The Best Bug and Tar Removers

It’s never a bad time for a road trip, but we can think of at least one member of your family who might be less than thrilled about your cross-country excursion: your car.

Beyond the usual wear and tear your vehicle incurs over hundreds of miles of interstate driving – typically nothing that an oil change and tire rotation can’t rectify – there’s also the matter of bugs, tar, and other miscellaneous road debris pelting your car and making quick work of all your best detailing efforts. And while most grit and grime can be cast off with a simple wash, bugs and tar especially tend to stick around. Literally.

The good news is you can remove all that gummy, sticky stuff from your car using one or more specially-formulated bug and tar removers. Safe for use on paint, plastic, glass, and even bare metal, bug and tar removers use a clever concoction of chemicals to break the bonds between those gooey substances and your car’s body, allowing them to be wiped away without requiring major elbow grease.

Any time a car detailing product gives us a shortcut to a squeaky-clean whip, that’s a win in our book. With that in mind, here’s a closer look at best bug and tar removers available on eBay, with an emphasis on ease of use, overall performance, and bang-for-your-buck value.

There are literally countless car detailing products on the market, from degreasers to soaps, to shampoos, polishes, waxes, and more. You probably already have a number of different car care products at your disposal, all of which promise to devour road contaminants and get your car looking squeaky clean. Consequently, one question we’re often asked is whether bug and tar remover is really necessary.

In a word: yes.

While your average car soap or shampoo may work perfectly well on most contaminants, bugs, tar, asphalt, tree sap, and other sticky things are an entirely different beast. Have you ever tried to remove every trace of sticker adhesive from something you just bought, only to find that the manufacturer used the world’s most annoyingly tacky, stubborn glue? It's sort of like that.

Ordinary soaps and shampoos will be of limited use in this context; they may remove a majority of the material, but no matter how many times you wash, some sticky residue will linger behind. Where those products work by stripping away oils, the trick to fighting bugs, tar, and other tacky contaminants is to rehydrate and soften them until they’re ready to release from the paint. Without good chemistry on your side, you’re fighting an uphill battle here, and the only other remedy is tons and tons of elbow grease – something that’s not only a pain in the neck, but also brings with it the risk of scuffing up your car’s nice shiny finish.

If you’re worried about damaging your car’s paint by using too much bug and tar remover or failing to remove every last trace, don’t be; bug and tar removers are specifically formulated to be safe for use on paint, clear coat, and glass, and usually, bare metal and plastic, as well.

It’s true that every bug and tar remover on this list has a wholly unique chemical composition. No two are exactly alike; some use petroleum distillates to treat tough, sticky paint contaminants, while others rely on an acid such as citrus. They all share one thing in common, however: they’ve been developed expressly for the purpose of removing bugs, tar, and other tacky substances. Citrus is a weak acid, and while it’s conceivable that it could visibly damage your clear coat if left on for an extended period of time, that would likely require a very high concentration and weeks, or even months, of exposure – not minutes. Petroleum distillates, despite some widespread rumors to the contrary, pose essentially no risk to paints or clear coats either.

You know what does damage your car’s finish? Contaminants like tar and tree sap. Over time, they slowly, gradually etch their way into the finish, leaving dull or discolored patches behind in their wake. What’s worse, because they’re so tacky, the chances are that much greater that they’ll sit on your car’s body for an extended period – unless they’re dealt with properly in a timely manner with the help of a good bug and tar remover, that is.

For more great car care products, visit eBay.com.