First wash/clay. What is this paint damage?

[dsgerbc]

So, I'm washing my 3-day old car, stripped whatever wax they applied at delivery and claybar'd (first new car in a while with zero rail dust, yay).
Got it inside and the hood looks like some acidic crap has been caked onto it. Any clue what is this? Seem to be prevalent on the hood mostly. A bit on the fenders. Was NOT really visible under the wax. Maybe a couple of spots looked weird. No real rain since delivery and it didn't sit in the sun either - parking in a garage or a structure at work. Some road crap got onto the car while on the truck? Acid rain in California?

I tried some white vinegar I used to use on water spots and it did nothing. I can probably polish it off, but wondering if there are more gentle ways of getting those out before I have to thin the paint on a new car.

Any ideas appreciated.

 

[cbaaz]

I had some stuff like that on a new GM car around 2000. I used a Meguiars cleaner/wax and it cleaned up easily.

 

[JulienW]

Looks like water spotting. Try isopropyl in a spray bottle/microfiber. Applying acids to clear coat is usually a bad idea. You can also try something like this.

CarPro Spotless Water Spot Remover 500ml (17oz)

 

[joebruin77]

If they are water spots, you might find this video helpful like I did:

 

[Bill Foster]

If they are water spots, you might find this video helpful like I did:

MDR is some damn good stuff

 

[dsgerbc]

Like I said, I tried the vinegar mix already, like in that video, and it did nothing. Polishing it out is proceeding _very_ painfully. I don't want to apply a lot of pressure or go at high speed with my Porter Cable. Picked up a couple of water spot removers locally and they are weird. Seem to work better when worked by hand vs the polisher.

Isopropyl didn't help much either, but thanks for a suggestion. Back to polishing...

 

[JulienW]

...Back to polishing...

Since you are correcting you paint you should go ahead a ceramic coat it and you won't have this problem again.

 

[joebruin77]

Like I said, I tried the vinegar mix already, like in that video, and it did nothing. Polishing it out is proceeding _very_ painfully. I don't want to apply a lot of pressure or go at high speed with my Porter Cable. Picked up a couple of water spot removers locally and they are weird. Seem to work better when worked by hand vs the polisher.

Isopropyl didn't help much either, but thanks for a suggestion. Back to polishing...

If you need to go the polishing / paint correction route, you might find this chart helpful. It helps you identify the least aggressive polishes/compounds to the most aggressive. I already posted it in another post, but I thought you might find it helpful for this situation. What brand polish are you using? It also depends on what kind of pad you have on your PC and how much cutting ability the pad has. Just like the polish/compound, I would start with the least aggressive pad to one with more cutting action if the first doesn't work.

Good luck!

Autogeek Swirl Removers & Compounds Comparison Chart

 

[Kilotango74]

That last shot is etching from hard water, bird crap, or bugs left on your paint to long. A random orbit polisher and some mild polish would take that out quick.