I've been struggling with a persistent foreign substance inside and outside of the windows on the "05RL. This is *not* the common interior outgassing problem that most cars experience.

Plain old window washing solution will not remove this "film"...not even Griot's window cleaner.

On the inside of the door windows, under the right rain and temperature conditions, suction cup marks are clearly visible, surrounded by a foggy "film."

On the outside of the windshield, I finally figured out around Christmas that rain is beading off instead of sheeting. The wiper blades leave a "smear" and this is causing poor visibility in the rain at night.

I first thought the windshield problem was due to Prestone winter anticing fluid I put into the reservoir, so I switched back to the blue stuff. I've used Prestone for years in the Honda with no problems. I then blamed myself (mistakenly, I've decided) for perhaps accidentally getting wax residue onto the windshield. However, after examining the suction cup marks about 3 months ago, I'm now of the opinion that the car was delivered to me with this material on the windows.

I think the wiper blade problem that some have posted about here is due to whatever is on the windshield. I had my original wiper blades replaced because they didn't "wipe cleanly" and under certain conditions seemed to "bounce" across the windshield.

If anyone else has experienced this, I'd appreciate knowing what takes that stuff off.

I've yet to mention this problem to a dealer...been too busy having all the other problems fixed/and fixed again/and again, at my servicing intervals, and frankly, I didn't realize I had this window film problem until recently.

Very recently, I've used Griot's very conservative, non-scratching, window polish in an effort to remove these films, and so far have been only partially successful. The film is still around the edges of the glass, and I've made no effort to lower the windows and do a proper cleaning job with the windows partly down. The windshied sheets better, but there are still some persistent spots.

I think I need whatever a dealer uses to do a proper job on the glass.

I decided to post my experinece because I believe the wiper problems others have mentioned are possibly related to windshilds are not being adequately prepped prior to delivery.

 

I have also experienced a problem keeping the windows clean in certain conditions. I use rainex on the outside and only water on the inside. My only solution is to always run the compressor when driving, this seems to keep the window dry and the "smears" are not apparent. Do you run with the climate control on "full automatic"?

 

Whew, I hate rainex...used it on the Honda several years ago...fellow I worked with in Louisiana loved it.

Yes, I run with the climate on "full automatic" most of the time. But I do occasionally use the sunroof in vent mode...I can't run with the sunroof open due to the extreme noise/wind intrusions into the cabin, all of which I've posted about before...one of my pet peeves. With the vent open, I generally keep the climate control on.

The outside windshield roughness and film/inside film and suction cup marks I'm experiencing will not clean off with glass cleaner. The windshield does indeed bead up like rainex, which initially led me to believe the Prestone anti freezing windshield product had something to do with it, although rainex is not listed as an ingredient, but the windshild is "rough" to the touch...that is, before I began applying the glass polish. The windshield now sheets somewhat, but there is still something on it.

I think residues of whatever was put on the windshild to protect it during shipping is the culprit, and I probably need to replace the wiper blades again if I can remove whatever is on the windshield.

I've arrived at the shipping residue conclusion primarily because of the suction cup marks on the inside of my side windows. Nothing I've cleaned them with will remove those marks or the film. Water beads on the insides of these door windows also, and they've not had any windshield solution put on them.

I recently had an opportunity to wash the car on a cold day...spraying the car brought out the suction cup marks on the insides of the side windows, and I finally had the time to examine these.

Keep in mind that I've now driven this car over 28,000 miles. The windshield has been a problem from the start. I now believe the roughness of the windshild was causing my wipers to not sweep cleanly. I had the windshield wipers replaced under warranty at my first service in November, 2005 due to them not wiping cleanly...I didn't realize at that time that there was something sticky on the windshield. This substance is also causing wiping noise.

I think the polish solution may eventually solve the problem if I keep working on it, but if there is something a dealer uses in prepping the car, I'd rather use that, especially if it is a liquid...it would be much easier to use.

 

It maybe time to have the dealer evaluate and hopefully you could get a new windsheild.

 

Hopefully not...I think the windshield just needs a competent and thorough pre-delivery type cleaning, followed up by fresh set of new blades. And the cleaning goes for the side windows also.

 

I have had a problem in the past with road "oil" and spray-on car "wax??" from car washes. I finally discovered a post that suggested cleaning the exterior of the glass with BonAmi powder. I tried it and I am a firm believer in its effectiveness. It is rather messy but leaves the glass very clean and the water just sheets off the windshield. The wipers do not chatter. I use it whenever they begin to chatter and it seems to solve the problem. I have tried clay on the windshield but the BonAmi was easier and more effective. Just make sure you rinse the car very well when you are done. Haven't tried it on the interior but think it could get quite messy. Good luck.

 

Thanks for the bon ami suggestion...I'll pick some up. In the meantime, I've decided to hold off doing anything else until I let a dealer take a look at the glass...I'm at 40% so a service is coming up soon. I'll add it to the list.

I hand wash/wax the car and likely, at one time or another, might have gotten some car wax product on the windshield, but looking back at the wiper performance from the get go, with the streaking and bouncing and wiper noise, I'm of the opinion that some type of residue was on the windshield when I took delivery.

Additionally, I don't believe my particular problem is road film...for instance road film isn't causing the occasional fogginess on the insides of the door glass which displays suction cup marks...all on the inside door glass.

One scenario that has occurred to me is that when the car was prepped upon arrival at the dealer in October or November of 2004, that the dirty rags used on the outside of the car were used to wipe down the inside glass...just guessing about this...I've never had a car with this stubborn of a glass problem.

 

Another scenario is that the glass could be, in fact, damaged, and my glass polishing efforts are covering this up. I don't know what etching damage looks like, and haven't examined the windshield with that in mind...but it's a possibility...we'll see.

 

I took delivery of my 2005RL at the end of October. I noticed the same persistent spots on all of my windows. I have never had this type of problem with spots on any car. I mentioned it to the dealer when I was in getting some of the nuisence problems corrected. They cleaned the windows supposedly, but the spots are still there. I have used bon ami on all the outside windows, but it is still there, though not quite as bad. I also, very carefully I might add, used diluted muriatic acid on the glass. Believe it or not I can still see the spots in certain light conditions. I think it is the glue from whatever protective plastic sheeting was used on shipping. I hope someone out there finds the solution because it is aggravating to spend the kind of money they ask for this car and have spotted glass.

 

I can suggest two things that have worked for me: 20% denatured alcohol/80% water mix for regular window cleaning. For any kind of glue residue use a product called De-Solv-it - I used it to remove the glue residue left on my RL's paint at delivery. It's just superb stuff for cleaning glue residue off any surface.