Ok so water spots aren't like bird droppings where its permanent?

Bird droppings are never permanent if you remove them the same day, generally speaking. I like to do a walk-around and quick detail on the Z every evening just to catch anything that may have fallen on it.

If they do stay on for a while, and/or you have poor paint protection applied, it will take the same amount of effort as I described for the worst kind of water spots.

So if bird droppings or sprinkler water stays on my car for let's say 1 week before I get a wash/detail...will those be permanent then?

I had some hard water spots on my paint last winter after using tap water to rinse the car off (no drying afterwards). The clay bar did the trick. Don't write it off so fast!

+1000 on vinegar. Works every time. Just make sure you rinse it with water to neutralize the acid.

This thread reminds of the ridiculous ritual I do 3 nights a week at my house. I live in a townhouse, so the sprinklers are beyond my control. However, on the nights the sprinklers come on, I throw a clay pot over the 4 sprinklers that might hit my Z. After my wash getting ruined every Sunday(the day after I would wash/detail), I had to stop it somehow. It's been raining a lot lately, but when it dries up, I'll probably have dead grass all around my parking spot in front of my house. Better the home owner association's grass than my Z's paint! ;)