Water spot removal

[Mazzabl]

I have a new car that sat on the dealer lot for a little over a year. I’ve tried claying the car, but it seems there are water spots etched in the clear coat that I can not get out. I have never done any paint correction work, only applied basic waxes and sealants. I am assuming the car needs a polish or compound? The car is black and does not appear to have any swirl marks, just water spots. I was looking into a griots g9 polisher, but am unsure of what pads and compound/polish will get the job done. Any advice is greatly appreciated.

[Mike Phillips]

I have a new car that sat on the dealer lot for a little over a year. I’ve tried claying the car, but it seems there are water spots etched in the clear coat that I can not get out.

I have never done any paint correction work, only applied basic waxes and sealants. I am assuming the car needs a polish or compound?

The car is black and does not appear to have any swirl marks, just water spots. I was looking into a griots g9 polisher, but am unsure of what pads and compound/polish will get the job done.

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

First welcome to AutogeekOnline!


Second - Detailing Clay and all the clay substitutes, like the Nanoskin Towel, are only for remove ABOVE surface bonded contaminants, that is junk that is ON the paint, not IN the paint.

Sounds like the water spots you have left a physical imprint in the paint, perhaps like this?

Imprint Rings - A specific type of water spot on car paint by Mike Phillips





CLOSE-UP Shots of Imprint Rings








If so, or if you have Type II crater etchings, then "yes" you will need to either polish them our, or in a worst case scenario, compound first and the follow with polish.

3 - Types of Water Spots - Type I, Type II and Type III






Type II Water Spots
Type II Water Spots are actual etchings or craters in the paint because something corrosive in a water source has landed on the paint and was not removed before a portion of the paint was eaten or dissolved by the corrosive substance.

I took this photo myself when I helped Alex Fong from Corvette Forum remove a zillion Type II Water Spots out of the clear coat finish on his Corvette.






Here's a close-up of the same photo, if you look closely you can see the edges are angled downward as this is an actual etching "into" the clear paint.







At our normal Wednesday morning meeting today, I heard we're sold out of the G9 polishers. Not sure when they will be back in stock but you an probably get on the waiting list. I heard they will be in around 3-4 weeks.

[Mike Phillips]

Machine polishing isn't that hard, check this video out...

First time detailing your car? Watch this video - It shows everything you need to know and do


If you're new to car detailing, or perhaps you were given your first polisher for Christmas, no problem... we were all new to car detailing at one point.

This video shows you exactly what to do and how to do it and as is my normal teaching style, I tell you WHY you're doing it.





Maybe I'll re-watch it and the LIST every tip or technique I share in the video. While it does show me using the Porter Cable 7424XP, you can use the SAME EXACT TECHNNIQUES with dang near ANY other brand or type of polisher except the BEAST. With the BEAST you can tackle much larger section due to the power it has.

[WaxMaster1]

I have had success with 3D Eraser on a few different cars.

3D Eraser Water Spot Remover

[Coatingsarecrack]

I have a new car that sat on the dealer lot for a little over a year. I’ve tried claying the car, but it seems there are water spots etched in the clear coat that I can not get out. I have never done any paint correction work, only applied basic waxes and sealants. I am assuming the car needs a polish or compound? The car is black and does not appear to have any swirl marks, just water spots. I was looking into a griots g9 polisher, but am unsure of what pads and compound/polish will get the job done. Any advice is greatly appreciated.

With no swirls I’d think a good polish no correction would be good. G9 with griots correcting cream or even Carpros Essence. I’d test spot with something like essence or another good polish and if that doesn’t work try the griots CC. Don’t worry about polishing as long as you keep the machine moving.... you’ll be good. Just watch a few videos....


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Mazzabl]

Thanks for all the great responses. I’ve never done any polishing before or used a machine polisher, so I’m just trying to learn as much as possible before jumping into it. Would I use the griots orange pad to polish?