New car scratched by dealer detailer and ? about paint protection film

G

grimmster

New member
For those of you willing to try any new products, here ya go
Wet Paint

give it a try and report back..
I'm not really into experimentation on the car...

You will never have to wash your car with water again ;)
 
I simply do not have the guts to wash my vehicles without water. :eek:



Besides, I find washing and detailing my cars a great experience and one that I enjoy! I don't mind taking the time to care for them. :)
 
Think outside the box...



How about trying it after washing your car as a sealant/glaze.

The description is as follows...



"Wet Paint–on the other hand–cleans, shines and protects all in one step, thus combining the best attributes of waxes, polishes and paint sealants without any of the drawbacks."



Who knows, it may actually work.
 
Sounds like a QD, polish, and "Sealeant" all in one....i dunno, I think if you want the best results you need to use products especially designed for each puropse.
 
I am posting this in the newb section because I haven't had much experience with this situation. I bought a brand new car (Nissan Maxima in Crimson Black) and the detailer at the dealer has done a job on the paint as there are some pretty nasty scratches. I can only barely feel some of the worst ones with my finger nail and I am planning on doing the m105 with Orange CCS pad, m205 with White CCS and then finish up with Wolfgang Deep Gloss Paint Sealant 3.0 and top that off with Souveran II (since I already have the last two products.) Here are a couple questions:

1. I am having Llumar paint film protection added to the car on Wednesday and wonder if the scraches will be all that noticeable through the film. The reason I ask is that I won't receive the Megs products until Tuesday which only leaves me the evening from 8pm until (?) to get the car done before the film is installed on Wednesday. The reason why the film is being done on the hard date of Wednesday is the Llumar rep is coming in and I will get a pretty good discount if I do it then.

2. Is Nissan paint known for being hard or soft and what is your thought of my using m105/m205 to correct this issue?

3. Should I just wait to get the film until I have time to properly correct the paint or will the scratches dissapear under the film? The scratches where the film will be installed do not go through the clearcoat.

Edit to say: I do not plan on letting the dealer correct this since 1. they couldn't get it right the first time and 2. I am really eager to take care of this myself b/c I love detailing.
 
Hello Goliath -

If you are having the Llumar paint film applied, do NOT put on a sealant or wax on the areas to be film coated as the shop will attempt to REMOVE everything with alchohol and maybe other chemicals.

Best thing to do is a reasonable correction on the scratches and a good polish over the area to be filmed, drive to the shop and take some IPA and quality MF cloths. Tell the shop that you will do the wipe down per their instructions...let hem do it only if there is no alternative but give them your clean MF cloth to do it!

After you get the car back, then apply your sealant and top coat.

Regards,
GEWB
 
IPA? Sorry, can't figure that one out. It's been stumping me for a couple days.


Is there any off the shelf stuff I could use that's pretty decent to accomplish your recommendation? I have scratchX, could I use that with the orange or white pad and get decent results or should I just wait for the m105/205 an plan for a late night?
 
Thanks for the explanation.

So any product recommendations that I can get off the shelf at a Pep Boys, Autozone or Advance Auto, or should I just suck it up and wait and plan for a long night? I guess in reality, I only need to polish the areas that are going to be covered by the film which would substantially reduce the amount of time needed to buff out the paint. I'm hoping that between m105 and 205 that I can get the swirls out and have a decent shine.

I appreciate the help so far.
 
Goliath said:
Is there any off the shelf stuff I could use that's pretty decent to accomplish your recommendation? I have scratchX, could I use that with the orange or white pad and get decent results or should I just wait for the m105/205 an plan for a late night?
Click to expand...

I don't know squat about protective film but I'd guess you'd want whatever's getting covered perfect before it's applied. If the M105/205 won't arrive in time there's lots of other stuff available. Plus nothing says you have to have the entire car polished before the film goes on, just those parts that are getting covered, right?

Meg's Ultimate Compound is available OTC and also SMAT and is just a shade less aggressive than M105 and finishes real nice, sometimes LSP ready. I used to use M105 to do the recessed areas around door latches by hand. I now use UC because it works just as well IMO, with a longer work time.

