Water spots on car?

2K1GtfromSC · Mar 3, 2004

I was talking to some guys this weekend at the track (all cobra owners) and we got on the topic about water spots on my car. I have had the car for 3 months. It had water spots on it when I bought it. I have tried to get them off but they want come off. I have Zaino to use when the weather gets warmer, but my question is will the deal fix it under warranty. The older guys I was talking to said that the dealer would & should fix it under warranty. One of them actually had the dealer fix his car with spots. Has anyone had this problem fix by the dealer or should I just clay bar with Zaino?
John

underdog225 · Mar 3, 2004

i used to work at a ford dealership as a detailer. the water spots are most likely permanent due to the fact that the rain or whatever isnt pure water but it have a lot of other chemicals in it because of smog. if the water spots occured when it was washed it might have been low quality water. the dealer should cover it if it is under warranty...at least thats what i got out if while i worked at ford for the 3+ years. good luck! hopefully everything works out.

SPKMustang · Mar 3, 2004

I have heard that you can soak teh area in vinegar, yes the stuff youd by from the grocery store, and then wash it clean, that will help to take it out, havent tried it yet on my hood scoop, which is badly water marked, but its worth a shot

2K1GtfromSC · Mar 3, 2004

SPKMustang said:
I have heard that you can soak teh area in vinegar, yes the stuff youd by from the grocery store, and then wash it clean, that will help to take it out, havent tried it yet on my hood scoop, which is badly water marked, but its worth a shot

I havew heard of this also. I have the clay bar system from Zaino but if I can get it done for free from ford then I should.

Ron Jeremy · Mar 3, 2004

I have a 2002 V6 Mustang which I drive all year round. I also have the water spots which you are talking about. These water spots are caused from acid rain and are inside the clearcoat. The only way that you can get them out is by giving the car an acid bath and taking off one layer of the clearcoat and then re-applying a new layer of clearcoat on the paint. This is what the detailer who detailed my Mustang told me that has to be done to solve the spot problem. I have no clue as to what an acid bath involves. I am wondering if this is safe for the car's paint and for the sheetmetal. I always thought that acid can go thru the metal and cause corrosion. Does anybody in here know anything about this? I never heard of this before. Thanks.

jorge · Mar 3, 2004

couldnt u just wet sand the car and then re apply the clear coat?

underdog225 · Mar 3, 2004

they make different types of acid applications for paint. you can get them for just taking off paint or clear coat depending on what exactly you want done. its a picky process because you have to apply the acid to the paint for the recommended amount of time otherwise it will either eat through everything or the paint will harden again. what i would do is just go to a ford dealership and talk to them about it. if they wont do anything about it, then you might have to consider redoing your clear coat.

Mike98GT · Mar 4, 2004

Make sure you keep a thick coat of some sort of wax protectant on the car in the future. It will help stop acid rain from damaging the paint

Daves4.6GT · Mar 4, 2004

I use to work at a body shop and I was cleaning up a truck with water spot they WOULD NOT come off I used clay bar......Wax....nothing worked....I would say wet sand the car and buff it but i know car from the factory have very thin clear and paint.......sound like your S.O.L. unless you reclear the car
Dave

Arch Stanton · Mar 4, 2004

Guys! I just had this problem too. Go to your local grocery store, get a gallon of white vinegar, (which is an acid, by the way) put a quart or so in a small-medium sized bucket along with your normal car wash soap, and wash your car normally. Just don't let it really dry before you rinse it off by chatting with your neighbor, drinking 3 beers, etc. You'll be really surprised at the results. Since I live in L.V., NV, our water here is like "liquid rock", water spots all the time. I was really worried, cause our black GT reeeeaaally showed the water spots, bad. I thought I'd have to get it prof detailed.

Just wash it with the white vinegar and your car soap,
dry it with towel, chamois, etc,
Use Meguiars body scrub,
Then use Meguiars show car glaze,
Last, use Meguiars Gold class Carnuba wax.
Use plenty of clean rags on each step you will be amazed at the results. It'll take a good part of an afternoon to do it really well, but you'll be happy at how good it'll look.

allen2oo3 · Mar 4, 2004

try the vinegar and claybar first. if nothing else works then take it to ford.

Jinx · Mar 4, 2004

I have another solution, depending on the type of spots. If they are build-up spots from mineral deposits in your tap water, try using a fabric softner sheet. It sounds stupid, but it works. I've used them to remove bugs from the bumper and noticed that it removed the mineral deposits as well. Just lightly wet the sheet and wash as normal. Be sure to change sheets often as they become dirty quickly.

