What's happened here? Help! - update: It's knackered :(

[cossiegaz82]

Evening folks, need a bit of advice please!   

Got home earlier and seeing as the weather was nice I thought I'd give my Golf a clean as it was filthy.

I washed the car just as I normally do and when I was drying it, I noticed all these little marks on the roof and bonnet:











I don't know if you can see the marks in the pics, I don't know how they occurred but I used all the same stuff that I used last week and I had no problems at all last time! 

I've tried to polish the marks off but they just will not go! Any ideas of how they came about and how to avoid them reoccurring at all please folks? 

Many thanks in advance 

Cheers,

Gaz.

[Booth11]

It’s hard to tell from the pics.  Some of them look like swirl marks.  Others are possibly water marks.  Though you’re only seeing them where the light source hits the paintwork they will be all over the car which suggests water marks from hard water drying on the car.  Do you use normal water (unfiltered) and live in hard water area?  Was the car in direct sunlight when being washed and rinsed and did the water dry on the car quickly in the sunlight before you towel dried or air dried it.  That’s one possibility.  You could try a bit of white vinegar to see if that brings the marks off and if so then most likely water spots/marks. 

Another thing to try is IPA or panel wipe to see if that removes them.  Did you just wash and dry the car or did you add any protection, wax or sealant or quick detailer. Possibly not buffed off properly. If that’s the case then IPA will remove them.

[Wo-Wo]

As above but I'm also wondering if you have let blossom leaves sit on the paint as this can leave these kind of marks too?

[cossiegaz82]

It’s hard to tell from the pics.  Some of them look like swirl marks.  Others are possibly water marks.  Though you’re only seeing them where the light source hits the paintwork they will be all over the car which suggests water marks from hard water drying on the car.  Do you use normal water (unfiltered) and live in hard water area?  Was the car in direct sunlight when being washed and rinsed and did the water dry on the car quickly in the sunlight before you towel dried or air dried it.  That’s one possibility.  You could try a bit of white vinegar to see if that brings the marks off and if so then most likely water spots/marks. 

Another thing to try is IPA or panel wipe to see if that removes them.  Did you just wash and dry the car or did you add any protection, wax or sealant or quick detailer. Possibly not buffed off properly. If that’s the case then IPA will remove them.

Hi there, thanks for replying 

The marks are really weird, it's like they're etched into the lacquer somehow! I've tried polish to remove them and a little bit of brake cleaner on a cloth (only on one of the marks) but nothing works. The marks weren't there before I washed it so it's got to be something I've done but I can't for the life of me work out what!

It was about 6.30-7pm when I washed it and although it was bright it wasn't in the sunlight so it's not like it dried quickly. I didn't use anything other than a microfibre drying towel (Halfords one but I can't see that causing it). Everything I used is cleaned after I use it so it's not like it had it dirt on it or anything like that.

The area I live is a hard water area but I've not had a problem like this in 20 years of washing cars here.

It's going in next week to be detailed to get rid of the swirls so hopefully he'll be able to sort that out as well.

Just want to know what I've done to stop it happening again! Lol!

[cossiegaz82]

As above but I'm also wondering if you have let blossom leaves sit on the paint as this can leave these kind of marks too?

Hi, thanks for replying

There wasn't any blossom on the car at all, it all happened after washing it, very confused! Lol!

[cossiegaz82]

Well I took it over the guy that's doing the detailing for him to have a look at it to see what the score is and the verdict is it's unsaveable! 

Something has etched into the paint and badly damaged the lacquer so nothing I've done (in a way I wish it was due to something I'd done as I could at least kind of think 'oh well, my fault' and kick myself but it was something out of my control!  ).

He tried a couple of times with a clay bar, DA and finally wet sanded a section of the bonnet and although with the wet sanding improving matters, it still needed another 1 or 2 gos with it and he'd already removed over 20 microns of paint thickness so it now requires the bonnet and roof repainting. Joy.

As to what's caused it, he said he had a brand new BMW M4 delivered to him that had been delivered from the dealer straight to him that had been untouched by the dealer which had 80 miles on it and that had the
same damage on it but on the boot as well (with it being a flat panel I guess). The bonnet and boot require repainting and the carbon fibre roof actually needs to be replaced due the damage and he believes it may be due to a combination of the car having no protection on the bodywork and acid rain!

I hate cars sometimes