New to this platform… purchased a 2024 Prius's and I hadn’t needed to use the washer fluid until now. Ugh! White spots were all over the car, and it turned powdery. However, on the mirror finished plastic, it wouldn’t come off. Now the plastic is very hazy! Is this from DEF in the windshield fluid? See pics… dealer wants to know nothing. They said it comes from the factory with full fluids.
Maybe they used a concentrate and didn't dilute it with distilled water but I doubt that. The white powdery stuff looks like pollen, in all honesty. It is the season for it, and since its sticky it wont let go of water or whatever else it grabs onto if its just lightly sprayed. I would be surprised if the heavy white splotches on the glass roof would have been caused by the wiper fluid also. And it matters *why* the fluid was needed. As its just going to collect and help move along much of the gunk/salt/grime on the windshield and that's obviously going to carry over the white paint on the A pillars and leave some gross markings. The car, I have found, especially at higher speeds really does let the aerodynamics pull the water along the car. I have mine ceramic coated and the glass coated so I notice immediately at highway speeds when its raining the water sliding off the car. The back of the car, at the hatch where all the air turbulence is gonna be happening the most is supremely dirty with all kinds of deposits and grime build up. The rest of the car can be relatively clean, short of a layer of road film, but the back is horrendous. So if the car wasn't driving that fast, and/or isn't super freshly waxed or ceramic coated, I can understand how road film deposits and pollen carried by the washer fluid will stick and stay where it was left after the car was parked. Or if there was some sort of dirty water kicked up onto the car after a rain, or just wet roads and grime being kicked up by cars in front of you (especially bigger stuff like trucks), all that would be more at fault than what is likely premixed and prefilled washer fluids.
It’s not pollen. The white spots have ruined the black plastic and are still visible. I had my husband flush the system, and the color of that fluid isn’t the same as washer fluid. It’s like a sea greenish blue. Doesn’t smell the same, either.
The mirror finish on the plastic along side of the driver side windows, is gone. Spots are still there. I tried this stuff from advanced auto. It didn’t do a thing!
Still waiting for the dealership to get me pricing on replacing the two plastic panels on the driver side.
That stuff is for soft plastic panels like bumpers and trim and frankly it doesn't even really work that well on those it will be especially useless here. The painted parts will need to be treated with a hard water spot remover, then likely touched up with a polishing compound if any haze remains. I would try a 50/50 white vinegar/distilled water solution before going with any harder chemical water spot removers. The piano black plastic panels might buff but I could easily see them being permanently etched and not recoverable. You can use the vinegar solution and or hard water spot remover on the glass as well. You can also use super fine #0000 steel wool and glass cleaner or the vinegar solution on the glass which is highly effective. I have to touch up my glass every now and then with the steel wool since we have hard water.
Thank you for the info!! It is the piano black that is ruined (etched is a good word for that). I’m thinking since the driver side wiper pushes first and towards the driver, that is why those panels got the worst of it. The passenger side panels are perfectly fine, without a spot. Appreciate the feedback!
