Water spots on paint????

Ahhh… I was gonna say “are you f*ckn nuts?”

 

Clay bar for the paint fellas.

 

Clay bar doesn’t fix etching. It removes contaminants.

 

Haha yeah noooo. I have used a plastic razor blade on paint but that's a different topic lol.

Guess you've never had water spots that bad on the paint before. In my case, clay has always been useless for this. The Suds Factory stuff works insanely great though. So great it will even take off Ceramic Pro :/

 

That Suds Factory stuff sounds like a solvent… Like a lacquer. Idk sketches me out.

 

No issues on multiple cars even my 38 year old Supra. It's the only product I've found that actually works and I've tried everryyyyyything including all the homebrews. The water in Phoenix has a ton of calcium and it puts harsh spots on everything instantly. Aside from wetsanding, they make the best product I've used for this. It really does work as well as it does in the videos.

 

I have said it before and again. Best stuff is wire wheel cleaner. Sud Factory can't touch this!

 

...whatever you do, be careful, some of these suggestions sound like they could give you a bigger issue than water spots....if anything, perhaps try whatever you feel is worth a shot after plenty of due diligence, on an inconspicuous area first to see how it affects the paint

 

Agreed… Once you get good at detailing you realize you can fix anything on some horizon. Key is to protect it/get it in the right spot to bide you time to get to that ultimate high effort detail.

Gotta be comfortable balancing time/effort and the current state of affairs. My wife’s newer Lexus was used from the dealer with 20k miles and they sealed over what appear to be a lot of previous small contaminants from what I presume to be a tree that the previous owner would park under… Bothers me but looks good enough from 5 feet that in not going to lose my mind addressing it now as I know it’s well protected with what I’ve done.

 

Some 120 grit sand paper should take the spots right off

 

My poor truck got sprayed from sprinklers for years (we have hard water) and I neglected it. We've bought a tow behind camper so it's being pressed into duty and getting a lot more attention. I replaced all the fluids, upgraded the head unit and had a garage give it a through inspection that resulted in a new drive belt, water pump and drum brakes refinished.

Now I'm working in the outside. I just did the headlight/fog light restoration and tomorrow will work on the black plastic. The water spots on the paint... yikes. I went to a detailer we used for my wife's car. He looked at it and said nope, no amount of polish was going to help and it would need paint correction/sanding (my words). So, next Friday I have an appointment. Black sand pearl looks fantastic when new, but is a bear to keep looking that way.


This is the only pic I have that hints at the water spots. I just finished the headlights/fog lights in this pic.

 

Paint correction=polishing. Fix it or get a respray.

Detailing is by no means rocket science. Probably already ripped you off if they can’t quickly sort this.

GL.

 

Klasse AIO (or Carlack) removes water spots. Also I’ve found that Klasse SG protects from water spots better than anything I’ve tried.

 

The detailer who told me that turned down the job, so I don't think he was trying to rip me off. My understanding is there are levels of abrasive compounds used depending on the need and it takes more time. That wasn't the work they do... The reason I went there was they did my wife's car, which wasn't as bad, and did a good job for a fair price.

I sent pictures to a detailer who advertises work on heavily water spotted vehicles and has good reviews. In fact, I used them when I had my 67 Camaro prepped for sale (it did not have water spots). We'll see what they say when they see it.

 

I’ve done a LOT of detailing—just letting you know what’s up.

Again, not rocket science: there is a clear coat and on top or that (or etched into it) is water spotting. You just polish aggressively and then do a finishing polish following an aggressive one. Either you have enough clear coat for that to be successful… Or you don’t.

You also gotta realize the paint on these was from a previous paint process which does not result in a tip-top clear coat.

 

I have posted this a few times and will say it again. Use a wire wheel cleaner and start at the top and wash one section at a time. Spray the wire wheel cleaner and wash it with a microfiber rag and then rinse well. Again take your time and then follow up with a nice polish. I have detailed professionally for 40 years and found this method works and never disappoints. It's an old school way of removing acid rain and hard water spots that works. Too much polishing on your already thin paint doesn't leave much clear. Try a spot and you will be amazed as its better than anything I have ever tried and always go back to this method, and it works! Lots of so called detailers are too scared to try it and or never heard of it. You can't make it any worse and can be done in about an hour on a Tacoma.