Product Planning for correcting seemingly hard black Audi paint.. How's my logic?

[manhatton]

Hey AGO,

I have an 07 Audi S4 Avant that needs attention, and from what I've heard anecdotally, it's going to be stubborn during correction. I have a gotten slight taste for this when I made a test pass using an HF DA with a crap HF cutting pad (orange) and Meg's UC. It didn't make a significant difference after two passes. So here is what I had been thinking as possible next steps...

Given that the HF pads are junk, I thought to go with the new LC thin pads (orange, white, black) and keep at it with the UC. I'm hoping that the proper pad (and backing plate) will make the UC more effective.

Alternatively (and with greater cost), I believe the next step in aggressiveness (within Meg's, and my skill level) would be the MF correction system. It sounds like this will be a quicker solution, which of course I wouldn't be against but didn't want to jump to something overly aggressive right off.

In regards to further steps, I have the Meg's UP and UW. (If you can't tell, I tried to purchase the best of what I could locally to tackle another car in the garage that had a minor incident). I'd like to use these as much as possible so they do not go to waste, but I also really want this car to pop. I had been looking at things like CG Blacklight, WDGPS, BlackFire, and many other sealants and waxes. Between all these acronyms and lenghty product names (looking at you BF, OC, etc.) my head is spinning. Suggestions here would be especially helpful.

The remaining question I have is the use of the Nanoskin Autoscrub system. While not the largest of vehicles, this wagon will still take some time, and claying definitely is a time suck. Safe to say this product is as advertised?

Thanks for the wealth of info so far!

[obihave12]

First off, are you correcting typical swirls and minor scratches? Pics are always helpful!

I know from experience the Meguiar's MF cutting pads are EXCELLENT imo and finish very well. CG Blacklight is nothing but fillers and will not correct in any way but the others you mentioned are great products!

And yes it is quite a head spinner with ALL THE PRODUCTS on the market for us to purchase lol. I know when I first came onto this site I started getting a headache with all the product mentions. I have personally not used the Nanoskin Mitts, but I know they can be a great timesaver! They supposedly last longer than your regular clay bar so I believe it sounds more than worth the investment.

[Audios S6]

Would have to see the defects to know what the best course of action is, but:

Megs MF cutting pads with UC or D300

Followed by lake country thin white pads with UP

BLACKFIRE wet diamond all finish paint protection will serve you well. Apply by hand or with a finishing pad on your DA.

[The Guz]

Ultimate polish and ultimate wax are great products. Just because they are available OTC doesn't make them bad products.

Perhaps the cheap HF pad you used didn't "cut it". Better pads will yield better results.

If you wish to step up in aggressiveness and stay within Meguiar's, D300 on a microfiber cutting pad works. It did a great job on my 02 Camaro which has rock hard paint. You could follow up with UP and a polishing pad or finishing pad if D300 + microfiber finished LSP ready. Seeing as you purchased the LC thin pads try UC again and see if you get better results.

Seal with ultimate wax and enjoy your hard work.

[manhatton]

I haven't purchased the new pads yet, as I'm still on the fence about going with the microfiber system.

I'm working getting some pics, though the sun has faded and the garage is full....

[The Guz]

I haven't purchased the new pads yet, as I'm still on the fence about going with the microfiber system.

I'm working getting some pics, though the sun has faded and the garage is full....

Get the microfiber cutting pads and stick with foam for a better finish.

[manhatton]

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4Jfs-QlyEiuV1M4Nmo4Y2UxLXc/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4Jfs-QlyEiuZVpkXzFEeGttMGM/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4Jfs-QlyEiuTHMtZE8tWVlTYnc/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4Jfs-QlyEiuNzNpaTZtVzlSWXM/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4Jfs-QlyEiuLWtXRExDT0JTcEk/view?usp=sharing

Hopefully the horrible etching is popping out at you all... It kills me.

Couldn't get them to embed, gave up.

[Desertnate]

In stead of staying with the UC and then moving over to the MF pads, I'll offer up a different thought: different polishing products.

I have a black GTI with equally hard paint, and I use an HF DA polisher. I too found UC didn't quite work as desired in this situation. However, I moved to Blackfire SRC Compound and SRC polish and they work fantastic. Depending on the level of correction needed, I've found three combinations work really well with Lake Country pads. SRC Polish on white pads works great for simply amping up the shine, either on it's own or following SRC Compound work. SRC Polish on orange works for light swirls. SRC Compound on white works great on moderate to heavy swirls/marring and actually finishes out LSP ready. If things really get bad, SRC Compound on orange should do the trick.

All that being said, I've read of people here using the Menzerna 400 and 4000 (err...400 and 3800 these days) together for similar results. To be honest, the only reason I ended up with Blackfire vs Menzerna was Blackfire was on sale at the time. I'm very happy with how they work on hard German paint and would have been happy either way.

UP and UC are great products. I started with them and still keep them on hand. However, I tend to use them on cars with softer paint and go for something else when facing hard paint.