What did I do wrong? New car paint now has scratches!

[fprintf]

I have a new Mazda Miata with a black hard top roof. The car is known to have rather soft paint, so I treated it really well. The car had zero scratches when I brought it home the other day, and I've been reading and really worrying about my first wash/detail. Here is what I did:

1. Rinse with cool water
2. Two bucket wash using a new microfiber chenille mitt (Meguiars)
3. Microfiber towel dry. A quick baggie test after this step confirmed the paint was smooth, so I skipped claying the car.
4. Apply Klasse All-In-One with the damp microfiber applicator included in the kit, rub off with a MF cloth
5. Apply Klasse Sealant Glaze with damp microfiber applicator. I put on what I thought was a light coat, and had to leave for a few hours. So I let it sit. When I came back to wipe it off I needed to use a clean damp MF with Quick Detailer to get the paint to shine up. In the evening in my garage, which has a single fluorescent light and a few overhead incandescent lights, it looked pretty good.

When I came home today I got my first look in direct sunlight and was shocked to see I have introduced what looks like a ton of fine swirls.

Do you think it was step #5 that scratched the paint?

I have a polisher but applied the Klasse by hand. I think I can fix this with my new polisher and some of the other stuff I have, I just don't want to make it worse.

[rider9195]

I definitely would have clayed the car. What MF towels are you using? If the towel isn't super soft it can scratch your very soft paint. You can easily fix this with a machine polisher and a very light polish.

[Mulligan]

I've never used Klasse but i always use foam applicators. If your process didn't induce the swirls perhaps it came from the dealer with a glaze that masked the fine swirls.

[Lasthope05]

There are a few things that caused the marring/scratches...

1. applicators
2. microfibers
3. KAIO removed the dealer applied glaze and revealed the paints true condition(most likely as KSG has a tendency to accentuate swirls)

Polish out a section of paint and see if your applicator or towels are causing it. However, like I said, dealers are notorious for shoddy prep work and covering it up with obscene amounts of fillers.

[jslym777]

why would you clay a new car? i dont clay unless its only low body panels and/or im machine polishing afterwards.

It could have been either application or removal of klasse. you also should know that in the washing step, this is only to remove lost dirt/dust etc. so dont push hard with the wash mit and or scrub with it. it is to be used lightly to wash the car. i also mainly use foam pads for most application of product and a plush microfiber towel to remove, and only in straight up/down or left/right motion.

[Kaban]

why would you clay a new car? i dont clay unless its only low body panels and/or im machine polishing afterwards.

It could have been either application or removal of klasse. you also should know that in the washing step, this is only to remove lost dirt/dust etc. so dont push hard with the wash mit and or scrub with it. it is to be used lightly to wash the car. i also mainly use foam pads for most application of product and a plush microfiber towel to remove, and only in straight up/down or left/right motion.

I guarantee you most "brand new" cars on the lot or even freshly delivered need claying and a thorough decontamination. Try it out some time, you'd be surprised.

[rider9195]

why would you clay a new car? i dont clay unless its only low body panels and/or im machine polishing afterwards.

It could have been either application or removal of klasse. you also should know that in the washing step, this is only to remove lost dirt/dust etc. so dont push hard with the wash mit and or scrub with it. it is to be used lightly to wash the car. i also mainly use foam pads for most application of product and a plush microfiber towel to remove, and only in straight up/down or left/right motion.

Many new cars that people buy sit on the lot for a while. All the airborne contaminants fall on the paint and eventually bond to the paint. Plus, I always take 30 mins to clay even a brand new car. I don't want to risk any contaminants getting in between the pad and paint and then causing more damage. I see it as an extra step of caution. Now not every new car is like this, but some are.

[tuscarora dave]

perhaps it came from the dealer with a glaze that masked the fine swirls.
This is exactly what I was thinking.

[glen e]

I just picked up a '12 Z4 that came over from germany and did not sit on the dealer lot. It needed clay.

[TimmyG]

why would you clay a new car? i dont clay unless its only low body panels and/or im machine polishing afterwards.

