Need some help with WATER SPOTS!

[ivoryleola]

So I decided to join finally in order to seek the wisdom of those who know a lot more than I do. I am very new to car cleaning and detailing in general, and I am not so good at it just yet. I bought a Meguiars car care kit online for my brand new Honda Insight just about a month ago. We have had the misfortune of buying from a stupid dealership who employs people that could care less about car care. We have had to go in to them several times, once for a spot on the roof that they had to remove for us, and when they did that they waxed it very terribly (After doing a MISERABLE wash job). They made up and down swipes across our car with the wax and honestly did a really horrible job overall. The problems begin from here.

As I said, I am new to this whole world of caring for a car. Especially to waxing. We (My husband and I) live at the end of a mile long sugar sand/dirt road in Florida, so during dry times, our car gets literally turned white (It's a black car) by the dust and dirt. This means it takes us a VERY long time to get it allllll off the car so that after the suds are gone, there's not dirt left. The dealership did not properly wash my car, so they waxed over quite a lot of these water spots. We also use well water here at home to wash it, which apparently has enough minerals in it to cause my main problem- Water spots. We have tons of them on all parts of our car. Part of this, I think, is due to our inexperience and idiotic thought that perhaps we should just rinse the car off to get rid of the dust some, and not also going through the full washing process. The other part is possibly because we are using a basic microfiber to dry and I don't know that it's drying properly. My husband and I are very upset with all the slight scratching (Dealership's doing thanks to aforementioned terrible wash and wax job) and all the water spots on the car. This is our first new car, and obviously we have a large loan left to pay on it and do not want to regret this by the time the loan is through.

So, my main question is-
If my car has TONS of water spots on the entire body of the car, and I am not sure if they are in the surface or on the surface top or any of that, how can I remove them? I read something about claying the car being an option. I do not know if this will work for us, but we do have two clay bars and the quick detailer that we will definitely use to try and remove the spots. I JUST washed and waxed my car this morning, and of course after the waxing (I washed in the shade), I saw all the spots when I pulled it into the sun after this. I never really noticed them before, so I am hoping they are stuck under only one waxing and not two. So, can clay remove these spots, even after one or two waxings? And if claying does NOT work, what can I do, and how can I do it? I am totally inexperienced, so if you offer any tips or products, please explain them in great detail. Thank you so much to anyone who can offer me some advice!

[Murr1525]

Re: Need some help with WATER SPOTS!

Well, going to have to slow down, take a breath, and probably not worry about a layer of dust on the car. And then just wash it properly once a week or so as time permits (and somewhat shady/cool conditions).

Any chance of pics?

Here is a video on washing:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7598756069207401372

You may find you need to change your rinse water, or new soapy water half way through, but just have to see. But 'suds' themselves arent as important.

You may also want to have something like Ultimate Quick Detailer or Ultimate Quick Wax to use while drying. Spraying them while doing your final wipe around seems to help with spots.

Some good quality MF towels (Meguiars or others) wont hurt.

Not sure about the hard water, as it isnt an issue of mine, but you probably would want to try the Nxt Car Wash to help some. And then maybe some kind of water filter, if only to use when washing, but not sure on those set ups, cost, etc.

As for what is there now...

It may take some trial and error, and a lot of effort if working by hand. But we'll see what can be done.

I would want to:

1. Wash the car as shown in video
2. Clay - Use your Smooth Surface clay kit and QD to go over the paint and glass (only do wheels with old clay). It may help it may not, or it may find other dirt, but it is something good to do.
3. Clean - This is where it would get interesting. Honda paint can sometimes be easy to work on, so lets hope for the best. I would be thinking about getting a bottle of Ult. Compound and some smooth foam applicators. Then after you clay, you would pick out a small area, and work the UC in some, and see what happens. Start off gently, then some more passion. May take a couple applications.
4. Wax - Nxt Wax, or Ult. Wax. Doing the whole car by hand may take a while (few days, etc), so you may want to fix up one panel, then wax it. You would want a smooth foam applicator for this as well.
5. Wax - 2 thin coats would be best.

And then as mentioned good MF towels for removing products.

I like to use Ult. Quick Wax after future washes, help extend the life of the wax.

And in the future, it should be simpler to maintain the look, shorter/faster details, etc. Something like a Wash, Clay if needed, Cleaner/Wax, Wax (or ColorX), which is pretty quick.

Incidentally, since I put up that video, it stars Mike Phillips. He just put out a book "Art of Detailing" over at autogeek.net. Might be worth looking into.

[ChevyNick]

What horrible luck. All I hear are these horror stories from dealers. When I buy my first new car, ill definitely tell them don't detail.

So your main problem is water spots. Since you just recently bought this car though, I am going to get a little bit more in depth on the process.

So after you've washed the car...

First of all, it has probably been sitting in the lot for a while right? Run your hand over the paint. Does it feel rough? Either way, I would recommend using the clay bar over the entire car. I assume you know how to use the clay bar kit? Just abundantly spray the detail spray and run the clay over the surface. Section by section. If you see dirt particles coming off, that's a good thing.

Second. Now that your paint surface is smooth, we can remove those water spots! I'm pretty sure you will just want to use Ultimate Compound. Are you working by hand? If so, you may want to invest in a couple foam or microfiber pads to apply the Ultimate Compound. You will squirt some on the pad, and rub the paint surface applying as much pressure as needed. Work the product til it begins to dry and immediately wipe off. You do not want it to dry completely. Hopefully that will work. If not, I'm sure someone else here will tell you to try a different product. By the way, my dad has bought packs of microfibers from Sams club I think, and they have treated is fine. I don't exactly know if ours are "baisc" or what. They do not appear to leave swirls behind.

Third. Using Ultimate Compound may or may not dull/haze your paint slightly. If this appears to have happened, you will want to buy a polish such as Ultimate Polish. You will use the same method to applying as above, only this time you will not need as much pressure. Again, only work the product in small areas and wipe it off before it dries. It has been recommeneded to work in a 1' x 1' area at a time when working by hand.

Fourth, you can apply your wax to your hopefully flawless and smooth paint surface.


If you are going to become a more serious detailer, I would highly suggest purchasing a D/A polisher from Meguiars, Griots Garage, or Porter Cable. They all have good reviews and are very user friendly. You will NOT damage your paint, trust me. You can find more about D/A polishers on this forum. The D/A polisher would also save you loads of time removing these water spots, especially if they are really etched into the paint. It takes a lot of "man power" to correct paint by hand, although it can be done.


I hope this helps. Ask more questions if needed!