Tar Spots vs Candy White Leon

[GainfulShrimp]

I noticed the other day after washing my car that it still had some small black dots in various locations - mostly on the front wheel arches and on the front doors just behind the wheels.

These little buggers were impossible to shift with a wash mitt. They were really black and really stuck - as in glued on - to the paint. When I then tried gentle persuasion with a finger nail, they just sort of 'burst' to leave brown gunk on the paint...
These things are seriously not good on a Candy White car!

After some Googling, I came to the conclusion that they're Tar Spots. And after some more Googling and some trial and error, I've found an apparently reliable way of getting rid of the sticky little gits:

1. wash car to get rid of non-tar dirt
2. apply Autoglym Intensive Tar Remover (I got it from Halfords) liberally over the spots using an old microfibre cloth
3. work your way around and car, wiping away the easy/small ones and re-wetting the stubborn/large ones with AITR
4. repeat step 3 until you've got rid of even the worst offenders
5. wash the car again to get rid of any AITR or brown gunk residue left on the paint
6. re-polish and wax as the AITR will have removed basically everything but the paint itself

Unfortunately, I ran out of time before I could finish step 4, so I'll have to repeat the process again at the weekend before I can reapply some polish and wax protection.

I never noticed these on my (also Candy White) FR during the year or so that I owned it, so I think I must have been unlucky and driven over some very-freshly-laid tarmac or something?

Anyone else suffered from these and do you have a better method for getting rid, if so?

 

[killieboy123]

Yeah get it quite often (white also). I always just use some tar remover for the easy ones and a bit of clay for the ones that don't shift. Did my sisters car (White again) the other day and I honestly think she's been throwing tar at it for fun ha. Was covered.

 

[grant 123]

you want to try some tardis or ironx, go on www.polishedbliss.co.uk

 

[rf860]

Yeah get it quite often (white also). I always just use some tar remover for the easy ones and a bit of clay for the ones that don't shift. Did my sisters car (White again) the other day and I honestly think she's been throwing tar at it for fun ha. Was covered.

I read the other day that you should'nt use clay to remove tar spots as the clay spread the hard tar over your car leaving lots of swirls and scratches. Oh and my car is murder for showing up tar and general dirt, just washed it on friday and it's a mess again

 

[Balddee2]

you want to try some tardis or ironx, go on www.polishedbliss.co.uk

Tardis is great, I use it all the time on tar spots, they just dissolve in front of your eye's!

 

[chris_200120vt]

i use autosmart's tardis much better than autogylm tar remover

 

[rf860]

Tardis is great, I use it all the time on tar spots, they just dissolve in front of your eye's!

i use autosmart's tardis much better than autogylm tar remover

I looked at getting tardis but it seemed really expensive for such a small bottle. Is it really better than Autoglym? Might give it a go.

 

[dholdi]

+1 for Tardis - excellent stuff.

 

[leon1p]

Car plan tar remover for me.. spray on and just watch as the tar runs off.. then wipe.. reapply as required... simple stuff, low effort, great result. Not had any problems with any paint removal etc. Also it's cheap as chips.

Review mentions overspray but as long as you squirt onto small areas it works.. i've never had any overspray issues.. besides you polish afterwords.
http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/products/products/210297/carplan_tar_remover.html

Oh and it stinks so throw out your cloth.

 

[chris_200120vt]

i have a account with them i buy it 5 ltrs at a time think it is around £15-20 will have to find a old invoice, it is good stuff no effort needed at all just put on a cloth wipe over job done i found autoglym to be hard work

 

[GainfulShrimp]

Cheers chaps! If/when I get another dose of tar spots, I'll be ordering some Tardis.

 

[jonjay]

Autosmart Tardis or Valet Pro Tar and Glue remover.

They are tried and tested by a lot of pro and semi pro detailers

 

[Rob66]

I haven't tried Tardis but rate the Autoglym Tar remover highly. Wax wise I used Megs NXT2.0 for the first time on my MR2 last week and came up great, best thing i have tried IMO better than some more expensive products i have - would be worth a try on the white Leon.

 

[stornolad]

You can also use a cloth damped in petrol to remove tar spots

 

[GainfulShrimp]

Thanks chaps. As I'd already purchased it, I stuck with the Auto Glym Intensive Tar Remover in the end. It was a lot of work though... every time I got close to the paint to concentrate on removing a spot, I noticed about 10 more.
Doing the entire car took a couple of hours and my hands/arms were aching like mad. Then gave the entire car a wipe down with 50:50 IPA, polished some swirls out, gave it another wipe down and then used Gtechniq C2 Concentrate to seal it... I'm impressed by the glass-like shine with it especially as I was too knackered to do a good job of the polishing.

 

[char_baby]

Sorry for dragging up an old topic, noticed my car is covered in tar. Last time I used autoglym tar remover, and it seemed to do nothing

You do just apply to a cloth and rub away right?
or are you meant to apply it on and leave it?

 

[Ibia FR 1.8T]

In all honesty AG intensive tar remover is a rip off due to it being so weak, you have to use large amounts to remove tiny amounts. Like others say autosmart tardis and any other one supplied in bulk which spray on will see instant results of the tar running off without any contact with a wash mitt.

 

[G.P]

In all honesty AG intensive tar remover is a rip off due to it being so weak, you have to use large amounts to remove tiny amounts. Like others say autosmart tardis and any other one supplied in bulk which spray on will see instant results of the tar running off without any contact with a wash mitt.

Is it not weak so as it does not bring your wax off?

I use WD40 if i need to, but using 3m polish, i've not had to do this for years. . .

 

[char_baby]

Ah ok, i'll give it a go next weekend and see what results I get. Otherwise gonna have to buy a new one.

Thanks.

 

[Weejok]

Autosmarts tardis is the business can more or less see the tar run off the car within minutes