set  of bits you may never use again.

Sometimes they use  the  type that can be screwed in with an ordinary slot headed screwdriver but this slips out of the slot  if you try to unscrew it. There is no key for these.    You may be able to deepen the slot with a file, small grinding wheel, or drilling small holes etc .     Often the screws are  installed using  a plastic colour coded cap.  If you break this cap off using pliers  it may leave the screw head a couple of millimeters proud of the number plate ,which may allow you to grip the edges of the  whole screw head with pliers to unscrew it.  If all else fails you may need to drill out the whole screw head and then use pliers to unscrew the remaining stump of the screw shank.