The Car From Hell! 2014 Subaru Forester nightmare! Sticky Paint

[J Z06]

Before anything starts going against Blackfire AIO...

I have been in talks with Mike Phillips. Mike sent Me the product to try. Something is definitely funny with The Subaru. I am taking a few tips from Mike to try. I did try Blackfire on another car, My Dad's 2010 Red Toyota Yaris. I did a small section of the hood with My Cyclo polisher using green pads and a nickel sized drop on brand new pads. 11 passes went on this section, ample time was allowed for drying. Wiping it off couldn't have been simpler. It did remove mild swirls and scratches as well. ZERO issues with the product. So, I wanted to clear the air on that.

MIKE: THANK YOU for 1. sending that to Me, 2. for all of the suggestions and chats on the phone! You are a super human being!! Now, I am off to use the rest of My day to try to figure out what's going on with this Subaru. Thank God it's being traded, LOL! I do NOT want to see it again, EVER!

Have a good weekend everyone!

Jay

[J Z06]

Darrell L

I have tried BF OS by hand. ZERO issues with it. It's something I am doing, using too much or something with this car.I proved that by trying it on another car with very nice results, and no cussing/foul language trying to wipe it off. The wind could remove it, it's that easy to wipe off. Not sure the extent I will get into on The subi.....might try the same method I used on The Yaris and finish it up(Green pads on The Cyclo, call it a day)....I doubt a dealership is going to deny or nitpick on a trade from a car that looks very clean, might have light s/s but does have nice gloss overall. Had I planned on doing a "Show Car" type deal on it? Yes! We'll see. It may still happen. I don't give up that easily. I will keep everyone posted.

[Darrell L]

Darrell L

I have tried BF OS by hand. ZERO issues with it. It's something I am doing, using too much or something with this car.I proved that by trying it on another car with very nice results, and no cussing/foul language trying to wipe it off. The wind could remove it, it's that easy to wipe off. Not sure the extent I will get into on The subi.....might try the same method I used on The Yaris and finish it up(Green pads on The Cyclo, call it a day)....I doubt a dealership is going to deny or nitpick on a trade from a car that looks very clean, might have light s/s but does have nice gloss overall. Had I planned on doing a "Show Car" type deal on it? Yes! We'll see. It may still happen. I don't give up that easily. I will keep everyone posted.

I didn't believe BF One step would do what people said it would until I tried it in the 3 day class. I now keep some in my arsenal.


Doing half a forester sized hood with a 3401 would be normal but on this car the area is too large. To align with the lower reside from application by hand method try 1/4 section of the hood and 2 section passes. If the reside comes off easily, is the polished result acceptable? If residue is difficult to remove try one section pass and/or use more product.

Before starting the next buffing cycle clean the pad.

I wouldn't give up. Once you figure it out the experience is in your arsenal for the next time. Great learning opportunity!

[J Z06]

I am still at it....just washed/dried the car. Did all the jambs....There's a small spot on the hood I buffed with The Cyclo/Green Pads/Dime sized amount. Waiting for it to dry. Lots of passes. This stuff has a nice working cycle! Yes, Maybe half the hood was too much with The 3401. The correction level is adequate for this application. Nothing beats a full two or three stage correction. Again, this is being traded. If it wasn't, I'd try what I have in the garage to get it defect free.(I have Menzerna SIP/Nano...105/205, Meguiar's Ultimate Compound/Ultimate Polish, The Wolfgang Twins, Sonax Perfect Finish.. Chemical Guys VSS, and more. I took a few pics. Dad's car came out glossy in the spot that I did. This definitely cuts those swirls and scratches! This is a labor of love!

[J Z06]

I decided to up the ante a bit. I tried a little Meguiar's Ultimate Compound on The BEAST-The Flex3401 with the/Orange CCS 6.5"pad. W O W! Gloss up the wazoo! That thing definitely can get away from You. Very powerful....I also used The Cyclo on the bumpers as they're much narrower(makes less mess). I need smaller pads and backing plates for the 3401. I may finish with Menzerna Nano(Not exactly sure what the proper name it is these days, the geek dropped some off yesterday) as I've always liked that as a finisher. It should boost the gloss a bit more. I've not done this in a while! Very tired! LOL. One more side, then the roof and, do I try the powerlock+/845 combo? LOL. All this for a car that's being traded.! I am crazy, I know. It's just how I am. Where can I post some photos? I don't use photobucket any longer as they charge now. The heck with that. I doubt I'll be online tonight as I have a long road ahead of Me. TTYL!!

