Paint spots on my 2015 Night Race Blue Metallic

[TxAg92]

Hi Mike.

I’ve attached some photos of my car from my most recent detail.

I’ve had the car since it was new, and had CQ Finest put on it about 60 days after I bought it. The spots below are hard to see in direct sunlight, but show up under the garage lights.

They are in the hood and the front fenders, but do not show up on the roof, doors, or rear deck.

Hoping with your experience you can advise what they might be.

Have a professional detailing shop that will be my next stop to figure this out. I do not wax the car, and use mostly rinseless washes to clean it over the last 5 years.

Car is garage kept, although I do drive it as often as possible, so it does get out in the elements.


I’ve only noticed these over the last few details, which I do about 1-2 times per month.

Thanks!

[Mike Phillips]

To me, from the pictures, it looks like some form of

Topical Staining


A quality compound, polish or AIO should remove. Just depends on how DEEP the offending chemical, liquid or substance has penetrated INTO the clearcoat.

You won't know what you can do until you try.




I wrote this recently which covers this issue,

Topical Defects vs Sub-Surface Defects - Living life on the edge of the razor blade


Read the above, maybe print it out when you visit the detail shop and have it handy when they talk about how they will about trying to undo the damage.

Me? I would try the least aggressive approach first and then move to more aggressive approaches. Like this,


1: Test a foam cutting pad with a quality compound on an orbital polisher. I would test the BEAST but whatever they have.

2: Test a FIBER pad with a quality compound on an orbital polisher. I would test the BEAST but whatever they have.

3: Test a FIBER pads with a quality compound on an orbital polisher. I would test the BEAST but whatever they have.

4: Test a fiber pad with a quality compound with a ROTARY Polisher and then inspect. If defects are gone - re-polish with an orbital and a foam pad to remove the holograms.

5: Last option - lightly hand sand with a high grit sanding disc or paper. I have good luck using a 3M Trizact #3000 grit sanding disc BY HAND and then remove sanding marks with the rotary followed by cleaning up the holograms with an orbital and foam pad.

[TxAg92]

Great input and thanks for the direction Mike! It is very appreciated.

[Bruno Soares]

I think what Mike said is true and a fine polish and polishing pad will remove that BUT it will harm your coating. So just keep that in mind, you might need to polish and re-coat that entire panel.

[WillSports3]

I'm going to suggest you avoiding anything yourself and take it to the CQ Finest installer. See if that's covered under a warranty of some sort because then they will just polish and re-coat for you instead of you taking the coating off and voiding the warranty.

[TxAg92]

Mike and others,

Thanks for the guidance. Took it to the detail shop today, and he agreed it is topical. Will take it in for a polish next week. Thinks it might be from the rinseless wash I have used, so going to try some other options. Really appreciate the feedback. It is why I have bought my supplies from here!

Andy

[Mike Phillips]

Mike and others,

Thanks for the guidance. Took it to the detail shop today, and he agreed it is topical. Will take it in for a polish next week.

I know you already know to do this - but in an effort to avoid any kind of horror story or bad experience, maybe check with the detailer or shop and ask them why type of tool they use when they machine polish.

My guess and hope would be they use some type/brand/form of orbital polisher. If all they use is a rotary buffer - I'd probably not let them work on my car.

The other important factors of course are the type or brand of abrasive technology they use and then the pad.


I love the picture in this article - it tells the entire story....

Abrasive Technology - THE most important factor when it comes to polishing paint

[TxAg92]

Mike - wanted to share the photos after I had the professional detailer polish the car.

All of the spots are gone. Glad I used a professional as the talent involved fixed my issue. And am going to switch to ONR for future cleanings.

Placed the order with Autogeek today.

[WillSports3]

Did you get the CQUartz finest re-applied? And was it covered under the warranty?

[TxAg92]

Did you get the CQUartz finest re-applied? And was it covered under the warranty?

It was not covered. It has been over 5 years since I had the coating put on the car. I had Gtechnic applied after this polish.


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