2005 Toyota Corolla: Swirls and Hard Water

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phattonez

New member
Amongst other problems. Hey everyone, I'm new here, but I'm very interested in detailing my car. However, I have lots of questions. I've already used clay and then waxed my car and so it looks very much better. The problem now, though, is everything that's still very apparent. I have scratches in my hood from rocks on the road, a moderate scratch from someone keying my car, some abrasions from cars that were parallel parking or parking in a spot next to me. My biggest problem, though, is hard water. One part of my car is just caked with the stuff. Clay got a lot of it off where it wasn't as dense, but there's one spot where it still looks pretty horrible. The swirls are also pretty noticeable.



So, what do I do to fix it? I have Mother's clay treatment and turtle wax. I have 1 microfiber towel, 1 bucket, and some chamois. What else am I going to need? Also, how much of an impact does it make on the value of my car? Is it worth doing all of this detailing in terms of the value of the car? I know it looks really good and I like that, but does it make sense for when I want to sell it?



Anyway, I know that I asked a lot of questions, but I hope I didn't overwhelm. Thanks for the answers!
 
If those scratches are not through to primer you may be able to improve the appearance of them with compound/polish. However, if you wish to try and virtually remove them than you will more than likely have to wet sand them first.

By doing those processes it should also correct your water spot problem.



Surprised the clay didn't work, sometimes you have to do an area multiple times if you are using a clay which is not very aggressive (typically yellow in color). Blue is the more aggressive clay, but polishing is recommended afterward.



Keeping your vehicle well-maintained mechanically and aesthetically delays the depreciation value. So it's good to keep it at it's best especially if you are going to be selling it.



Oh, you will need some heavy duty swirl remover and a polish, and either a dual action orbital machine and a heavy cut and polishing pad, or a bunch of applications pads and a whole lotta elbow grease. ;)

For wet sanding probably 2000 and 1500 grits.
 
The swirls are only in the clear coat (though I guess they usually are). The scratches, however, are unfortunately through the paint as you can see the white (and some of those chips in the hood you can see the metal). I'm guessing I'm going to need to get some touch up paint? Any recommendations for a blue 2005 Corolla? And what is the difference between wet sanding and polishing?



Yes, I used yellow clay, this is what Mother's had in its pack. So the blue strips everything as I've learned. So I guess I would need to wax and seal after using that stuff?



For the amount of swirls and scratches, I'm guessing I would need the machine. Or try to get buff doing it by hand. :tongue2:
 
So I'm on Amazon right now. I'm not sure if I want to take the dual-action polisher plunge just yet, but I do know that I want to get a deeper clay treatment done and I want to touch up some of these scratches. I'll be using Mother's quick detailer, so what kind of clay should I get? And for the touch up, is there some kind of kit I can buy?



I'll post pictures later; I think then everyone will see what exactly I'm dealing with.
 
I use Riccardo clay, don't know if you can get it in the US, but I tried a few off-the-shelf clays in the past and thought they sucked.

So I don't know what people in the US are using. Assuming that's where you are from.

For touch-up, you should go to the dealership and get touch-up paint brush/pen. Usually less than $10.

You can also use car wash soap diluted with water in a spray bottle for clay lube. Use about 1:10 ratio.

Will wait for pics.
 
Do you think that the soap would be better than the detail spray to use as lubricant? And it doesn't look like that product is available on Amazon. But I'm sure there's something else out there that's just as good in the US.



Scratches from reaching for the door handle.

HardWater.jpg




Some of the hard water I get on the side of my car.

Blargh.jpg




Just a larger picture of the whole car. It has a little bit of shine from the last time I clayed and waxed it. It does need another car wash soon, though.

2351305605_ORIG.jpg




Caked on hard water. This stuff will not come out, at least with that yellow clay. Sprinklers are the bane of my existence. Down the road I will need a car cover.

2351305019_ORIG.jpg




Some pretty noticeable scratches from people who don't know how to parallel park.

2351303521_ORIG.jpg
 
The only thing I see out of those pictures are the few scratches in the bumper. Some touch-up paint should improve those.

It's going to be REALLY hard to show us hard water spots from a picture. You know what though, overall the car looks pretty good. Not every vehicle has perfect paint, hell I'm sure the majority of people on here have a few blemishes on their car. I know mine's not perfect either.

Is that rubber door molding? If so use some vinyl/rubber spray to make them black again.
 
Well believe me, the water spots are there, and they're nasty. Maybe another clay treatment will do it, so I'll find out later this week. As for the scratches, I know I need touch up paint, but what do I put on top of that? Do I just polish on top of that? I guess I'm wondering how I get clear coat over the touch up paint (if I do at all).



I have some more pictures that didn't upload before, mainly, the problem is those swirl marks, and hopefully my image will do them justice.



Yes that is rubber molding, and it got dirty like that from waxing. I guess I should use tape to cover that up.



Thanks for all the help
 
So now, an update. I used SwirlX to try to get some of the abrasions in the clear coat out. Didn't work out so well. Sure, I noticed a small difference between the area with SwirlX and the one without, but there are still some pretty noticeable scratches out there in the sun. So, this leaves me with a few questions.



1. Did I not use enough SwirlX? I tried to do the one section twice, so this meant applying SwirlX, buffing, wiping, and repeat. I noticed that during buffing it only took about a minute before the product dried out. So should I have used more so that I could have buffed for a few minutes at a time?



2. Do I need something stronger? Maybe these scratches in the clear coat are too deep for SwirlX to handle. Maybe I should try Ultimate Compound?



3. Maybe this won't come out by hand and I need to use a DA? I'll admit, I don't want to pay more than $100 for the tool, even though it would make my life easier, but does it make a difference in the performance of these products?



Thanks once again for all of your help.
 
- If you use more, theoretically yes you can buff for a longer period of time wiht out it drying out but there's still a limit as to what Swirl X will do. If you can feel the "abrasions: with your finger nail then no amount of hand polishing is going to take them out. If that is the case, they can most likely be reduced pretty significantly via wet sanding but that's best left to a pro given your level of experience. You could try Scratch X, as it's more aggressive than Swirl X, but still it has it's limits as to what it will remove.



- You could try ultimate compound but buffing any large area by hand is a significant chore to put it lightly. It aint easy. If you wanted to give it a try you can check Meg's forum web site or U Tube for some videos on proper use/technique.



- Does the DA make a difference in the performance of the products? In a word - ABSOLUTELY. With the DA you can adjust rotation speed and pad selection; something you don't have the luxury of when you're using just a yellow wax pad or microfiber pad.



Have you thought about contacting a professional detailer in your area?? If you don't plan on doing much detailing in the future, that might make more sense than purchasing a DA, pads, additional products etc etc...
 
A buffer we make a huge difference in amount of effort needed and is really the best way to even start this hobby. Polishing is the part non detailers never do and is the best part after getting a good wash routine down in my opinion.
 
lostdaytomorrow said:
A buffer we make a huge difference in amount of effort needed and is really the best way to even start this hobby.
Click to expand...



Agree! A random orbital polisher will suffice for most people. Easy to use, safe and will give you great results in less time.
 
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