New Car Paint Correction - Car Delivered with Full Car Cover - Winter Time - Polish vs Clay

[Tim711]

Hi Everyone, I have been part of the forums for years but I have never introduced myself or posted any threads. I have a question I am hoping that Mike Phillips can help with by sharing his wisdom or from other experienced forums members.


I Purchased a brand new car, 2017 VW Golf R with metallic BLACK paint. The car was transported from the factory to me with a full car cover, not washed or detailed and all wrapping left on.

I have started the process of paint correction; removal of slight love marks / marring in the paint by polishing with large finishing pads and then removing the isolated scratches using compound and polish with smaller pads.

I had figured the car did not need to be clayed because of the car cover but I should have never assumed this. Also, it was very hard to find appropriate temperatures to wash let alone clay with the Canadian winter climate.

As of right now I have used 5" and 3" finishing pads on my GG 6" and 3" orbitals with Menzerna 3800 polish over the entire car. I just have to finish the isolated scratches with 1" and 2" cutting pads and FG400 compound followed by polish.

My Question: Should I revert back and claying the entire car to remove all the possible embed contaminants? The soft BLACK metallic paint will probably mar easily from claying and I have already finished polishing/jeweling the entire car. Would a better option be to use a chemical remover such as Wolfgang Polish Enhancer (already own) to remove the remaining contaminants and avoid marring the paint? Or should I just leave it alone at this point and clay it the next time it needs polishing (hopefully a couple of years)?

This is a daily driver but I do meticulously take care of my cars.

Thank you in advance for any help that Mike or others can provide.

[LSNAutoDetailing]

Congrats on the new vehicle. I myself have recently purchased a new car for my family. A brand-new Mustang Eco-Boost Premium w/ Pony Package.
Clay removes above surface bonded contaminates.

Here is the clay I used on the new Mustang EB, it was once a blue bar of clay!



If you also think a new car does not need chemical decontamination, think again!




IMO, if you're happy with how the car looks, make it through the winter (we're getting enough snow!) and in the spring give it a thorough detail. Who knows what winter will through at you between now and Spring.

The FG400 is a great polish and has diminishing abrasives (DAT) which offers long working time. Use many pads, as it's a combo of the pad & polish that corrects.

Enjoy your new VW!

[backtees]

Welcome and great ride. Truly "in the wrapper". Enjoy


Sent from my iPhone using Autogeekonline mobile app

[Mike Phillips]

Hi Everyone, I have been part of the forums for years but I have never introduced myself or posted any threads.

I have a question I am hoping that Mike Phillips can help with by sharing his wisdom or from other experienced forums members.

Hi Tim,

Sorry I missed this thread, been a tick on the busy side lately with our annual boat detailing class, filming Competition Ready and now setting up for our 3-day Competition Ready Detailing Class. I like to hang out on the forum and help where and when I can but just been busy in January and February. The good news is things slow down after February, at least a little.

I Purchased a brand new car, 2017 VW Golf R with metallic BLACK paint. The car was transported from the factory to me with a full car cover, not washed or detailed and all wrapping left on.

Perfect.

For everyone that will read this thread into the future contemplating purchasing a new car, take note. When making the purchase of a car pre-delivery, tell the dealership to NOT touch it and avoid a lot of heartache and misery.

Right now, behind the scenes in e-mail, (and I don't like to work in e-mail I much prefer to be transparent and work on this forum), I'm helping a guy that just bought a brand new car from a dealership with water spots. He's wise in that he's been reading some of my articles here on this forum about water spots, thin factory clearcoat and the horrible work that is typically performed at dealerships. It might lead to breaking off the deal and renegotiating for the same car, brand new without blemishes already in the paint.

I have started the process of paint correction; removal of slight love marks / marring in the paint by polishing with large finishing pads and then removing the isolated scratches using compound and polish with smaller pads.

The surgical approach. Perfect.

I had figured the car did not need to be clayed because of the car cover but I should have never assumed this. Also, it was very hard to find appropriate temperatures to wash let alone clay with the Canadian winter climate.

I would be surprised to find bonded contaminants on a brand new car with the protective plastic skin over it but then again... the contamination could have happened before the car was covered.

As of right now I have used 5" and 3" finishing pads on my GG 6" and 3" orbitals with Menzerna 3800 polish over the entire car. I just have to finish the isolated scratches with 1" and 2" cutting pads and FG400 compound followed by polish.


