Embedded watermarks/splotches in paintwork

[dodge]

Hey guys, could anyone give me some pointers as to what I should do to remove these marks?

That's what my hood looks like after a wash (currently using chemguys citrus wash), clay and good going over with scratch X 2. As you can see there's all sorts of crater looking things and pitting. None of these are noticeable to the touch.
I'm guessing the scratch x isn't really harsh enough for the severity of the marks but I've been taking baby steps in fear of causing more harm than good. All of the cutting compounds/polishes I've come across in stores, (I need a CCP store in Perth!) say to avoid use on clearcoats, which I'm sure my car had at one point, but now I'm thinking that it's been resprayed at least in certain parts.

The marks can be hidden well with a wax, so that it looks more like this (camera focus shifted):

but it annoys me that they are there.

[Mrk_Mickey]

Hmmm...I may be wrong (Dan or Mike will chime in anyways) but it just looks like muck that's seeped into the very first few depths of the clearcoat. I reckon that will buff out with some menzerna powerfinish, personally.

[gregozedobe]

That's what my hood looks like after a wash (currently using chemguys citrus wash), clay and good going over with scratch X 2. As you can see there's all sorts of crater looking things and pitting. None of these are noticeable to the touch.
I'm guessing the scratch x isn't really harsh enough for the severity of the marks but I've been taking baby steps in fear of causing more harm than good. All of the cutting compounds/polishes I've come across in stores, (I need a CCP store in Perth!) say to avoid use on clearcoats, which I'm sure my car had at one point, but now I'm thinking that it's been resprayed at least in certain parts.

Are you applying the ScratchX 2 by hand ? If so, you probably need to use a LOT more elbow grease and spend more time on the one small area before moving on to the next.

ScratchX 2 is a reasonably aggressive polish, and will take paint off (to get rid of the craters), but doing it by hand is HARD WORK and takes a lot of time and effort (a lot more than most people realize). After giving myself sore arms and shoulders fixing up some small defects on just the bonnet of my Octavia I invested in a DA polisher, foam pads and Meguiars M205 and M105 polishes. Even then it is still a lengthy process.

Depending on your level of energy it might be easier to take your car to a GOOD detailer and let them do the grunt work. Once the paint work has been corrected you should be able to maintain it yourself.

[DMS_Dan]

The only way will be to abrasively polish the paintwork. It will be a multi step process as the first step will be quite aggressive to remove the marks followed by several more steps that are needed to bring the gloss and depth back to the paint.

You will need a machine to get the marks out as well so if you don't have one then you will need a pro that knows what they are doing.

[KWICKS]

^^^^^^^Dan did this to our new GTI 12 months back. After every wash I still see a few - nowhere near as many as there were because he did remove the majority - but they are nasty. I think given ours was delivered like this there is a problem with how VW transport and store their cars between manufacture plant, dock, boat, and holding yard.

[seangti]

What causes these marks? Acid rain?

[Mrk_Mickey]

^^^^^^^Dan did this to our new GTI 12 months back. After every wash I still see a few - nowhere near as many as there were because he did remove the majority - but they are nasty. I think given ours was delivered like this there is a problem with how VW transport and store their cars between manufacture plant, dock, boat, and holding yard.

Unfortunately BMW have the same problem. I daresay a lot of other car dealers would also.

What causes these marks? Acid rain?

The problem lies in the amount of time between being clean. The car will get dirty if it sits in a lot having come straight off the ship, and if it's not cleaned soon enough then water drops, (rain, or whatever) especially if dirty, will just sink onto the clear and stay there. You need to then polish them out with an abraisive polish like the Menzerna polishes otherwise they will just stay there.

[DMS_Dan]

What causes these marks? Acid rain?

That can be one cause but we dont really get that here like they do overseas.

The main issue is the minerals in the water or on the car surface.

When the car is wet the water will sit on the surface. Once the sun comes out the water evaporates away leaving these minerals to etch into the surface.

This is where your wax or sealant comes in to play. If the cars have a good quality wax or sealant on them then its a non issue because the minerals etch into the protective layer so all you need to do is wipe the car down with a water spot remover or clay the car and they will go away.

[dodge]

Are you applying the ScratchX 2 by hand ? If so, you probably need to use a LOT more elbow grease and spend more time on the one small area before moving on to the next.

Yeah, I haven't got myself a polisher yet. Trying to justify the expense to myself so I guess I'll have to ring around to see what it would cost for a pro to do. Having the machine would certainly reduce the time it takes to maintain the paintwork once it's back up to scratch though...

Thanks for all the replies guys