Which Scratch X do you have? The original was diminishing abrasives and pretty mild. Scratch X 2.0 (somebody correct me if I'm wrong) is SMAT and much more aggressive than the original. I don't recall exactly where it falls in the order of aggressiveness for Meg's products... IIRC, it was in the middle between 205 & 105.

In lieu of a late night and a rush job I'd think you could polish up whatever's getting covered and then detail the rest of the car at your leisure.

FWIW for any of the original discontinued Scratch X fans, I picked up a tube of H-D branded Scratch & Swirl Remover at the Harley shop. Side by side the tube is almost identical to the original Scratch X. The media looks the same, works the same and I'm betting is relabeled Scratch X 1.0.

TL
 
I'm guessing I have vs. 1.0 since it doesn't say 2.0 which I can pick some of that up. I have seen the ultimate compound but from what I read, you may need to f/u with some swirlX polish on dark colors due to haze. This may be required with the 105 but it seems from what I've read, you can usually go from 105 to lsp. If I went the ultimate compound route, what would be other options to f/u with other than swirlX?

Edit to say: It looks as though the ScratchX vs. 1 was A LOT less aggressive according to a post on megs forums than even SwirlX so would it be okay to f/u the UC with ScratchX vs. 1?
 
Goliath said:
It looks as though the ScratchX vs. 1 was A LOT less aggressive according to a post on megs forums than even SwirlX so would it be okay to f/u the UC with ScratchX vs. 1?
Click to expand...

I'd give it a try. I've had UC finish as well as 105. I usually used Scratch X 1 by hand but I'll bet it works fine with a DA as well.

Most pros are using Meg's Mirror Glaze professional grade products. Meg's makes a lot of consumer grade stuff that works comparably to the pro stuff. Don't discount the performance just because it's available OTC. UC is a real good product. You may find it dusts less than 105, cuts as much as you need and finishes well.

TL
 
gewb said:
Hello Goliath -

If you are having the Llumar paint film applied, do NOT put on a sealant or wax on the areas to be film coated as the shop will attempt to REMOVE everything with alchohol and maybe other chemicals.

Best thing to do is a reasonable correction on the scratches and a good polish over the area to be filmed, drive to the shop and take some IPA and quality MF cloths. Tell the shop that you will do the wipe down per their instructions...let hem do it only if there is no alternative but give them your clean MF cloth to do it!

After you get the car back, then apply your sealant and top coat.

Regards,
GEWB
Click to expand...

Gary , if I understand you correctly, you are saying to use your own sealant over the dealer applied product right ? the dealer applied applications are normally guaranteed for five years with recoats if needed,wouldnt this interfere ?
 
So here's the deal. I used some UC on my hood (yes, after a small test area) and it really worked well. I had to use an orange pad in a couple places to really cut and I have removed the scratches to the point where they are BARELY noticeable. ***NOTE*** I could continue to work on these but given it is a new car, I don't want to burn through the clearcoat with less than 500 miles (maybe it wouldn't, but I'm a chicken). Second thing to note, I tried to f/u with ScratchX 1.0 but I actually had to remove some haze with the UC (maybe it's just too old, I don't know). So I ended up going over the whole hood, after polishing out some areas with UC and an orange CCS pad, with UC and a white CCS pad. There is a slight compound haze so I'm gonna hit it with some SwirlX when later this weekend after I purchase it. The haze is only noticeable in certain angles and it is there even with just the white CCS pad, so on dark cars I can definitely see where you need to f/u to remove the haze.

Rock on!
 
So, I polished the hood (the only area I'm currently working) with some swirlX with a White CCS pad. I think it made a difference but flourescents don't seem to show micro marring (or whatever) very well. At this point, I think I see a halo around everything from staring at the reflection of the lights in the hood. I used speed 5 and put less pressure than when I used UC. Of course it's raining and overcast tomorrow. Maybe I can use a flash light to see what's really going on.
 
RED JEWELL SS said:
Gary , if I understand you correctly, you are saying to use your own sealant over the dealer applied product right ? the dealer applied applications are normally guaranteed for five years with recoats if needed,wouldnt this interfere ?
Click to expand...

No, I looked up the product Goliath mentioned - it is a film. If a true film then what I posted would be correct. However, if "film" is a sealant then you are correct.

Regards,
GEWB
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top