30k update, paint suffering major road rash.

Wow, my mug guards must be doing some good... I don't have anywhere near that many dings (on the sides). Now my front bumper skin is much the same.

 

You have spots on the piece of clear plastic on the lower rear corner of your back door. You wouldn't have chipped through the paint there. It look like you have something on your paint rather than road rash.

Have you taken a close look?

 

That's what I was going to point out. My guess is that it is soap residue from the wash or you might have run over a freshly painted road marking and have some paint reside - my wife did this last week with her car - the pressure washer and a shammy worked wonders.

 

If it's not residue of some sort it's not damage to just the clear coat. It's gone thru the clear coat, thru the paint, and into the primer. One thing I noticed about the Prius is how ridiculously thin the paint/clear really is. They should have an option for a 2x or 3x layer of clear when you buy the car.

 

Does it look more dramatic and enhanced because of the particular camera setting, exposure, angle, ambient light, etc?

It is somewhat not easy for me to tell based on the picture if it is more or less than normal.

 

OP, xs650 has a good point. That plastic piece would have reacted differently to chipping. Maybe you got some "up spray" from a road where new white lane lines were just painted? If you have any paint thinner, you could experiment on a very small section and see if it rubs off.

 

Go to Wal-Mart and buy a Meguir's clay bar kit.

 

OK - good to know. Be careful if you decide on a solvent to remove the specks. Prius clear coat is not too forgiving. Don't use rubbing compound. I've already guffed an area of my car that way. Try a solvent on the the lower rocker panels first - least visible. Quickly remove the solvent too. It still looks like a big job to correct.

 

It almost looks like smaller spots from when I ended up getting concrete dust stuck on my car. It just so happened to rain really heavy and I was parked in the parking garage at work that they are working on. I still haven't gotten it all off, and some of it is protected by a coat of wax now.

Any suggestions for the spots of concrete? I have a few small spots left on the windshield I couldn't get off, either (I could try a razor blade on the glass, but not paint).

 

To find out if the concrete can be dissolved, maybe put a soaking wet towel on the windshield area where the concrete bits are and let it sit for an hour. If that doesn't soften the concrete, it might be a special blend. If it works, rinse it off or carefully blot it up so it doesn't scratch the glass - don't rub. You could then try the method on the paint. Careful though as concrete can scratch the clear coat very easily. Good luck.

 

Look like salt deposits to me.

 

This stuff works! Got the mothers clay bar kit at Oreilly's 13 bucks came with 2 clay bars and spray. Had some white paint specks ( painted house on a windy day) looks marvelous!