Water spots and was my car REALLY detailed fully?

**tk123** · 09-14-2014, 04:44 PM

First post, sorry it's such a long one!

I had some pretty ugly water spots. Entirely my fault. My sprinkler hit my car for an hour and a half every morning, and the car was not dried, for the last 3 months. Each morning the sun came up and shined brightly on it. Add to that, I haven't waxed it in at least a year.

So, I have neither the time nor the patience or the know how to detail a car myself and I have no good place to do it even if I were so inclined. My driveway is in the sun all day until it goes down. I brought it to a local car wash/detailer that I have brought my cars to for years (never a detail, just washes) with good results, so I figured I would give it a shot. They state they do the following... Clay magic, compound and polish, caruba paste wax/teflon and hand glaze. When I look closely, I can still see the water spots which would lead me to believe that once the wax starts to thin the spots will be more visible.

My question is, based on all the info here, do you think if they really did all they claim, would I still see water spots? I also see some light swirl marks and I NEVER use a circular motion when I wash and dry so I know I didn't cause that. Should I bring it back and complain?

**af90** · 09-14-2014, 04:55 PM

Sounds like you had some water etching especially if you're water is reclaimed. Their process doesnt make too much sense becasue glazing after polishing and waxing makes no sense, unfortunately I think they maybe gave you some smoke and mirrors and didn't spend anywhere near enough time or quality work on it. Give it some time for the glaze to come off and the wax to degrade and it's likely it'll look the same as before.

I don't think giving them a second chance would lead to any better work, likely need to take it to a different detailer that has experience using quality products and knows paint correction.

**tk123** · 09-14-2014, 05:21 PM

Thanks for your reply. To be honest, I'm not sure of the order of their process. I just listed what was listed on their site. I imagine they would follow the order correctly. But yes, I suspected water etching. So my original question is, IF they did do ALL that correctly, should it have worked or would only something along the lines of wet sanding do the job?

**af90** · 09-14-2014, 05:22 PM

Originally Posted by tk123

Thanks for your reply. To be honest, I'm not sure of the order of their process. I just listed what was listed on their site. I imagine they would follow the order correctly. But yes, I suspected water etching. So my original question is, IF they did do ALL that correctly, should it have worked or would only something along the lines of wet sanding do the job?

If you wash, clay, compound, polish, wax you should be able to remove water etching. There are possible severe cases that may require more but it's rare.

**top189h** · 09-14-2014, 05:37 PM

It is completely unacceptable. I rarely ever compound a car because I normally just do daily drivers. However any reputable shop wouldn't let a car leave that way without addressing it with you/the customer. Some rids are too deep to be removed and on some cars, and some cars have lost too much clear coat to remove all imperfections, but in either case this should have been explained to you, preferably before but definitely after the detail. I hate to say it, but I think you should look for another detailer. I only do it part time, but I've recently had a job to fix a car a detailer hacked up and it's just frustrating to see a customer pay for something and not recieve what was promised.

**tk123** · 09-14-2014, 06:10 PM

Originally Posted by af90

If you wash, clay, compound, polish, wax you should be able to remove water etching. There are possible severe cases that may require more but it's rare.

Well that's the thing... It was pretty bad. As I said it literally got sprinkled on EVERY day for 3+ months and the car sat in the sun while it dried.

**tk123** · 09-14-2014, 06:12 PM

Originally Posted by top189h

It is completely unacceptable. I rarely ever compound a car because I normally just do daily drivers. However any reputable shop wouldn't let a car leave that way without addressing it with you/the customer. Some rids are too deep to be removed and on some cars, and some cars have lost too much clear coat to remove all imperfections, but in either case this should have been explained to you, preferably before but definitely after the detail. I hate to say it, but I think you should look for another detailer. I only do it part time, but I've recently had a job to fix a car a detailer hacked up and it's just frustrating to see a customer pay for something and not recieve what was promised.

Yeah... I had the detailing manager do a walk around with me so I could verify that there was 0 damage to the vehicle, and he remarked on the water spots and that I shouldn't park under the sprinkler but he never mentioned how difficult they may be to removed.

**AutowerxDetailing** · 09-14-2014, 06:25 PM

Water spots, especially if left untreated, will etch deep into the paint. Severely etched spots may go so deep into the clear coat that they cannot be completely removed by polishing.

Assuming the shop you took your vehicle to is performing REAL paint correction (not filling/hiding imperfections with glaze/wax) they should be able to explain how much material (paint) was removed from polishing and why not all defects were removed. Perhaps there is not enough film build to completely restore the finish... or perhaps they are not performing true paint correction.

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**Eric@CherryOnTop** · 09-14-2014, 07:16 PM

Honest question needs to be asked, where are you located and what did you pay for this service?

Kinda need to know before determining if you are in your rights to complain. The glaze part of the equation leads me to believe this was a cheap detail from a volume production shop and the high quality work you were expecting did not match the price.

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**af90** · 09-14-2014, 07:24 PM

Originally Posted by tk123

Well that's the thing... It was pretty bad. As I said it literally got sprinkled on EVERY day for 3+ months and the car sat in the sun while it dried.

Do you have any pictures by chance? I've seen water etching so deep it required chemicals to break down. But I've also taken care of water etching from sprinklers with just polishing in a similar situation.