Three Ways to Prevent Water Spots on your 2017 GT350

NFS, from New York, raises the issue on a popular Mustang forum. He was out trying to get his 2017 GT350 ready for spring. “Washed the car yesterday after a drive. It was done under cloud cover. After drying I noticed significant spots from my hard water. I did not dry the car fast enough as I was to busy chatting it up with my daughter who stopped by. Also, the hood probably was still warm which added to the water drying quicker than normal. I tried wax with some luck, but at the right viewing angle, the paint looked like it had small craters. I mixed 50/50 white vinegar and distilled water and the paint is back to normal. I used a spray bottle, let it sit for 1 minute and wiped with a waffle cloth then a micro fiber cloth.”

Other owners are very concerned about what vinegar will do to a car’s finish. “I'd advise against the vinegar because it's very acidic. Not sure how car clear coat would fair against it. Mequiars has a water spot remover product.”
Jlau agrees, “I would tend to agree...that's why I have not tried it on the car yet. Typically the trick it to dry it well enough to never have spots. I'm coming from a white 04 Cobra so I'm learning fast that Lightning Blue is not as easy to keep clean.”

SVT suggests, “A little cleaner wax will fix it.”

Btown has his own suggestion. “Cr spotless deionizer”.

Patio prefers Adams’ products. “I use Adams Polishes products. Specifically guard and gloss when drying = no water spots ever.”

Blowing the Car Dry

Jlau has an even better answer. “Do you use the leaf blower method? I got a electric leaf blower from a family member, and I cut down the tube with a hack saw. It works great. It also blows all the water out of the mirror and decklid. It hits all the areas that you find water spots after a short drive.”

Tom chimes in with another vote for blowing the car dry. “I use the Metrovac Air Force Master Blaster Revolution. It works great and blows the water off before it has a chance to dry and cause water spots. Added bonus: No towel or chamois touches the car.”

VooDoo, from British Columbia, even has his own preferred method. “I Ceramic Coated my car with CQuartz UK ! and I don't have hard water. I wash in the shade then the final rinse is directly from the hose without the nozzle !! 90% of the water repels from the car and I simply use a couple of microfibre cloths to wipe up the water drops left over! I also have bottle of drinking water and micro fibre cloth in the trunk for the casual bird poop issues that seem to target Black cars !! lol wet cloth, let sit for a minute or more....then wipe off using very little pressure!”

Having the Car Specially Coated

Several of the owners agree that the ceramic coating can really help keep the cars sparkling, but it takes time to have the car coated and it can be expensive.

RB92, from Florida, says the CR spotless deionizer solved his problems. “This changed my life. 15 min to make my black GT350 look amazing, 20 min for my black Escalade. Both are driven near daily.”

2015E says that the leaf blower solves the problem for him. “I always dry with a leaf blower, then waffle weave, then finally go over it with detail spray and a microfiber. It's a pain to keep black cars clean, I recently bought a leaf blower and electric pressure washer which really cuts down on wash and dry time.”