Suggestions for working with new VW paint?

[04lss]

Hi all,

Some of you may recall I bought a camaro back over the summer. Well, after some issues, a decision that i wanted to buy a house, and a dealer offering me 3k more than I paid for it, I am now in a Habanero orange 2021 VW Jetta. Like every VW ive bought new the paint is swirled from the dealer -_- . My last VW was mk7 GTI. And i tried a few things to polish the paint and never really made a big difference in swirls. Does anyone have any experience with new VW paints and suggestions about what might work?

Here is what i have at my disposal:

Griots black pads
Rupes Yellow pads
Griots orange cutting pads
Griots microfiber pad

Griots G12
Griots G8 Mini

Car pro Essence polish (bought for the white camaro)
Meguiars 205
Meguiars 105
Griots Compound
Gyeon Prep
Griots speed clay
Meguiars d15501 last touch spray (quick detailer)
Meguiars d11101 Shampoo plus

Griots Ceramic 3 in 1 spray wax



My plan is to Wash, Clay, polish (compound IF needed),prep, and finish up with the spray ceramic wax as the protection should last until spring. The question is, will the pinnacle on a rupes yellow be enough?

Also, very open to suggestions about other products in terms of polish and pads.

[Desertnate]

If you are going to use a Rupes Yellow pad, you'll want to go with a fairly aggressive polish/compound in order to make even a dent in the swirls.

When I owned a black metallic Mk6 GTI, my go-to combination was a white Lake Country Think Pro pad and Blackfire's Compound (both the discontinued SRC line and the new one). This would allow me to do a one-step job on the car and knock out light/moderate swirls. The Rupes pads seem to be a touch more aggressive, so I think they are a good place to start.

I don't have any experience with any of the polishes/compounds you list. Closest I've come to any of those products is Meguiars Ultimate Polish and Compound which supposedly are similar to 105/205. They were OK on soft paint, but didn't impress me much with the gloss they delivered. Hopefully 105/205 are better. I'm currently using the Griots BOSS line of polishes, but don't know how they stand up to the regular Griots line.

You'll need to do a series of test spots with various combinations of pads/polishes to see what works the best.

[Bruno Soares]

Paint is pretty hard. For any defect removal you'll want to start with something more aggressive. In my MK7 GTI to remove a scratch I have to use microfiber and Jescar Correcting Compound (I'm sure you could use a different compound, I also like Griot's Fast Correcting Cream but it cuts less than Jescar). Wool pad might work well too but I don't have any of those, I should get some as people say it can be better than microfiber.

With foam pads you can only remove the lightest of swirls on the hard paint that came in these cars.

[04lss]

Paint is pretty hard. For any defect removal you'll want to start with something more aggressive. In my MK7 GTI to remove a scratch I have to use microfiber and Jescar Correcting Compound (I'm sure you could use a different compound, I also like Griot's Fast Correcting Cream but it cuts less than Jescar). Wool pad might work well too but I don't have any of those, I should get some as people say it can be better than microfiber.

With foam pads you can only remove the lightest of swirls on the hard paint that came in these cars.

I guess ill see what polish does on a foam pad, then if needed i can compound with the microfiber. I have a similar issue with my b8.5 s4 where nothing short of the microfiber seems to remove swirls. Perhaps ill just do a polish to make the paint pop, and then get the BOSS from griots for the spring.

[Desertnate]

I polished out a black metallic Porsche Cayenne once with paint which was harder than my VW. I got it done with a compound and Lake Country orange pads. It took forever and and it left enough polishing haze I had to polish out with a second step. A MF pad would have probably saved me a ton of time with the compounding step. I need to get a couple to keep on hand.

[Odrapnew]

I have a 2016 Tornado Red Golf R.
It was the first vehicle I tackled paint correction.

I used:
Griots G6
5" Lake Country Pads - Microfiber and Orange/white foam.
Meguiar's Ultimate Compound and Polish

To get the swirls out, I had to do each section 2x with the microfiber and compound. That was 3-4 section passes, repeated 2x. I think a few of the really bad areas I did a 3rd time (mainly for a few deeper scratches).
I then went over with the orange pad and polish. I tried the white pad and polish, but it didn't seem to pop as much as the (slightly) more aggressive orange pad.

I wish I had something more aggressive for the compounding step so I didn't have to go over it 2x.

When I was doing my test spots, the white pad and polish didn't do shiii.....anything to the swirls.

[DaveT435]

Out of what you have the 105 on the microfiber cutting pad will cut it but that is going to be one dusty combo. You can try the orange griot’s pad with the 105. That should give you some decent cut. Whenever I used 105 I always kept a small spray bottle and spritzed it with a little water when it started to dry out. It kept the dust down and allowed you to work it a little longer so it finished better. Finishe with the yellow Rupes pad and Essence. With what you have that’s your best option. If the orange pad doesn’t do it use the 105 and microfiber and spritz a little more often.

[Epilogts]

I would suggest 6 inch RUPES Medium Yellow Wool Polishing Pad (https://www.autogeek.net/rupes-medium-wool-pad-6inch.html) and CARPRO ClearCut Fast Cut Compound 250 ml. (https://www.autogeek.net/carpro-clearcut-compound.html). Then finish with an LC orange Rupes Yellow foam and Carpro Reflect or Essence if it really needs it, but the yellow wool should finish down ok on rock hard clear. I think this is the way to go without spending forever not making much progress.

