Wet leaves stained my car

Question:

I’ve spent a lot of time and money on my 1985 Mustang convertible but it is only half way to the point where I’d like it to be.

Last fall when I went out of town on an extended trip, the car cover blew off the Mustang and when I got back home, the car was covered with fallen leaves. It had rained and when I brushed the leaves off, I was left with blackish stains all over the hood and trunk. The top is black vinyl and so it is not stained. The leaves are mostly maple but there could have been some oak as well.

My problem is that I have tried everything to get rid of the blackish stains. I started with mild soap, then gradually worked my way up to rubbing compound but I can still see discoloration. I’ve been able to remove about 80% of the stains but this is 20% short of what I’d like to be able to remove. I’ve been told to try everything from WD40 to gasoline! Any suggestions? Do I have to have the car repainted?

Answer:

It sounds as though the decaying leaves and water combined to form a mild acidic compound that etched into your car’s paint. This is different from a fluid staining the top of the paint. The important question is how deep into the paint does the damage go. If it is too deep, for example past the clear coat and into the base coat (if, in fact, your Mustang has a two-stage base coat/clear coat paint system) then a repaint will likely be the only full solution.

Try sanding a stained area with very fine sandpaper, such as #1200 or #1600, to see if you can get rid of the stains. If the stains disappear then your remaining burden is to compound and polish the sanding scratches until they disappear. The danger, of course, is that the staining goes too deep and you end up going through the clear coat into the base coat, or through the color into the primer. But, of course, if that is the case then the only full solution will entail painting anyway.