Left wet car in garage after rain, out of town for 17 days

[A4guy17]

Hi, I live in south Florida and I left my car in the garage wet after it rained on October 1 and am now out of town and will be gone until October 17th when I return. I last drove the car on October 16 but I had to get something from the car on October 17 and saw there were still some undried water drops on the roof. Should I be worried about water spots? I was planning on claying the car and polishing and waxing anyway so will the polishing get rid of the water spots or should I do something else? Or do you think it will be ok and not have water spots? The paint color is white by the way. Thank you I’m just a bit worried because I usually try to baby the car.

[glen e]

First I wouldn’t worry so much about your car. If you’ve got a good layer of sealant /wax or whatever on the car driving in the rain and then putting it away wet should not be a problem. I do it all the time and any spots I have from rain comes off immediately. I am also in South Florida. The water spots you Gotta worry about is when you park somewhere where the sprinklers will transfer lawn chemicals to your car and spot it , and then the sun etches it in. That’s a killer.

[A4guy17]

First I wouldn’t worry so much about your car. If you’ve got a good layer of sealant /wax or whatever on the car driving in the rain and then putting it away wet should not be a problem. I do it all the time and any spots I have from rain comes off immediately. I am also in South Florida. The water spots you Gotta worry about is when you park somewhere where the sprinklers will transfer lawn chemicals to your car and spot it , and then the sun etches it in. That’s a killer.

Thanks, I actually don’t have any sealant or wax on the car right now though.. think it will still be ok?

[Rsurfer]

First I wouldn’t worry so much about your car. If you’ve got a good layer of sealant /wax or whatever on the car driving in the rain and then putting it away wet should not be a problem. I do it all the time and any spots I have from rain comes off immediately. I am also in South Florida. The water spots you Gotta worry about is when you park somewhere where the sprinklers will transfer lawn chemicals to your car and spot it , and then the sun etches it in. That’s a killer.

Don't think lawn chemicals has anything to do with water spotting, but the minerals in the sprinkler water or the hose for that matter will cause hard water spotting.

Maybe a golf course might add chemicals to their sprinkler water, not likely. Dunno!!

[Rsurfer]

Thanks, I actually don’t have any sealant or wax on the car right now though.. think it will still be ok?

Since your planning on claying and polishing, it should take out any water spotting.

I would highly recommend that you keep your paint protected after polishing and thereafter.

[A4guy17]

Ok thanks bro yeah I hear you about keeping it protected

[glen e]

Thanks, I actually don’t have any sealant or wax on the car right now though.. think it will still be ok?

No Without any protection it will spot, but the spots will come out with polishing.

[glen e]

Lawn chemicals will big time spot a car. Don’t ask me how I know…

[A4guy17]

No Without any protection it will spot, but the spots will come out with polishing.

Ok ok thanks

[Rsurfer]

Lawn chemicals will big time spot a car. Don’t ask me how I know…

No doubt, not trying to be argumentative, but how does lawn chemicals get on cars after a rain?

[glen e]

I never said it did ….I was just adding that the spots that I’ve always had trouble with is when the car gets spotted by sprinklers distributing lawn care products…
Read my post again -I said “the ones you have to worry about are…”

[2black1s]

I'm confused too. How do sprinklers distribute lawn chemicals? Sprinkler systems distributing lawn chemicals is a new one for me.

To the OP... enjoy your 2 weeks away and forget about the water spots. Rain water is typically not a problem for destructive spotting. The spotting left from rain water is typically the result of whatever dirt was on the car when it rained and can be removed easily.

Sprinklers (or any tap water) that has a high TDS content is where you can run into issues.

[Bill D]

Unless you are dealing with acid rain, I wouldn't worry

Sprinklers can distribute reclaimed water and that can be destructive to paint. I personally avoid sprinklers as much as I can.

[dgage]

There are fertilizer injectors for sprinkler systems. They are usually used with drip line irrigation but they do make injectors for sprinkler systems too. However, I’d say those are fairly rare in the real world.

[NoClue]

Unfortunately for me and my car is she lives outside in a condo complex. I made the mistake once parking next to a sprinkler. Never again!