New Car - Need Help!!!

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05Sleeper

New member
Well, I went out and bough my dream car, an Audi S4, and now I need help in figuring out how to keep this Phantom Black Pearl looking top notch. I am not sure what they did at the Factory or dealership, but there is some DEFINITE marring and paint defects. Luckily, they can only be seen at closer levels, but at certain angles, it looks horrible! I have only had this car for 2 weeks!!!



Please help! I need to know what the best technique is to get all of the marring out, and the safest way to quick detail without insighting more damage, and which products you all think would make this color look its absolute best!



Here are a few pics:



My new baby:

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Nice Reflections:

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Say hello to metal FLAKE:

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And now for the bad stuff. Check out all of the marring and paint defects in the paint in the next pic... It is horrible. Most of the car is like this. How do I get it out and keep it out?

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Lastly: FIGHT ON!!!:2thumbs:

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05Sleeper said:
Check out all of the marring and paint defects in the paint in the next pic... It is horrible. Most of the car is like this. How do I get it out and keep it out?

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It is essential that a rotary with a foam pad be used to remove this problem. Doing it by hand or with a PC won't cut it. Get it to somone that knows what their doing and have the dealer reinburse you. Make sure you 1st talk directly to the New Car Sales Manager and have him document the damage and insist that his dealership not be allowed to attempt the repair. If he insists on only doing it at the dealership, make him sign a guarantee that he will buy the vehicle back if it does not STAY looking like a new vehicle should for the duration of the paint warranty. Get an AUDI rep out if you have to. Dealerships are not allowed to put out this kind of quality/damage. I would be pissed off!!!:hairpull :bat
 
I really dont want them touching it... I can have it fixed, but what do I need to do to ensure that it stays fixed? I dont ever want this stuff on my car again. How do I QD it to keep it clean? etc...
 
05Sleeper said:
I really dont want them touching it... I can have it fixed, but what do I need to do to ensure that it stays fixed? I dont ever want this stuff on my car again. How do I QD it to keep it clean? etc...
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I don't blame you one bit. I'd ask the person who's fixing it what their opinion is on maintaining their repair. I'd be really careful how you wash it after it gets fixed and make sure it's not just a temporary band-aid.
 
I hear you on that... I dont want someone to try and hide the swirls with a glaze...



I do have a PC and Menzerna IP & FP, and some scratch X. WIll that help? Or do I need a rotary to fix these things?
 
05Sleeper said:
I hear you on that... I dont want someone to try and hide the swirls with a glaze...



I do have a PC and Menzerna IP & FP, and some scratch X. WIll that help? Or do I need a rotary to fix these things?
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Actually a glaze would be the product that will corect it. You'll need one with some decent leveling power(not too much). You won't hurt anything with your PC and it might be worth a try. I (personally) would only do this with a rotary. The thing that would disappoint/bother me the most is the fact that I have to put so much effect into my brand new vehicle and I have to walk on egg shells from here on out trying to maintain it. There's nothing easier and satisfying like starting out with a totally perfect finish and maintaining it with light duty processess. Sorry if I'm making you feel bad or shocking you. :scared: :bawling:
 
No, I dont feel bad. It is a black vehicle and i knew i owuld have to put in a lot of wrk to keep it looking its best...



Now I guess I need to figure out how to wash and qd the thing without marring...
 
I'm not trying to be an A**, but with 600+ posts I would think you would know by now how to properly wash a vehicle without inducing any marring. For the most part its just basic common sense. I personally never QD my car in between washes. I will use a QD during the drying stages after a wash, but I never risk wiping the car down in between washes. I may do spot cleaning with extremely light pressure but thats it. Usually I just blot the affected areas with a damp microfiber towel and I usually reserve this practice to the lower body panels and perhaps the rear bumper.



Anyways, here's a writeup on proper washing and drying techniques to help you out...



Proper Washing and Drying - Bimmerforums - The Ultimate BMW Forum
 
05Sleeper- Congrats on the S4 :xyxthumbs I spent an afternoon with a 6-sp one and was sorely tempted (that's saying something for an A8/S8 nut like me ;) ).



For fixing the existing marring, it'll just depend on how bad it really is. No way to tell until you start working on it. While *I* would probably reach for the rotary, sometimes you can do it with a PC/Cyclo *but* I've always needed 4" pads when working by PC.



