Tar - company car

[surveyor]

On the hot day last week I had no choice but to drive through a recent road repair. (I could have chosen to crash instead I suppose).

The result is that my nice newish van has a good load of tar down one side, around an arch and even some on the back doors.

It’s been suggested that autosmart Tardis is the go to product, but this seems to be about £40 for 5 litres.

The other stuff has not got so good reviews, and given the amount that of tar that I need too deal with I’m not so sure if it makes sense..

I’m also not sure what the policy will be on claiming this back.. I’m the only one in the Uk with a company vehicle and am not used to being employed yet...

Ideas and othe product suggestions welcome...

Edited by surveyor on Friday 27th April 18:28

[sherman]

Auto glym tar spot remover

[EazyDuz]

Clay mitt. £13, soapy water, takes it right off. Soften it with any basic bug and tar remover first

[LemonParty]

sherman said:

Auto glym tar spot remover

^^ This. My brother's car was parked next to some new tar with cars going past it all day splashing it up the side, far worse than that. Took me 5 minutes to get it all off with Autoglym, then a fresh polish and wax and it looked like new.

[silver1011]

Autosmart's Tardis is brilliant stuff.

I'd been struggling with creams and elbow grease for years. Took the plunge (£35 off eBay for 5 litres), spray it on, leave 20 seconds and wipe off. Dead easy.

You can see the tar running down the door as it dissolves.

[jonah35]

Doubt you would be able to claim it against your employer

I’d also not bring up the issue if you’re fairly new

Just sort it yourself - will be easiest option

[Monkeylegend]

A cheap bottle of white spirit and a bit of wrag and elbow grease has always worked for me.

What you have left over you can drink.

[ShampooEfficient]

Auto Finesse ObliTarate (or however its spelt). Comes in smaller bottles and does the job very well. Also works on stickers!

[paintman]

Get yourself a 5 litre tin of clutch & brake cleaner.
I use it for all sorts of stuff incl degreasing panels, removing tar spots & removing the glue left after removal of caravan decals.
To date I've never had any issues with paint. (I should add that that's in over 15 years of using it for that!)

Edited by paintman on Friday 27th April 19:00

[quinny100]

You can buy smaller quantities of Tardis from eBay. The Autoglym stuff is nowhere near as good.

Alternatively petrol on a rag is fairly effective on tar, as is WD40 if you apply liberally leave it to dwell for a few minutes before wiping.

[EazyDuz]

paintman said:

Get yourself a 5 litre tin of clutch & brake cleaner.
I use it for all sorts of stuff incl degreasing panels, removing tar spots & removing the glue left after removal of caravan decals.
To date I've never had any issues with paint.

Brake cleaner on paint. Not a good idea. Whether you see it or not, the brake cleaner will be slowly destroying the clearcoat. Fine on a beater but if you want to keep a car for a long time, brake cleaner is last thing you should use

[paintman]

EazyDuz said:

paintman said:

Get yourself a 5 litre tin of clutch & brake cleaner.
I use it for all sorts of stuff incl degreasing panels, removing tar spots & removing the glue left after removal of caravan decals.
To date I've never had any issues with paint.

Brake cleaner on paint. Not a good idea. Whether you see it or not, the brake cleaner will be slowly destroying the clearcoat. Fine on a beater but if you want to keep a car for a long time, brake cleaner is last thing you should use

You missed my eta that I've been using it for that for over 15 years - I paint professionally - so have considerable experience of what it will/won't do.

Using it for glue removals on caravans was shown to me by two caravan companies that I do a lot of bodywork for - caravan paint is not the most robust & you don't go anywhere near it with thinners unless you want instant softening. Apart from the metallic ones (Swift in particular) they're all solid topcoat, not clear over base.

If you're not happy using it then don't.

[normalbloke]

Monkeylegend said:

A cheap bottle of white spirit and a bit of wrag and elbow grease has always worked for me.

What you have left over you can drink.

Methylated spirit not white. It's safe to use on car paint, and won't leave an oily residue like white spirit.

[skinny]

ShampooEfficient said:

Auto Finesse ObliTarate (or however its spelt). Comes in smaller bottles and does the job very well. Also works on stickers!

I use this too. Much more effective than the crap simoniz rubbish I got for the missus car (but it was only £2 from Tesco)

[Monkeylegend]

normalbloke said:

Monkeylegend said:

A cheap bottle of white spirit and a bit of wrag and elbow grease has always worked for me.

What you have left over you can drink.

Methylated spirit not white. It's safe to use on car paint, and won't leave an oily residue like white spirit.

I call it white a bit like hoover, but I use meths , no need to spend silly money on a fancy labelled bottle of basically methylated spirit.