Color Buffing

[Riptide]

My car has a ton of swirl marks, scuffs, and scratches of various depths. Being a newb I really don't feel like I want to tackle this by myself and would like to pay a detailer to take care of it.

I called a local "Auto Spa" here where I live (Billings MT) and they quoted me $130-150 to do something called "Color Buffing". The way the guy explained it to me it is a process involving several steps one of which actually replaces using the clay bar on the car.

Has anyone heard of this?

[wytstang]

I would look else were, "color buffing" sounds like they use products that are designed to fill in scratches. That or they mean they use different color pads to level the paint. Can you ask them for a more in depth explanation?
But to me the term "color buffing" says they are using product with dyes/pigments that some what match your color and it hides the scratches.

[TOGWT]

This kind of work should only be undertaken by a very experienced enthusiast or a professional detailer; those that are experienced in colour-sanding (wet-sanding) more so than detailing, as this is more a paint renovation technique that takes years to perfect.

The paint sections / panels that are difficult and involve risk are usually those that are close to the edges of a panel (as this is where the paint is usually thinnest) or highly contoured areas. Flat areas like the trunk, hood or roof involve minimal risk.

With wet sanding, the water cools and cleans the paper, giving you a deeper and faster cut. Wet-sanding levels the paint (and removes orange peel, harsh acidic or alkaline marks, etc) it removes approximately 0.025- 0.003 Mils (a Mil is 1/1000th of an inch) of paint from the vehicle using 2000 -grit finishing paper, Bear in mind that a clear coat has a thickness of 1.5 – 2.0 Mils, removing more that 0.3 – 0.5 Milsof clear coat may cause premature paint film failure. As a point of reference a sheet of Saran wrap measures 0.95 Mils

Wet-Sanding / Colour Sanding - Wet-Sanding (Colour Sanding)- - Detail University - Auto Detailing Forum