Good Luck

true blue blood · Mar 4, 2004

Vinegar will work if the paintwork is not etched from the water spots! I have atrue blue Mustang and live in Texas where we have very hard water which doesn't help and have had similar problems. More than likely a claybar won't touch it, vinegar might lessen the the spots or even take them away if they haven't etched them yet. Don't despair an acid bath is not the solution start with a mild abrasive such as 3M Swirl mark remover they have one for light colored cars and one for dark. Start rubbing real lightly and then buff and continue with more pressure if they don't come off don't go crazy with the pressure! If that doesn't work you have to go to a more abrasive product like 3M fine cut rubbing compound and then to a medium cut if that doesn't work, be carful with these as they can and will hurt your paint if misused but they will work. You want to follow these up with the 3M SMR cause they leave some scratching because they are abrasive but that will take care of those or even Meguiars Scratch X. 3m can be found at local auto parts stores. If you don't feel comfortable doing this then take it to the dealership! But be careful alot of detailers there don't do things right thats why new cars are prepped and leave with scratches. Cause if they use a rotary buffer in the hands of someone inexpereinced it will be a mess and then they will use a high gloss glaze or filler to cover up what they did so inspect carefully, they will get rid of the water marks but what they leave behind is another story. Hope that helps Let me know if you need more help. By the way good choice with the Zaino make sure you follow the directions to the tee, also if you have swirl marks or fine scratching get these professionally detailed before hand and you will love Zaino even more becasue Zaino contains no abrasives so a clay bar is not gonna take care of everything and the Z-5 for swirl marks and scratches helps but only for very minor ones that is why prep is so important!

Alos I would post this on the sound and shine board and check out www.autopia.org they are a car care website and have really good forums alos www.bettercarcare.com they have really good articles

Mustang T · Mar 4, 2004

I use to have a 93 Probe GT. Ordered it new. Waited 8 weeks for the thing to come in. Arrived looking like ass account of road dirt/ect. They clean it up before I took delivery. I noticed that it had spots on it after they cleaned it. Ford told me "it's just whats left of a film they spray on a car to protect it's paint while being shipped." Said it should come off after washing a few times. Anywho, several car washes and profane words later, I realized that those spots wasn't coming out, it was acid rain. Took it back to the dealer, they wet sanded, buffed, scrubbed, you name it they did it. They still didn't go away. Finally they repainted the entire top of my car. Only prob w/ that is, when I went to sell it, it's the first thing people noticed (around the windshield and edges where they didn't tape good) and nobody wants a car that's been repainted. Lucky for me a drunk driver t boned me and totalled it so the insurance company bought it. Sorry for the rambling, but moral of the story is, there's no good way to fix acid rain damage. Prevention is the best fix. I made sure my next cars didn't have spots before buying them and but a load of wax on the car asap.

Wi-Stanger · Mar 4, 2004

I have the spots too. Dang too bad I let my warranty run out. As soon as it gets warm out (damn wisconsin) I'm gonna try the suggestions. Thanks for the info guys, I was thinking I may need a new paint job.

6702redGT · Mar 4, 2004

My torch red stang has the spots on the hood scoop as well. Haven't ever heard of the vinegar idea... might have to try that. Thanks!

KaPPaBaLL · Mar 4, 2004

true blue blood said:
Vinegar will work if the paintwork is not etched from the water spots! I have atrue blue Mustang and live in Texas where we have very hard water which doesn't help and have had similar problems. More than likely a claybar won't touch it, vinegar might lessen the the spots or even take them away if they haven't etched them yet. Don't despair an acid bath is not the solution start with a mild abrasive such as 3M Swirl mark remover they have one for light colored cars and one for dark. Start rubbing real lightly and then buff and continue with more pressure if they don't come off don't go crazy with the pressure! If that doesn't work you have to go to a more abrasive product like 3M fine cut rubbing compound and then to a medium cut if that doesn't work, be carful with these as they can and will hurt your paint if misused but they will work. You want to follow these up with the 3M SMR cause they leave some scratching because they are abrasive but that will take care of those or even Meguiars Scratch X. 3m can be found at local auto parts stores. If you don't feel comfortable doing this then take it to the dealership! But be careful alot of detailers there don't do things right thats why new cars are prepped and leave with scratches. Cause if they use a rotary buffer in the hands of someone inexpereinced it will be a mess and then they will use a high gloss glaze or filler to cover up what they did so inspect carefully, they will get rid of the water marks but what they leave behind is another story. Hope that helps Let me know if you need more help. By the way good choice with the Zaino make sure you follow the directions to the tee, also if you have swirl marks or fine scratching get these professionally detailed before hand and you will love Zaino even more becasue Zaino contains no abrasives so a clay bar is not gonna take care of everything and the Z-5 for swirl marks and scratches helps but only for very minor ones that is why prep is so important!

Alos I would post this on the sound and shine board and check out www.autopia.org they are a car care website and have really good forums alos www.bettercarcare.com they have really good articles

true, i let ford do mine and fugged it up. stupid fockers. Don't trust anyone but yourself is what i say.

true blue blood · Mar 4, 2004

Its hard to tell if its acid rain or not I'm not sure maybe someone knows how to tell? More than likely its hard water spots!

zgarske1038 · Mar 4, 2004

i too have heard that white viniger sovles the problem

oogtdude · Mar 4, 2004

my 00gt had them all over..only noticable in garage under flo lights...i polished my ass off with no luck

Water spots on car?

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underdog225

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