Buix893

Hey, got a beautiful 2005 ES330, paint is 9/10. Car is from Florida and sat next to a sprinkler. Long story short water marks won't get off. Tried scratch X and Vinegar. Bought meguires ultimate compound. Worked a tiny bit but wow this is hard. Orbital buffer?

BDSL

Have you tried car polish and wax?

PFB

Drive it to a few reputable body shops in your area, have them look at the damage, and ask them for their professional opinion.

fortitude

try using a clay bar - you can buy a kit such as Meguiar's or Mothers which come with the bar and the lubricant.

Buix893

Tried clay bar..compound and buffer and nothing...fml...gonna have a detailer take a look

mmatheny

Wow! That looks bad!

Ace20Six

Looks like water spots have etched themselves into the clear.

There are different grades of clay out there, kind you find in a kit at local parts store is some of the lowest. That way amateurs don't go ruining their vehicles and then turn around blaming the company and their product for damages.

May want to try a little more aggressive clay. Then a compound with a cutting pad and machine. If this is the only affected area I would advise a local pro detailer to just tackle this on. Good investment however for you if you plan to keep the car for sometime and drive it a lot or is parked outside mostly to have the entire vehicle done.

xoarz

You could try LIGHT wetsanding with 3000-5000 grit sandpaper. I bought some from NAPA the other day and it really helped to remove paint transfer/clearcoat scratches. I can only assume that the process is the same for watermarks because I don't have any watermarks on my car to test it out on :-) The sandpaper leaves the surface scuffed up and dull since it removes a fine layer of clearcoat, so I used some polishing compound followed by wax and now my car's paint is perfect.

01ESgray

Sounds like the water had a high acidity content and etched the clear coat. A good cut and buff should "restore" the paint. If the etching is into the paint it would be a re-spray.