Hey Zstryder, the swirls are there nothing can be done. BUT you can minimize them and have a glassy look still. I highly recommend Zaino bros products. Get the Z-5 polish. It will fill in the swirls and make your car look wetter and shinier. It's a LONG process as you will need to apply at least 3 coats. Also get the Z-6 I think it is gloss spray. After the full detail I use this for touchup and keeping it clean. Works great. Zaino is the way to go.

 

This is why I didn't let the dealer wash / wax / detail my EVO in any way. Unless you are buying a Ferrari dealers just put perm scratches in your nice new paint and generally **** things up for you.

 

Hey Zstryder,

Did you read the back of the bottle for the Meguiers 3 step process? That 1st step in the process is really only needed if your paint needs to be cut....ie only use it if your paint appears dull or if you have surface scratching of swirl marks.

You should only use steps 2 and 3 on a new car. And probably only using step 3 would be perfect for a brand new car for the first 6 mos of it's life.

SC~ who only uses step 3 for the 1st year.

 

I like mothers better and I have just polish my car yesterday. My car was built in feburary. I do not plan to wax my car until 1-2 months. If you apply wax your car would never dries

I use mothers.

1. cleaner.
2. Polish "hides swrils"
3. wax coating

Remember your paint needs to dry first.

 

In the 1960's and 70's this statment was true. And also with a paint job done by your local body shop, it is still true. But modern factory paint finishes are baked on. Baking is needed so that the time consuming (paint, sand, dry) processes don;t slow the assembly line....By the time you take ownership, an additional month or so has passed since the car was painted....and the paint has had more time to dry. By the time the consumer takes ownership, the paint is completely dry.

I have seen what happens to body shop paint that is waxed before it is completely dry. The solvents in the paint never get a chance to dissipate properly through the paint layers, because the wax is sealing them in place. The solvents slowly, over a period of years, eat at the finish from beneath and create white hazy spots.

Also consider that if cars, as they came from the factory, didn't have completely dried paint, we would know it. Dealers all over the country put the "paint protection" wax onto most cars as they PDI them before they sell. This wax would also serve to seal the solvents into the paint layers, if they were present. As a result of this, we would have lots of reports of people with white spots in their paint......and as far as I am aware, I have never heard of one such report.

SC~

 

Well around 1998 was told this by a dealers because I've worked for a GMC dealers and they told me never put wax on new cars. Only polish. THat is for domestic paint anyways so i have no idea on imports.

When i say paint i actually refer to the clearcoat. Paint is dried but they said the new clearcoats talk a long while. But i can't remember how long. It was 60 or 90 days.

The red evo at the auto show is a good example of a ruined paint job due to the buffer wheel on not so dry paint.

 

But then if a clearcoat is not completely dry, you wouldn't want to use a polish on it either. The abrasives in the polish would marr the clear coated surfaces very easily....that would leave behind lots of swirls.

I didn't see the red car show Evo in person. But from what I could see in pics, it looked like it was waxed with some sort of abrasive cleaner/ compound wax.....that is a big NO NO on a new car....especially when you are ham-fisting a automatic buffer on the paint. The abrasives will leave swirls!

I think your experience with the GMC dealer can possibly be summed up with a phrase, "You can't teach an old dog new tricks". Many old school dealership types still swear by that old, "no wax for 4-6 mos" notion.

But my experience is soley with Import cars. and thus my reasoning can only be applied to import cars. I took ownership of my Evo 1.5 months after it was built. that's almost 2 months time that the paint has to dry before I took ownership.

Domestic cars move much more quickly from factory to dealership due to the shorter distances the cars have to travel.....esp if you live in Michigan! A car could probably go from factory to dealership in a week in your area. In that case, the paint would only get a week or two to dry after the initial bake at the factory paint shop. And I could see how it would still be soft.

SC~

 

My car is black. I use Zaino. I had the fine scratches you talk about...but after a few coats of Z-5 you could not see any of them. Thats when I switched over to Z-2 (Z-5 is for filling in swirls/fine scratches that can only be seen in light reflection, Z-2 is for the shine). Zaino is great...you basically just keep adding layers of it on top of your cars clear coat, and it just creates a shell of protection. I also use Microfiber towels for drying (the big blue on www.properautocare.com works awesome).

 

Zstryder,

Do yourself a favor and find a couple of reputable detail shops that deal with expensive cars, and have them take a look at your cars finish. They should be able to assess the situation and help you figure out how to get back on the right track.

Getting more than one detailers opinion will hopefully help you gain confidence in the right answer. Ask for references, and get an idea of their clientels satisfaction level.

A lot of folks have given you feedback on what to do/what not to do, and this can be helpful but also confusing. Just remember any abrasives on a perfectly new finish are going to show-up as minute scratches.

The only reason to use a cleaner wax is to remove surface impurites and oxidation.Your new car should not need a cleaner wax. Clay bars provide a more specific approach to removing localized finish impurities, but be careful as the clay can get grit imbedded in it and once again you will see scratches as the result.

 

Zaino rawks! Especially on black cars!

SC~

 

I normally do the wash / clay bar / carnauba wax thing, but last summer I threw 3M Imperial Glaze into the mix and didn't really notice a difference.

In the end, the easiest thing to do is keep it simple. I plan to stick with clay bar & wax because it seems to get the job done.

Good luck with your car, ZStryder. Hopefully a good detail shop will be able to make things right.

 

Thanks for the ideas, guys.

And with my little accident who knows... I might as well just take it to a body and get the lip, mesh, and scratches all fixed in one go.

I'm just afraid to do anything to my car myself anymore.

 

Oh, and thanks SC for the heads up on the wheel lock key. I found it.