So this past weekend I went to my friend's house and left my car there while going on a short trip, and since they had no room on the driveway, I had to park on the street. Problem is, there's pretty much trees everywhere, and when I got back, I had all these small specks over my whole entire car.

I've tried washing it off with regular car wash detergent, but it doesn't work unless I really work at each little speck individually with a microfiber towel for extended periods of time. I've asked around, and some people have told me to try using rubbing compound or clay bar, but I just wanted to double check...

1. What's the best alternative to use? What should I do?
2. Will a body shop be able to take care of it if I take it to them? What service or process should I ask for specifically? How much should it cost, generally speaking? (I'll still call around for different quotes)

 

You don't need a body shop to fix that..

Clay bar it to see if it comes out. If that doesn't work try some bug and tar remover... If that doesn't work you're probably gonna need some polish and a buffer, unless you plan on going around the whole car with a compound by hand which can be pretty tiring.

EDIT: I hear Isopropyl alcohol works too, but I've never tried that... IMO if elbow grease and bug and tar remover doesn't work, chances are it's etched into the paint and you're gonna have to buff it out. It doesn't take long for the sun to burn **** into the paint, especially if you were parked in direct sunlight.

 

Im sure the clay bar will get it off, I had some dead bugs baked on my car after a long trip and i washed my car at least four times and didn't come off until I used the clay bar.

 

Any clay bar you guys would recommend? Meguiars? Mothers?

 

Meguiars OTC is better then Mothers OTC Clay bar.

 

^+1 I've used both as backup (normally use Claymagic) but IMO Megs has the best OTC quality.

 

Will this suffice?

 

yep that will do it my friend, cheaper than Walmart or any auto parts store ive seen it at to

 

Thanks...

and if this clay bar works, can I wax it after washing/drying it again with Carnauba wax? or are there other steps before I can wax

 

First you do a thorough wash and dry, then you lubricate the surface with the quick mist detail spray that comes in the kit and clay bar the area until it all comes off, then u can wax with the spray wax that also comes with the kit but if already have a good wax you use I would go with that afterwards.

 

Check out detailedimage.com. They're on these forums a lot ("Ask a professional detailer"), they give us a 10% discount, they're very helpful, and they have all the instructions you need on their website.

http://www.detailedimage.com/Auto-Detailing-Guide/

I learned car care from scratch reading that and their forum posts and my rides look better than new now! Well except for the da*n rock chips on my hood, but whatcha gonna do.

 

It looks like fly poo. I've used that same clay kit that you mentioned earlier. It's good.

 

I'm sure the clay you buy on line is very good but what are you going to do wait a week to take care of the crud on this paint? Not! Visit any autoparts store pick one up and get er done! If you had a good wax base most tree sap would have washed off, now would be a good time to clay/clean and wax your G....
Gary

 

Clay bar should take it off, especially if you have at least a thin coat of wax on there. Though, clay bar will take EVERYTHING off so make sure to wax the car after you clay bar it.

Another option if clay bar doesn't work is denatured alcohol. It's similar to isopropyl alcohol but there's no minerals in it so it evaporates with no residue (which is nice). It won't hurt the clear but it'll take everything else off just like the clar bar will so again, wax after you use it.

 

Clay bar everything! It should come off.