Should I leave my clear-coat alone? or should I polish it?

[aajohnny]

Hi, I bought a 2017 Mustang a week ago (my first new car) and I noticed in direct sunlight that there are cobwebs/scratches in the clear-coat from the dealers uh... wonderful... "detail" job. The thing is that I'm afraid to polish them out, I feel like I'll screw it up even more. The scratches bother me but at the same time I know that clear-coat is a one-time thing and it is there to protect the my paint.


My questions are:


How harmful is it to really remove the clear-coat? Should I just wait until the car is older to try and remove these defects and just leave it alone for the time being?


What product should I be using for a new car to remove them? (If I should) ScratchX? Ultimate Compound? I get confused with all of these types of Compounds and Polishes.



Thanks!

[cleanmycorolla]

honestly, buy a polisher and do it. the only way a DA is going to ruin your car is if your drop the polisher on your car. other than that, i've seen 13 year olds polish a car. it's super easy. take small steps, but yeah its not rocket science!

It's not great removing clear coat, but if you want a nice finish, you have too!

As for what product, you'll get a million answers. you have to do test spots, least aggressive first and go from there. Read up a bit, read Mike's article in no time you'll be wondering why you thought this was hard to do.

[Mike Phillips]

Hi, I bought a 2017 Mustang a week ago (my first new car) and I noticed in direct sunlight that there are cobwebs/scratches in the clear-coat from the dealers uh... wonderful... "detail" job.

The thing is that I'm afraid to polish them out, I feel like I'll screw it up even more. T


he scratches bother me but at the same time I know that clear-coat is a one-time thing and it is there to protect the my paint.




Welcome to AutogeekOline.net! :welcome:

Congratulations on the new Mustang! It's always fun and exciting to get a new car. When you get a movement, do yourself a huge favor and click the link below, read the article and follow the directions and hopefully we'll never see you start a thread asking how to remove dealership swirls [again].


DON'T WASH CAR! by Mike Phillips (https://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/ask-mike-phillips-your-detailing-questions/66855-dont-wash-car-mike-phillips.html)






My questions are:


How harmful is it to really remove the clear-coat? Should I just wait until the car is older to try and remove these defects and just leave it alone for the time being?




Great question but not worded correctly.

You are not going to remove the clearcoat. If you use a compound, polish or cleaner/wax you will remove a tiny portion of the clearcoat. There's no way around it. Removing swirls and scratches means leveling the surface. You don't technically remove swirls and scratches and swirls and scratches are voids in the paint. What you actually do is remove the paint around swirls and scratches till the surface is level with the lowest depths of the swirls and scratches to be removed.

IF you use high quality abrasive technology, that is the compounds, polishes and cleaner/waxes, (these are things that use abrasive technology), then the process is safe.

IF after you remove the swirls and scratches you then WASH the car carefully and never ever let a dealership "touch" the paint on the car, then you won't have to compound the car but once in a while polish the paint and re-wax and this is normal stuff.






What product should I be using for a new car to remove them? (If I should) ScratchX? Ultimate Compound? I get confused with all of these types of Compounds and Polishes.




Meguiar's ScratchX is a fine cut polish. It may or may not be able to remove the swirls and scratches. It's a lot less aggressive than Meguiar's Ultimate Compound. Meguiar's Ultimate Compound IS strong enough to remove the swirls and scratches.

First off - do you own an orbital polisher?

IF not then you want and need to get one because you cannot remove swirls and scratches by hand. Sure it's possible but I've been doing this all my life and I rarel meet anyone that had

The muscle
The patience
The skill

To remove swirls and scratches out of a modern clearcoat paint system to one small area let alone an entire panel let alone an entire car.


:)

[tampatopless]

You'll be fine. Mike P is right. I would suggest:

1. Wash
2. Clay
3. Clean, Polish and Seal in one step with an AIO. I use HD Speed.
4. Buy a Porter DA, about a half-dozen LC orange pads for the AIO and one or two red pads to apply any wax or sealant down the road.
5. Have at it. The Speed is not nearly as abrasive as a compound, so even though you are working the clear coat, it's not like heavy-duty. Plus, with Speed, I doubt you will get everything out, but you will get it a very acceptable level.

BTW enjoy. I had the same trepidation when I bought my Porter and went to work on my new Mustang. Trust me, the more you use the DA, the better the car will look.

[Mike Phillips]

Here you go....


New members with questions and concerns like yours come up so often, I just churned out a brand new article for you...


Here's what you need to get into machine polishing - Recommendations for a beginner by Mike Phillips (http://tinyurl.com/y736nudd)




:)

[aajohnny]

Thank you! I'll check out your articles and purchase a DA and follow your steps!