OK - just remember Bas, you asked!
I'm actually (sorry Bas) not convinced Zaino will be the ultimate solution to the problem you're describing because I have a nasty feeling the leaves have leeched some kind of acid into the paint etching it. If you've already used a pretty heavy compound you might try it again or even do some wet-sanding, then compound and polish. At this point I'd be afraid of breaking through the paint though.
Before doing all that though you might try another step (for shame Basil, seems you left it out of your instructions!), wash the car with DAWN or ULTRA-DAWN dishwashing detergent. It's horrible for your car normally but it will strip any grease and wax off the paint and possibly whatever the leaves have embedded into the paint.
Immediately do the clay-bar step slowly and methodically. Zaino's clay-bar is very good but Mother's and Clay-Magic are also excellent (please avoid using Meguire's clay-bar, it's terrible). Once you've clayed the car go ahead and go through the polishing and waxing, and see if it makes a difference.
Finally, there is always the option of trying another final product other than wax. I'm afraid it would only be masking the problem, but if it works - great! Zaino is a top notch non-wax final finish product and I swear by it, but a lot of people are going with Duragloss, NuFinish, and Mother's "Reflections".
Zaino is the most unique of the bunch and deserves some investigation, but it might be a tad expensive to use as just an experiment. If you have an otherwise great quality paint job Zaino will do wonders on it, but you can't just pop into the corner Autozone and pick up a $2 bottle to try so you might be tempted to try one of the other products. If you should try Zaino it cannot be stressed more that every last trace of wax needs to be stripped from the car before trying to make it work. I'll just say that the stuff DOES work and is entirely suitable for a daily-driver and contrary to a lot of information I've seen on other forums it works wonderfully on dark cars - better than most waxes any day, and lasts.
Although they don't really show any before/after comparisons with spots or "leaf" outlines, etc, here are some sample pictures of my Zainoed cars (some are "just been Zainoed", some are after having been done for months). The Corvette was purchased used and had some flaws similar to the ones in the 80LE from water spots, etc. We did the whole wash/clay/wash/Zaino process while rubbing out some of the spots with the 3M Swirl-Remover before the clay process - it has remained mirror-like since:
Finally this image is of the trunk prepped then waxed with Meguire's Hi-Tech Yellow Wax (paste, not liquid). It was, and still is an experiment for comparison's sake. It looks really good but I usually need to rewax it before a show to keep it looking as good as the rest of the car, whereas the Zaino can be wiped over with the Zaino detailing spray in a couple of minutes and look brand new.
[ 06-07-2003: Message edited by: aerog ]</p>
Hi Guest!
Hey - did you know if you click on the title of a thread it will take you to the first unread post since you last visited that thread?
but were afraid to ask: 
STOP!! Never post your email address in open forums. Bots can "harvest" your email! If you must share your email use a Private Message or use the 
smilie in place of the real @
Pretty Please - add it to our Events forum(s) and add to the calendar! >> 
