Pontiac G6 Trunk Lid Polish

[RaysWay]

This past Saturday I was busy finishing up a Dodge Durango detail when I was interrupted with a tap on my shoulder. Having polished paint inside of used car dealership for several weeks now, I`ve grown accustomed to regular interruptions from salesmen, customers and general curious onlookers. The buzz of a polisher attracts car people like bees to honey, and working inside of a car dealership; I may as well be the queen.

I turned around and saw two familiar faces and one stranger. For a moment, I thought about using my overused "No speakeh tha ingles" reply to ward off the interruption but I could see the urgency in their faces; this was no time for games. I removed my earplugs and wiped the sweat off my face before being bombarded with questions. The owner of the dealership and a salesmen were in a debate with a potential customer on the condition of the clearcoat on a Pontiac G6. The customer thought the clearcoat was beyond repair. He cited past experiences in which the clearcoat was too damaged to be restored on previous cars he owned. They asked me to inspect the car outside.

Outside the paint looked horrible, all of the horizontal panels on the paint were covered in swirls, waterspots and oxidation. It looked dull, but the clearcoat was not compromised. I told him it would all buff out and the paint could actually look very good. My third opinion didn`t change his mind so the owner of the dealership asked me to polish the trunk. So I drove the car inside and this is what I saw...



Looking at these pictures, I think it looked much worse in person especially in direct sunlight. My simple point and shoot camera is horrible at showing swirls. But you can still get an idea of the condition of the paint.



While taking these pictures, the three men gathered around me. I had a crowd.



I decided to go straight for heavy cut with a Makita 9227c and a Lake Country HydroTech Tangerine Pad. I laid down a bead of 3D AAT Rubbing Compound and polished a small section of the hood. When I turned off the machine, everyone leaned over to inspect the paint...



The first reaction I noticed when I wiped off the residue was from the owner of the dealership, he had this big goofy smile on his face. The reluctant buyer was amazed. He actually turned to the owner and said "how much are you paying this guy??" It was a great feeling.



The paint wasn`t perfect of course after a single application of rubbing compound, but I was really impressed on how it cut and finished.



(Sorry for the blurry pic I was in a rush)



I ended up using the same combo on the rest of the trunk area while they finished with the paperwork. I applied Optimum Car Wax for protection. The car was sold and I received a tip from the buyer, and later from the owner.



Thanks for reading!

[Justins00ss]

Nice Ray!

[Marc08EX]

WOW!! Amazing work as always Ray!!! At least you helped sell a car. You should also get a commission on top of your tip hahaha!

Must be very nice to work inside a dealership. Not only do you get perfect working conditions (away from the humidity and heat - inside a controlled temp environment) but like you said, it`s a gold mine for potential customers. Hope you get booked til next year!

[Pats300zx]

Ray to the rescue !!!!! Nice save

[mnehls86]

Must be very nice to work inside a dealership. Not only do you get perfect working conditions (away from the humidity and heat - inside a controlled temp environment) but like you said, it`s a gold mine for potential customers. Hope you get booked til next year!

Agreed. You are crushing it Ray!

[Angus]

Q: "how much are you paying this guy??"

A: Not enough!

Awesome work, Vega!!

[House of Wax]

Show off


Nice work. Bet it must have been rewarding to complete the transformation in front of their eyes and see their reaction

[RaysWay]

Nice Ray!

Thanks Justin. I`m just trying to keep up with you

WOW!! Amazing work as always Ray!!! At least you helped sell a car. You should also get a commission on top of your tip hahaha!

Must be very nice to work inside a dealership. Not only do you get perfect working conditions (away from the humidity and heat - inside a controlled temp environment) but like you said, it`s a gold mine for potential customers. Hope you get booked til next year!

Thanks Marc. It is absolutely a gold mine. I remember seeing posts from Evan @ Premier Auto Detailing and he said the same thing when he was detailing Vipers at the Dodge dealership. I`m booked 24/7 now. I have a 4 day vacation coming up I`m thinking of cancelling just to knock out a few more cars, but a break does sound nice. I get asked for business cards all the time now and I think it`s better NOT to have any right now. I tell them to call me or call the dealership, but I have enough on my plate at the moment.

Ray to the rescue !!!!! Nice save

Thanks Pat.

Agreed. You are crushing it Ray!

Thanks Matt.

A: Not enough!

Awesome work, Vega!!

Haha I used that comment to my full advantage but all I got was another shot of espresso. Thanks Angus

[RaysWay]

Show off


Nice work. Bet it must have been rewarding to complete the transformation in front of their eyes and see their reaction

It was very rewarding but also very stressful. I gave a big sigh of relief after wiping off the residue. I still have a lot to learn with a rotary.

[pheerix]

That spoiler has an awkward placement.

[House of Wax]

I still have a lot to learn with a rotary.

Same here. I picked up a Dewalt awhile ago and did some work with it. Didn`t mess anything up, but it was a chore to use so I kinda gave up on it except for work on boats.

[RaysWay]

That spoiler has an awkward placement.

You`re the 3rd person I`ve heard that from today lol. I agree.

Same here. I picked up a Dewalt awhile ago and did some work with it. Didn`t mess anything up, but it was a chore to use so I kinda gave up on it except for work on boats.

If I can do it, you can too You should pick it back up! Everyone on here talking about the benefits of a rotary made me pull mine out of storage and I couldn`t be happier. I still do test spots of course starting with the least aggressive method, but I`ve been finding myself cutting most cars with the Makita first. It knocks out a lot more of the deeper scratches with the cutting step compared to a DA. I just keep the RPM`s low (speed setting 1-2 for most cars) and keep the pad moving. I polished an Infiniti on Sunday with a super hard clear and had to bump it up to speed setting 3 which was a little nerve-racking, but it ended up looking great.

[House of Wax]

Might have to do that. The wife`s expedition had an overwhelming amount of swirls in it.....would be a good test subject

[ShawnF350]

Great work Ray.

[rlmccarty2000]

Nice save! The dealer should be extremely happy to have you there. Every dealer should have a top notch detailer on staff.