White Car, little black speckles (dots) on the trunk area?

I have a white car, and it has little black speckles on the trunk
area. When I wash it, the little black speckles (dots) become little
brown speckles, but will not totally go away. I'm not sure if this is
rust, or the beginning stages of rust, or just won't go away because
I'm not using a strong car wash cleaner. Can anyone advise me what to
do? It's over a considerable area of the trunk...would white "touch
up paint" be good on it...or is the area too big?

 

Without seeing it these kinds of things are impossible to diagnose
but.....as a guess, based on your description, I would suggest that the
damage has been caused by some kind of acidic fallout and has pitted the
paint. Now you are probably getting pinpoint rust spots starting. Stripping
the whole area and complete repainting is probably the only permanent cure.
Or picking up a "new" trunklid from a scrap yard.

Of course, the problem may be something different.

 

New car dealers in northern states get this complaint all the time.

If you live in a salted community, it is very common. There are always some
iron filings mixed with salt. I presume they are from the machinery that
busts the salt down into rock salt? Anyway, if you get the area gently
buffed out, it should remove the filings which are merely stuck in the clear
coat and won't do any damage to the base metal anyway. One point to note;
if you garage your car, yet drive it in the winter, the problem is
amplified, due to the unlikelyhood that the stauff gets washed off on its
own during smows and rains.