No, I wasn't lazy enough to run it through one of the automatic washes.

I stopped in at the local car wash and used one of the DIY stations. I used the pre soak, high pressure soap, and high pressure rinse. I went very easy on it and didn't blast the car with full pressure. I went home to chamois the car off and noticed splotches that looked chalky and lighter than the rest of the car. It looks absolutely terrible but I haven't lost all hope that I can fix it. I figure a good buffing might do it but money is a little tight right now.

The car is a Van Nuys car with all original Spectra Red paint. It isn't in terrible shape but could probably use a respray in a few years.

Anyone know what happened/ how to fix it?

 

Sounds like clear coat separation or oxidation to me.

 

Sounds like the carwash might be using regular tap water which has alot of minerals and can leave spots/deposits when it starts to dry.

Try using "Meguiars Ultimate Compound". I've used it and it works great to remove paint surface imperfections.

 

Time for a new paint job,it's 28 yrs old.

 

That would make sense. I was under the impresssion that paint takes a while to oxidize,not 20 minutes and a cheapskate trying to save on the water bill. I will look into that compound. Thanks.

But a lot of that time was spent in a garage It is showing its age but I think the fact that it is still original is kind of neat... which is convenient because I am a college student and when I do it, I'd like to do it right and strip the car down and use POR15 and the best primers and then the best paints rather than just get what I can afford, which would be a cheap scuff 'n shoot that probably wouldn't look much better and wouldn't offer much corrosion protection. (and putting the stock sticker package back on would probably cost as much as the job itself)

 

Post up a few pictures. When i Bought my red 91 RS original paint btw, it was all Dull red and some white... i washed it, and it didnt help much then I tried to wax.. Thats just made a wicked mess i couldnt get the wax off the paint. so i wet sanded 1000 then again with 2000, and used a buffer with Polish compound, I skipped the rubbing compound.. and Its been Fine and its almost been a year. I've waxed it a few dozen times since then to keep it looking good....

 

That would be a good idea,wet sand it and buff the heck out of it.

 

I had a similar problem when I used a quarter car wash out of town after driving through a huge rain storm on the way to a show. Car dried and left white rings all over. Turned out there was a high amount of calcium in the water. The entire car needs to be buffed again.

 

I ended up using Meguiar's Ultimate Polish (the compound sounded a little too aggressive) and hitting the car with that and then sealing it with some plain old fashioned Turtle Wax Super Hard shell paste wax. Fixed the car wash damage and the haziness from being daily driven and parked out in the elements for 2 years. I will finish the job tomorrow and hopefully snap some pics!

But yeah, I highly recommend that polish and a good wax for anyone else with hard water spots/ haziness/ general weathering. It does take a little paint off but it will at least keep the car looking presentable for a few more years.

 

Finished it up today, very happy with the results.
This thread is pretty worthless without pictures, so I took a few to show how big a difference it made. The red is much deeper, darker and more reflective and the finish is far smoother than I'd ever gotten from just wax and a clay bar.

BEFORE



BEFORE/AFTER

AFTER

 

Looks so nice, I'll be dropping ours off next weekend!! Lol!!

 

I have used the Meguiars Compound before I use the polish. It is a very light compound that is "clearcoat safe" so it doesn't dull the clearcoat/paint like a normal (harsh) rubbing compound. Then I use the polish to bring in a better shine, but not always necessary...It seems to polish as well!

I would suggest applying it on a little area and seeing if it works to get out the white spots.

BTW: The car looks good!

 

Looks good!

I had that happen from a quarter car wash before on my old truck.

The wheel cleaner was dripping from the nozzle onto the truck and left a ton of haze.

I used some of the Turtle Wax Liquid Clay Bar and it cleaned it right off.

 

Most of the quarter car washes here are using unfiltered water for the high pressure rinse and leave spots. The spotless rinse is a low pressure and is using a highly filtered water.
These carwashes may recycle water but it is not a very good filtering job so the spots are quite evident. That is where the spotless low pressure rinse comes in. It is filtered much more and does not leave the spots.