How do you assess what a car needs?

LGHT

LGHT

New member
Just starting out and working toward doing all my cars at home instead of putting the car wash owner’s kids through college.

I found that sticky that had a ton of info about orange peel, water spots, swirling, etching etc in a diagrams which is Very helpful in understanding what is going on with the clear / paint, but how do you know when a car has orange peel and oxidation as a newbie? I can see the scratches / swirling in certain angels of light on my 05 truck, but how do you know when a car has “orange peel”, oxidation, or contamination? Do you just know by looking and what it looks like or do you feel the car and if so what do you look for?

Since I have multiple cars in various stages I don’t want to waste my time trying to fix one problem when the car has something totally different. I also don’t want to start putting down seals and wax and miss a step if the car has orange peel.
 
LGHT- I wouldn`t (and don`t, unless inspecting some post-production paintwork to make sure it matches the oe texture) give a moment`s thought to orangepeel. The only way to lessen it is to get SO aggressive that...eh, just don`t go there. The factory paint on my S8 has terrible orangepeel, did when it was new, still does; I don`t care it`s nice and THICK and clearcoat thickness is what keeps the basecoat protected. Don`t thin that critically important clearcoat by leveling the orangepeel, that`s showcar stuff for cars that aren`t exposed to UV.

[Yes the above is a bit of an oversimplification.]

Contamination- research "the baggie test".

Oxidation might not be an issue once you get things done once and then maintain properly. Can`t recall the last time I`ve had to deal with it except on a new-to-me vehicle. Unless you`re parking it outside 23/7 in Death Valley I just wouldn`t expect it to be a problem on a properly maintained car, NEVER is/has been for me.
 
100% What Accumulator says. Especially starting out, don`t go crazy chasing the big stuff.

The nice thing about this hobby is you can take it as far as you want.

Just want a shiny car that`s easy to maintain? Especially on black its amazing what just mild polishing does to bump up the curb appeal.

Can`t help but see deper RIDS? Read up and dig in with a more aggressive approach (as mentioned though - you`re sacrificing clear to do so).

To me, it seems the normal progression to get a car started out is: Chemical decontamination (iron/tar removal), physical decontamination (clay bar/clay substitute), paint correction (compound/polish/All-in-one if you choose), and LSP.

The hardest part is choosing the brands/products to use as there are so many great performers here. Personally, FK1000 (thanks Accum...) and Gyeon CanCoat are on my really want to try list. I`m a long time Griot`s fan, so my wife`s Q5 will be getting their Liquid Gloss Poly Wax and then maintained with the BOSS Foam System to see how that all works in harmony.

And great approach of using your previous budget for having someone else care for your cars and applying it to doing it yourself. It`s hugely rewarding seeing the final product, and very zen during the process of getting there. Well, except for the picking-the-products part. :D
 
* Wash and dry the vehicle..
* Under very good lighting, look at all the paintwork carefully..
* Think about the clarity and gloss of your CLS..
* Does the paintwork of this vehicle look like the CLS??
* Do you want the paintwork of this vehicle to look like the CLS ??
* Do you want the paintwork of this vehicle to look close to the CLS?
* Now start the process - a whole other conversation to begin..

Also vote YES to leaving anything that looks like Factory Orange Peel alone..

Something to remember -- no matter how good you or a Detailer gets the Paintwork, eventually, it may/will get defects in the Paintwork again...
And on Black Paintwork, it shows Everything...

If you use that Duster you mentioned using on any Black vehicle, you are putting marks into the paintwork...

I have a beautifully clear, glossy, Black Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited 4X4.. To help prevent putting any marks into it myself, I try NOT to touch it as much as possible...
It has a Coating on it so it repels most dirt but eventually after a few years, I may have to correct it again if it gets too many defects in it and I want to remove them..
If I keep the defects from happening as best I can, and it only has light ones, I can use a very mild Polish to remove them and take way less clearcoat off the Paintwork..
This Jeep is 9-years-old (2009) and I have corrected it 3 times; first to get all the Factory/Dealer induced marks out.. Second to prepare for the 1st Coating in late 2011, 3rd to prepare for the 2nd Coating, applied in 2016..
Dan F
 
Just FWIW...my `93 Audi suffered horribly before I finally got the owner to sell it to me. Pretty much every inch of all-but-one panel (the one I had re-repainted to actually match) is marred up or pitted or has major paint (not just clearcoat!) failure. Total POS by Autopian standards. BUT...

