Treating Scratches and Swirls On My Brand New Car

[malibuboats91]

I recently bought a new VW Jetta that is black. I took it to get the windows tinted and when the guy was cutting the tint his jacket zipper must have been rubbing on my new paint. Now there are fine scratches that look like they are only in the clear coat. I wanted to get some wax on the paint since we are in the middle of winter here in wisconsin. I first clayed, cleaner wax by hand, then two coats of NXT by hand, which are all products from Meguires. From what I read, I put some of the swirls in by not using the two bucket method and using a old wash mit. I had a 99 black passat and never had the issues of swirls and I didnt do anything different. I posted on VW forums about it and no one really gave me a answer of what I should do. I called Meguires and they said to do the whole car in Ultimate Compound but is that advisable? I also have been hearing alot about Zanio and Chemical Bros waxes. I have a Craftsman random orbital polisher and thats all I use other than hand waxing. I am 19 years old and am not a new waxer by any means. I have been waxing cars and boats from little on, using my Passat as a car to test stuff out on. Any ideas on how to get my car looking new again for summer?

[mrclean81]

First off, your going to have to remove all those coats of wax in order to correct the issue. What you done was wax the problems in rather than out. Theoretically a couple washes with Dawn and a good clay treatment should remove the wax. If the scratches are just in the clear it shouldnt be too hard to fix. Ultimate Compound would work but I dont think I would use a wax spreader to do it. If you really want to make it look new and keep it that way, invest in a DA polisher such as a PC or Griots and good pads like LC CCS. Combine that with good products like Poorboys or Menzerna and your black will look stunning.

[JaredPointer]

If you take/have the time, you can probably do a correction by hand via Ultimate Compound followed by ScratchX 2.0/SwirlX with a terry/foam/microfiber applicator.

[JaredPointer]

I`d also take the time to go ahead and say STOP RIGHT NOW and do a lot more reading/research and watching videos and such of some of the guys at this forum (and others). What you`re asking has been addressed thousands of times before it seems, and from your description there doesn`t seem to be anything extraordinary about what you need to do. A few hours of computer time reading up on technique might save you a lot of hassle and heartache in the long run.

Hate to be one of those "use the search button" guys, but there`s a ton of good info out there already in regards to what you`re asking.

[malibuboats91]

I`m really sorry to hassle you with the thread that has been posted a million times. I didn`t have time to totally research it a ton before posting. Thank you very much for the responses. Do you guys think I should stick with Meguiars wax or switch to another brand? I`m totally open to anything. The only reason I get Meguiars is because my dad sells it and I can get it for cheap, but having my car looking better is worth the extra money I would have to spend.

[JaredPointer]

Meg`s makes good stuff. LSP is 99% personal opinion most of the time. Use what you have available.

Not saying you didn`t need to post the thread, just saying there`s a lot of good info already out there. Wouldn`t hurt to try and read up on it instead of asking a huge open-ended question that no one is going to answer very thoroughly anyway. It`s not a hassle - folks talking is a good thing - I just think you`d get better response if you drove down to asking specific questions about the process.

[Mr. Clean]

If you take/have the time, you can probably do a correction by hand via Ultimate Compound followed by ScratchX 2.0/SwirlX with a terry/foam/microfiber applicator.
:bigups


I`m really sorry to hassle you with the thread that has been posted a million times. I didn`t have time to totally research it a ton before posting. Thank you very much for the responses. Do you guys think I should stick with Meguiars wax or switch to another brand? I`m totally open to anything. The only reason I get Meguiars is because my dad sells it and I can get it for cheap, but having my car looking better is worth the extra money I would have to spend.

My suggestion to all "newbies" is to stick with what you`ve got on hand first. It is instinctive to run out to buy the next greatest product. Unless you are in the business or working on a personal fleet what you`ll end up with is a lot of partially empty bottles of products all of which perform quite similarly. Learn the process, refine your work and then consider exploring new products. Mequiar`s makes products capable of delivering wonderful results when used properly. The one thing you should consider is that a number of their products perform better when worked out of the direct sun. Read and follow the directions supplied with each product and you should do fine.

[malibuboats91]

Sounds good. I am pretty much out of all my meguires products that`s why I was inquiring. My dad sells them in his store so I just have him place an order for me each spring. I was looking into the zanio total protection kit, but only know little from my research I have done so far.

[Mr. Clean]

Zaino products and the discussion of are rather polarizing. Go to the internet and do a search and you can find any number of discussions.

If your Dad sells Meguiar`s products, that just seems like a no brainer to me.

[JaredPointer]

Also of note - Zaino really doesn`t have much in the way of paint correction products. They do have ZPC, which is a light polish for use on PC. When I used it, I found it to be a good polish, but very light in it`s correcting ability. Reports vary, but I can only vouch for my experiences. Might be something to keep in mind for future reference if you choose to go Zaino-all-the-way.