Black = Depression

I don't own a black car, but my next one will be. Even if it's a DD. My current car is a darker red shade, but as far as I can tell my washes don't really induce any new marring that's noticeable. New marring is made by my friends on the door handle area because they're not conscious of these things.



I've given up the two-bucket system as well, but that's because I now use one bucket + foam gun. I even ordered a CRSpotless so I don't have to towel-dry anymore (it's more of a time-saver for me than anything). If you have a garage and your car is parked during the day in a somewhat non-hazardous environment (covered parking, not too many birds, lots of space between you and the next car, etc.), owning a black car is rewarding I think. If it's outside full-time and subject to extreme weather conditions, then it's just a matter of figuring out if the maintenance is too much.
 
musicdjs said:
Then you would think an ONR wash would be worse, RIGHT???
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ptaylor_9849 said:
Oh yeah. Not on black.
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Wow, I was about to pull the trigger and order some ONR. My car is metallic black, garaged, 6 months old. ONR would not be recommended for black cars? Glad I saw this before I spent the $40... comments and experiences from others?
 
Been using ONR for quite sometime now.Didnt have any problems with major marring.



rjom said:
Wow, I was about to pull the trigger and order some ONR. My car is metallic black, garaged, 6 months old. ONR would not be recommended for black cars? Glad I saw this before I spent the $40... comments and experiences from others?
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I need more PLEASE, need to hear from others with BLACK cars. What is your formula of success, foam guns, NO ONR's,......
 
There's no doubt that Accumulators mar-free foam gun technique is the ultimate in "reducing the potential". I do have an alternative... definitely *not* better, but it is a bit quicker and less labor intensive.



You'll need:



A pressure washer (gas powered, 2,800 PSI and 2.8 GPM recommended for best results)

A Camspray foam cannon

Chemical Guys Citrus Wash N Gloss

Zaino Z7

A CRSpotless system (or home made cheap replacement) or even a Mr. Clean spot free cartridge will work.

A leafblower

An LSP that *readily* releases dirt with *minimal* mechanical agitation. This is the most important ingredient for success.



This thread....http://www.autopia.org/forum/car-detailing/104946-oh-brother-here-he-goes-again-lot-s-pics.html has the general process and pictures of the results.



There are a few variations of the technique used in that thread that work very well. If the touch free method isn't getting the vehicle completely clean, doing an ONR wash *after* the touch free method works very well. The touch free method will get you most of the way to a clean car. Then the ONR will finish up without marring. Make sure you do blow dry the car completely before doing the ONR wash to keep from over diluting the lubes in the ONR.



Another alternative is to use a very gentle BHB after applying the layer of foam. This is gentle enough to not mar, but is so gentle that it is often not able to get everything.



One of the key points to remember in the touchless wash is to *not touch the paint during the drying process*. Touchless washes (even at their very best) aren't going to leave your paint completely free of debris. Any remaining debris is gonna turn into an abrasive if you then use a towel to dry.



I wish the pictures in that thread could really show the results as well as they could be seen in person. the car was *COMPLETELY* clean. There was absolutely *nothing* left on it. The black vinyl stickers and the wheels were the only things that needed to be touched with an ONR wash, and that's cause they didn't have any LSP on em. Seriously, the car looked like I had just washed it with a regular washing mitt, it was that clean.



When the LSP starts to fade a bit, I add in the BHB. When that's not enough, I'll do an ONR afterwards. When it gets to that point, I'll throw on another coat of wax after the ONR wash. Using this technique, I have yet to get *any* marring. And I go over my car several times per week with a Brinkman, halogens, incandesents and flouresents looking for *any* marring.
 
howareb said:
Silver!!!



No guts..No Glory... (HEHE) :lol
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The guy who parks next to me at work has a silver porsche. He drives more than I do (I make 18k miles annually), has his washed once a month, and it always looks clean! :furious: Mine loks dirty when I drive in after a wash!
 
musicdjs said:
I need more PLEASE, need to hear from others with BLACK cars. What is your formula of success, foam guns, NO ONR's,......
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I have a black daily driver with 90k miles. I use QEW regularly because I have relatively hard water which spots easily. With QEW and a grout sponge, I get no water spots and no marring to speak of. Believe me, I check. Do I get more marring than Accumulator or SuperBee? Most likley. Do I have the time/patience to do what they do to wash their cars? Not with a black daily driver. Since it is a daily driver, it gets random scratches, etc. If not for those, I would just need to lightly polish once a year. Overall, I find it pretty easy to maintain my black car in a manner that 95% of people who see it comment on how great it looks.
 
