Are these cars really Clearcoated?! Read this!

[MASCMAN]

Long story short, I was rubbing out some scratches from what looked like a dog pawing at my rear driver's side door.

I used to detail cars and it should have been buffed, but I just wanted to make it look a little better and not break out the machinery.

The rag was turning red from my Vivid red car! It's an '07 that I bought used from the dealer.

If these cars really had clearcoat, there would be no color on the rag!

I may try and rub some on the hood to see.

I've read about all the chips and "soft clearcoat", but if you get color on your rag of buffing pad...there is no clear!

Anyone else?

[Vesparider]

Originally Posted by MASCMAN

Long story short, I was rubbing out some scratches from what looked like a dog pawing at my rear driver's side door.

I used to detail cars and it should have been buffed, but I just wanted to make it look a little better and not break out the machinery.

The rag was turning red from my Vivid red car! It's an '07 that I bought used from the dealer.

If these cars really had clearcoat, there would be no color on the rag!

I may try and rub some on the hood to see.

I've read about all the chips and "soft clearcoat", but if you get color on your rag of buffing pad...there is no clear!

Anyone else?

I got a few scuffs when de badging my rear hatch. However when I came back with the compound I didn't get any color on the rag. The scuff rubbed and waxed out perfectly. BTW, I have the Black and the chips on the hood indicate to me that the paint is fairly thin.

Richard Z.

[Maiden69]

I just clayed and waxed mine today and there was no paint on the pads. Unless the scratch on yours went thru the clear coat and you buffed out the paint! But I do think that the clear coat is very thin on this car. On my Jetta the paint look very thick on the chips, this one is thin and it corrodes very fast once the chip has developed.

[sx4thewin]

I will also chime in:

I just debadged my car, it left a lot more scratching than most I've done (around 10 cars at least) but it all came out with 3M rubbing compound and a small amount of elbow grease. I did each spot about two or three times to get out all the scratches. The clear and paint seem a bit easy to scratch, but they clean up nice so I guess it's okay?

Use a quality coat of wax and it will stay nice!

[macrossmaster]

First post, so 'scuse the noobdom.

What materials are you using to remove scratches? I bought my SX4 Sedan used from the dealer a couple weeks ago and have some light scratches I want to get out, but I've never had a car WORTH buffing out scratches before...

[sx4thewin]

Originally Posted by macrossmaster

First post, so 'scuse the noobdom.

What materials are you using to remove scratches? I bought my SX4 Sedan used from the dealer a couple weeks ago and have some light scratches I want to get out, but I've never had a car WORTH buffing out scratches before...

Old used up bath rag for me. Could use lint free slightly fluffy cloth of just about any type, avoid something harsh enough to leave further scratches and make sure any "rubbing" you do is with compound, I scratched my paint with light paper toweling so avoid rough fabrics. Chamois or terry cloth is what they suggest on the bottles of most brands. If you have some, use it, if not it's probably $5 at hell-mart for a bundle. You only need one or two. Fold it up and use some for cleaning up the residual and buffing it clean. Check the labels of whatever you can get locally for specific instructions. Avoid anything with grandiose claims or promises, simple rubbing compound is your best bet for light scratches, 3M makes it and so do a few other brands. It's about $7 for a large bottle. You need about 2 tablespoons to do a scratched area a few times to get everything out. You could do most of the car with a bottle I'd imagine. I use it somewhat liberally and in a wider area than just the scratches, it helps to "blend" it a little by doing it more lightly towards the outside of the area that is damaged.

Waxing and clay bars (if you are fancy) will help protect the paint. It buffed out nice so I'm hesitating to say it sucks, but it will take more time and sunlight to know how badly this paint will wear.


Sorry for all my long posts I try to be thorough in case you attempt anything that I describe.

