Please help with these white spots!!!

[TI837]

So I went on vacation for 5 days and when I came back my car has these white spots that popped up out of nowhere. I heard that when I was away there was a severe storm that came by but I'm not sure if thats what caused it. These white spots are on every single panel of my car expect for the driver door and panel behind. I am 100% positive these spots were not on prior to me leaving for vacation as I just washed it. It looks the clear coat is pealing but what can cause the clear coat to peel in a matter of days?

My main problem I am having is that I called Geico and made a claim that my paint has been damaged. But after having a inspector take a look at it, she told me that shes never seen anything like this and that "most likely" it caused by clear coat fading due to my car being 9 years old. I argued with her that I'm not sure all these white spots will pop up in a matter of days because of old paint and also on every single panel of my car.

I'm really hoping someone here has seen something similar and can tell me what caused this so I can report it to the insurance company.

[builthatch]

my recommendation is to take it to a well-versed professional corrective detailer for an assessment and a very reputable body shop with a knowledgeable adviser.

too many strange variables to tell what's going on in those pics.

where are you located?

[Dr_Pain]

I looked at the pics before reading the body of your OP and at first glance this does look like clear coat failure, but the story and the pics don't really match!?! I am puzzled just like you. I do know for personal experience that failure seems to pop up all of a sudden. One day it is not there, another it is!...... but to affect all panels at the same time, equally!?!?! That is weird. Please let us know what comes of it!

[Niblick]

weird! have you tried to polish a small area to see what happens? as Builthatch says, if it looks like an insurance job then get the advise of a reputable pro. it seems very unlikely that you'd get clearcoat failure on so many panels all at once. was the car left in public view whilst you were away? might be that something has gotten sprayed over it by accident.

[jamesboyy]

Welcome to autogeek.....you sure they are not water spots, begin that it had rained while you was on vacation and could not dry the paintwork after it had rained, try rewashing the vehicle to see anything can be removed if not then try a polish or compound by hand(like ultimate compound and ultimate polish that can be found at auto parts stores) and rub on one of the spots to see if anything will remove if not then you will want to try a acidic water spot remover like meguiars water spot remover(from pepboys)

[KMdef9]

Welcome to autogeek.....you sure they are not water spots, begin that it had rained while you was on vacation and could not dry the paintwork after it had rained, try rewashing the vehicle to see anything can be removed if not then try a polish or compound by hand(like ultimate compound and ultimate polish that can be found at auto parts stores) and rub on one of the spots to see if anything will remove if not then you will want to try a acidic water spot remover like meguiars water spot remover(from pepboys)

That's what I would do too.

The storm could have did in the last bit of wax (dont know when you last applied a LSP) and if the sun came out right after, I could see it leaving these marks.

[UglyBetty]

That's what I would do too.

The storm could have did in the last bit of wax (dont know when you last applied a LSP) and if the sun came out right after, I could see it leaving these marks.

Me 3!

I don't like make assumptions, but the original poster makes no reference to whether a wash removed them.

[TI837]

Hello and thank you all for your recommendations, I am located in Northern NJ and I will definitely try to wash it again and if that does not work then will try to compound it. Will def keep you guys updated with the results.

[Niblick]

any joy with this yet?

[atifn79]

Before machine polishing I would try
1) Soaking them in a warm mixture of APC at 4:1 and neat
2) Mild clay bay
3) Finish Kare decontamination kit
4) Aggressive clay, this usually marrs the paint and may need machine polishing afterwards.

You really don't want to machine polish bonded contaminants off your paint because they will get stuck to the bottom of your polishing pads and scratch your paint. IF still doesn't wont i would suggest to visit car repair service (http://carshopbids.com/) if you dont want to end up with a mess


Note:
APC = All Purpose Cleaner

4:1 = the dilution ratio of APC:water. Normally one would use APC at 1:10 meaning one part APC to ten parts water.

If 10 500RPM above means 4 parts APC to 1 part water then you may as well use it neat. I think that is a bit too strong. Rather start off mild and work up
Atif Naser

[phens82]

Next breakup, try to leave things on better terms.

Just kidding.

[TI837]

sorry for the late response. I just saw the supervisor for geico yesterday and they keep telling me that the white spots are clear coat failing and it was caused by the sun (not covered under insurance). I did bring it to a auto body store and they also confirmed that the clear coat is separating from the paint but they said it is very unusual that something like this will happen in 2 days. I have no idea and am out of options. any help will be appreciated.

[Niblick]

wow, thats pretty major! you could chance a respray, but I'm guessing that they'd need to strip the clearcoat back first to try to resolve the blistering. you may just have to live with it unfortunately, trying to fix it could be hugely expensive. did the body shop make any suggestions?

[ducksfan]

I don't care where you parked while gone. There is no way every panel received the sun exposure necessary to cause this amount of damage.
Insurance people, don't you just love them. Next biggest crooks behind banksters. They don't know what caused it, so it must be something they don't cover.
Go to 3 reputable auto repair facilities and get them to give you a written statement that your car doesn't look like any typical sun caused clear coat failure. Tell Gieco to pay or take them to small claims court. Does your state have an insurance overseer (like CA's insurance commissioner) ?

[TI837]

So got off the phone with geico AGAIN.. They told me to go to 2 or 3 different auto body shops and get a written statement that states that this was not a sun damage alone. This is such BS!!! I went to one auto body shop and they told me that they dont even know what exactly caused the damage but there very sure that sun damage cannot appear like this in a matter of days. How is it that the professional auto body people can't even tell what happened but yet geico can assure me that this was caused by natural sun damage. Beyond frustrated, shouldve never switched from USAA to Geico.