Finished Polishing and Waxing

[muscleknight]

I just finished polishing and waxing my car, it shines and I am happy. At certain angles though I can still see swirls. Do you guys completely remove all swirls? I have a PC 7424 that gives me good results.

[Accumulator]

Originally posted by muscleknight

I just finished polishing and waxing my car, it shines and I am happy. At certain angles though I can still see swirls. Do you guys completely remove all swirls? I have a PC 7424 that gives me good results.



Welcome to Autopia!



If how your car looks makes you happy then I would say not to worry about the remaining marring. I sometimes fear we give people unrealistic expectations and cause unnecessary frustration by implying (or outright claiming) that truly perfect finishes are to be expected if you "work hard enough" :rolleyes:



Yeah, I try to keep my "good" car pefectly marring free. Huge pain, and it has very hard paint. Otherwise, I compromise and accept that the finish will be imperfect. Sometimes I luck out and a vehicle stays virtually pefect, other times (more often) they always have flaws, but I`m usually the only person who sees them.



If how it looks is OK with you then it`s OK.



One of the dangers of going for perfection (besides spending all your time on it) is that you`re removing more paint/clear. Unless you`re gonna *keep* it perfect, which isn`t easy if you drive it, you`ll have to keep removing paint/clear every time it gets marred again. Eventually you take off too much. So find a reasonable, happy middle ground and enjoy the car without driving yourself nuts with all this detailing stuff ;)

[Eliot Ness]

Originally posted by Accumulator

.........So find a reasonable, happy middle ground and enjoy the car without driving yourself nuts with all this detailing stuff ;)

Very wise words!



I sometimes wonder when I read some posts where a member has spent countless hours with a cutting pad trying to get out every little defect they can see (using halogen lights), just how long it will be before we see them post pictures of clear coat failure.

[TortoiseAWD]

Please don`t crosspost. Your (identical) thread in the Detailing forum has been deleted.



Thanks,

Tort

(moderator)

[muscleknight]

From reading the all of the posts here it did give me the impression that yall got out every little swirl. Nissan`s paint is very soft and I think if you do too much polishing you will get clearcoat failure on Nissan cars and trucks. To me the key is to fool the eye. If you have to look really close to see swirls or at various angles then a good job was done. If the swirls and marring are obvious like some of the before pictures posted on this site then it was a very poor job. I also can`t believe some Porsche or exotic car owners would accept a car with obvious marring and swirls. I know if it was me and paying that much for a car, I would tell them get me another car with instructions that no dealer detailing be done and not to touch it.

[Accumulator]

Originally posted by muscleknight

From reading the all of the posts here it did give me the impression that yall got out every little swirl.



That`s what I was afraid of ;)




I also can`t believe some Porsche or exotic car owners would accept a car with obvious marring and swirls. I know if it was me and paying that much for a car, I would tell them get me another car with instructions that no dealer detailing be done and not to touch it.



My "good" cars are fairly expensive, and I have to travel over an hour to the one dealership that treats them properly. And even there, I`m considered *very* uhm, "unusual" because I keep these cars nice and care about stuff like marring. Other people just *don`t* care for the most part. Don`t even know what you`re talking about, even when you point at it and say "those scratches right there".



Heh heh, you`d be *amazed* at how horribly neglected/abused a lot of "exotic" cars are. I saw a newish Lambo (purple, a Diablo I believe, one of the "roadsters" without a top) a few weeks ago that was in worse condition than my 113K copcar. Marring that would require wetsanding to get out, and the interior was worse than my dog car. Yet it sold a few days after I saw it for over $100K. I see a *lot* of exotics that are in taxicab condition :( A walk through the service dept of a Porsche (let alone a Rolls or [any Italian marque] ) dealership would curl our hair! The ability and willingness to spend money on something does not necessarily mean an appreciation for, or interest in, taking care of it.



But I do know some wealthy folks, mostly elderly, who treat *everything* they own properly.