[Maiden69]

Originally Posted by sx4thewin

Old used up bath rag for me. Could use lint free slightly fluffy cloth of just about any type, avoid something harsh enough to leave further scratches and make sure any "rubbing" you do is with compound, I scratched my paint with light paper toweling so avoid rough fabrics. Chamois or terry cloth is what they suggest on the bottles of most brands. If you have some, use it, if not it's probably $5 at hell-mart for a bundle. You only need one or two. Fold it up and use some for cleaning up the residual and buffing it clean. Check the labels of whatever you can get locally for specific instructions. Avoid anything with grandiose claims or promises, simple rubbing compound is your best bet for light scratches, 3M makes it and so do a few other brands. It's about $7 for a large bottle. You need about 2 tablespoons to do a scratched area a few times to get everything out. You could do most of the car with a bottle I'd imagine. I use it somewhat liberally and in a wider area than just the scratches, it helps to "blend" it a little by doing it more lightly towards the outside of the area that is damaged.

Waxing and clay bars (if you are fancy) will help protect the paint. It buffed out nice so I'm hesitating to say it sucks, but it will take more time and sunlight to know how badly this paint will wear.


Sorry for all my long posts I try to be thorough in case you attempt anything that I describe.

OMG so much bad advise here... Please don't use a towel on your car. The fabric will cause so many swirl marks it is insane!!!!!! Microfiber is the way to go. Clay bars are your freind if you know how to use them, but they are ABRASIVE so you need to follow the instructions exactly!

http://www.autopia.org/forum/

http://www.autopia.org/forum/detaili...insurance.html

This is a site Ifrequent a lot, I'm not a member since a lot of people there are professional detailers but there is a lot of good advise and proper way to do things.

At the end is your car and is up to you how you want to keep it!

[sx4thewin]

To each his own...I used a fluffy rag, as I always have, and it worked just fine, as it always has! The trick is to let the buffing compound do the work, that way none of the "huge gigantic non-micro fibers" will touch the paint. Maybe I'm just lucky, but I even used this to clean my old car when it was egged and it got all the yolk off without scratching the paint.

Microfiber may be the filet mignon of toweling, but I'm fairly certain people were washing their cars before fancy designer microfibers and big buck chamois.

There is about ten thousand times more information about waxing a car out there than any one person can assimilate. If you feel obsessive compulsive enough to spend big bucks on fancy cleaners and special cloth that is totally cool; but suggesting that is the only "safe" route to take is a little extreme.

[caterham]

Originally Posted by sx4thewin

To each his own...I used a fluffy rag, as I always have, and it worked just fine, as it always has! The trick is to let the buffing compound do the work, that way none of the "huge gigantic non-micro fibers" will touch the paint. Maybe I'm just lucky, but I even used this to clean my old car when it was egged and it got all the yolk off without scratching the paint.

Microfiber may be the filet mignon of toweling, but I'm fairly certain people were washing their cars before fancy designer microfibers and big buck chamois.

There is about ten thousand times more information about waxing a car out there than any one person can assimilate. If you feel obsessive compulsive enough to spend big bucks on fancy cleaners and special cloth that is totally cool; but suggesting that is the only "safe" route to take is a little extreme.

I agree. I'm not entering in any car shows. If I have to look very carefully to see a difference, I'm not worrying. My car has always been the shiniest in the lot and I never wash it.

[eRazor]

Originally Posted by sx4thewin

If you feel obsessive compulsive enough to spend big bucks on fancy cleaners and special cloth that is totally cool; but suggesting that is the only "safe" route to take is a little extreme.

Looking after your investment IMHO is not OCD behavior. You don't have to spend "big bucks" on quality car care products. Some of the best ones are less expensive than TurtleCrap. ****, I can buy a dozen Microfiber towels for under $10.00 (oh my God! My bank account is empty!). Necessity is the mother of invention. Didn't you learn that? Microfiber was invented for a reason.

I've owned a number of black cars in my lifetime and I will say without a doubt, if you use a terrycloth "rag" on your black (or dark colored) car, you've just filled the entire surface with swirls that you will be able to see in daylight.

I respectfully suggest to you that Microfiber isn't the "only" safe way to go, but Terrycloth is tantamount to using 2000 grit sandpaper on your paint. Professional detailers don't use terry for a reason. But wait, if you had done your research before spouting your drivel here, you would already know that. My bad.