Acid rain stain...

[ORR888]

Not sure to start new thread here about problem with acid rain, but anyway here how it goes...

My 7 months old Pilot-NBP gets frequent washing (and immediate washing everyafter long driving), seldom gets dirty& let rain dries up on it, mostly parked in the garage(few days in a week not used), and always finds the best spot in parking lots, now have acid rain stain on horizontal surfaces(mostly on the hood and roof).

Although acid rain is tough to remove local prof-detailer claimed that usually they are able to remove it spec’ly in newer factory paintedcars. Anxious about what’s wrong(neither the detailer has any idea), I rushed to the dealer hoping that they could do something about it! Accdg to the service manager it’s typical of an acid rain stain commonly seen in dark colored vehicles, and they’ve fixed one in a black Element by employing some steps from sanding to polishing/waxing. Unfortunately Honda won’t cover it under warranty since it’s an environmental issue and not due to painting per se. HondaCo-Rep inspected it and made a good gesture by saying that, for the costumer satisfaction(???), HondaCo will take part of the cost to fix it.

Considering my car was exposed muchless to environmental factors like acid rain or whatever compared to most cars around, I was wondering if acid rain cld really have caused it? I never had this in my previous cars…Am I right to think that this cld be a defect on paint, a poor paint job or paint quality Honda uses on Pilot? Sanding the paint sounds scary... more so if it needs repainting! Any idea… is well appreciated!

[TheWorm]

Hard water spots/etching and "acid rain" (and bird poop) can happen pretty much anywhere to any car. IMO, Honda's paint is no more or less succeptible than any other manufacturer's.

Any decent detailer should be able to polish it out, if it's etching and not too bad.

Nice gesture for Honda to fix it (I'm surprised, actually). Makes me wonder whether it's really acid rain or etching rather than something else.

Do you have any pics so we can see?

[DanL]

Unfortunately, from what I hear, that's pretty common on dark colored cars. Before I'd let anyone wet sand / polish it, I'd try the old 'vinegar' trick first and see if that removes the stains. Of course, try it on an inconspicuous area first (standard disclaimer )

[ORR888]

Thanks for the input! You guys help clear up some doubts… Since it’s not an extra ordinary thing, wet sanding-polishing now makes sense to me - the last resort. Definitely will give a try the oldway “vineger� trick before subjecting my car to clear coat thinning process.

Will be posting some pics of the before and after “vinegar� trick when I get a chance… and if it doesn’t work… well, I just hope sanding won’t get down to the paint!

[ORR888]

I tried the “vinegar� trick but to no avai!
I happened to speak w/ a relative yesterday and asked him about rain marks... for he had worked in a detailer shop he mentioned seeing a car(a mercedez w/ much worse acid rain markings) after putting inside the oven-kind of an enclosure (with hot air circulating inside/used for paint curing process) for few hours…the whitish spots and even the bubbles (I think AKA etching) have gone surprisingly, and as it was followed by buffing/polishing the paint was restored like new. Has anyone ever heard of this? I experimented using a hair dryer on a small area (to simulate the oven thing), but didn’t work either.

I took picture of water spots/etching and/or acid rain… it’s quite obvious from the pic than it’s in real but certain angle with the light seems to show the same. I can actually feel with my finger some spots as tiny shallow craters…

…Oh and I inspected my dad’s ‘97dark blue GCherokee this morning to compare, I saw nothing but usual swirl marks and tiny linear scratches and same is on my wife’s light blue '01CRV. Hmn... my Pilot with halfly baked paint and caught by the rain early on suddenly hovered my wild reasoning and imagination...