I bought my titanium gray 8 used with 7,000 miles on it. I now have over 12,000 miles logged. My problem is this: the car came with the cheezy moonroof wind deflector. When I removed the deflector, there was a layer of fine dusty, gritty crap under it. After careful cleaning with a wet cloth and waxing the area you can still "see" the outline where the p.o.s. deflector was. No scratches, no lines you can feel to the touch but very noticable. Maybe a little difference in color? I don't want to do anything drastic that could harm the clear coat. Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

try to claybar it. If there is no damage to the paint, claybar should get rid of that stuff.

and - good call on removing the deflector. it's ugly, and it doesn't do anything. The moonroof has a built in deflector that pops up when you open the window. I don't know why that external deflector is even an option.

 

JASON is correct when i removed mine i washed it then claybar then wax .cant tell i ever had anything on it. as far as the deflector the only time i wish i still had it on is when i only open the moonroof less than 1/2 way .theres alot of wind noise if you dont open it all the way.

 

Same here, I removed mine and to me it looks like fine abrasions where the roof deflector sat on the car. I actually paid for mine and decided after a month that it looked cheap. I guess I'll try the claybar when I polish her in the spring.

 

I've never used a claybar before but have heard plenty of good things about the product. I'm going to try to clay it out this weekend and hopefully be free of that goofy-*** plexiglass lump on the roof of my car Thanks

HD

 

i work for a cardealership and we use aftalene (its actually a drycleaning substance works on your clothes to) it takes off everything except your paint youll be happy

 

brutalbrad, where can a mere mortal obtain some of this magical aftalene. Is it a powder or paste or liquid? Any suggestions on how it is applied? My experience tells me usually any chemical that ends with "ene" is pretty mean stuff. Does it have a high skin reactivity rating? Just curious because I have never heard of it. Thanks in advance for any additional info.

 

low fly'n, you can get claybar from autozone or the other auto store. They sell it along with a spray bottle for about $10. Buying a zaino claybar would be slightly cheaper ($16 for two), but not worth it unless you're also ordering a bunch of other zaino due to the $9 shipping fee.

 

I removed mine as soon as I got the car home. Didn't order it, didnt like it, it had to go right away. Here's the problem. If they put the deflector on before the clear coat was fully cured, then it will leave a permanent mark.
My roof has a couple lines that are there for good. Clay did not remove them so I am gonna have to live with them. Not that noticeable to cause me much heartburn.

 

Money, money, money, money,.....MONEY!

 

I removed the deflector today and used the clay bar on it followed by Meguires X-treme. There are still some light lines that appear to be "permanent" etchings into the clear coat like valpac mentions above. Not bad enough to put the deflector back on though. But... that part of the roof that I clay barred feels absolutely smooth as glass! I can't wait to do the rest of the car. I find myself wandering back out into the garage periodically and rubbing my hand over that area. :o I can't believe the difference.

 

claybar is awesome. It also works GREAT on windows. I washed my front window and thought it was clean, but after claying it, there was a significant increase in clarity.

 

I took my deflector off after reading one of Jason's posts about the marks. My paint's OK, but there's definitely more noise and occasional buffeting I didn't get with the deflector. The built-in deflector is puny and doesn't seem to do much. I'm keeping the bubble thing for roadtrips.

 

I thought the moon roof deflector was a dealer installed option. If so, the clear coat not being dry wouldn't be the issue. I believe the markings are caused by dirt partcles caught under the rubber trim and being rubbed due to the friction from the light movement when the air pressue is excerted on the plastic. Basically they are fine scratches in the finish. IMHO

 

moonroof deflector is usually factory installed.

strakes tends to be dealer installed.

 

This is what I believe to be true , as well. So being installed before the clear coat is fully cured is a definite possibility.

 

Well, since I removed the deflector when my car had only 12 miles on it, I kinda doubt your assumption.

 

I thought only the blacks are clearcoated. I had assumed before that most new cars had it, but my wife's van is clearcoated and it's obvious, I don't see it on my yellow.

 

Hey... I happen to like my moonroof wind deflector.. I don't see myself taking it off anytime soon

 

True. I like it a lot. And I don't think it will do as much damage to the paint as say a bra which covers more space. As long as you keep the area up on the roof clean, it should be alright. On other cars it doesn't look good, but to me it loooks goon on the 8 and is functional too because it does cut on wind noise quite a bit. My moonroof is open 5 out of 7 days .

 

Hehe... it's been below 40deg F here pretty much every day and I still drive with my moonroof open