GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

My Vibe has been attacked by ARTILLERY FUNGUS twice. I had to spend hours rubbing and picking it off of the rear corner and the roof!Look up the term "artillery fungus" this is a very serious bombing raid.Tip: Use a wet paper towel and your finger nail within it and pick them off and keep rubbing lightly until it's spot is completely gone.

Looks nasty... http://www.personal.psu.edu/faculty/d/d/ddd2/ (Few tips for removal down the page...)Any damage to the paint or it just stands there being annoying?

I just noticed that my white vibe also was attacked by the fungus. I started to notice small tar like dots on the rear of my car that faced towards a newly mulched area. I went outside and looked on the mulch and noticed the little "cups" facing up from the mulch. I guess when the landscaping company put the mulch on, the fungus hitchhiked on the mulch. Thanks for informing me about the fungus. I never even knew that something like this existed.

>>>Any damage to the paint or it just stands there being annoying?No paint damage yet. The main thing is NOT to use a scrubbing pad. You should use a wet paper towel with your finger nail within it. You can pick off the dome shaped top and then rub lightly until it disappears. It is a very hard pimple shape dot. I think it is good to soften it with water before rubbing them..... that is to hold the wet towel on it for a minuite beforehand. There were hundreds of dots to deal with. I thought that it came from road dirt or tar, or from a construction truck spraying some type of glue. The funny thing is that nearly every dot was exactly the same size, round and dome shaped. They were on the wheel and the glass as well as the roof. But only at the back corner. I never parked under a tree. I never even heard of Artillery Fungus before last week. But after having it back on my car again for the second time a week after I first removed them, there they were appearing on the same corner that is located next to my neighbor's shrub bed with cedar wood chips. I had to conclude that they coming from something in the shrubs. I just never had this before with the old car.I have a 2009 silver Vibe...now over a year old and never yet waxed it. ( maybe the dealer did But I can not tell.) It seems to stay real clean and washes nicely. I plan on not waxing for a couple of years. I want to see how the clearcoat holds up. I feel that wax will collect dirt faster into it's film and hold it there. I also feel that waxing a clearcoat will really wear away the coating and not to mention acting as a solar film to bake the clearcoat.

Good to know. Thanks.