I washed my three month old Rubicon today and when I saw the doors under the road grime I about had the big one. Rust spots all over all four doors! So I figured, perhaps a case of railroad rash, although not happy, I went about the task of clay barring my rig.

Appears to have done the trick, hope it doesn't come back, can't believe this is good for the paint to have these shards stuck in it.

 

Here is another area/door. These pictures were taken after a power wash, hand washed after than and it did not do anything for the rust. Clay bar did remove it.

 

Same thing happened to me on my wife's GMC Acadia. That car has shitty paint to begin with. Just doesn't feel as smooth and as thick of a clear coat as what's on our Jeep. The overall quality of that car just doesn't seem up to snuff in my opinion. GMC will be the last place I look when it comes time to get her a new vehicle.

I was deployed at the time I purchased both our vehicles. I negotiated the cost of the GMC over email and sent the wife in to pick it up. They got her on closing and sold her on the "exterior protection". Of course when I came home from deployment and seen the rust spots, I took it back to the dealer and they refused to cover the detailing it would require to correct the issue. I asked him what the hell the exterior protection was for and he started giving me some lame excuse about it only covering certain issues with paint and that it was an "easy" fix with a clay bar or some mild polishing compound. I asked him if he has seen the size of that vehicle and told him if it's so easy then why doesn't he do it. Just confirms what I already knew about all the after-sales b.s. they try to sell you not being worth a dime. Still chaps my ass that I didn't warn the wife about not letting them sell her on the post-sales crap.

Anyways... I learned a lot about rail rash, or whatever you call it, after the GMC ordeal. Luckily I didn't have any issues with the Jeep's paint. I just thought I'd share and say I feel your pain.

 

In the detail biz, I've always heard it called "rail dust" and it's a common issue here in Central California, especially if you park outside near rail road tracks. I always clay bar my cars before I wax them anyway, at least three times a year. Doesn't take long, especially if it's just part of your detail routine.

 

Clay bar makes the paint soooooooooo damn nice. I agree that 3x a year is a good starting point along with a good wax to take away 'rust' and other debris and seal the surface from new debris.

 

Yes definitely wax after claybar.

 

Smitty I can tell you for certain all that dealer "protection" crap is just that, crap. I used to sell cars and the dealer would get mad at me because I would refuse to sell that stuff to people as I knew what it was. I always clay bar and wax a new vehicle but this one I got and had to put immediately into use, no time until this week when I had a few days off.

 

It's kind of a thing, this stuff is, at least with modern vehicles. Wheels and tires are bigger than ever, which means more stuff gets kicked up; and body panels are painted and aerodynamically shaped to deflect wind (and everything that gets kicked up).

To dude above with the Acadia, I have nothing but nice things to say about those cars. My cousin and his wife, and 5 children were traveling in one when they had a catestrophic accident. The vehicle left the road at highway speed, struck a gaurdrail, then a tree, then rolled multiple times down an embankment where it came to rest on its roof. The vehicle sacrificed itself completely, and everyone lived.

Long story short; you might not be impressed with your Acadia because of some cheap paint, but I think it's a good vehicle overall. I think it was built well, where it matters!

 

Great to hear its a safe vehicle. Still not convinced I'll buy GMC though. I think many vehicles today are capable of performing just as well in a similar accident. It's a hard pill to swallow to spend over 45k on a vehicle covered all over with rust spots in the clear coat. The dealer should have buffed that crap out before delivering, and my wife should have caught it before accepting delivery. I'll never tell her that though. Haha.

 

With my experience in body work and car sales back in my early years, I should have caught it too. I looked that vehicle over from top to bottom, even to the extent of finding the dirt strip down the middle of the hardtop due to the wash rack guy not bothering to use a step stool when he washed it. I began my working career as a young teen washing and waxing cars for delivery at a Crapsler dealer and would never have sent a new or used vehicle out the door with a dirty roof. Don't be too hard on the wife.