I did what I could and I keep it nice, and now it`s a frequently-complimented "classic". (NO you dummies, a `93 isn`t a classic, but thanks anyhow.)

The point is, that this "trashed" vehicle gets compliments from total strangers on a very regular basis in daily life/parking lots; people can`t believe its "wonderful condition". So don`t let this place/the internet fool you into being unreasonable. If you think it looks nice then it does.

Heh heh, thought of that car again because we`re discussing Oxidation; when I got it the dark blue paint was so oxidized that the service records for the last few years described it as "gray". When the same guys saw it later....heh heh heh :D My tech Dale would probably buy it if his wife would get onboard, not that I`m looking to sell...
 
Stokdgs said:
* Wash and dry the vehicle..
* Under very good lighting, look at all the paintwork carefully..
* Think about the clarity and gloss of your CLS..
* Does the paintwork of this vehicle look like the CLS??
* Do you want the paintwork of this vehicle to look like the CLS ??
* Do you want the paintwork of this vehicle to look close to the CLS?
* Now start the process - a whole other conversation to begin..

Also vote YES to leaving anything that looks like Factory Orange Peel alone..

Something to remember -- no matter how good you or a Detailer gets the Paintwork, eventually, it may/will get defects in the Paintwork again...
And on Black Paintwork, it shows Everything...

If you use that Duster you mentioned using on any Black vehicle, you are putting marks into the paintwork...

I have a beautifully clear, glossy, Black Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited 4X4.. To help prevent putting any marks into it myself, I try NOT to touch it as much as possible...
It has a Coating on it so it repels most dirt but eventually after a few years, I may have to correct it again if it gets too many defects in it and I want to remove them..
If I keep the defects from happening as best I can, and it only has light ones, I can use a very mild Polish to remove them and take way less clearcoat off the Paintwork..
This Jeep is 9-years-old (2009) and I have corrected it 3 times; first to get all the Factory/Dealer induced marks out.. Second to prepare for the 1st Coating in late 2011, 3rd to prepare for the 2nd Coating, applied in 2016..
Dan F
Click to expand...

Yeah the CLS looks "good", but it does have swirl marks and some orange peel so it doesn`t look like it did fresh so it needs a reboot. The other ones I`ll just get detailed so I have a good starting point to work with.
 
Accumulator said:
Just FWIW...my `93 Audi suffered horribly before I finally got the owner to sell it to me. Pretty much every inch of all-but-one panel (the one I had re-repainted to actually match) is marred up or pitted or has major paint (not just clearcoat!) failure. Total POS by Autopian standards. BUT...

I did what I could and I keep it nice, and now it`s a frequently-complimented "classic". (NO you dummies, a `93 isn`t a classic, but thanks anyhow.)

The point is, that this "trashed" vehicle gets compliments from total strangers on a very regular basis in daily life/parking lots; people can`t believe its "wonderful condition". So don`t let this place/the internet fool you into being unreasonable. If you think it looks nice then it does.

Heh heh, thought of that car again because we`re discussing Oxidation; when I got it the dark blue paint was so oxidized that the service records for the last few years described it as "gray". When the same guys saw it later....heh heh heh :D My tech Dale would probably buy it if his wife would get onboard, not that I`m looking to sell...
Click to expand...

Yeah I know I"m not going to get the 05 truck with no paint on the hood that nice, but caddy should come out looking 1000 times better than it does now... Sadly my blueish black truck was also listed as "grey" when I went to get it serviced :(
 
LGHT- Yikes, a `05 that`s already in awful shape? Surely it can`t be *that* bad... Heh heh, our newest vehicle is only three years newer than that!
 
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