Would you pick up a brand new car that has rail dust?

[subout]

I went to pay and pick up a brand new Subaru outback today and upon close inspection, I noticed a lot of orange/brown specs on the vehicle, mostly on the front but some on the side and back as well. I therefore decided not to take possession of the vehicle. The manager said he is going to ask a professional (not sure what he meant) to take care of this.

After doing to reading, it sounds like those specs may be what people refer to as rail dust.

My question is, would you recommend that I allow the dealership to "take care" of this and then take possession of the car? What may be the pros and cons? In other words, would/should this be a deal killer?

The bill of sale is not done yet and I've only put a deposit for the car.

[Maybelater]

I think a person on here posted about this before, I mean if the only thing you're going to take a loss on is the deposit and you don't need the car ASAP I'd just walk away from the deal.

[Twin_Cam_Turbo]

I wouldn't sign off unless its 100% perfect. Also with white vehicles you will probably see it come back over time, seems to be most noticeable on white vehicles.

[subout]

Originally posted by Maybelater
I think a person on here posted about this before, I mean if the only thing you're going to take a loss on is the deposit and you don't need the car ASAP I'd just walk away from the deal.

Correct, somebody else posted about it but he already had his car and about 2000km on it.

I would definitely want my deposit back, if the deal falls through. I feel that they (dealership) are the ones who failed to deliver a product in an acceptable condition, and not me who felt like I didn't wanted to buy a car anymore for unjustifiable reasons.

[revelations]

If you could obtain a discount, wonder if a clay bar would help - i have some rust flecks picked up around construction sites on my white car..... but its 10+ years old.

[Graham_A_M]

Originally posted by revelations
If you could obtain a discount, wonder if a clay bar would help - i have some rust flecks picked up around construction sites on my white car..... but its 10+ years old.
yeah man. A clay bar should take care of that. I have one left Im not using, I'd ask for a discount and do it yourself. Or I can help you clean it up if you dont know how to properly use a clay bar. Let me know either way. But I'd take the discount and do it yourself. Its seriously not hard to fix, it'll take less then an hour.

[subout]

Originally posted by Graham_A_M

yeah man. A clay bar should take care of that. I have one left Im not using, I'd ask for a discount and do it yourself. Or I can help you clean it up if you dont know how to properly use a clay bar. Let me know either way. But I'd take the discount and do it yourself. Its seriously not hard to fix, it'll take less then an hour.

Thank you for the offer about clay barring the car. I just remembered that when I was inspecting the car, I noticed that these orange/brown specs were also on the bumper. Correct me if I am wrong but the bumper is made of plastic or something like that, and plastic doesn't rust. What I mean is at least, it's an indication to me that it's not the metal on the car that's rusting.

I am not sure about the discount. I already got 4000$ off MSRP and while a request for discount may be justifiable, they may not want to give any further discount.


I guess I just want to make sure I am not going to run into rusting issues (like the other thread on this forum about rail dust) in the near of even far future.


I think I'll call them tomorrow morning and try to find out what exactly they are going to do to try and "fix" this.

[Twin_Cam_Turbo]

Normally on a new car it's a acid wash and sealer for that stuff, not just a clay bar.

[HHURICANE1]

There are specific products to help take care of rail dust. Any dealers detail dept. should have it and know how to use it. It is a very common problem.

[subout]

Originally posted by Twin_Cam_Turbo
Normally on a new car it's a acid wash and sealer for that stuff, not just a clay bar.

Thanks for the input. I thought I read on another post or forum that acid was was not recommended. I can't remember the details though. Maybe I misread that post.

[subout]

Originally posted by HHURICANE1
There are specific products to help take care of rail dust. Any dealers detail dept. should have it and know how to use it. It is a very common problem.

From the few answers that I've seen here, it reads like you guys would not consider this (rail dust, if that's what it really is) a deal breaker then?

[heavyD]

LOL walking away from a new vehicle because of rail dust? Rail dust is common on any new car from transport. You should consider yourself extremely lucky they haven't had their shop detailer (aka high school dropout that doesn't give a fuck about your paint) a chance to swirl up the new paint with his dirty pads and half assed effort.

Clay bar will remove all the rail dust and then you can follow with a coat of sealant by hand. Clean paint and no swirls. This way you know you are the only person to touch the paint especially in its infancy where it's easy to damage.

[jdmXSI]

I think you did the right thing by delaying the pick up, it should have been taken care of prior to delivery. However backing out of the deal would be a little absurd. I had a 09' satin white pearl STi that showed little brown spots but you will get that on white cars, it's called environmental deposits. If you are concerned about it, get the dealer to put a clause into the contract stating any spots in the next 12 month will be treated and removed at no charge to the customer.

Enjoy the new car!

[Twenty]

We get cars in all the time with rail dust. Sometimes it's a few specks, other times the entire body feels like sandpaper.

Over time other contaminants will settle on the paint and have to be cleaned off as well. It isn't damage, just part of an ongoing process of keeping paint clean.

[sneek]

I wrote something about claying cars back in 2007 if you are interested. Most of it is still true, but there are some new products available specifically for rail dust.

http://forums.beyond.ca/st2/using-a-clay-bar/showthread.php?s=&threadid=162488&perpage=20&highlight=&pagenumber=1

If you don't feel like ordering anything online you could probably get rid of the the rail dust by claying the entire car and then going over it with a paint cleaner. Alternatively, IronX/Finish Kare both have excellent products to take care of things.

