dealership glass is stained?

I

imported_tuffluck

New member
i guess where the dealer put stickers on there is a mark on the glass. it's really hard to explain because i cannot feel it at all and a razor blade doesn't remove it. it's not a residue that i can tell, but it's like the glass stained from where stickers were attached to the car. if you wipe it with a wet cloth you can see the outline. it particularly becomes problematic in humid conditions and when it fogs you can see the markings. does anyone know what i'm talking about? windex did not help. any help is appreciated.
 
Acetone, just don't get any on the paint or trim.

Soak a small portion of a rag, hold against the area for a minute or so, wipe.

It should do it.

Grumpy
 
This sounds like "ghost" spots. You can make the square outline of the sticker at night or especially when its very humid out?



Grumpy, will the acetone treatment work even on this condition that has been there for over year or more?
 
Should work.

The "ghost" is most likely the adhesive off the decal.

If the acetone doesn't work, I would get out the rotary and buff it off.

Grumpy
 
Okay, as always thanks a million. That's one detailing challenge I could never improve before knowing about that. Thanks!
 
Claying it also works. I just did this on a car that had a window sticker affixed for about 4 years.
 
For the ghosting issue, I believe some on here have to live with it for *years*, claying didn't do the trick for me. I oughta have acetone around the household any way, so this gives me one more reason to get some soon. If it doesn't do the trick, no biggie.
 
tuffluck said:
has anyone else tried this? i just don't want to be the guinea pig.



god dealers do some dumb stuff!!
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Done it a few hundred times.

Just be ready for the adhesive to "gell" up when the acetone hits it.

That is a good time to take an old credit card and while the adhesive is in a that "gel" state to use it to remove the big gunks, then re-wipe with the acetone.

If acetone don't break it, get back to me.

Grumpy
 
Ah this is a different issue than mine. I have what literally looks like the ghost outline of a dealer invoice sheet in my glass visible under certain conditions only. Even scrubbing a bit with an APC and a brush doesn't lift it. No glass polish via polisher does either. I'm glad it is rarely visible when the conditions have to be just right.
 
Bill, something has entered the poristy of the glass, be it something acid based or alkaline based, which attacks and created a porus substrate that you are observing.

Grumpy
 
I've seen this culprit before on side windows on other vehicles. It's very peculiar how it's visible only under certain night lighting and/or high humidity. I guess it will just be permanent.
 
Bill D said:
For the ghosting issue, I believe some on here have to live with it for *years*...
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Hey, I resemble that remark ;)



I have some ghosting on Audi glass (both the '00 A8 and the '01 S8) that's been there from new and has resisted every effort at remediation.



Different problem that's just as irritating is that the replacement driver's door glass on the S8 always comes through with damage to the UV/tint/whatever-it-is, like a "smear" that I suspectis from something being in contact with the glass prior to my getting it. It's permanent and no matter how many pieces of door glass my dealer ordered (and they were swell about trying to resolve this) they call came through exactly the same. Made me wish I'd just kept the (minimally) damaged original glass instead of replacing.



In both cases, it seems like something has reacted with the "plastic" part of the "glass", sorta like the way rubber suction cups from radar detectors/etc. can leave permanent ghosting on some glass...the kind of ghosting that's sometimes only visible when you fog it with your breath or somesuch. Apparently it's that permeation of the porous substrate that Ron Ketcham has just mentioned while I keyed this in.
 
it's on the windshield.



remember the old crt monitors and how if you didn't turn on a screensaver they would burn in the image left on the monitor into the glass itself? that seems to be a logical explanation if the stuff won't come off. as it sat in the lot and the sun was bearing down on it, the image of the sticker was burned into the windshield. just a thought anyway.
 
In our PrepExcellence course portion regarding reconditioning of used cars we addressed the "ghosting" images left when a crayon was used to put on a price or such.

Normal cleaning of the glass would leave a "ghost" of the number, etc and under certain conditions the image was still visable.

Chatted with my contacts at PPG regarding this and they put me in touch with some folks at their automotive glass division.

After explaining the concern, they sent me a a set highly magnified photos of automotive glass.

Under magnification, it looks like a mountain range, dips and valley's, highs and lows.

It may be "felt" using a cellophane wrapper over your fingers, "some times'.

After I saw these, did some thinking, figured it out.

We taught to spray the affected areas with our Omni All Purpose or New Car Prep, if we knew which type of marker was used.

Some are a wax based, others are more of "chalk" type, most of the time one does not know which.

So, spray with the Omni, then agitate the area with a velour spotting brush after a 2 to 3 minute or longer dwell time.

If the Omni didn't get it removed, move on to the New Car Prep, do the same, then wash off with soap and water or glass cleaner, dry. inspect.

What is going on is this.

The crayon/marker deposited minute amounts of the marker down into the microscopic hills and valley's of the glass, when then picked up the light rays and allowed one to observe the "ghosting" effect.

By using this process, with the brush, the residue of the marker is removed and the "ghosting" is gone.

One could use an old tooth brush for this process, just that it will not evenly cover and remove as evenly the area.

The issue that started this thread is most likely a "deposit" of the adhesive used to adhere the sticker/decal to the window.

That would require the "removal" of the residue from the "hills and valley's" of the glass.

Grumpy
 
Several years ago, we discussed this issue and yes, it worked for a crayon/marker on a window I came across. I'll try this technique yet again on the dealer invoice ghost issue, maybe perseverance will pay off, but I'll wait until I actually see it again and it bugs me. Thankfully, things are getting cooler and a lot less humid here this time of year-finally-so it won't be for a while I take it.
 
I would try the acetone on the dealer sticker concern.

They use an "adhesive" to attach those.

However, the "hills and valley's" senerio still comes into play.

Grumpy
 
Bill D said:
For the ghosting issue, I believe some on here have to live with it for *years*, claying didn't do the trick for me. I oughta have acetone around the household any way, so this gives me one more reason to get some soon. If it doesn't do the trick, no biggie.
Click to expand...



I resemble that remark too. ;) My Corolla was tinted when I bought it and the temp tag the dealership stuck on the back window still has some tape ghosting on it. I rarely notice it, but after five years you'd think I'd do something about it. I'm just too much of an old man these days to reach back there and try to scrub it off without damaging the tint, so I just live with it. Maybe the next owner will be able to get it off. lol
 
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