machine polishing..how much is too much?

[nodule]

Hi,
I had my initial exterior detail completed on my 2013 Civic EX. He machine polished out
all the light scratches and some swirling and finished with a sealant and told me im good
for about 7,8 months.
So going forward for my next detail in the spring, would he need to do the machine polish again?
Im just wondering if machine polishing is recommend for every detail if the paint stays
mostly scratch and swirl free.
Thanks

[Scott@IncrediblyDetailed]

Inspect the paint when the time comes. If it's swirled out again then you'll need to polish and work on non-marring wash techniques.

Did he measure the thickness of the paint?

The more paint you have on the car, the more times it can be polished throughout its life. Each time it's polished you are removing paint.

[zmcgovern45]

A light polish is fine to be carried out every year, but I don't see the need to polish more than once a year if you are making an effort to follow proper washing and drying procedures.

You could even go a couple of years in between polishing if you wanted, and you should still only have light swirls at that point, but you just might have more of them.

[BlackHawk]

Depends on how YOU take car of it.

Wash it/Dry it poorly once and all the work has gone to waist. That is why sometimes when i see paint corrections posted here, most of the time i kinda feel bad for those owners because i know that they most likely will not be able to keep it that way for very long.

Now, if you really do take care of it well, you can easily go over a year without any need of polishing. Although even if you do need to do a light polish, most of the time its so light it wouldnt even show a difference on a PTG.

[nodule]

I read that machine polishing removes just a minuscule amount of paint,
so if you own a car, lets say 12 years, a once a year polish should not be
problem for the life of the car removing too much paint, is that right?

[Scott@IncrediblyDetailed]

I read that machine polishing removes just a minuscule amount of paint,
so if you own a car, lets say 12 years, a once a year polish should not be
problem for the life of the car removing too much paint, is that right?

Probably not, but I personally always measure the paint thickness. Better to be safe than sorry.

[nodule]

I dont know if he measured the paint thickness or not. He did not mention
that to me.

[zmcgovern45]

I dont know if he measured the paint thickness or not. He did not mention
that to me.

Not everyone has a paint thickness gauge... I wouldn't worry about it too much. As long as you make the effort to keep it in good shape using proper washing and drying methods you will only need a very light polishing every year or two years which should not harm your paint.