Tiny Rust Colored Spots...

[CRFX528]

I work at a detail shop, been there 2+ years. I've seen your problem on ALOT of cars&trucks. Like someone else mentioned, its called raildust, and whether you live next to a railroad track or not it doesn't make a difference - when your car was brought to the Subaru dealer it could've been moved by train, and although when you first got the car you wouldn't see the spots they get noticably worse as the weather gets a shot at your paint.

Clay bar is about the best way to remove, a tip though, instead of using the supplied water your claybar kit came with, use soapy water. I get all my supplies from Carbrite or Carbrite.com since the truck stops by every week. There are a few different grades of claybars and in your case i'd use a pretty aggressive one but be sure to wax the car using an orbital buffer at high RPM afterwards.

If worse comes to worst, and although many many people get scared of the idea, i've used it countless times but regular Automotive Paint Thinner works wonderful on situations where nothing else seems to touch it. If you plan on using this method don't be scared to death but be aware if you dont use it right you can really mess some stuff up.

Goodluck.

[benson156]

I used Meguiar's clay kit on my car and it took most of it off.

[Tim620X]

I tried to claybar more this morning and it still wasn't working. I waxed my entire car and I'll take it to the dealer again on Wed. when I have a day off and if they still give me crap I'll try and find a good detail shop to see what they can do. Again there is no way I can do this myself... it's all over my front bumper, sides of the car, and the back as well. Honestly it's impossible for me to do it, especially since I can't get a claybar to work.

[RayfieldsWRX]

I tried to claybar more this morning and it still wasn't working so I just said f**k it...

So that you're aware, we discourage people from dodging the swear filter to use the F-word in our tech forums. We try to keep things work/home safe.

Thanks for your cooperation!

[Tim620X]

Finally brought my car back to the dealer and told them the claybar kit wasn't working... they sent me across the street to their used car building which has a body shop as well. I spoke with a rep. from there and he told me to pull my car up and brought out a Meguiars rubbing compound and tried it on one spot of my car and it worked! I was so relieved! So I went to Autozone and bought some and it took me about 45min. to an hour to do my entire car but it is good as new! So happy I finally found a solution!

[Pavia]

Aye. It can be tricky to find a reputable body shop that will offer up a free opinion. One near me has a fellow Subie enthusiast for a manager. Cool guy - he has helped me out on several issues.

I would have thought claybar was the simple, fast fix as it has worked very well for me for similar paint defects.

They should make prisoners claybar...

It might be better to try a polish or swirlmark remover (not a rubbing compound) if the claybar isn't working.

[Blanco_02]

Wipe down the panel with denatured alcohol then use the clay bar. I found Turtle Wax Ice clay bar works best but you have to remove the the wax first. The alcohol won't hurt you're paint but it will take the wax off. I spent the better part of six hours doing the entire car.

[justinitsuj]

living near a powerplant or refinery could cause those rust spots. The industrial fallout is a huge problem if it's not removed from your car resulting in those rust spots.

[zax]

Holy three year bump! The OP hasn't logged on in 2 years. No need to keep an ancient thread going. Locked.