Orange water spots on paint

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Strauss95

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Trying to deal with something I've never seen before. My girlfriends car has been getting covered in orange water spots that are very difficult to remove. Her car is white so they are very easy to see. I keep her car protected with spray sealant and it looks like it's from something wet that is beading on the paint, then drying. It's leaving blobs on her paint the shape of random water beads, just the outline though, not a solid circle. I should have took pictures but I was too caught up in getting them off. This is NOT rail dust, I know what that is lol. These are not small dots, they are larger blobs that are not solid, just the outline like a water spot but orange/brown.

I sprayed them down with an iron remover and they didn't turn purple, so it doesn't appear to be ferrous. My most heavy duty pre-wash doesn't touch them after foaming, nor does my wash mitt after with car soap. Keep in mind I top her car off weekly with Si02 spray toppers so it's extremely well protected. Yet this stuff doesn't want to come off. I basically have to strip the protection to get them off. Clay, bug sponge and all purpose cleaner, or light polish all remove them. She has no idea what it's coming from. Her car is parked outside 24/7.

I've been detailing for almost 20yrs and haven't seen this before. I'm almost positive the shape of them is a product of her car beading so well, which is then leaving these random orange outline blobs all over her flat panels. Three weeks in a row this has happened. She has parked in different spots at her house but got spots each time. She works near my town highway department and they are always doing work in the garage with the doors open so I thought it could be dust covering her car, getting rained on, then drying into the spots. But I'd think the iron remover would react to something like that. Her driveway at home is surrounded by many different trees, which is why she has tried parking in different spots. My main guess is it's some kind of fallout from the trees?

I'm at a loss, any ideas? I know it could be anything, just wondering if any of you have ran into this before....
 
I'm seeing something similar on my white vehicles. It seems to come from condensation at night and then what looks like dirt sticking to those spots. My Jeep had it all over the top and it was hard to wash off. I tried waterless wash and it wouldn't take it off. It needed a more aggressive wash. I polished my truck and put wolfgang sealant on it but it does it too. I've also tried Sonax PNS to no avail. I live in Alabama if that helps any
 
Such an odd thing, I've never seen it before. The ironic thing is I keep it protected so it cleans easier, yet I think the protection is what is magnifying these "spots" from water beading on the surface. I've had the problem with Collinite 845 first, stripped that and went to Gtechniq C2V3, and today just put on a coat of IGL Premier after stripping C2V3.

I put a coat of Gyeon Can Coat on the hood to see if that cleans up any easier. Can Coat has been my go-to "cheap" coating, her car hasn't been officially coated yet. I want to try figuring out these spots before I polish and coat the car.
 
First thing that comes to my mind is pollen of some sort. Maybe also, bug poop.

Where are you located?

Bill
 
My first thought was also pollen that gets concentrated by the water drops of dew that form overnight. Or maybe it’s tree sap that’s carried by the wind. I believe someone on here posted about still getting tree sap on his car even if he parks it across the street. One other thought is artillery spores. Do the spots catch your finger nail if you scratch the surface of the paint or are they more of a stain?

Can you post some pics? That might help people identify it.
 
Is this vehicle located in Georgia? It sounds like "Georgia Red Clay" soil is landing on the vehicles and is mixing with moisture at night. Is this vehicle parked by a new construction site? Maybe the soil is getting kicked up and blowing in the wind?
 
This issue brings me back to my thoughts about “protection” with sealants and coatings.
So many cars that are “protected” get things like this.

What are we fooling ourselves into thinking we are protected from?
I’m guilty as well. My car with PowerLock and Bead Maker got a spot I cannot remove. /tangent
 
We are located in upstate NY.

Well I had her look at her Mom's vehicle that is also parked outside and guess what, same orange mess all over it. Her's didn't have the same shaped spots, but her car has zero wax or sealant on it so the paint is totally flat. Looks like it is indeed coming from the trees, have never seen anything like this before .

To add to Scott in Houston's point, I was thinking along those same lines. I had just put a fresh coat of Gtechniq C2V3 on 2 weeks prior so I thought if it got the spots again, they would come off much easier. NOPE, still a total pain to remove. We'll see how Can Coat does if the spots resurface, curious to see if it cleans off any easier.
 
Almost sound like acid rain if it's something that you don't feel to the touch. Do she have a bigger harbor in the area she lives in? Can be a bit away too.

The beading is not so good looks wise when dirt accumulate on them and dries. Often it's easier to wash it off but not always. The benefit with the protection would be that's the protection that gets the hit with the dirt and contaminants and not the bare paint. And you get the dirt and contaminants on bare paint too and more different kind of dirt and contaminants sticks harder to it. Then a protected paint get dirt and contaminants on it is just what's it is. The C2V3 I have heard have had problems with water spotting.

Would have been interesting to see if an acidic based chemical product like an acid wheel cleaner could desolve the spots/ film she got on the paint. Then it could be acid rain residue. If you try out a tar remover and it would desolve it could be from the trees. I useally try different based cleaners to try to figure out what it is.
 
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