PeaceLove&S2K

Thanks for all the responses. I'm going to give everything here a try, starting with solvents, and if I have to, clay bars (I'm a little worried about using clay bars though, since I haven't don't it before and I just know I'll scratch something in the process...). However, it's getting cold again here, and I'll probably not be able to do anything till mid to late spring.

I'll let you guys know how it goes.

wanabe

woops- i forgot to reply to your other question!
car covered in a garage silly???

thats exactly where mine is now, and always when i am not in it!
mainly cause my top is always down- but also has the benefit of keeping the car "just detailed" looking. the cover also protects the car from other car doors as well as folks rubbing against the car when they pass it too closely.
i would suggest covering it after you get those spots off.
and i would not wait to get them off- that could make it even more difficult...

exceltoexcel

Don't be afraid of the clay bar! I'm a moron and I didn't scratch my car. Zaino Brothers makes a good one but the meguires you can find in the store will work just fine as well.

1. Wash the car with dawn soap
2. Wash it again with dawn soap
3. Dry Car
4. Make sure the car is clean or repeat steps 1 and 2 again
5. use the soap/liquid spray lubricant as the clay instructions indicate make sure the area is slick slick slick
6. Look and feel th difference in the paint. Should be smooth as glass! Make sure you do the whole car. It's a lot of work but if you do it well you won't have to do it again for a long time. Just a touch up here and there.
7. Wax polymer whatever you want Zaino is great.

PeaceLove&S2K

WD40 didn't do it. I tried taking some pictures this morning, but it was too dark, and I couldn't take a good shot.

And it's starting to get cold again. Looking at those spots again, I'm not even sure if it's spores anymore, I'm hoping tree sap maybe, as someone suggested (I've never parked the car under a tree before, but the dealership may have, they've had it for a year and a half, lots of things they can do...)

Do tree sap manifest themselves as tiny little spots, by any chance?

Touge Freak

I just used a claybar this past weekend and it was amazing. It got every little speck out and made the car feel smooth. My my00 looked brand new!!

exceltoexcel

First 70 degree day I'm taking off so I can clay my car. Damn it looks so good after I clay and wax it.

exceltoexcel

Yes.

WD-40 should work on sap. Turtle wax makes my tree sap road tar remover. Requires a lot of rubbing and a lot of time. Seriously a clay bar should work with three swipes or so on a spot.

usace

Not sure why you're so hesitant to use a clay bar.... it will definitely do the trick and won't scratch the car. A clay bar isn't abrasive. It doesn't work that way. It pulls contaminants up off of the surface. A few swipes with clay will pull stuff right off.

pace76

many contaminants can stick to the surface of your car...... stuff off the road, brake dust, anything really. In my experience (I owned and operated a detailing shop for 4 years) these 'spots' you are talking about are likely just 'stuck' in the surface of the clear coat and will easily be removed with a clay bar as everyone in this thread has suggested.

If by chance you end up scratching your paint with the clay bar (due to improper use), simply take a mild polish, applied by hand, and you can remove the scratches permanently.

Also, when you clay bar a car you will be removing any wax that is currently protecting the finish. I suggest the following steps:

1) wash the entire car using mild car soap, with a good quality wash mit. Rinse the car off, do not dry the car at this stage because it's not necessary.

2) with a fresh bucket of soapy water (not the one you used to wash the car with) clay bar the entire car. basically what you do is with your wash mit put some soap on the painted area that you want to clay, then gently run the clay bar back and forth over the soapy area paying attention to how easily the clay bar glides over the paint (also listen carefully, an area of the car that has a lot of contaminants will make a faint brushing sound as the clay bar removes the particles). Areas that seem 'rough' have more contaminants and require more time with clay bar, other areas will just need one pass. You can run your hand over the area you just clayed to see how it feels. Occasionally check the clay bar to see what it is picking up and when it becomes 'dirty', turn it over and use a clean portion.

3) rinse off the entire car again,

4) dry the car with chamois and/or compressed air

5) hand polish to remove any minor surface scratches

6) wax

You should only have to do this once a year.

dolebludger

PeaceLove&s2k:

For God's sake, don't wash your car with "Dawn!" That stuff will damage your clearcoat! It's nasty for cars, but great for dishes.

If you think it might be tree sap, the best thing to remove that is denatured or rubbing alcohol. If this does not remove it with just a bit on a cloth, your problem is NOT tree sap. And please believe me and all the folks on the Mercedes Benz board with their $100+K cars (which mine is not), claybar when used with the proper lubricant will not damage your clearcoat. BTW, WD 40 is NOT the proper lubricant for claybar. Rather, the proper lubricant would be that which comes with a claybar kit, or perhaps a "detailing spray" of a major manufacturer. I don't think using WD 40 would do any damage, but it would create a real mess!

Also, I'm not clear as to whether your car had a good wax job on it before this problem set in. If it did, the spots may be just sitting on the wax. In this case, a good cleaner or wax stripping product for cars may do the trick, by removing the wax coat on which the spots are sitting.

And, should all else fail, call the folks at Meguiar's help line (1-800-347-5700). Meguiar's makes a line of car care products that are always good and safe for use on your car. No, I have no financial connection with them, and their products are not always the best for a particular purpose. But they are always safe and effective.

Hope this helps,
Richard