It's harder than it looks

[dgjks6]

Long time lurker. New member. This is going to be a great first post. So have doen thetraditional wash/was/occ clay for years without problems but on black cars there were always scratches.

So a couple years ago acquired a couple black Porsches, a 2009 911 and a 2016 Macan. And fgiured I would remove the swirls. Strted with polishing compound by hand (after wash and clay), no luck, swirl remover, no luck, Meguairs compound, no luck. OK, maybe by hand is not enough. Got the drill attachment DA last year and went through the same process of chemicals. No luck. This was last year. Then winter hit. So wife went out of town last week and left me with the Macan for a week and I figured I would learn to do it the right way. With the ultimate goal of putting a ceramic coat on a perfect finish.

In preparation I watched a ton of you tube videos - to the point of being obsessed. I thought watching a lot of videos over and over would make me an expert. I learned it does not work that way.

So last week started with the same sequence of wash, clay, compound, polish, etc with the drill activated DA and after I put the wax on I still had scratches/swirls. So I put tape on to see If I was making new scratches with bad towels or what the heck was I doing wrong? After removing the tape and comparing before and after I found that I could make the scratches lighter a litlle and I was not creating new ones.

This led to a couple conclusions - on a metallic black Porsche Macan.
1-The worry I was going to get through the clear coat with so many repeated treatments left my mind, heck, I could not get deep enough to remove the ones already there
2-all the washing, claying, compounding, polishing, waxing was not adding new scratches (thank god)
3-macan clear coat is really hard
4-I suck at detailing
5-my only conclusion for the cause of the scratches in my wife takes the car to an auto car wash every week when she gets gas

So she was coming home today so I put a coat of wax on last night and cried myself to sleep.

Don't get me wrong - car looks amazing, but in the right light you can still see the scratches

So now I am stuck between looking good enough or buying a true DA polisher and trying again.

So to summarize in one question - is it really possible to remove all the scratches or thye just get so faint you can't see them on the videos?

[dudley07726]

It s a good thing my wife doesn’t put gas in her E400 coupe. I do. (I thinks that’s a plus in this case).

[vobro]

May not be possible to remove every scratch, etching or swirl but the tools you’re working with take far longer and lead to a letdown. Do yourself a favor and get a da, the drill attachment doesn’t hit as hard and is cumbersome.

[custmsprty]

I did this Black Cayenne yesterday. It was hammered, major scrathes from car wash and serious water spot etching.

Here's a link to the Show and Shine I posted along with product info.

2015 Black Porsche Cayenne Correction with FG400 and Polish Angel Master Sealant (https://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/show-n-shine/118401-2015-black-porsche-cayenne-correction-fg400-polish-angel-master-sealant.html)


62891

[dgjks6]

Cayenne looks great. Looking at used da on eBay now

[TMQ]

If your car looks good to you now---I'll be stunning once you use a da.

A new griots 6" da is 150 and you can't go wrong with it. And safe too...

Don't try to go for perfection---you'll be doing great at 70 - 80% correction.

Tom

[wing commander]

We spend $ 100,000.00 thousands on our cars but a proper $500.00 investment stops us from enjoying them? Please buy a polisher kit from AutoGeek and let us all see those beautiful cars the way they should be seen. The fact that you got this far says something about your ability to use the kit with confidence!

[Dan Tran]

DA...PERIOD!

Great tools are widely available for the pros and beginners.


Sent from my iPhone using Autogeekonline mobile app (http://r.tapatalk.com/byo?rid=87407)

[Goonie75]

I'll second DanTran. It's worth it to get a DA. As Tom said, the Griot's 6" is a great one to start out with and the work you will see will blow your mind. Also, and this one I had to just get through my head... not everyone wants pristine, show car paint, or needs it. As it, daily drivers that will get dirty, etc. One said that we can chase these scratches and swirls all day long but at the end of the day, sometimes the 'perfect' finish can't be achieved easily (particularly without risking damage, etc)... Seriously, try a DA with some 5" pads maybe and sit back and take it it...

[Mike Phillips]

Long time lurker. New member. This is going to be a great first post.


So to summarize in one question - is it really possible to remove all the scratches or they just get so faint you can't see them on the videos?





The answer to your question is "yes".