It could have been either application or removal of klasse. you also should know that in the washing step, this is only to remove lost dirt/dust etc. so dont push hard with the wash mit and or scrub with it. it is to be used lightly to wash the car. i also mainly use foam pads for most application of product and a plush microfiber towel to remove, and only in straight up/down or left/right motion.
Why wouldn't you clay seems to be a better question imo. Have you ever purchased a new car? 90% of them sit outside in the elements for weeks to sometimes months until sold. I would ALWAYS wash, clay, decontaminate, wash, and seal a new car.

[tuscarora dave]

why would you clay a new car?


I guarantee you most "brand new" cars on the lot or even freshly delivered need claying and a thorough decontamination. Try it out some time, you'd be surprised.
I guess he didn't see the recent Iron-X video on that brand new Citroen.

A lot of dealerships are situated in some of the most industrialized areas, near factories, airports, highway systems, rail yards etc. etc. Why would you not clay a brand new car? Those cars don't go from the factory right to the customer's driveway in most cases so most brand new cars are hammered with industrial fallout.

[fprintf]

On the subject of claying, I was so petrified of scratching my car that I tried the clay in an unobtrusive spot in the rear corner of the roof. I did it correctly and it made tiny scratches, so I chickened out. I was relieved when a plastic baggie test revealed mostly smooth paint. Maybe it was too cold? Temp was in the mid50s all weekend.

The car was likely covered in plastic, had been dropped off the transporter truck the morning before we bought it. It sat in the dealer lot for 12 hours before being brought inside. Who knows how long it sat in Japan awaiting the ship to the U.S., or how long it sat exposed to the elements on the trip from California to Connecticut. I was surprised that the paint didn't seem to need claying.

Now that I need to polish the car I am going to clay it anyway. I have Meguiars 205 and Ultimate Polish, and white, grey and blue pads for my PC. I figure I can fix any damage the claying does... and on the white body nothing shows up anyway!

2012 Mazda MX-5 Special Edition - Imgur (http://imgur.com/a/OrSJi)

Thanks everyone for the advice. Regarding the questions, I am using a variety of MF towels. Most of the ones I used on the paint were the ones included with my PC and Meguiars kits purchased from Autogeek. I have no idea what brand they are, but they were new and haven't seen paint or dirt previously. The only thing I did to them was rip off the tags.

[crxman2010]

If your process didn't induce the swirls perhaps it came from the dealer with a glaze that masked the fine swirls.

Wanted to add another vote here, I watched a guy wipe the "road grime" off a brand new z car on the show room floor with window cleaner in an aerosol can... Look great in the right lighting and upon further inspection, I would not have bought that car. I can walk around my car 3 times a day for 10 days, and each time, I will find something I did necessarily see the previous time whether because of lighting or luck couldn't say.

My wife figures I ruined her because she cannot look at a car the same way, she was shopping for the above z car when we saw mr. bob with the window cleaner cleaning it, (it was our road grime)... After a 30 second turtorial and placing her at particular angles, she was of the mind set that if she was to get a z car, they would have to order one (even if it was the same color) and they wouldn't be touching it. It made her half sick to think the average person could buy that car and never realize how much work the car already needed.

[jslym777]

if you are going to clay then be prepared to follow up with a polish, id never clay a car if i dont have a polishing step afterwards. and IF there is a dealer glaze that hid swirl marks before, then the klasse steps should have done a pretty good job of hiding them as well. iron x on the other hand differs from claying. you arent running any material over the paint. rail dust etc. is fine to remove on new cars. and iron x is good at that and id use it any day. i never said i wouldnt remove rail dust, i just would choose iron x over claying, and i didnt say i wouldnt clay at all i said i would stick to lower panels.

[lexterminator]

The fine swirls could also be coming from your drying step. Reason I mention this is that on my black non metallic paint I have been creating tiny scratches visible only at direct sunlight just by drying the car. My paint is very sensitive so to dry the car I have to use quick detailer and a plush microfiber towel... not waffles or other drying towels because on my paint they create marring even when being very gentle when wiping. Those lines can easily be corrected with mild polish and finishing pad.