Paint chip damage on my new car - how bad is it?

[Civicclutch]

There is also pinnacle black labels kit for 200 but that can do several cars/coats i`m actually looking into that since 512detail and i had talked bout it. He said there is like a really hard to mess that one up although it`ll last bout a year

 

[Accumulator]

I guess there`s no way around swirls/scratches unless I want to invest in 3M paint protection film.

Couldn`t resist posting the following-

Depends on a few things, including just how much you`re willing to put into avoiding them. IME it`s perfectly possible to avoid virtually (not literally, but *awfully* close) all marring, but most people wouldn`t think the required measures are worth it.

Other than the *extremely* rare spot-correction, I haven`t polished any of our vehicles for years and when it comes to light marring that`d be safe to remove, they`ll withstand even an Autopian inspection (point-sorce lighting in a dark environment). I don`t even use coatings, which oughta help with the marring to some extent. It`s all about how the vehicle gets touched, especially during the wash.

But anyhow, I`m glad you decided to leave well-enough alone. You can always revisit the whole thing later if the urge strikes. I`d be *VERY* leery of letting somebody else work on it, plenty of "Pros"...well, they deserve those scare-quotes

There is also pinnacle black labels kit for 200 but that can do several cars/coats i`m actually looking into that since 512detail and i had talked bout it. He said there is like a really hard to mess that one up although it`ll last bout a year

Heh heh, IME there are some conventional LSPs that last that long, though in all fairness there are just so many variables and what works one way for me might work differently for somebody else.

 

[One Ton Soup]

Both CQuartz and Opti-Coat have a wonderful reputation.

You can`t go wrong with either one. I feel CQuartz look better... but I believe OptiCoat has better durability.

On average what`s the price to get something like this done? I`m getting a price quote of 800 (including prep) + tax from a shop that uses OptiCoat Pro.

 

[Raymoche]

I seen quotes range from 800 to 1200, 800 might be opti pro bottom line pricing... Not sure myself, few years ago ive see 700.

 

[Accumulator]

I seen quotes range from 800 to 1200, 800 might be opti pro bottom line pricing... Not sure myself, few years ago ive see 700.

Yikes! That sounds pricey to me..but then I don`t know from such stuff.

But OTOH...buying a polisher/pads/products, spending the time...Still, on a relatively new car it`s sure a lot more $ than a tin of FK1000P and some MFs that would last nearly forever. I dunno..

 

[One Ton Soup]

@Accumulator I`ll probably add another clear coat layer down the road like you suggested earlier, but not anytime soon. The detailer did a decent job and I don`t want to mess it up.

I see some pictures of the cars on this forum and they`re totally spotless. I`m pretty sure they have scratches/swirls somewhere, is it spotless due to the paint imperfections being hidden by the use of high quality wax/coats? I`m thinking it`s so difficult to keep the clear coat at the same levels throughout the year unless you get your car dipped or wrapped...I need a good DIY detailing manual lol, there`s too many with different techniques.

 

[Accumulator]

One Ton Soup- Beware of Internet Cars...they`re always perfect

I really do keep mine virtually marring-free for years on end. You wouldn`t spot anything under any conditions without *really* working at it, and then anything safe-to-correct would be in places nobody sees. Keeping a daily driver marring-free really can be done. BUT...nobody I know washes the way I do and it`s not cheap or easy.

Some light marring can maybe be hidden, but IME that doesn`t work that well IRL (works fine for internet pics in some cases Cynical ol` me...). Some people apparently do great with Black Hole, but I`ve never tried it.

Here`s the Magic Key Point: If you press something that`s harder than the paint against the paint, and then move it across the paint under sufficient pressure, the result is marring. If you avoid doing that, you won`t have swirls/scratches/etc.

I avoid it very well by employing a "dislodge and flush" approach to washing. My rinse buckets are always dirt-free at the end of a wash, even on winter-filthy vehicles, because I gently dislodge the dirt and flush it off the vehicle by pressure washing first and then using the right wash media and constantly spraying foamgun output at the point of wash media-to paint contact. Takes a *LOT* of practice, pretty much time, a fair amount of effort (tough as a make-you-sore workout, tougher than running a few miles IMO), and lots of water and shampoo (minimum of ~7oz and a few times that much sometimes). Not the right approach for everybody, but it sure works great for me. Note that it took me dozens of washes to get even the basics sorted out, and quite a few years to get completely dialed-in. Gets back to "how much do you care?" and I could even add "...and why?" Don`t let guys like me cast the Curse of Autopia over you...you can have a perfectly great Car Hobby Experience without having perfect paint. It really only matters as much as you let it. There`s a lot more to "properly taking care of a vehicle" than having marring-free paint, that`s just superficial [stuff] that some of us care about for one reason or another; it needn`t matter to you at all.