Trying to buff out a car with a drill is a lot of work. Your time is worth more than what you're trying to do with a drill. Here's something I wrote last year, there's TONS of info in this single thread.


Here's what you need to get into machine polishing - Recommendations for a beginner by Mike Phillips (https://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/redirect-to/?redirect=http%3A%2F%2Ftinyurl.com%2Fy736nudd)




Hope that helps...



:)

[Audios S6]

If your wife is going to continue to take it to the brush car wash, I would say don’t bother trying to get all the swirls and scratches out. Just do what you can in a single step to improve on the finish and if there’s a lot of defects left, live with it.

You can spend a couple days bringing it back to near new condition. In a couple weeks of washes it will be right back where it was. Except, you will have less clearcoat, lost 12+ hours of your time, used a few Advil and still be crying yourself to sleep; and maybe need a couple hours of couples counseling.

But, if she’s willing to go to a touchless wash instead, take that paint as far as you want.

[SWETM]

I second that if the car is still getting through the car wash with bristles don't chase the scratches. Just get the finish to shine and gloss with a finishing polish or a polish. Protect it and call it. But if you where to take a good washing technique and maintain it as carefull as possible. Do a full correction with a compound and a finishing polish. Then chose a more long lasting lsp and make the washing much easier to do. A DA is necessary to attain a great work and saves times.

[dgjks6]

Ok so here is the plan. Don't bother trying to change my wifes habits. The gas station where she gets the car wash pumps the gas, so I don't think she will change.
So next is the 911 - it's a much smaller car. Be more patient with the compounding and see if it works, if not get the DA kit here.

So I wax the macan twice a year with either turtle wax or mequiars ultimate. I bought some McKee's 37 ceramic spray stuff here - was going to use it after I got the scratches out (which never happened). Should I just ceramic coat over the scratches?

[SWETM]

Ok so here is the plan. Don't bother trying to change my wifes habits. The gas station where she gets the car wash pumps the gas, so I don't think she will change.
So next is the 911 - it's a much smaller car. Be more patient with the compounding and see if it works, if not get the DA kit here.

So I wax the macan twice a year with either turtle wax or mequiars ultimate. I bought some McKee's 37 ceramic spray stuff here - was going to use it after I got the scratches out (which never happened). Should I just ceramic coat over the scratches?

You can do that. It's just recommended to have as good as possible finish since you are going to seal it in for a long time. But of course it's up to you to decide what you are satisfied with to do or need to do in this case. I still would recommend to get a da polisher if you are going to maintain your cars. Your wifes car can be a guinea pigg. Take the pad with the most cut in it and the Meguiars UC on the drill attachement. And work with very slow armspeed and high speed setting. Then work the compound as to it's not starts to dry and dust. If you need to use a polish to clear up after the compound you may consider to order another polish. It's cause the Megs UP has some fillers and is very heavy on polishing oils. The M205 is also heavy on polishing oils but 2 wipe down with ipa or a panel wipe product will fix for the M205. This is so the coating can bond properly to the paint without any polishing oils to interfear. Then apply the coating and maybe consider to apply 2 layers to maximize the thickness and coverage.

[JustJesus]

...

3-macan clear coat is really hard
4-I suck at detailing
5-my only conclusion for the cause of the scratches in my wife takes the car to an auto car wash every week when she gets gas

So she was coming home today so I put a coat of wax on last night and cried myself to sleep.

Don't get me wrong - car looks amazing, but in the right light you can still see the scratches

So now I am stuck between looking good enough or buying a true DA polisher and trying again.

So to summarize in one question - is it really possible to remove all the scratches or they just get so faint you can't see them on the videos?



#4 is funny. But don't be so hard on yourself. :) You can get better with more practice.

Crying yourself to sleep after a coat of wax is also funny.

Like others have said, if she will continue her weekly wash at the gas station, then I would suggest settling for looking good enough. Perhaps, try using a glaze, such as Poorboy's World Black Hole, and then going over that with a wax. Not sure how long the combo would last in that gas station wash environment, though.

And yes, it is possible to remove them. It's a balancing act, though, between chasing them all, and settling for good enough.

Here's a video of what can be accomplished with a drill attachment (note: It would take far longer doing an entire car with just a 3" pad, vs a 5" pad on a standard DA)


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ozwtlrrj2E