Up to 20 vehicles parked in Birch St, on the city's waterfront, were coated with a thin layer of white powder created by contractors crushing cement at the nearby ORC construction site on Monday.
Keith Elliott, of metalwork company Precision Profile, said the dust - which contained lime - was acidic and had eaten away at the vehicles' paintwork, leaving a noticeable speckling.
The problems occurred on Monday because cement crushing at the site had been carried out during strong winds, which carried dust further down Birch St than normal.
Rain later in the day solidified the layer of dust on vehicles, he said.
The dust had covered his 2006 Holden Commodore, which he bought for $24,000 just six months ago, and was still evident yesterday despite more rain and attempts to clean the vehicle.
Mr Elliott said he had received one quote for $150 to have the car professionally cleaned, buffed and polished.
"You can add that up over 20 cars and see why no-one wants to pay," he said.
"It's just caused havoc and no-one wants to take responsibility for cleaning the cars."
Following the complaints, ORC compliance officers visited the site yesterday, and discussed the problem with contractor Hall Bros Ltd.
However, the officers told upset workers the matter was "not a compliance issue" and no other action would be taken, Mr Elliott said.
ORC staff could not be reached for comment yesterday.
ORC director of corporate services Wayne Scott referred inquiries to the council's compliance team, which directed calls to ORC director of resource management Selva Selvarajah.
Dr Selvarajah could not be reached.
Hall Bros owner Doug Hall said cement crushing had been halted as soon as workers were alerted to the problem.
In future, crushing work - which was scheduled to be completed this week - would halt if winds became too strong.
However, he disputed claims the dust had damaged cars' paintwork and had no plans to pay for repairs, suggesting vehicle owners "take a hose and wash them".
"We have been there for four months and this is the first complaint we have got," he said.
"[Monday] was just a bad day, because there was a bit of moisture around and everything that blew stuck."
Asked how the situation could be resolved, Mr Elliott said: "Basically, I would like my car cleaned."
