What Are These Spots in the Finish?

[dandrewk]

Blue Model Y, two months old. Ceramic coating applied about a week after purchase. Typically, I wash the car once every week or two. This past month, with intense heat and then bad air due to local wildfires, I haven't been able to wash it... until this past weekend.

Much to my dismay, there are hundreds of these (barely) visible spots on the car, mostly on the passenger side rear quarter panel. These were -not- there when I bought the car or after the ceramic coating. My son has been driving it to his work the past month, and the car has been parked in direct sunlight during hot weather. There are other spots randomly in several areas.

What are these? The pattern would indicate splatter, and perhaps they hardened in the sunlight. Washing them out does no good. I made a first pass with white vinegar with little effect. They are hard to see in sunlight, so I'm not crazy concerned, but I would love them gone?

Any suggestions? I've never had to "buff out" anything before, and am reticent using anything abrasive and scraping off the ceramic coating.

 

[DaveORD]

Looks like hard water stains. Any chance your car is getting wet from a sprinkler or other water source of hard water? And then baking in with the hot, sunny conditions? But if hard water, they should come off fairly easily... We have hard water in my sub-division and had to buy one of those activated charcoal type of filters for rinsing my car when washing. If I use normal tap water, I end up with those kinds of spots.

 

[jf64k]

I agree with @DaveORD, those look like hard water spots.

After I had my MY ceramic coated, the shop recommended this for water spots. It’s worked great for me.

FEYNLAB® WATER SPOT REMOVER

 

[dandrewk]

I agree with @DaveORD, those look like hard water spots.

After I had my MY ceramic coated, the shop recommended this for water spots. It’s worked great for me.

FEYNLAB® WATER SPOT REMOVER

Thanks for the responses. Do these specialized products work better than white vinegar, which I tried to no avail?

 

[jf64k]

Thanks for the responses. Do these specialized products work better than white vinegar, which I tried to no avail?

The Feynlab worked for me. Maybe reach out to your ceramic coat installer or manufacturer to see what they recommend??

 

[N1L CO2]

Wow, some of those spots seem to be almost baked-in (etched-in) to the clear coat. As a self-taught DIY detailer, I'd try to clay-bar it first and see how much of it still remain afterwards. If you can still "feel" the etching, that means it's eaten away at the clear coat then you will have to have it polished out. And, if that doesn't do it, you will need to have color correction done with some cutting compound with more aggressive pads. What's more concerning though is ceramic coating service you paid for should have minimized this type of damage. It doesn't look like the coating did it's job.

A quick tip, never, ever wash your car in direct sunlight. If you must, make sure you wipe the car down immediately. People love seeing how the water beads off the paint. But, most don't realize the larger beads actually act like a magnifying glass and in direct sunlight, they can leave permanent etching on the clear coat.