Battling water spots in paint

[Hawker]

02 XLT with water spots in very shiney original paint. Tried clay bar with no success. Washed with detergent (Joy dishwashing) to wash wax away and they're still there just as stubborn as ever. Do you think I might need several more washings to get down to the problem level or give me some ideas guys? This truck is perfect except for this and it's driving me crazy.

 

[ZMan]

get yourself a buffer, some compound, and some polish. That oughta do the trick.

 

[blackbronc]

Try Nu Finish. It's that stuff they show cleaning up a junkyard car. It works pretty good on scratches and water spots both.

 

[bbbb51]

I parked where the water hit my truck twice when it was new and got full of water spots. I took it to the stealership and they cleaned it right off. The second time it happened they left a bottle of the stuff they use in the truck and all it was was the wax that ford uses . But hey it works great on water spots took em all off even the ones on the glass.

 

[JohnnyO]

Could also be acid rain spots, which don't come off like water spots do.

 

[DRanger024]

Hmmm this is a tough one without being able to look at your paint. If they are regular water spots ON the paint then a buffer with a swirl removing compound (I prefer 3M products) on a fine foam pad at about 1400rpm will do you real good. Then you need to wax, wax, wax!!! to protect that paint! If its acid rain spots then they are IN the paint and there really is nothing you can do short of wet sand and clear coat. Unless the spots arent etched in too bad yet, then you may be able to buff them out. I would do something before it rains again if it is acid rain because you will notice that rain water will just about always collect in the exact same spot as the last time. If that happens then the etched water spots will continue to get worse. I know all of this from experience both with my truck and at work. (I detail cars for a living)

 

[jgrnot]

I'm having this problem with my 05 Mustang GT. It was parked in the driveway a few months ago. While I was at work, the sprinkler system decided to break and mist water on my car for nearly twelve hours before it was shut down. It was 105 degrees that day. The hard water is so bad, it had basically etched into the windows and paint.

I've tried a bunch of diffenert things on the windows: window cleaner/polish, simple green, bathroom cleaner, vinegar, 0000 steel wool.

For the paint, I also tried clay bar, which was supposed to remove swirl marks, but really just gave me a ton of swirl marks. I tried polishing compound with a buffer......nothing. I tried Meguires Fine-cut Cleaner with the buffer, which started to cut through, but didn't quite do it. Next attempt is either Medium-cut cleaner, or Meguires speed glaze. If that doesn't work, I guess I'll have to wet sand it.

The water in my neighborhood is nasty. The hard water build up is a pain in the butt in the shower too.