My paint needs HELP!!

[arocks]

I have a black Dodge Durango (2004). It has not been neglected, however, it has been exposed to salt air and hard water sprinlers in FL over its lifetime. It was not garaged. Now we live in No. CA and it is garaged with no sprinklers to get to it! I am trying to recover the paint. I tried scratch x.. nothing. It made the hard water spots shiny, but you could still see the outlines. I tried some other things and feel like I am going to have to get a little more hard core with this if I can improve it. The finish of the car is cloudy and dull. It seems as if the hood is the worst, bumpy and spotted. I saw the clay, but have no experience and wonder if I need a buffer. Please reply and let me know... All of the other moms will be so jealous! My car used to turn heads and now just blends in!

[Zet]

Sounds like you definitely should clay the car, and it's actually quite easy when you get the hang of it. This thread is a very good read, and it also describes how to use clay: Meguiar's 5-Step Paint Care Cycle

When trying to remove water spots by hand, ScratchX is the way to go. But did you work it really well against the paint? You will probably need several applications over the same area, to remove the defects. This thread should help: How to remove a defect by hand with ScratchX

An added benefit of using ScratchX, is that it will bring back the shine of the paint, while removing the defects

A buffer like the PC/G100, would save you a lot of time (and hard work ). And would also make it easier to take care of the car in the future.

Oh, and if possible, you could take some pics. Would be cool to see how it turns out

[arocks]

Thank you for the reply. I was at the auto parts store today and did not see the meguiars clay bar. I did get a paint cleaner labeled Professional with a fine grit. I will have to get the clay bar and try it. Thank you so much for your time and response!
I will take some pictures!

[arocks]

I just went out and did a test spot with scratch x (applied 2x as recommended) and it did well, but the etchings were still there. I followed with the Professional line paint cleaner # 2 (applied 2x) and there are no more marks! The true test will be finishing the hood as this was a small section of the hood. I am excited to see attainable results though. I was concerned I was not going to be able to remedy this. Thank you meguires!

[Murr1525]

Keep us up to date on what you do, and any pics if possible