Acura TSX Correction w/ Super Low Readings - TLC Auto Detail

[Flannigan]

Hi everyone. As most people here, I`ve been slammed lately and very behind on doing any real write ups. I had this newish TSX today and found myself with plenty of time to actually do a write up for it.

The customer approached me because he was not happy with the state the vehicle was delivered to him from the dealership. They had "detailed" it, and actually caused more damage. Keep in mind this vehicle is a 2012 model year, and it was brought to me just a couple days after it was "fully detailed" by the dealership.

The first thing I noticed was all of the polishing dust and poilsh/wax residue. There was residue built up in just about every body seam, as well as on most of the black plastic molding. There was also a ton of white polishing dust that had settled in the cowl area. This is certainly something that you don`t want to see after a vehicle has been recently detailed.

http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/2012%20Acura%20TSX%20TJ%20O/residue001_zpsf2b13348.jpg

http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/2012%20Acura%20TSX%20TJ%20O/residue002_zpsc1db8783.jpg

I started with a traditional wash, clay, and iron decontamination with Iron X. Next I wanted to inspect the paint to see what the damage was. Since this vehicle has tons of metallic in the paint, the damage didn`t look as bad as it actually was. Here are some shots of the swirls.

http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/2012%20Acura%20TSX%20TJ%20O/swirls002_zps183b7ec9.jpg

http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/2012%20Acura%20TSX%20TJ%20O/swirls001_zps67533c5f.jpg

http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/2012%20Acura%20TSX%20TJ%20O/swirls003_zps8f0c0a98.jpg

Nothing too terrible, but certainly something that needs to be fixed. I then whipped out my hand dandy paint gauge to see what I had to work with, and that is when things took a turn for the worse. The HIGHEST reading on the whole car was 95, and that was not a common reading. The lowest reading on the car was 75, with an average reading of 78-82. So I knew I had to be careful with my approach as to not cause permanent damage to the paint. It`s clear that someone who is not skilled with a rotary buffer had wreaked havoc on this vehicle.

I ended up using Menzerna Power Finish on a Tangerine Pad via my Meguiars G110. This gave a surprisingly good amount of correction without removing too much paint. The customer and I also decided to apply Opti-Guard to the vehicle to help protect the paint from more swirls which would require removing more paint in the future.

Here is how it turned out after the correction. Certainly not perfect, but a HUGE improvement over what it looked like to begin with.

http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/2012%20Acura%20TSX%20TJ%20O/sun001_zps9a814e3f.jpg

http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/2012%20Acura%20TSX%20TJ%20O/sun002_zps89b52da8.jpg

http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/2012%20Acura%20TSX%20TJ%20O/sun003_zpsf10843d8.jpg

I then wiped down the paint with Car Pro Eraser and then applied Opti-Guard. Here is how the car turned out.

http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/2012%20Acura%20TSX%20TJ%20O/reflec002_zpsacdfa38f.jpg

http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/2012%20Acura%20TSX%20TJ%20O/reflec003_zps9e1e2a86.jpg

http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/2012%20Acura%20TSX%20TJ%20O/reflec001_zpsd5a178cb.jpg

http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/2012%20Acura%20TSX%20TJ%20O/after001_zps525a4d2f.jpg

http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/2012%20Acura%20TSX%20TJ%20O/after002_zps9c4ad10c.jpg

http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n81/twistedframe/2012%20Acura%20TSX%20TJ%20O/after003_zpsdf51cf75.jpg

Overall I`m very happy with how the vehicle turned out, and I think this is a good "sell" as to why people should not let a dealership detail their brand new car. Even with the Opti-Guard, I feel that the life of this paint has been cut short, and 5-8 years down the road, you may not be able to achieve any sort of correction without ruining the paint. I hope people keep that in mind when they are buying a vehicle, or choosing a detailer. Thanks for looking!

[mjlinane]

Great work!

[dc52nv]

Outstanding job.

[dd1101]

Great work Dave, I have a 2010 TSX and I don`t use a compound I skip to a finishing polish(M205, pinnacle, or BF) with a Tangerine pad and if needed same polish with gray pad. The results are good enough for a DD.

[Gurge]

nice work

also a fan of power finish with HT tangerine

[tropicsteve]

wow, that`s a little scary the paint is that thin already. you did great bringing the finish back to where it is now. the opti-guard was a good choice.

[dd1101]

stupid question, since i don`t have a paint gauge
"The HIGHEST reading on the whole car was 95, and that was not a common reading. The lowest reading on the car was 75, with an average reading of 78-82. "

Does that mean a average of 7.8 to 8.2 mills?

I was comparing #s from this thread.

http://www.autopiaforums.com/forums/detailers-showcase/40901-lexus-ls460-great-argument-having-ptg.html

[TroyScherer]

Nice Work Dave !!!

[Wors]

stupid question, since i don`t have a paint gauge
"The HIGHEST reading on the whole car was 95, and that was not a common reading. The lowest reading on the car was 75, with an average reading of 78-82. "

Does that mean a average of 7.8 to 8.2 mills?

I was comparing #s from this thread.

http://www.autopiaforums.com/forums/detailers-showcase/40901-lexus-ls460-great-argument-having-ptg.html

Someone on AG posted this site to convert:

Mils to Microns Conversion Calculator (http://www.unitconversion.org/length/mils-to-microns-conversion.html)

Here are a few conversions:


70 µ = 2.755905512 mil
75 µ = 2.952755906 mil
78 µ = 3.070866142 mil
82 µ = 3.228346457 mil
95 µ = 3.74015748 mil

[dd1101]

Someone on AG posted this site to convert:

Mils to Microns Conversion Calculator (http://www.unitconversion.org/length/mils-to-microns-conversion.html)

Here are a few conversions:


70 µ = 2.755905512 mil
75 µ = 2.952755906 mil
78 µ = 3.070866142 mil
82 µ = 3.228346457 mil
95 µ = 3.74015748 mil

holy moly batman I might never polish my car ever again.

[Bunky]

Nice. Did you check the thickness levels after using PF?

[Reality33]

Very nice outcome and beautiful gloss!

[polisher]

a black shine like no other shine..nice

[Todd@RUPES]

Nice job.

[GoFast908Z]

Very nice work. I`ve had a bunch of brand new, less than 200miles cars with readings that low and lower. Many of them were Opti-Guarded for the same reasons.

Phenomenal photos too.