As it was a great day here in the Tri-State area I decided to wash and wax my new baby.

All was going well until after I applied NXT liquid wax and noticed afterwards that there were water spots on the hood.

I then reapplied a second coat and the spots wouldn't go away.

My buddy who was washing his Lotus told me to use Turtle Wax ICE liquid polish.

I apllied a coat to the hood and things looked OK. I decided to add 1 more coat of NXT to the hood so the finished shine looks the same as the rest of the car. Well, the water spots are still there

4 coats of wax later I am concerned that I was buffing the car too hard with the microfiber towels. I was applying a lot of pressure to try and get out the water spots.

Is it possible that I damaged the paint on a March build MR car?

Also, my polished rims look like crap. There appears to be stains on them and they are very cloudy. I put a coat of wax on the rims as well but it didn't help. How do I uncload them??? My other rims on my prior vettes, including the Z06 were chrome.

 

Maybe get in touch with a professional car detail person?!

 

The reason the water spots didn't come out is that they were "covered" by the first coat of wax. Each additional coat you applied only sealed them in that much more. To remove the water spots you have to remove the wax and wash them off the bare paint. Not sure how to remove 4 coats, maybe someone else can chime in. Don't think I would be worried about damaging the paint with that much wax on it. About the only thing you could damage would be the clear coat and if you did that you would see swirl marks. I'm sure your fine. But for the record.........I wouldn't use wax to remove water spots, (unless it's a cleaner/wax) it just seals them in.

 

ICE is a polish? I agree you need to wash the hood with a detergent (maybe Dawn)

 

Use Dawn in warm water with a microfiber cloth to wash the hood and remove the existing wax. I've had good success using 3M One Step Cleaner Wax to remove water spots. Others here have had success using a vinegar-water solution. Sorry, but I don't know how strong of a concentration to use.

 

Might want to ask this question in the car care forum, guys over there have all the answers.

 

Jaws12...contact Brad @ Adams Polish

 

To get rid of the water spots you will likely need to claybar them. Many if not most polish will only cover them up. Start by removing the polish you have put on the hood. Use Dawn dishsoap which will take off the coats of polish. Rinse and repeat. Once you have the old polish off, then go at them with a claybar and some quick detail spray. Wash the area again with your normal carwash soap and dry throughly. Now you can start to apply your coats of polish.

Paul

 

 

I dont know of "water spots" that dont get taken care of by a high quality polish...sounds like you may have something else.

 

2 things could have happened here:

1. As mentioned before, you sealed the water spots in with the wax. You'll need to strip the wax to get the water spots off. If they still don't come off, you'll need to use a claybar.

2. If you let water spots sit on your car too long, especially water from acid rain, the water spots will actually etch the paint. What you're left with is something that LOOKS like water spots, but indeed they are not - they are etchings in the paint that can only be removed by using an abrasive compound and a good buffer. Doing this will take a thin layer of your clear coat off, and depending on how deep the water etchings are will determine how well it will look when you are done and how much you'll have to thin your paint/clear-coat. If you get real close and look real hard you should be able to notice if they are etchings or not.

I have heard that a vinegar/water solution can be used to remove water spots. If you do end up using a claybar, HEED ALL WARNINGS! You can seriously damage your paint by using a claybar improperly. I suggest reading as much as you can from as many different sources before you try. Trust me....

I bought a used Lexus IS300 - when I saw the car it was raining real hard, so I didn't notice the water etchings. The previous owner had let water sit on it for a long time and the etchings went through the clear and deep into the paint. Some etchings went down to the metal - nothing I could do short of having to re-paint it. I certainly hope this is not your case.

 

 

I think you will be ok. I did museum delivery a few weeks ago. I drove back to Califoirnia and over night in El Paso the car got nailed by sprinklers. I don't know what they have in the water there but it looked liked the car was covered in battery acid. The car is black and it had water deposit spots all over the hood, fenders, and front bumper. I got home to california and took the car to what I thought was a good detailer. He used the clay and then a polish and tried to wax the water spots out. It made it better but in the sunlight I could still see the spots. They were definately etched in from the desert heat. I then found a real detailer, a guy that specializes in paint polishing and he went to work with a couple of different machines and compounds and polished the water spots right out. He said that the amount of clear coat removed is microscopic. He has a machine to measure paint thickness and it wont work on corvettes because they aren't metal but he has measured his work before and it doesn't even register as a difference in microns. Anyway my car looks even better than brand new. It wasn't cheap but it was worth it. I think you will be ok. Do a search in the southern california section under detailer and my thread will pull up with pics of my car after he was finished.

 

I would have washed , Clayed, then wash again, before I applied the polish/wax of my choice.