ErickTreetops Posted October 22, 2013 Share Posted October 22, 2013 My new car is about 8 weeks old. When it was 1 week old I had it professionally opticoated. The effect was brilliant. Two weeks ago I took it on its first major drive. An interstate trip of about 1600km (1000 miles) On the return trip I travelled through some wet weather condions. The rain and spray from other cars meant that the car was quite dirty for the first time. When I cleaned it the next day I notice water spots remained on the bonnet (hood) and left fender. A second third and forth was had no effect. I contacted the supplier who suggested vinegar but it made little difference. He then suggested macguiars bug and tar remover. And said if I didn't remove them soon they would be impossible to shift. I got up and cleaned it from 5am tilll 6:30am. About 5 times before to my untrained eye the spots had faded. So how does this work ? I can't do this every time I drive in the rain. Its impractical. The wonder product isn't quite as wonderful as I once though. There are birds and bats and insects where I live. If water can do that how will these damage my paint? Is there nothing I can do that is effective and practical ? Erick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricHaley Posted October 23, 2013 Share Posted October 23, 2013 About a month after coating my car, I inadvertently left it parked on the street overnight where it ended up getting watered along with the grass. The sprinklers are fed with well water that has a very high calcium concentration. Needless to say, I had a ton of water spots all over the car, many of which were type 2 water spots (they left an outer ring etched into the finish). While vinegar did take care of most of them, I ended up having to lightly polish out the type 2 spots using Menzerna FF3000 on a green CCS pad (Optimum Finish Polish and Menzerna SF4000 were only mildly effective after a couple passes). Though, I will say that when I was done, the coating looked better than ever! Afterwards, I applied CarPro Reload, and I was absolutely blown away by the gloss! The water spots had nothing to do with the Opti-Coat. Parts of my car that had not yet been coated were worse than the areas that had been coated. I don't think any coating is going to completely eliminate water spots. What I would suggest is to apply something like Reload to add more slickness to the surface and to act as a sacrificial barrier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ErickTreetops Posted October 23, 2013 Author Share Posted October 23, 2013 Thank you for the reply. I'm not sure if those products are available in Australia but will search for them. In regard to Carpro Reload i was told that the opti-coat would reject any polish and wouldn't stick. I also don't have a polisher and would hesitant about usng anything but my hands on the paint finish. The Bug and Tar from Macguiars worked eventually but i believe opti has a similar product which maybe more affective. I am wondering what the lead time is after the water marks go in before they need to be fixed. Usually i would not have time or daylight until the weekend to do it. I hope that this delay wouldn't be too late to remove them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron@Optimum Posted October 24, 2013 Share Posted October 24, 2013 water spots will not etch Opti-Coat, but rather are mineral residue left when the water evaporated. Light residue may come off with vinegar but heavier remains can be removed by hand with a light polish (Poli-Seal, GPS) and you will have a great shine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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