Are these rust spots normal after a car wash?

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rust.jpg

04 MPV with only about 25k in actual northern weather. It was covered in muck so I brought it to a do it yourself place, a bit of soap and rinsed it off with warm water. This is what it looks like up close. I have found that all of these little spots do rub away down to clean white paint, but what's the story with this? Was it a bad idea to hose it down without really taking care of all of the salt first with a brush or whatever or is it just bad paint or is this insignificant? The only true rust spots on the car that do not rub away is a small one on the back that I plan on gently sanding out and covering with some touch-up paint soon.

 

[iamwiz82]

It's not necessarily your paint rusting. It may be from brake dust, pollution fallout, whatever. Use bug and tar remover or a clay bar to get rid of it.

 

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Up close it sure looks like rust, though, and it's on the entire car! Some spots rub away immediately and some require maybe 15 seconds of rubbing with my finger to completely go away.

I know conventional wisdom is that it's a good idea to hose down salted cars in the winter, but is that certainly so?

 

[XZeroII]

could be debris in the water. Most car washes recycle used water and that could be left over from another vehicle.

 

[StageLeft]

Originally posted by: XZeroII
could be debris in the water. Most car washes recycle used water and that could be left over from another vehicle.

But if it was it would rub off immediately, right?

I just read about cleaning cars in the winter and online some column said not to do it when it's below freezing because when it's below freezing the cold weather and dry air will inhibit oxidation. That's basically what I thought before yesterday anyway, but somebody recommended cleaning it and the damn thing was absolutely filthy.

You know, on subsequent inspection, I wonder if these marks were all already there. I don't know that spots that big could form in 5 minutes (how far the drive was). I'd expect not. The car isn't that old, should it really be covered in tiny spots of rust like this? Would a professional detailer be able to completely remove all the spots, and is that work doing? Nothing looks worse than rust on a white paint job and I had planned on keeping this van for a while.

 

[iamwiz82]

Originally posted by: Skoorb
Up close it sure looks like rust, though, and it's on the entire car! Some spots rub away immediately and some require maybe 15 seconds of rubbing with my finger to completely go away.

I know conventional wisdom is that it's a good idea to hose down salted cars in the winter, but is that certainly so?

It probably is rust, but it's not your paint. It's the other metals that have attached themselves to the paint.

 

[StageLeft]

Originally posted by: iamwiz82

Originally posted by: Skoorb
Up close it sure looks like rust, though, and it's on the entire car! Some spots rub away immediately and some require maybe 15 seconds of rubbing with my finger to completely go away.

I know conventional wisdom is that it's a good idea to hose down salted cars in the winter, but is that certainly so?

It probably is rust, but it's not your paint. It's the other metals that have attached themselves to the paint.

Ah, I think you're probably right, since when I rub it off the paint underneath is perfect, and there's nothing actually IN Paint to rust, so this must be the case. I dunno how it sprayed up there, but that does make sense.

 

[Mermaidman]

That trim piece is probably not metal anyway.

 

[JSt0rm]

skoorb you should get a clay bar treatment done. I did it to my car that had lots of little thing in the paint and now it looks newish.

 

[funboy6942]

Wasnt I just having someone in my thread saying "Rust on a car thats 4 years old, come on?"

Id be guessing what you have is rust in spots road debris have been kicked up on the car and chipped away at some of the paint, exposing so shitty oem painting from the factory by them trying to save a few bucks by laying down fewer layers of primer and paint. Who is the fool around here now to say there is rust on a car thats around 4 years old now

GM, Dodge, and Ford played with the paint back in the 90's and now you see a bunch of cars and trucks made in the 90's on the road with exposed primer, you all seen them, and now with these times coming that they are losing money hand and foot, they got to start cutting out things here and there even if it means thinning out the paint and primer to save money on each car.

It may not sound like much to knock off 5 cents here, 15 cents there per car, but when you times that by 500,000 cars, every penny saved really adds up
and its you as the consumer that pays the price by still paying out the ass and then some for your car, while they skimp and save all they can at the cost of quality and workmanship, or safety, hard to believe it, but its true.

