Swirls/Microscratches

[exochris]

I decided with the purchase of my new '08 Sky Redline I wanted to keep it cleaner than my last car, so I ended up getting a membership at a Waterway car wash here in Denver. It's a full service car wash where it runs through what appears to be a relatively gentle autowash then a bunch of young employees dry it with towels and vacuum it out. I get a weekly wash & vac (sometimes twice a week depending on the weather) free with gas.

I didn't notice until someone pointed it out, now it's driving me absolutely insane and am somewhat furious -but the car is COVERED in swirls now. They don't use microfiber towels and I felt one and they're not even as soft as the ones I use at home for the shower. The towels they use don't always appear that clean either.

Anyway, it is really bugging me, because now my three week old car is covered in swirl marks and its shine is reduced.

A couple of questions:
What can I do about the existing swirl marks? Is there something I can put on it or take it somewhere they can restore the original scratch free shine? Does it need to be recoated or something? I think my dealership (Saturn of Aurora) has a detailing center, should I take it to them and see what they can do?

Any suggestions on where to take it from now on to get it cleaned? Unfortunately I live at an apartment, otherwise I would just clean it myself in my driveway with microfiber if I had a house.

Can they be held accountable for (mildly) ruining the finish? This is really aggravating! I guess I feel I trusted them to wash my car professionally and with the best quality possible, and now it's getting all scratched up! Maybe I'm overreacting though. :P

Also, I might add, the shiny parts inside the car have little swirl scratches too; like the center dash area, the radio face, etc. I see them every time I look at the car now and am extremely disappointed and furious that I didn't know this was happening and didn't know it would happen.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks a lot!

[SallySky]

Below is a link for the process that I use on my Crossfire which was Black and had horrible marks after a local car wash.

http://www.albeedigital.com/supercou...irl_marks.html

I follow this process now and have been very please with the results. Also for general washing buy Optimum No Rinse for bucket based washing it works great. No hose needed just a few buckets.

[GhostRL]

Take it to a do it yourself car wash and bring your own buckets/mitt/towels/soap etc. I pay $1.25 to start it (4 minutes) use that to fill my buckets, and spray the car down. Then I wash the car, clean the wheels and pay $1.25 more to rinse it off. Then dry by towel / detail spray or wax (wax every 3 detail spray washes). Seems to work pretty good on a black redline, no swirl marks. I've clayed the car once and plan to do that every 6 months or so.

[MidniteBlues]

First thing you need to do IS STOP USING THOSE GUYS!! Those towels are not high quality towels, they are used "all" day over & over on car after car. They are dirty, not micro fiber and as you can see have damaged your finish. Now it is a process to restore the cars outer finish, the inside is another matter however.

Here is a small video on what the process is and what is involved AND depending on how severe the damage is.--

http://www.autogeek.net/po.html

Scroll down some and select either "light" or "intermediate" swirl remover.

Since you live in an apartment, it will behove you to just take it to your dealer OR a professional detailer AND make sure they "have or use" a professional. Some of those guys are worse than the guys who did the damage and can make matters much much worse once they have a mechanical device in their hands-. However, fear not, if done right, the car will be as good as new--So sorry this has happened to you. Donno if you have recourse against those idiots (at car wash). Best thing is to not use these guy at "car wash" hackers, "school car washes" or anybody off the wall do these cars with improper towels, soaps or materials. Also around here, we have professionals that go to your house and charges can be most reasonable depending on "how bad the damage is"-- I have a porter cable and am getting better at using it, it is work mind ya and time consuming to do it properly as the video will show you..

[LUVnSOL]

Please please be very very careful using a buffer. My dealer has ruined the finish on my car by buffing it and I have swirl marks over and over each other all over the car. They have admited they buffed it and wet sanded it after I told them not to do that. Red and black seem to show the marks easier than othr colors. Started with waht looked like water spots that I could not get off my car that were on the car when i drove it off the lot. Just be careful and try it on a samll area first.

[SKYRCKT]

Do you have enough ways for us to get back with you on this. Maybe say, I don't know, smoke signals.

Communication Overload Warning!

[BlueSkyRL]

Originally Posted by LUVnSOL

Please please be very very careful using a buffer. My dealer has ruined the finish on my car by buffing it and I have swirl marks over and over each other all over the car. They have admited they buffed it and wet sanded it after I told them not to do that. Red and black seem to show the marks easier than othr colors. Started with waht looked like water spots that I could not get off my car that were on the car when i drove it off the lot. Just be careful and try it on a samll area first.

Red and black are bad with showing marks as you have said, but midnight blue metalic is even worse

[exochris]

I called Saturn of Aurora to find out who they use (since they don't have their own detailing shop.) They told me they use "The Car Shop" here in Denver on S. Havana St. (for any locals)

303-210-6961
The Car Shop
Joyce Miller

So I talked to Joyce. She seemed very helpful, professional, and experienced. I guess they're a very experienced detailing/car shop. I will probably take it over to her for an estimate to see what she can do.

However, without showing it to her and saying it's only just the swirling microscratches all over the car, she said it would have to be buffed out (as in, abrasively) then shined again, and for best results have a protectant put on the outside. I know nothing of this subject so maybe some of you could fill me in.

She sounds very good, but I will probably show it to her then also get a second/third opinion as well from other places. It sounds really harsh for something as small as microscratches (as numerous as they are). Also she said the protectant will be more shiny than the original coat (I have a Midnight Blue, and those are REALLY shiny!) so I'm not sure if that's true and/or worth it.