Note that if your rotary technique isn't pretty good, you could quite possibly make things worse. I'd suggest you pick a single panel and try to correct it with the PC. Get an incandescent light for the final inspection and work in a shop where you can turn out all the other lights when you do that final inspecting. While doing most of the polishing I'd work under halogens- they'll show *most* of the defects, just not as many as the incandescents will.



Two examples of Audi clears and the PC:



Last year somebody brushed against the S8 at a resort...left a pair of long scratches down the passenger side. Just for grins I tried fixing it with the PC...worked fine but took a while. I used a 4" orange pad w/3M 05933 (many passes) then 4" white w/3M 05937, then 4" white w/1Z Pro MP.



Wife's A8- marring on trunk lid... 4" orange w/H-T EC (worked well), 4" white w/OCP, then white w/1Z WPS.



In those cases I didn't switch to the 1Z stuff (which can do some concealing if used on an imperfect finish) until I was satisfied with how things looked- I wanted it fixed, not hidden.



I've also used the PC to correct spots I somehow missed :o when working with the rotary. Those spots don't show, they're just as good as the by-rotary rest of the panel.



So yeah, you *can* correct Audis with hard clear using the PC/4" orange pads. You *might* be able to do it with the Menzerna IP, but maybe not. FWIW I could never get any correction on that paint with the FP, so I'd get things basically perfect before switching over to it for the final work.



Honestly, I might go the route of getting it *close* to perfect and using a final polish with some concealing ability, then topping with something like 476S. While I like keeping my good Audi as close to perfect as I can, it's a chore (and that's even though I've got my wash down pat). To get yours literally perfect, and keep it that way, might be unreasonable.



I'd worry more about the LSP providing protection (and maybe a little concealing ability) than I would about the minute "benefits" that one LSP might have over another. I honestly think it'd look fine with Collinite on it but then I use UPP on the S8 so I dunno...



As mentioned, I sure wouldn't QD it. Well, maybe to remove a bird-bomb but no way would I want to try cleaning/dusting the car with a QD; I know I'd mar it. I'd just use it after the wash to provide some lubrication when drying.



Washing: I'd use a foamgun. Note that it took me many tries to get my foamgun technique figured out. There are some threads somewhere where I go into it, and I have a thread in the Hall of Fame forum with some off-the-deep-end wash techniques. Not easy, but they do work.



And for some reason I always found it very hard to wash without marring. I've been doing this stuff for a long, long time and it's only recently that I got the the point where I'm utterly confident that I won't induce marring when I wash. The theory is simple: don't abrade the finish by pressing something harder than paint against the panel and then moving it; the practice is *not* so simple...just how do you get that abrasive [stuff] off of there without moving it across the panels under pressure :nixweiss I use a foamgun, David Fermani uses a pressure washer.
 
Accumulator said:
And for some reason I always found it very hard to wash without marring. I've been doing this stuff for a long, long time and it's only recently that I got the the point where I'm utterly confident that I won't induce marring when I wash. The theory is simple: don't abrade the finish by pressing something harder than paint against the panel and then moving it; the practice is *not* so simple...just how do you get that abrasive [stuff] off of there without moving it across the panels under pressure :nixweiss I use a foamgun, David Fermani uses a pressure washer.
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Nice! :chuckle: :woot: :usa :clap: :woot2: :xyxthumbs :bigups
 
As another owner of a metal flake black car, I am in the same boat as far as keeping it looking great. I am constantly QD'ing, about every other day. Get ONR, Poorboys Spray & Wipe or similar rinseless wash for maintainance. I use in QD strength to get off most heavier dust and minor road grime. Use super soft and fluffy MF's for this. If it's not too dirty, just has light dust or smudges, I use any QD's I have. Favorites are PB S&G, CK QS, Adams, FK1 425. I have more and they all seem to work pretty good.
 
David Fermani- See, I really was listening and keeping an open mind when we were disussing the pressure washing :D I was thinking about it just a little while ago when washing my wife's winter-nasty A8.



And to everyone who's following this thread: Now that I said I'm "utterly confident that that I won't induce marring when I wash" you can bet your bottom dollar that I'll mar something that I really care about in the near future :D :o As others have posted, if the car's a real driver, one that really gets dirty, eventually the paint is gonna get marred, period. All you can do is try your best, and to be honest, I don't always try *that* hard on every vehicle I wash.
 
