I recently bought an A6 and the hood, roof and trunk are covered in water spots. You don't notice them from looking head-on, but from an angle, the light hits them just right and they're extremely noticeable and ugly. I clay-barred the car and used Meguiars Scratch-X w/ a random orbital (which I believe is the strongest over the counter stuff I can buy from AutoZone, etc). Neither did the trick.

Now, I realize OTC and professional are two totally different worlds. I'm willng to spend a little bit of money to get this fixed, but hate the idea of paying a detailer b/c I thoroughly enjoy working on my own cars. If I buy Meguiars DA polisher, can someone recommend a good polish, pads, etc and a good website, videos, class, etc where I can learn to do this properly? I have 3 other vehicles and they could all use a good polish, so I'd rather spend a few hundred on the equipment and some scrap metal to practice then $1500 to a detailer to have them all done.

 

Meguiars Scratch-X 2.0 is a good polish, so if that didnt work, I dont know. You might have to go with a Compound which is more aggressive, but be careful not to go through. I'd then switch to a Glaze to finish. You might have to just get 'close enough' and live with it.

I used Mothers polish before with great results. I think they call it 'Scratch Remover' now, but say its a 'true' polish, so its prolly the same stuff. You should follow it up with their 'Pre-Wax Cleaner', then 'Sealer & Glaze', then wax.

 

Guides:

http://www.mothers.com/03_how/03_how_02_videos.html

http://www.meguiars.com/video/index.cfm

 

Well, the Scratch-X I tried is some that I've had sitting in my cabinet for probably 2-3yrs - it's not even the 2.0!! I guess I'll go buy some of that and give it another shot. Will a random orbital work better than by hand? Should I use a terry cloth or wool applicator pad on it?

Also, I figure that OTC stuff (SX2.0, etc) are all just watered down versions of the commercial stuff. My SX says "safe for all paints, won't burn, etc". The same w/ a random orbital. That's why I think I just might need more. I know you can possibly eff up bigtime w/ a polisher and a good compound, but you can also get amazing results if done right.

 

Remember Polish and Compound are 2 different things. Compound (aka Rubbing Compound or Cutting Compound - I'm dating myself ) is alot more aggressive. I personally applied, used, and removed Compound by hand.

Wool is more aggressive than terry, I believe. If you try wool with your polish, it might do better. Then switch back to terry.

I also read that Mequiars Deep System Paint Cleaner (?) is more aggressive than polish, but safer than compound...

 

detailersdomain.com for all your questions and products.

 

claybar

 

Yeah, I knew polish isn't what I was looking for - compound was the word. Polish comes afterward to really buff the shine

I also tried the Deep System Cleaner on the hood - I still have Meguiars 3-stage system (DSCleaner, a polish and then a wax) - I don't believe they make this anymore - at least not as advertised "3 stage" where each bottle is marked "stage 1" "stage 2", etc.

Anyway, I bought Scratch X 2.0 today. Haven't tried it, but don't hold much hope for it. I just don't see it begin that much more aggressive than the original - hopefully I'm wrong though. I see that some of the professionals on this forum use Meguiars M105 compound. That'll be my next shot, but don't know if it'll work by hand or random orbital or if it needs something stronger such as rotary?

 

What you describe sounds like acid rain damage. The top surface of the clear coat has been etched away which causes ugly very slight depressions in the surface. From the right angle they look like jagged edged moon craters.

To remove those spots you must use a strong abrasive polish which will remove clear coat from both the good undamaged areas as well as the damaged areas. The problem is you may go down and thru the clear coat right to the base coat of pigmented color. Only repainting will help at that point.

Even if you are able to remove these acid rain spots, another rain containing acid will cause more new spots to appear. This can occur in less than 20 minutes after the rain stops.

Today's auto paints are more susceptible to acid rain damage which is very common today. Why do you think many new cars sitting in lots have a white plastic film on the horizontal surfaces of the paint. It is to prevent acid rain damage before they sell the car to you. Once you buy the car, they remove the film and then Good Luck!

 

Yeah, you're probably right. I don't think we have acid rain here - live 2 miles from the ocean and it's a small town. The car came from some elderly people that only drove it 800 miles in the last two years they had it. I assumed they kept it in a garage, but most likely not now that I look at these spots. They also lived near Orlando which has a much better shot at acid rain. I'm gonna leave this to a professional and hope for the best. I just have to convince my pregnant wife that the car that she doesn't even like needs a $500 wax job....