The total detailing is about $240, I think it was like $170 or something for the buff out, and $70 for the protectant (as a discount with a buffing) and take around 5 hours. They also charge $35 for a handwash using microfiber towels and stuff. I don't know if that gives any additional insight into what quality they might be.

Anyway, insight, opinions, etc are greatly helpful and thanks a lot for the help so far!

[SkyNV]

Try a glaze!

Also, you may want to start from scratch... Remove all old wax, then doa polish/glaze, and re-seal with a good wax. My

[xmicro_Redline]

Absolutely the car needs to be buffed out by a pro with a real wheel (buffer) not some orbital, consumer thing.

The problem with that is, you do not want to do that too often because it takes a layer off your finish, and if not done properly you can burn the paint, especially on sharp edges.

What I would do is, get it professionally done then stay the heck away from car washes. Either use a friend / family members driveway or go to a self- car wash as earlier stated.

People make the biggest mistakes with car finishes from lack of knowledge. I have read comments on this forum like, "I do not have a garage so I wash it at least once a week". EVERY time you wash your car you put micro scratches in the finish. I do not care what kind of rags you use.

The goal is to keep your car as clean as possible so that you need to wash it as few times as possible. My car is garaged, I have washed it 5 times since January 26, 2007. I always keep it covered and when I come back in after a ride I use detail spray and a brand new micro-fibre cloth before I recover it.

The point I am trying to make is, even if you do not have a garage, if you detail spray it each time you pull in and cover it, which helps avoid washing, it will make a world of diference in the longevity of the finish. Either that or just let it stay dirty more and keep the washing down to 1 or 2 times a month and do it yourself with the proper car care, you should be fine.

Dark colors are the hardest to keep nice, especially left outdoors in the elements. Good Luck and check out the weathersheild from Kappasphere, great outdoor covers. And remember, never cover a dirty car or the cover will scratch the paint like sandpaper. Always detail spray before covering.

[billyharless]

xmicro_Redline listed some good advice. I might add...


You can try Meguires ScratchX before paying someone to work on it. That got swirls and water spots out of my black Sol. ScratchX can be used by hand or a buffer.

I wash my car at the diy car wash just to use the sprayer they have and they allow you to dry your car under a shelter to avoid the sun.

Dry it with a high quality shammy towel then polish or wax it with only microfiber towels.

[OLDMX4]

Question 1: When you use the Scratch/Swirl removers do you apply it with a circular motion like you would wax or a back and forth process?

Question 2: These products say they are swirl removers and polish. Do you still wax or polish after using the Swirl removers?

I am starting to see swirls in our new Sky
I bought, and am going to try the Meguiers ScratchX followed by the High Tech Yellow Wax 26.
Also do you use a new applicator pad to wax with everytime ? I'm assuming my old polish pad must have had dirt on it or something to get the tiny swirls I have now ?

Thanks!

[OLDMX4]

TTT

[MidniteBlues]

Originally Posted by OLDMX4

Question 1: When you use the Scratch/Swirl removers do you apply it with a circular motion like you would wax or a back and forth process? I would use a circular motion

Question 2: These products say they are swirl removers and polish. Do you still wax or polish after using the Swirl removers? ABSOLUTELY!!

I am starting to see swirls in our new Sky
I bought, and am going to try the Maguires ScratchX followed by the High Tech Yellow Wax 26.
Also do you use a new applicator pad to wax with every time ? I'm assuming my old polish pad must have had dirt on it or something to get the tiny swirls I have now ? I use a micro-fiber pad for polish & a foam pad for applying sealant BOTH get washed at the same time my micro-fiber towels do using special cleaner for that after every use. I now also have the option of the porter-cable rotary polisher

Thanks!

I answered this thread this morning, was almost done typing when I had a power failure whata PITA Now I see no one has responded so I'll do it all over again..

This is "how I do it".. The full ritual is done 2 times a year, otherwise just a car wash when needed in between. The trick to this is to use high quality products..

1-Wash car

2-Clay the entire vehicle

3-Wash again, to remove any residual. Then dry using either a high quality chamois, or a specially design drying towel for cars.
Now the hard work begins.

4-Polishing the car. I have 2 types of polish, one is a "regular" polish, the other is a "swirl remover" type polish. Either or, they are both HIGH quality products. Also, in spite of what some may say, I have the porter cable rotary polisher and purchased this because I know that the a regular circular polisher has a better chance of damaging my paint in my inexperienced hands, so I went the safe route. Also, my rotary DOES remove swirl marks as the video I posted above demonstrated. I might as will admit that I use the Wolfgang products sold at autogeek, they also sell other high quality products including maguires stuff.

5-Paint Sealant. I then use a very high quality paint sealant. 2 coats. Again wolfgang's stuff. When done, the results are just STUNNING!!. The process when properly done, will last (has lasted me) from 5 to 7 months. It varies because of the rain & heat down here, and how many time I wash the car in between. When I see the water no longer beads correctly, it is time again to do all above again.. I do NOT use wax, even the most expensive ones will last a month, if lucky 2 months, but wax just melts & washes away in no time, and I'm to old to be doing this crap every month.... Hope this has helped ya a bit.

Oh BTW, everybody has their way of doing these things, and every body has their favorite products. You to will find your methods and products to use that work for you. Any way you use to protect the finish is the RIGHT way, the thing is, doing it...

[joker70]

Car Wax, Car Polish, Auto Detail Supplies - Adam's PolishesIf you are going to do it yourself call these people and talk to them they are great and have very high quality stuff I have had my car since October 06 and have only washed 3 times with water like X I whip with detail spray and a very very thick MF from Adams I can count the scratches on my finish. This is the best way to keep from getting swirls. absolutly don't let a kid do the job of a pro... Goodluck