Just noticed hard spots all over brand new car. Cement or gunite or tree sap?

[wal]

Hi guys,

Ive been using meguiars products on all my previous cars but i had to join the forums today bc of my unusual situation.

I just bought a car around 4 months ago and it had 2k miles when i bought its a 2016 mustang gt.

My parking spot is in front of my apt building and ofcourse as soon as i bought the car they started doing some construction in front of the building.

So for around 2 months, everytime id come back from work id notice my car covered in dust from the construction.

I always washed the car off every week so i just let the car sit there.

I had to go away for 3 weeks so i washed the car and put a car cover on. When i came back someoen told me the car cover mustve flown away and my car was covered in dust again for about a week of exposure.

after washing, i tried to dry the car and felt really rough spots all over the paint.

These tiny dots are all over the paint and they have a weird texture towards it.




I have no idea what it is, weather it is cement over spray, gunite or tree sap (when i brought the car to work it was parked under a tree)?

I have bought a medium duty clay bar.

my question is will clay bar get rid of this? or do i have to take these dots off first before clay baring?
Ive done 3 wash's and they are still there.

Someone said to mix vinegar with water and then hose it off. Will try that before clay bar

I just wish i knew what these dots were.


Thank you!

[HCAD]

Re: Just noticed hard spots all over brand new car. Cement or gunite or tree sap?

It's tough to tell much from the photo, so, since there's no way of knowing what the spots are, it'll be experiment time for you. Vinegar and other non-damaging products like a bug and tar remover from your local store, isopropyl alcohol or a mild graffiti remover, are all good to try on a small area. If it's truly covering the entire car the clay bar will likely be the easiest and quickest method. With plenty of lubricating fluid, mild clay won't harm the paint. Where you may run into problems is a more aggressive clay or if the spots are indeed some kind of cement splatter. In those two cases the likelihood of marring the paint is high. Slight marring can be removed by polishing but if you push cement splatter around on the paint you may end up with deeper scratches. So again, test in a small area with lots of good lighting to check for marring.


And welcome to MOL!

[Top Gear]

Re: Just noticed hard spots all over brand new car. Cement or gunite or tree sap?

I would not clay for these spots. Claying is one of those things that's great in theory, but not so much in practice. The reason is conditions have to be perfect for every square inch clayed, and the contaminants themselves or a dry patch of clay or a piece of dust falling from the sky can create circular scratches and smears by hand, and all that has to be cleaned up - very counter-productive. Claying a whole vehicle is something I feel I can safely ignore for the rest of my life. However, I'll sometimes occasionally use clay for spot fixes as a first step, or use it on glass, where it works a slightly better.

Personally, assuming these spots are what I imagine as tiny cement drops, I would start with very warm or hot water and a LOT of shampoo with your mitt. Work the spots, even using a fingernail, trying to release them. Alternatively, a coin-op spray washer with just the soap and rinse might dissolve some of them. Alternatively, some dish-washing and foam scrubber might be needed in a spot manner for some of them, again with warm/hot water. I would not do much else until they are gone, then re-wax, etc. The reason is that if these spots are cement-like, they probably contain some sand grains or other fine particles. Claying, and even machine polishing, will grab on the spots, possibly chip the paint as they pop out, drag the grains around, and so on. So, I think it's a cleaning challenge, not a polishing challenge. You can sacrifice the wax and even allow some minor marring around the spots in pursuit of removing them.

Of course, also park somewhere else

[wal]

Re: Just noticed hard spots all over brand new car. Cement or gunite or tree sap?

Hey fellas, thank you for the replies.

I understand claybarring cement would be a bad idea, thats why i tried

a little bit of white vinegar and hot water and it did nothing but melt the rough spot. The spots is still on the paint though. it did not do much other than melt the hard stuff that i would feel with my finger but the spots are still visible







This is water and vinegar mixed on the spots



this is the spots that look like they melted my clear coat

[wal]

Re: Just noticed hard spots all over brand new car. Cement or gunite or tree sap?

I would not clay for these spots. Claying is one of those things that's great in theory, but not so much in practice. The reason is conditions have to be perfect for every square inch clayed, and the contaminants themselves or a dry patch of clay or a piece of dust falling from the sky can create circular scratches and smears by hand, and all that has to be cleaned up - very counter-productive. Claying a whole vehicle is something I feel I can safely ignore for the rest of my life. However, I'll sometimes occasionally use clay for spot fixes as a first step, or use it on glass, where it works a slightly better.

Personally, assuming these spots are what I imagine as tiny cement drops, I would start with very warm or hot water and a LOT of shampoo with your mitt. Work the spots, even using a fingernail, trying to release them. Alternatively, a coin-op spray washer with just the soap and rinse might dissolve some of them. Alternatively, some dish-washing and foam scrubber might be needed in a spot manner for some of them, again with warm/hot water. I would not do much else until they are gone, then re-wax, etc. The reason is that if these spots are cement-like, they probably contain some sand grains or other fine particles. Claying, and even machine polishing, will grab on the spots, possibly chip the paint as they pop out, drag the grains around, and so on. So, I think it's a cleaning challenge, not a polishing challenge. You can sacrifice the wax and even allow some minor marring around the spots in pursuit of removing them.

Of course, also park somewhere else

Thanks man, I know i dont want to spread the cement around if its cement. I tried using hot water and vinegar, the rough spots melted (top layer) but the spots are visible still.

It's tough to tell much from the photo, so, since there's no way of knowing what the spots are, it'll be experiment time for you. Vinegar and other non-damaging products like a bug and tar remover from your local store, isopropyl alcohol or a mild graffiti remover, are all good to try on a small area. If it's truly covering the entire car the clay bar will likely be the easiest and quickest method. With plenty of lubricating fluid, mild clay won't harm the paint. Where you may run into problems is a more aggressive clay or if the spots are indeed some kind of cement splatter. In those two cases the likelihood of marring the paint is high. Slight marring can be removed by polishing but if you push cement splatter around on the paint you may end up with deeper scratches. So again, test in a small area with lots of good lighting to check for marring.


And welcome to MOL!

[Top Gear]

Re: Just noticed hard spots all over brand new car. Cement or gunite or tree sap?

Great - in that case, I'd keep washing the spots to see if you can empty out the bits that are left. Sounds like they are little residues left in orange peel, chips, or just the stubborn remains. You definitely want that stuff 100% gone before you move on to restoring the final finish.

[HCAD]

Re: Just noticed hard spots all over brand new car. Cement or gunite or tree sap?

Contrary to some opinion, I clay almost every car we detail. In a very few cases in turns out to not be the solution, but on the majority of cars it removes sediment that you don't want to push around when you polish or apply wax/sealant. In quite a few cases we've used a more aggressive clay to remove stubborn debris and polished out the marring left behind. In 95% of all cases it has been better than trying to pic a million specs off with our fingernails. lol

Test a small area. It can't hurt.