If you’re skerd of the wool you could start with the microfiber or Rupes Yellow foam, and the Griot’s. It should make it “better” but if but in the end with the work you put in I don’t think you’ll be happy…

Let us know what you end up trying and how you fair! Sounds like a fun project, love orange.

[Desertnate]

I wish I had something more aggressive for the compounding step so I didn't have to go over it 2x.

When I was doing my test spots, the white pad and polish didn't do shiii.....anything to the swirls.

I think there were a couple things going on from your description.

You really need better polishes than the Meguiars Ultimate products. They are simply, OK, from my experience. Plenty of others which will cut and polish better to give you much better results.

Like you found a white pad and a polish on VW paint won't do anything. When I owned my GTI, I tired both an orange pad and polish and a white pad and a compound. I found a white pad and a compound produced the best results. Over the 6~7 years I owned the car, it became my go-to strategy and was able to knock out many one-step polishes.

For any polishing products you need to do more section passes too. I typically do 5~6 on any car, regardless of paint, unless I'm just trying to do something very minor like polish out a coating high spot.

[04lss]

I did some testing last night. yesterday i noticed some adhesive that i HAD to remove for my sanity. So i broke out the detailing supplies. I decided while I had it out to do some test polishing.
Cleaned and clayed an area on the passenger door that had some marring, and swirls. Used some polish on a microfiber towel to remove the adhesive (goo gone and clay didnt work). I used the towel so as not to get my pads gunked up. Then i used some of the essence on an orange pad with my g8 mini. It removed the marring and most of the swirls, but some light scratches didn't budge. So i put some griots compound on my g9, with a microfiber pad and it gut right through in 2 passes. only a deeper scratch stayed and i didnt feel like attacking it. It looks like a polish on an orange pad will get rid of most of the defects. I am of course going to try half the hood with polish this weekend to see if it comes out how i want. I believe the swirls are light enough that i can deal with them with what i have thankfully.

[Odrapnew]

I think there were a couple things going on from your description.

You really need better polishes than the Meguiars Ultimate products. They are simply, OK, from my experience. Plenty of others which will cut and polish better to give you much better results.

Like you found a white pad and a polish on VW paint won't do anything. When I owned my GTI, I tired both an orange pad and polish and a white pad and a compound. I found a white pad and a compound produced the best results. Over the 6~7 years I owned the car, it became my go-to strategy and was able to knock out many one-step polishes.

For any polishing products you need to do more section passes too. I typically do 5~6 on any car, regardless of paint, unless I'm just trying to do something very minor like polish out a coating high spot.


Yeah, hindsight, Meguiar's Ultimate products performance match their cost.

When you say 'polishing products' are you talking both compound and polish steps, or just the polish step?
It was over a year and a half ago, but I think I ran the passes until the compound/polish started to dry up, which I think was around 3-4 passes. I know it was never less than 3 and I'm pretty sure I did at least 4 on everything.

At this time, I have no need to correct paint on any of my vehicles, but I'll have to keep in mind the white pad and compound combo.

It was the first time I ever picked up a DA, so I was very apprehensive, but in the end, it turned out better than I expected.

[Desertnate]

When you say 'polishing products' are you talking both compound and polish steps, or just the polish step?

Yes, I was referring to both compound and polish. Even with the Meguiars Ultimate liquids you should be able to get more than 3~4 passes before it starts to dry up. I haven't used them in a while, but working time wasn't my main complaint with those products. Maybe you need to use a little more product, I typically apply 4 pea-sized drops each time. You may also be trying to polish too large of an area. It's really hard to diagnose without being there to see what's happening.

The only product I haven't been able to at least 5~6 passes was DP's compound. It would dry up somewhere around 4 passes.

Regardless, the next time you need to polish our a vehicle, it would be worth it to look at different brands for your polishes.

[04lss]

Yeah, hindsight, Meguiar's Ultimate products performance match their cost.

When you say 'polishing products' are you talking both compound and polish steps, or just the polish step?
It was over a year and a half ago, but I think I ran the passes until the compound/polish started to dry up, which I think was around 3-4 passes. I know it was never less than 3 and I'm pretty sure I did at least 4 on everything.

At this time, I have no need to correct paint on any of my vehicles, but I'll have to keep in mind the white pad and compound combo.

It was the first time I ever picked up a DA, so I was very apprehensive, but in the end, it turned out better than I expected.

Something I read in the mike philips book and ive seen elsewhere is lowering the pressure on subsequent passes. Might help preserve the working time. When detailing friends cars that is mainly correcting swirls and stuff i use Meguiars 105 and 205. (close to the ultimate compound and polish). I use the meguiars because its cheap and one bottle will do a dozen cars. It works fine but its dusty. Working on my own stuff i use Griots compound. I like the way it works better. Its also available at the box stores. Then you can order whatever polish you want.

[Odrapnew]

All the info makes sense.
I guess I won't know what works best on my R for (hopefully) many years...until the coating wears off or the paint gets enough swirls to require correction.

Sorry to OP for the slight hijack.

[04lss]

All the info makes sense.
I guess I won't know what works best on my R for (hopefully) many years...until the coating wears off or the paint gets enough swirls to require correction.

Sorry to OP for the slight hijack.

No worries! I will say that microfiber pads are your friends in the VWAG world. Couldnt make a dint in the swirls on my audi without one.