Accumulator said:
David Fermani- See, I really was listening and keeping an open mind when we were disussing the pressure washing :D I was thinking about it just a little while ago when washing my wife's winter-nasty A8.



And to everyone who's following this thread: Now that I said I'm "utterly confident that that I won't induce marring when I wash" you can bet your bottom dollar that I'll mar something that I really care about in the near future :D :o As others have posted, if the car's a real driver, one that really gets dirty, eventually the paint is gonna get marred, period. All you can do is try your best, and to be honest, I don't always try *that* hard on every vehicle I wash.
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Hehe, nice to see your more 'practical' side! :D
 
Accumulator said:
If the car's a real driver, one that really gets dirty, eventually the paint is gonna get marred, period. All you can do is try your best, and to be honest, I don't always try *that* hard on every vehicle I wash.
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HaHa! Now the cat's out of the bag. :rofl I think you just surprised some of your loyal followers. :bawling: :bigups
 
David Fermani- Well, it's all relative. If I had to polish out wash-induced marring every year I'd still be reworking my wash/dry regimen. Every few years doesn't bother me *that* much on some of our vehicles, but if I could readily see any marring (on any of them) without spending a lot of time/effort looking for it I'd figure I was still doing something wrong. Heh heh, by the time any wash-induced marring shows on the Blazer I'll be turning it over to its next owner, and I bet he'll never see it anyway, so no, I don't take the same care with it that I do with the S8.



And it'd be goofy to try to attain/maintain real perfection on some of our vehicles so I'll readily admit that I don't even try. Heh heh, statements like that are one reason why I've sometimes referred to myself as the "Autopian Heretic" ;) I don't consider every vehicle a showcar by a long shot, but then 99% of showcars look like [crap] IMO anyhow.



05Sleeper- Yeah, I do think you oughta get the rotary, but I hope you don't need to use it on a regular basis. It's been three years or so on the S8...two plus years on my wife's A8..if you're careful about the wash you oughta be good for *long* stretches between polishings. Well, unless you want it to be worthy of a "Click & Brag" post 24/7/52 ;) If you just want the "best looking car in the parking lot", something you never have to apologize for, you shouldn't have too much trouble. In fact, you shouldn't need the rotary to *keep* it nice unless something (i.e. "somebody") happens to it. The kind of light marring that shows up is easier to fix that the stuff you currently have to deal with.
 
I am going to breakou tthe ol' PC this weekend and see what I can do. I do have the Menzerna IP and FP, but I am also curious as to what i can accomplish with some sctrachX and the PC. Or would you nOT recommend that? Any tips/tricks would be appreciated!



Thanks again!
 
05Sleeper said:
I am going to breakou tthe ol' PC this weekend and see what I can do. I do have the Menzerna IP and FP, but I am also curious as to what i can accomplish with some sctrachX and the PC. Or would you nOT recommend that? Any tips/tricks would be appreciated!
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Only problem I'd have with using Scratch-X is that I'd hate to see you waste time and effort ;) The IP might do it with 4" pads, and who knows...some people have better luck with 6.5" ones than I do :nixweiss I'm pretty certain you won't make anything worse so sure, go for it. FP doesn't quite leave the finish I like on my Audis (not sure why but I get a better finish with 1Z pro MP :nixweiss ), but it's still very nice.



One other thing comes to mind...some people have reported A4/S4s with unusually *soft* clear :confused If yours happens to be one of those (no, I wouldn't expect it so don't get your hopes up) they you'll have a different set of challenges.



One nice thing about (most) Audis is that with the hard *and pretty thick* clear, you don't have to be *too* paranoid about giving it the infrequent serious correction.



Just be very gentle with the clear anodized aluminum trim...and I mean *very* gentle, as in *TAPE IT OFF* The trim on my wife's A8 is clouding up, indicating anodizing failure, and it's been pampered since new (the trim, not the whole car ;) ). I *never* see old A8s with decent trim...and the replacement pieces seem to have poorer quality anodizing than the OE stuff (for which I have no explanation); I replaced two pieces on her A8 and the new pieces clouded within a couple of years. So take care of the original stuff- don't abrade it and keep it well waxed/sealed.



Let us know how things go, and good luck with it.
 
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