Unrealistic expectations

[what'sinaname]

Hi All,

Being still new to car care (and doing everything by hand), I am wondering what is too pedantic. I now see every scratch, marr, imperfection in the paint. When I walk through a car park, I try to get the angle with the sun to see the swirls in other cars. :doh:

Then I look at my paint of my daily drive and see the little swirls.

Is perfection possible for a daily drive. Am I setting unrealistic expectations that if I machine out these minor swirls, I am fighting an perpetual losing battle that'll only see me go slowly insane.

What kind of marring do you expect for a daily drive? How perfect is a freshly detailed car?

Will any contact with the paint through washing, waxing invariably marr the paint?

Why is it so easy to marr paint but so damn hard to get rid of the swirls. A MF cloth was lightly run over a small part of the hood marring the paint. But it's been a choir to try to buff out. I think I need to go up to Scratch-X 2, rather than the original product.

[TornadoRed]

Do you have a wife/girlfriend, kids, or friends? They will not treat your car the way you do. My son shuts the door by putting his palm on the middle of the dirty door or barely opens the door enough for him to sliiiiiiide in. No matter how many times I tell him to not do it, he "forgets". I can't kill him, so I just accept the fact that I'm not going to be able to keep the daily driver in show car condition.
My wife shuts the door by the soft plastic b-pillar and I caught one of my friends leaning against my car once. Internet friends are so much easier to get along with.

[flyinion]

Do you have a wife/girlfriend, kids, or friends? They will not treat your car the way you do.

LOL we got home one night and the gf goes to put her purse on my month old Jeep's hood to get something out of it. In addition to a few extra words (basically asking her nicely to get it off the hood) I also offered to let her use the buffer to fix any scratches :buffing::laughing::laughing::laughing:

[Richard Baas]

Hi All,

Being still new to car care (and doing everything by hand), I am wondering what is too pedantic. I now see every scratch, marr, imperfection in the paint. When I walk through a car park, I try to get the angle with the sun to see the swirls in other cars. :doh:

Then I look at my paint of my daily drive and see the little swirls.

Is perfection possible for a daily drive. Am I setting unrealistic expectations that if I machine out these minor swirls, I am fighting an perpetual losing battle that'll only see me go slowly insane.

What kind of marring do you expect for a daily drive? How perfect is a freshly detailed car?

Will any contact with the paint through washing, waxing invariably marr the paint?

Why is it so easy to marr paint but so damn hard to get rid of the swirls. A MF cloth was lightly run over a small part of the hood marring the paint. But it's been a choir to try to buff out. I think I need to go up to Scratch-X 2, rather than the original product.


Basically you will need to accept that you will just go insane. I am OCD so much on my daily driver to the point my friends just laugh at me. It's more of a joke now... And some friends have said even when my car is "dirty" it's still cleaner than most peoples. I do not have a garage so it's out in the elements more than I like. My wife is tolerant to a point but gets tired of me ranting and raving every time it rains or I have to go down a dirt road or a bird flies over it or God forbid the worst time of the year for people like us the dreaded "Pollen Season" But in the end it's worth it when people comment on how well my vehicle looks. I also keep my trunk full of nothing but detailing supplies for emergencies and it kills me when we go out of town and need more luggage space. I have learned to pack a bare essentials bag for these times. But everyday I have everything to wash/clay/polish/wax and 2 Pounds worth of MF Cloths. Because You never know.... And then again I may be in a class by myself. Maybe we need a Detailers Anonymous...

[timaishu]

Ive learned to live with what I got.

I did my first correction a year and a half ago and I got the altima to probably 95%. Over the course of time I have noticed some very very slighly marring on the roof and some swirls on the right rear quarter and some swirls near edges and my spoiler that I couldnt get my GG into.

Thankfully my car is lighter tan (polished pewter) so it doesnt show swirls at all hardly.

I totally gave up on perfection when I realized my front and rear bumper are repaints.

So for me, I will probably do yearly polishes and just try to maintain it. My car isnt show car capable.

[what'sinaname]

I am already feeling better. :grouphug:

The lovely wife commented this morning, "It's a car, get over it!" :cry:

I also now understand "put some passion behind the pad". It should be, if your arm doesn't hurt, you're not pushing hard enough.

[Kristopher1129]

I for one drive an older car on purpose. New cars, I can't handle. Even cars that are toys...can't handle it.

I had a MINT 93 Mustang LX. It got a beautiful stock green paint job that was perfect (and I'm picky with paint). The thing seriously drove me insane. I just wanted it to stay perfect. So much so, that I rarely took it out, ha.

So yeah...don't feel bad. I wouldn't even think of correcting my car. I clay, polish it, put sealant on, and call it a day. Swirls I will only deal with for money! :dblthumb2:

[flyinion]

I am already feeling better. :grouphug:

The lovely wife commented this morning, "It's a car, get over it!" :cry:

I also now understand "put some passion behind the pad". It should be, if your arm doesn't hurt, you're not pushing hard enough.

Yeah on a DD it's really more work than it's worth. Basically you'll end up removing more paint than it's worth by the time you get rid of it. The option I go with is a clay/polish/seal/wax every 6 months or so with some heavier swirl remover in any areas that are really bad and only go for one round. I.e. if one round of polishing left a few small scratches/swirls/etc., it's probably not worth getting out of a DD. Like Mike says, that paint is thin these days.

[FUNX650]

I am already feeling better. :grouphug:

The lovely wife commented this morning, "It's a car, get over it!" :cry:

I also now understand "put some passion behind the pad". It should be, if your arm doesn't hurt, you're not pushing hard enough.

I tell my lovely Wife, (if she would dare to make a statement like you've listed above):

"Excuuuuse me if my pedanticism seems, to you MY LOVE...An annoying, haughty, pedagogic mannerism!! And furthermore, for your information, MY Dear One...The next round of hair-splitting will occur when, instead of me 'putting some "passion" behind the polishing pad', that same "unadulterated passion" will be put behind what little padding that's tucked away inside a boxing glove"!

:D

Bob

{A Little Side Bar: Yeah, Right. That's: "Very Unrealistic Expectations", at least on my part! }