:burnout: :burnout: If you're a busy person you could always just call up Jed

[subout]

THank you all for your input. It's very much appreciated. I think I am going to drop by the dealership this morning and see what they decided to do (it was closing time when I left the dealership yesterday afternoon).

[BokCh0y]

Rail dust is quite common, just more noticeable on a white/light colored car than a dark colored car. Backing out because of the rail dust is silly, but it does need to be addressed. The dealerships will clay bar it and then seal up the paint, that's basically it. If you can, suggest they send it out to a detailer not the shop detailer. I've dealt with The Auto Protectors and they've done this for me on various vehicles for me.

I do however suggest you learn to do it yourself....with a white car, this will reoccur. I have a white RX330 and basically have to clay bar the bitch every year to clean off the rail dust. It's usually all over the suv, front, sides, bumpers, you name it. so yeah...you'll go through this again. Alternative is to pay someone to do it for you.

[89s1]

Originally posted by BokCh0y
Rail dust is quite common, just more noticeable on a white/light colored car than a dark colored car. Backing out because of the rail dust is silly, but it does need to be addressed. The dealerships will clay bar it and then seal up the paint, that's basically it. If you can, suggest they send it out to a detailer not the shop detailer. I've dealt with The Auto Protectors and they've done this for me on various vehicles for me.

I do however suggest you learn to do it yourself....with a white car, this will reoccur. I have a white RX330 and basically have to clay bar the bitch every year to clean off the rail dust. It's usually all over the suv, front, sides, bumpers, you name it. so yeah...you'll go through this again. Alternative is to pay someone to do it for you.


How do you get rail dust on your vehicle every year?

Do you work at a railyard? Do you send your car cross country to sight-see on the via?

Usually rail dust is a one time thing. Tree sap, bug guts and spider shit on the other hand...

[BokCh0y]

Originally posted by 89s1



How do you get rail dust on your vehicle every year?

Do you work at a railyard? Do you send your car cross country to sight-see on the via?

Usually rail dust is a one time thing. Tree sap, bug guts and spider shit on the other hand...

:facepalm:

You can get this from driving over train tracks....7th ave downtown for example. Ogden Road, 36 Street....anywhere there are train tracks. Snow plows when plowing the snow....you know the sparks that fly up? Those metal shavings contribute to rail dust. You can get it anywhere nowadays, not just from transport.

http://www.newroads.ca/blog/what-is-rail-dust/

I those little orange/brown spots like every year, and every year I clay bar the fuck out of it.

Rail Dust: Small metallic particles that can settle on the horizontal surfaces of automobiles which become embedded in the paint. As the particles oxidize/rust they appear as orange specks on the paint. Requires special products and procedures to be removed. Also known as industrial fallout. (IFO)

I can show you pics of the shit stuck all over my RX from this winter if you want haha.

[heavyD]

Originally posted by 89s1

How do you get rail dust on your vehicle every year?

Do you work at a railyard? Do you send your car cross country to sight-see on the via?

Usually rail dust is a one time thing. Tree sap, bug guts and spider shit on the other hand...

LOL it's called rail dust but it doesn't necessarily have to come from a railway track. Primarily in the city you get it from snowplough blade iron dust. I've noticed over the past few years it's gotten worse as the city has started to plough more than they have in the past. My White STI is covered in it from the winter and I will be removing it via clay bar in the coming weeks (if it ever warms up in this frigid city:whipped: ).

Bottom line is that it's not surface rust and doesn't harm your paint but if left on the paint it will build up and the longer you leave it the harder it is to remove and you will have to resort to using chemical cleaners like Iron X to remove it.

[89s1]

Crazy. I own 3 white cars and never notice any rail dust on them when cleaning them.

I did however notice a tiny bit on the car I just took delivery on most recently.

Got the detailer to fix it for me before I drove away.

[CPrailer]

i used to work at a dealership and a dealership they HAVE to acid wash the car and clean it after transportation. Dont take it untill its been PDI'd. And that rail dust is little bits of metal, so dont wash the car untill they acid wash it, or by by nice paint. But buddy before had a good point about the dealership detailers. Dealers are hit and miss.... the one i worked at back in vancouver we were good. We would acid wash the car, let it completely dry inspect it then proceed to clay bar and glaze the entire car, wash it again, shammy it off and put it under Fluorescent lighting booth and inspect the car. any Damages / scratches are then documented at this point and repaired or customer can decide. if your "capable" of doing it, id clay bar it and detail the paint yourself. But at the same time, depending on how well they cleaned off the plastic shipping covers for the parts on your car, there may be a ton of sticky residue all over parts of your car and things u may miss... Id take the chance and have it PDI'd at the dealer... request to see it under proper light to inspect it on delivery to you, and if theres any problems they must be addressed period.

[CPrailer]

Originally posted by 89s1
Crazy. I own 3 white cars and never notice any rail dust on them when cleaning them.

I did however notice a tiny bit on the car I just took delivery on most recently.

Got the detailer to fix it for me before I drove away.

cause in most cases it can be "washed" off, but will result in scratches, and gouging in some cases