My Question:

Should I revert back and claying the entire car to remove all the possible embed contaminants? The soft BLACK metallic paint will probably mar easily from claying and I have already finished polishing/jeweling the entire car.

If you feel the contaminants using the baggie test AFTER you have polished then "yes" you should do some form of mechanical decontamination as feeling the contaminants after polishing shows and proves that machine polishing with foam pads is not effective at removing bonded contaminants. For the record I've been explaining this for probably 20 years in the forum world. Soft foam pads GLIDE over bumps on the paint when used with orbital polishers. Buffing with foam MAY remove some bonded contaminants but the term or word is effective. It's not the most or best effective method to remove bonded contaminants, this is where detailing clay or one of the clay substitutes comes into play.

So if you want to nip this in the bud from the get go then roll up your sleeves and go back to step 2.

Step 1: Wash and dry vehicle.
Step 2: Inspect paint using the baggie test, if contamination is discovered, then remove.
Step 3: Inspect paint for below surface defects, if discovered, use polish or compound followed by polish to remove defects.
Step 4: Seal paint.
Step 5: Maintain.

Would a better option be to use a chemical remover such as Wolfgang Polish Enhancer (already own) to remove the remaining contaminants and avoid marring the paint?

This won't work at all. I think about 5 years ago I posted I need to write an article that explains what paint cleaners are and then never wrote it. When things slow down I will.

A paint cleaner, and there are many on the market, only remove LIGHT surface staining, LIGHT oxidation, some chemical contamination and surface impurities. It's a very NON aggressive way to chemically clean the very top surface of the paint before applying a wax.

My opinion on using paint cleaners goes like this,

If you're going to take the time to apply "something" to a car's finish by hand or machine, you might as well apply a fine cut polish and get all the benefits of a paint cleaner PLUS remove light swirls and scratches. It just makes more sense to me for all the time, energy and effort that goes into applying anything over the surface of car paint with the intention of improving it.

Besides that, just like machine polishing didn't remove the above surface bonded contaminants, hand or machine applying a less aggressive and in most cases, non-abrasive products like paint cleaners certainly won't work either.

Or should I just leave it alone at this point and clay it the next time it needs polishing (hopefully a couple of years)?

This is a daily driver but I do meticulously take care of my cars.

Since the car is a daily driver, parked outside at least for a portion of each day, then I would take this route (not worrying about it and thus not claying it at this point in time), assuming the bumps you feel on the paint are light and few between.

If the paint feels like #40 grit sandpaper then clay it.



Thank you in advance for any help that Mike or others can provide.[/QUOTE]

[Mike Phillips]

And the above reply is what separates the difference between the forum interface and the Facebook interface.


Much easier to read and of course find again in the future.

[Mike Phillips]

And for those reading this into the future not familiar with the baggie test...


The Baggie Test - How to inspect for above surface bonded contaminants






Hard to believe this baggie test article is now 7 years old.

[JKDesign]

I work at a VW dealer, and the cars are an absolute mess when they get unloaded off the haulers! Even with all the wrapping.

[TTQ B4U]

My Question: Should I revert back and claying the entire car to remove all the possible embed contaminants? The soft BLACK metallic paint will probably mar easily from claying and I have already finished polishing/jeweling the entire car. Would a better option be to use a chemical remover such as Wolfgang Polish Enhancer (already own) to remove the remaining contaminants and avoid marring the paint? Or should I just leave it alone at this point and clay it the next time it needs polishing (hopefully a couple of years)?

I would do the baggie test to see if it's even required. If it's just very light contaminants, I would use a Nano sponge, fine grade, and do it with some really soapy water. I use Gold Class in a small 1 gal pale and plenty of suds. Works great. Little to no marring. IMO the non-clay options work better and do less damage as you rinse it off vs folding in the dirt.

Go lightly and you'll be fine. Any micro marring will polish out in a snap. Just usse 3800 on a white or green pad and you'll find good results.

Just my take.

[Tim711]

Thanks to Mike and everyone for sharing your expertise. I will take your advice by washing and drying the vehicle and inspecting the paint using the baggie test to see if the contaminants are light and few between.

The car came with a full fabric cover that I removed and only had protective plastic skin on a few small trim pieces. The cover was very tightly fit so it may have prevented contaminants from blowing up underneath.




There was marring and scratches left on the paint from the cover which was the reason for polishing but there were also traces of holograms and compounding from the factory.