The Ultimate Car Wash.....

J

jmeiers

New member
Okay, I picked up my new 2001.5 Passat exactly 4 weeks ago. About the same time, I found this board and started getting up to speed on proper care, etc. About a week and a half after getting my new car, I washed it with Meg. Gold. I did not have my detailing supplies yet, so that is all I did. After washing it, I noticed what looked dried, speckled water spots along the door panels. I figured I must not have cleaned the doors enough, but I didn't have time to fix it.



I finally received my AIO and SG yesterday, so today I planned to do the full treatment on my car. I washed the car twice with Meg. Gold and used an Absorber to dry it (NOTE: My Miracle Towel from TACS, which came with my AIO and SG, has the terrible linting/fuzzing problem that others have seen). Once dry, I examined the door panels, and sure enough, the same spots were there. Well I went at those spots with my wash mit, bug and tar remover, QD spray, the kitchen sink, etc., but they would not go away. I can definitely feel debris on the paint through a plastic bag. The spots look like water spots, but with specks of residue in the center and on the edges.



I decided to run by my dealership, and, of course, the service dept. had just closed. The businees manager happened to be walking by, and he immediately said it was acid rain damage and asked if I had purchased the $200 acid rain insurance (NO!).



So, here's where I want advice. Should I, go purchase a bar of clay (which kind?) and clay the door panels? Take the car to the service dept. next week and make them deal with it (a 4 week old car, should it have this problem already?)? Pursue some other option to get rid of the

spots?



Thanks,

Jon
 
Kendirr, I'd be interested to know where you live, because my 2001 honda civic has just about the same problem. Its only a month old and has beed treated with kid gloves. I have already posted "help with removing stains in paint" with not much help yet. I at a loss for solutions. May be something we have to live with or get repainted. Here is a few pic of my problem, do they look similar to yours?

kkhood2.jpg

kkhoodup.jpg
 
Sorry about the linting problem. You'll probably have to wash the towel a few times to rid yourself of this issue. Laters.
 
Jav, I live just NW of Philly. My Passat came from a dealer in Jersey, though. Manufactured in April.



Tough to tell from the pictures if it is the same thing I have. Mine look like water spots, but have some sort of residue. It is really only on the door panels (not roof, hood, etc.), which makes me wonder if it really is acid rain. Though, when the Passats are shipped, they have some protective covering on the roof, hood, and trunk.



Thanks for the reply, good luck. I'll let you know if I find out anything. Was your dealer any help?



Jon
 
May we all learn lessons from these incidents. I recently purchased my 2001 F150 and realized a week later that the hood had a fair amount of "raildust" embedded in it. I removed the dust with some clay and applied a polymer sealant. You would think that a dealership would take resonable action to protect their vehicles from paint contaniments.

I am embarrassed that I missed this but I guess that my guard was down when inspecting the vehicle because it was brand new.
 
On http://www.autoint.com under the OEM/TSB Section is the Ford TSB and warranty information, plus the last page shows why Ford does not use nor recommend the use of clay for the removal of rail dust (ferrous oxides).

Thought you might like to see from the horse's mouth the real deal. The dealer is paid to do the removal and submitts a warranty claim to Ford to take care of properly your vehicle.
 
Kinda of scarey when you read the reasons, with the pictographs of why clay or buffing is not the answer for the removal isn't it.



We have seen two and three year old vehicles where the particles were not removed correctly and the clear on the top of the vehicles is coming completely off.



We have also been through a situation with a large Ford dealer in Sacramento whose detailer decided he was smarter than the paint experts at the paint suppliers and Ford.



He used a cheap oxalic acid fallout remover on 400 CHiPs vehicles, within 6 months all the clearcoat was "powdering" off the vehicles. Cost the dealer in the millions as Ford would not pay the freight to repaint them, the dealer had to.



If you had a chance, you saw the other bulletins from a couple of imports regarding the issue. The same bulletin is out for Chryser Canada dealers, they have to use the ABC system, DCX USA is going to issue the same, and there are others changing to this process.
 
I am betting a few beers after work the guys got to thinking - "I wonder what would happen if...:devil:" and they grab this multi-million dollar rig, fill the shovel with water and whammo. The good news is you get an interior wash for the same price as the exterior :biggrin:
 
I thought the " Buggatti Veyron drives off pier into water........." was The Ultimate Car Wash.....
 
I wish I had the time on my hands to even be able to think up something like this, not to mention the $$ to see it through:biggrin:
 
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