booksmitty

Did the Clay bar today. It actually worked. It did pick up some grit, ahem, impurities. Also removed small spot of tar!

Cool!

jaydogg

i did a clay bar and a meguiars 3 step on the hhr wednesday. i must say not only does she shine, and a deep one at that, but i love how the car feels so damn smooth. need to get a car dust mop and some more quick detailer for after the rain comes.

SindyDix

I did a wash again today before photos and the clay bar worked but I must have allot of rail dust on my hood! The small pits bumps are back. Seems the clay bar was a temporary fix. Not the perminant soulution.
I called my dealer again and the gal I need to speak with is not in on the weekends. They will hear again from me on Monday!

ultramicrofiber

I would be surprised if it is rail dust. The air contains a lot of contaminints, and it just seems to settle on the horizontal surfaces. If you followed up your claying with a carnuba wax/polish, that will attract and hold surface stuff also. Once the protection dissipates so does the "stuff" stuck to it.
If your car sits outside, you can end up with quite a bit of "stuff" in just a few weeks.

dbarberaz

Clay Bar Had to have the dent and scratch fixed on my hood while I was on vaction. After getting the HHR home I noticed a few funny spots on the door. Took it back and found out it was a little overspray. Body shop pulled a clay bar out, showed me how to use it and then took off the overspray. Car looked very good where he cleaned it. Going out today to get one and do the whole car.

GRUMPEE

FYI, Grit on the top off the cars should be a worry of the past for anyone buying recently, in particular if the car was recently delivered from Mex. I checked out my car the day before I picked it up, when it just got off the Transporter. The roof, hood, side and back was tightwrapped in a white plastic "shielding". Even then, Kearny Mesa Chevy prepped the Car before pickup.

However, I would be concerned more on how long the vehicle had been sitting out in the dealer's lot picking up contaminants...expecially in Southern California.

Alzonie

I guess I must be living in the Dark Ages! I've never heard of a clay bar either. or an Acid Wash, or "Rail Dust" for that matter! Guess I'll have to get out more! Maybe the cars headed to Arizona don't come by rail. Possibly just driven across the border by illegals!! ! Biggest problem I have is with the birds using the HHR for target practice! Even after cleaning off the spots if you look at just the right angle you see where they were. . I'd get a car cover, but my Wife would never use it at work where the droppings occur!

ChiTownHHR

Rail Dust for me is a daily issue unfortunately. Being that I live, eat, breath and sleep railroad, makes escaping the issue rather difficult. Clay Bars are wonderful. I use Mothers and Adam personally. You should see what a wash and a clay bar does to a Locomotive after 6 months of oil, grease, dust, etc.

I like the Mothers Bar the most. It's a bit more pricey, but well worth it ... in my opinion of course.

DARK AGE 53

A couple of things not mentioned here are, you want the body of the vehicle cool and out of the sun while using the clay bar. After doing a section or two re-knead the clay bar, it's best to wipe down the vehicle with a 100% cotton towel.

EZ4U2CHere

Rail dust was the first thing I noticed when we brought the car home the other night. I can't believe how bad it is. I don't think I've ever bought a car that has this much rail dust, and I've bought cars built in Mexico before. I know what I'll be doing on my 4th of July.

One thing I didn't see anyone mention here, you should wash your car before using the bar, and again after using the bar before you wax it.

You wash it before you clay so your not dragging dirt across the surface.

You wash it after you clay so you are not dragging the now loose contmaninents across the surface, or in this case, buffing them into the surface.