OH and its surface rust right now op, catch it before it gets in deep, and I HIGHLY recommend you pull out your owners manual for if it indeed is rust, there is a warranty for that. I cant say how long it will be for your car, but there is a warranty for rust in the paint in it somewhere and will say for how long. If it turns out to be true you can take your car and finding to the dealership and they will have to pay to have your car stripped and repainted. Be sure to bring in a estimate from a good known paint and body shop before going, they may end up asking for it when you show up, and you can be one step ahead of the game when you bring your car in and will show them your no dummy or one to fool with. Plus it be more fuel for the fire if the manual says they will protect it from rust within 5/50K miles and you bring in a paper with you stating you have surface rust coming to the surface from thinned out paint and primer.

 

[CRXican]

looks more like fallout, garbage and such

when your paint get's that bad it's in really bad shape

never wax the car do you?

 

[Squisher]

Do you ever park near a manufacturing plant?


Fallout from a sandblasting operation looks just like this.

I could think of 20 other metalworking operations offhand that would generate steel/iron dust.

 

[DivideBYZero]

Originally posted by: funboy6942
<snip>pointless rust rant, etc<snip>

How is that plastic trim piece rusting, yet it has 'rust' on it? :laugh:

 

[Mister4x4]

When real rust actually pokes through the paint like that, it's too late to do anything 'small' about it.

You've got trash on your paint... especially since it wipes away with some mild scrubbing. Chances are, it probably showed up when you used the foaming brush (and came off someone else's car). Or, it's just crud that's built-up on your car from driving around in all that winter has to offer.

JSt0rm01 recommended 'clay-bar' treating your paint, and that's not a bad idea. You can pick up any one of several clay-bar kits from a local parts store like AutoZone, NAPA, Pep-Boys, Checker, O'Reilly's, etc. There are even some liquid clay-bar kits (more like a polishing compound than real clay-bar), which I have one and it works fine.

Once you're finished with the clay-bar treatment though, take CRXican's clue and wax the crap out of your car. It'll take some effort, but it'll be well worth it. That stuff you see sticking to your paint can leave stains, and if left long enough it will eventually eat through the paint and allow rust to form eventually.

 

[Nutdotnet]

Originally posted by: Skoorb
rust.jpg

04 MPV with only about 25k in actual northern weather. It was covered in muck so I brought it to a do it yourself place, a bit of soap and rinsed it off with warm water. This is what it looks like up close. I have found that all of these little spots do rub away down to clean white paint, but what's the story with this? Was it a bad idea to hose it down without really taking care of all of the salt first with a brush or whatever or is it just bad paint or is this insignificant? The only true rust spots on the car that do not rub away is a small one on the back that I plan on gently sanding out and covering with some touch-up paint soon.

It's called "rail-dust". It's quite common. Go get a clay-bar and you'll be golden!

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

Originally posted by: DivideBYZero

Originally posted by: funboy6942
<snip>pointless rust rant, etc<snip>

How is that plastic trim piece rusting, yet it has 'rust' on it? :laugh:

Yeah, that pretty much says it all.

 

[StageLeft]

I wonder if it came from the cleaning or from ambient air. Makes me wonder what my lungs look like

Thanks for the posts!

 

[StageLeft]

Speaking of rust, my re manufactured calipers I put on and have only driven for a few days with are already coated in a nice layer of rust. I thought they were painted an ugly green (they are reman OEM), but dizzum they are rusty. I'm not going to rip them off, blast them, and paint them. Is it any big deal from a functional perspective, like in 20k they'll rust through and fall apart? I rather doubt it, but anyway.

 

[ViviTheMage]

soo is it a bad idea to wash your car during the winter? Pointless even? We have oodles of snow,lots of salt here in Minnesota...I have not had a car wash in 2-3 months now....

 

[lupohki]

Like others have said, it's crap on top of your paint. Clay bar will get rid of it.

 

[StageLeft]

Just to finish the circle of life:

1) 2004 MPV (~72k [first 46k in South]), 1/18/2009 took to car wash, noticed afterward specs of paint on all panels. It is possible these were there before, but I'm thinking not.
2) With 92.5K, 7/25/2010, this is the state of the car: http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2092548

I did update elsewhere and clay bar does remove these specks of rust on the panels themselves, but they grow back quite quickly.

I do think there is a very good possibility that the water I washed this car with (ironically, to get off salt and slow corrosion) was contaminated. I am thinking I may not want to ever wash a car again in the winter unless I'm positive of the wash's water source.