It's harder than it looks

**dgjks6** · 04-01-2018, 04:48 PM

Long time lurker. New member. This is going to be a great first post. So have doen thetraditional wash/was/occ clay for years without problems but on black cars there were always scratches.

So a couple years ago acquired a couple black Porsches, a 2009 911 and a 2016 Macan. And fgiured I would remove the swirls. Strted with polishing compound by hand (after wash and clay), no luck, swirl remover, no luck, Meguairs compound, no luck. OK, maybe by hand is not enough. Got the drill attachment DA last year and went through the same process of chemicals. No luck. This was last year. Then winter hit. So wife went out of town last week and left me with the Macan for a week and I figured I would learn to do it the right way. With the ultimate goal of putting a ceramic coat on a perfect finish.

In preparation I watched a ton of you tube videos - to the point of being obsessed. I thought watching a lot of videos over and over would make me an expert. I learned it does not work that way.

So last week started with the same sequence of wash, clay, compound, polish, etc with the drill activated DA and after I put the wax on I still had scratches/swirls. So I put tape on to see If I was making new scratches with bad towels or what the heck was I doing wrong? After removing the tape and comparing before and after I found that I could make the scratches lighter a litlle and I was not creating new ones.

This led to a couple conclusions - on a metallic black Porsche Macan.
1-The worry I was going to get through the clear coat with so many repeated treatments left my mind, heck, I could not get deep enough to remove the ones already there
2-all the washing, claying, compounding, polishing, waxing was not adding new scratches (thank god)
3-macan clear coat is really hard
4-I suck at detailing
5-my only conclusion for the cause of the scratches in my wife takes the car to an auto car wash every week when she gets gas

So she was coming home today so I put a coat of wax on last night and cried myself to sleep.

Don't get me wrong - car looks amazing, but in the right light you can still see the scratches

So now I am stuck between looking good enough or buying a true DA polisher and trying again.

So to summarize in one question - is it really possible to remove all the scratches or thye just get so faint you can't see them on the videos?

**dudley07726** · 04-01-2018, 05:08 PM

It s a good thing my wife doesn’t put gas in her E400 coupe. I do. (I thinks that’s a plus in this case).

**vobro** · 04-01-2018, 06:14 PM

May not be possible to remove every scratch, etching or swirl but the tools you’re working with take far longer and lead to a letdown. Do yourself a favor and get a da, the drill attachment doesn’t hit as hard and is cumbersome.

**custmsprty** · 04-01-2018, 06:20 PM

I did this Black Cayenne yesterday. It was hammered, major scrathes from car wash and serious water spot etching.

Here's a link to the Show and Shine I posted along with product info.

2015 Black Porsche Cayenne Correction with FG400 and Polish Angel Master Sealant

**dgjks6** · 04-01-2018, 09:09 PM

Cayenne looks great. Looking at used da on eBay now

**TMQ** · 04-01-2018, 09:44 PM

If your car looks good to you now---I'll be stunning once you use a da.

A new griots 6" da is 150 and you can't go wrong with it. And safe too...

Don't try to go for perfection---you'll be doing great at 70 - 80% correction.

Tom

**wing commander** · 04-02-2018, 01:04 AM

We spend $ 100,000.00 thousands on our cars but a proper $500.00 investment stops us from enjoying them? Please buy a polisher kit from AutoGeek and let us all see those beautiful cars the way they should be seen. The fact that you got this far says something about your ability to use the kit with confidence!

**Dan Tran** · 04-02-2018, 07:01 AM

DA...PERIOD!

Great tools are widely available for the pros and beginners.

Sent from my iPhone using Autogeekonline mobile app

**Goonie75** · 04-02-2018, 08:36 AM

I'll second DanTran. It's worth it to get a DA. As Tom said, the Griot's 6" is a great one to start out with and the work you will see will blow your mind. Also, and this one I had to just get through my head... not everyone wants pristine, show car paint, or needs it. As it, daily drivers that will get dirty, etc. One said that we can chase these scratches and swirls all day long but at the end of the day, sometimes the 'perfect' finish can't be achieved easily (particularly without risking damage, etc)... Seriously, try a DA with some 5" pads maybe and sit back and take it it...

Mike Phillips · 04-02-2018, 08:38 AM

Originally Posted by dgjks6

Long time lurker. New member. This is going to be a great first post.

So to summarize in one question - is it really possible to remove all the scratches or they just get so faint you can't see them on the videos?

The answer to your question is "yes".

Trying to buff out a car with a drill is a lot of work. Your time is worth more than what you're trying to do with a drill. Here's something I wrote last year, there's TONS of info in this single thread.

Here's what you need to get into machine polishing - Recommendations for a beginner by Mike Phillips

Hope that helps...