[Darrell L]

Besides the polish, what changed in the process to get the result desired?

[J Z06]

I pretty much tried Ultimate Compound and The FLEX3401 on a spot...was blown away by the difference compared to what was there. It's a lot of extra work that most wouldn't do. I simply wanted to, that's that! I went to visit My Sister's new dog and just got back...so it'll be finished tonight., Not sure what I will seal it up with.

[Jacob Harrod AUTOCLEAN]

Thank you for chiming in and adding your experience. I'm 100% absolutely confident that moving forward, anytime someone goes to Skynet and searches for,

STICKY PAINT

This thread will slowly but surely start to rise to the top of the search results and this thread will help others.

Well Mike you were right. On page #5 of your book, "How to use the RUPES Bigfoot Paint Polishing System For Production & Show Car Detailing." I came across the 5 automotive paint categories.

1. Fresh paint

2. OEM Standard

3. OEM Soft

4. OEM Sticky

5. OEM Ceramic

The category 4 OEM Sticky sparked my interest from a car I worked on a while ago which I believe had sticky paint, which prompted me to do a search into exactly what "sticky" paint is.

It brought me to this thread.

It was a black Volvo S60 T6 Sedan with paint that seemed unusually sensitive to me. It didn't seem soft to me, because I had to utilize a more aggressive product to achieve some better results, but as I can remember it quite literally just felt a little sticky, with the product being harder to wipe off to me.

I had to be careful not to even leave a sweaty palm print on the paint as this would STAIN the paint and I'd have to go back over it with my polisher!

I also applied two coats of the BF BLACK Edition Ceramic Coating.

Long story short the customer wasn't happy.

Based off of some other information I've gathered here on the forum I believe that the coating took on the characteristic of the paint and did not perform as well as it should have.

Even when the customer came back for a maintenance wash included in his package the coating wash scratched despite the use of contaminant free towels. I carefully polished and reapplied the coating, but I strongly suspect that sticky paint was the culprit.

Perhaps as I gain more knowledge and experience I will come to other conclusions, but that one job will be stuck in the back of my mind as I strive to ensure each and every customer is happy.

[Mike Phillips]

Well Mike you were right. On page #5 of your book, "How to use the RUPES Bigfoot Paint Polishing System For Production & Show Car Detailing." I came across the 5 automotive paint categories.

1. Fresh paint

2. OEM Standard

3. OEM Soft

4. OEM Sticky

5. OEM Ceramic

The category 4 OEM Sticky sparked my interest from a car I worked on a while ago which I believe had sticky paint, which prompted me to do a search into exactly what "sticky" paint is.

It brought me to this thread.

And that's the power of Google or as I like to call it - Skynet.

It was a black Volvo S60 T6 Sedan with paint that seemed unusually sensitive to me. It didn't seem soft to me, because I had to utilize a more aggressive product to achieve some better results, but as I can remember it quite literally just felt a little sticky, with the product being harder to wipe off to me.


I also applied two coats of the BF BLACK Edition Ceramic Coating.

Long story short the customer wasn't happy.

Based off of some other information I've gathered here on the forum I believe that the coating took on the characteristic of the paint and did not perform as well as it should have.

Interesting but not surprising.

For paint like this - I tend to want to keep it simple. As simple as possible. This means explaining to the customer the paint is problematic in and of itself and then strongly recommend against a ceramic coating. Instead, go with what you know works on dang near anything - BLACKFIRE One Step.

Then top with a topper.

Even when the customer came back for a maintenance wash included in his package the coating wash scratched despite the use of contaminant free towels. I carefully polished and reapplied the coating, but I strongly suspect that sticky paint was the culprit.

I'm not sure why, but I've rarely worked on Volvo's. There are other cars I've hardly worked on too, Hyundai's, Audi's, Subaru's come to the top of my mind.

Perhaps as I gain more knowledge and experience I will come to other conclusions, but that one job will be stuck in the back of my mind as I strive to ensure each and every customer is happy.

Right thinking.