Here's the story - a few months ago I took my car in to the dealer to get an oil change. They lifted it wrong and cracked the front passenger's side body panel. They replace it and repainted it. When I went to pick it up, I went over it with a fine toothed comb and it looked great. I drive off thinking everything's just fine. Well, close to a couple of months later I'm parked in an open lot and I approach the car from the passenger side. From a distance I see what looks like some huge scratches on the front passenger side. I get up to the car and I see that they're not scratches but they're what appear to be swirl marks. I think "hrmm..when did these suddenly show up??" Naturally I was pissed. So, I keep driving and the next time I stopped I looked at the car again and magically the marks were completely gone.
It didn't take me long to figure out that the marks are always there but they can only be seen when the sun hits the car at a very particular angle.
Starting with the second pic, you can see the swirl marks on the lower panel. However, they are only visible when the sun hits the car from a very low angle, for example if the sun is just above the horizon and shining straight on that panel. If the sun is a little higher, the paint looks perfect.
In the first pic you can see the two large swirl marks on the upper panel. These are only visible when the sun hits that panel directly but from a slightly higher angle. If the sun is on the other side of the car you would never know any of those marks are there.
I'm taking my car into the dealer next week to get some other work done and will definitely mention it to them but since it's been several months since I picked up the car, they're just going to tell me that it must have happened after I picked it up even though there was no way I could have seen the marks when I picked it up if the sun didn't hit it just right. As it was it took me a couple of months before I approached the car from the passenger side and the sun happened to be hitting the car at the perfect angle before I finally saw them. Not only that, if I happen to take the car in at a time of day when the sun won't be hitting it at the necessary angle to see the marks, they're not going to see them. I have never had this car polished by anyone so I know without a doubt that it happened when they replaced the panel and painted and polished that side of the car.
So, to make a long story short (I know...too late for that... ), if I can't get them to fix this, can anyone tell me how to fix this myself? Is it even possible or do I have to repaint the panels?
Were it me, and it once was except all over the car, I'd try offering MB a case of beer to work his magic. Beyond that, check some of these threads here in the detailing forum where I moved your thread. You'll want to work up to it, but you may need to hit it with Scratch-X. Prep the area well, following turbomangt's first detail thread by hitting it with Dawn, claying, and then hitting it with cleaner or Scratch-X. You can do it by hand since it's a small area, but it'll take a while so be patient. A DAPC will take the chore out of it and you can ramp up your pads to get the minimum cut to do the job. Ok, where's MB....
The swirl marks are in your clear coat from a buffer. This is why your higher end detailers do not use a buffer! Buffers always leave them. The good news is you don't need a new paint job. Removing the swirl marks is a very tedious job and best results are achieved by a professional. The same thing happened to me when I took my car to the dealer for chemical spotting. They had the car buffed out by an outo body shop and that removed the spotting but caused the swirling. I washed the car to remove all of the wax and clear coat protectant applied by the body shop. Liquid glass prep works the best IMO. I then applied Liquid Wax in back and forth motions by hand using even pressure. When it dried to a haze I removed it with a microfiber towel, again in a back and forth movement, Never in a circular motion. I let it bake in the sun for 4 hours and applied another coat without rubbing hard, just lightly coating the painted serface, let it haze and wiping it off. Then let it bake on in the sun again. This process removed virtually all of my swirl marks. Make sure when you wash the car, you remove all bugs and tar as Liquid Glass leaves a protective film over your paint and anything on it. I put a total of 4 coats on baking them in the sun four 4 hours between coats and my car's finish has much more depth than before and looks like a much more expensive paint job!
^ The wax your using must have fillers. Mean they only fill in the swirl marks, Which then mean there going to be seen again after some washes. Also your suppose to wait 12-24 hrs between coats of wax. Your wax needs sometime to bond to the surface and cure, then you can add another coat of wax. If you do this. Your wax should last longer.
Also professional use polisher to remove swirl,scratches and oxidation. From Dual action polisher to circular rotation polishers.
^ The wax your using must have fillers. Mean they only fill in the swirl marks, Which then mean there going to be seen again after some washes. Also your suppose to wait 12-24 hrs between coats of wax. Your wax needs sometime to bond to the surface and cure, then you can add another coat of wax. If you do this. Your wax should last longer.
Also professional use polisher to remove swirl,scratches and oxidation. From Dual action polisher to circular rotation polishers.
This is what I was thinking. If you use wax, won't the wax eventually come off leaving the swirl marks visible again? How can you permanently get rid of them? You mentioned a polisher? How would that work?
I like the product by Turtle Wax, liquid clay.....Its works very well!...My neighlbor stop by as I was claying my car, and was so impressed, he tried it on his boat...wow what a difference. My husband always used a 4 step claying system which took 8-10hrs, this is not as intense regarding the time it took(but I feel) does the same job..
The only product I don't care for from Turle wax, is the liquid Ice wax, I perferred the paste better. There wax is clear so I have no white build up in the creases...the liquid wax is greasy, the paste is easier to remove and much better to use...
love the black cars, but there a pain to keep clean.... m.
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This is what I was thinking. If you use wax, won't the wax eventually come off leaving the swirl marks visible again? How can you permanently get rid of them? You mentioned a polisher? How would that work?
A polisher is use to remove the swirls. It does this by leveling the swirl with the existing paint.
^ The wax your using must have fillers. Mean they only fill in the swirl marks, Which then mean there going to be seen again after some washes. Also your suppose to wait 12-24 hrs between coats of wax. Your wax needs sometime to bond to the surface and cure, then you can add another coat of wax. If you do this. Your wax should last longer.
Also professional use polisher to remove swirl,scratches and oxidation. From Dual action polisher to circular rotation polishers.
Liquid glass is not a wax and contains no wax!! It is a polymer based clear coat protectant. You don't have to apply it in the shade like wax. It must be at least 70 degrees to apply it. It creates a hard shell that has to be removed to touch up paint, remove bugs, etc.. if you didn't do that before your first application. As per the instructions, only 4 hours between coats to permit curing. Baking the car in the sun when finished will bond it to the surface! Also my neighbor owns a detail shop and only hand buffs cars. He swears up and down that dual action polishers and high speed buffers both leave swirls and he even showed me. On a DA the swirls go both ways.
Last edited by redhotchillipepper : 04-28-2008 at 10:02 AM.
Liquid glass is not a wax and contains no wax!! It is a polymer based clear coat protectant. You don't have to apply it in the shade like wax. It must be at least 70 degrees to apply it. It creates a hard shell that has to be removed to touch up paint, remove bugs, etc.. if you didn't do that before your first application. As per the instructions, only 4 hours between coats to permit curing. Baking the car in the sun when finished will bond it to the surface! Also my neighbor owns a detail shop and only hand buffs cars. He swears up and down that dual action polishers and high speed buffers both leave swirls and he even showed me. On a DA the swirls go both ways.
Then the guy that own the detailing shop must not be a professional. Cause It depends what pads your using and what order your using them in. Like a wool would cause minor marr, but then you move onto a polishing pad to removing the marr and the burish the finish to a nice shine. Also trying asking everyone on autopia.org if a buffer/polisher leaves swirls.
We wern't looking at his work at the time. We were at a local car show that he had his 70 roadrunner entered in and he was showing me the swirls in other cars as comparison to his. Keep in mind we are talking about swirl marks so minute you can only see them if looking at the right angle, in the right light, but they were swirls just the same.
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), if I can't get them to fix this, can anyone tell me how to fix this myself? Is it even possible or do I have to repaint the panels?
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