Several types of automotive finishes with clear coatings were exposed to drops of acidic reagents at 54 C. Surface damage was examined using visual observations, reflection optical microscopy, SEM, EDS, and profilometry. Reflection microscopy was the most useful technique for observing surface damage. Scanning electron microscopy provided sulfur mappings through the use of an EDS attachment. A chamber dew with pH level of 3.4 created in a smog chamber designed to simulate real environmental conditions was highly detrimental to the finishes with damage concentrated in a ring with a diameter less than the original drop size. The form of this damage suggests a free energy minimization process favoring a concentration of the damaging reagent at the edge of the evaporating drop where stable nuclei are thought to form. Continued heating of the samples after the drop evaporation resulted in damage that increased with time, with most of the visual damage located underneath material deposited from the evaporated drop.