Cassman said:
I have a black daily driver with 90k miles. I use QEW regularly because I have relatively hard water which spots easily. With QEW and a grout sponge, I get no water spots and no marring to speak of. Believe me, I check. Do I get more marring than Accumulator or SuperBee? Most likley. Do I have the time/patience to do what they do to wash their cars? Not with a black daily driver. Since it is a daily driver, it gets random scratches, etc. If not for those, I would just need to lightly polish once a year. Overall, I find it pretty easy to maintain my black car in a manner that 95% of people who see it comment on how great it looks.
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I agree with Cassman. Otherwise I would have given up on black cars long before I did.



You simply have to be darn careful with your washing techniques. Shoot, I rarely bothered with the two bucket method except for when I used QEW. Then I had QEW in both the wash bucket and the rinse bucket.



A black "daily driver" is going to show dust, marring, scratches, whatever. I still have two black Harleys and while they look mighty good, I can still see marring in the "right" light and at the "right" angle . They can't be perfect because I ride them rather than keep them in a vault.



On a 1-10 perfectionism scale I am at about 11. Not a good place to be. :D However every once in a while I do a reality check and say "to h--- with it" -- my trucks or bikes are lookin' good -- dust, marring and all.



By the way, silver is a good color that doesn't show marring or dust, but again it can be a b--ch to match.



Back to the "black problem". You are going to have to polish more often. You might even want to consider a good one-step cleaner/wax that will remove and fill some of the marring. I'm a bit partial to Meguiar's ColorX. Meguiar's *New*D151 Paint Reconditioning Cream is getting great reviews.



Tom :cool:
 
light swirls are mostly impossible to keep away from our black cars especially if they are daily driven. i use mine for work and i always pass through some sort of construction/yard work. i get the quivers when i see all the dust in the when i pass through. we just have to do the best we can to minimize major swirls.



i must tell you though....our black cars looks soooo clean at night and under overcast skies (=



glenn
 
Maybe that carbon metallic paint on the Denali XL is the bet of both worlds...it's a bit more impressive than my Pewter/silver cars but it's not that hard to keep looking decent..well, at least not if you wash the way I do :o
 
All else equal, black paint is exactly the same as other color paints. Assuming relatively similar hardness, all the marring you cause on black paint is the same amount of marring you cause on light colored paints. The difference is that black paint shows finer scratches.



I just find it weird that people can wash light colored cars without marring but can't wash black cars without marring. There's got to be some factor in there that's not the paint color. Improper wash regime or something environmental or something...
 
Thats Fresh said:
light swirls are mostly impossible to keep away from our black cars especially if they are daily driven. i use mine for work and i always pass through some sort of construction/yard work. i get the quivers when i see all the dust in the when i pass through. we just have to do the best we can to minimize major swirls.



i must tell you though....our black cars looks soooo clean at night and under overcast skies (=



glenn
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I totally agree!
 
I know fully understand what you guys are talking about.

Today I just finished polishing my car. I put it under a light and no scratches. I touched the surface with my finger just to feel how smooth it is. Voila, 3 scratches appear.
 
danz24- Yikes...I simply couldn't live with paint that's *that* soft.



phamkl said:
All else equal, black paint is exactly the same as other color paints. Assuming relatively similar hardness, all the marring you cause on black paint is the same amount of marring you cause on light colored paints. The difference is that black paint shows finer scratches.



I just find it weird that people can wash light colored cars without marring but can't wash black cars without marring. There's got to be some factor in there that's not the paint color. Improper wash regime or something environmental or something...
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Yeah, clearcoat is clearcoat and IMO there are a lot of silver/light metallic vehicles out there that aren't as "marring free" as people think they are. As people have noted, if you use a vehicle it's gonna get marred. Yeah...even my "marring-free" S8 has some flaws.



I don't really find the carbon metallic Denali XL any harder to keep (relatively) marring-free than the silver vehicles. But then I go out of my way to see the marring on the silver ones too.



It's *easier* to see marring on some colors, simple as that IMO. And I always figure that nobody else really sees (or even cares about) the stuff we stress out over here at Autopia...life isn't a car show ;)
 
I have two black cars - both D/Ds, both in the South Jersey/Wilmington area - between the acid rain, the refineries and the dam seagulls, you can't win. One has 189K on it, and my '01 Eldo has 95K. Lots of it I-95 and NJTP miles on both. I work next door to a cement plant and across the street from a dirt track auto raceway...so much for atmosphere. :)



I wash about every two weeks or so, and touch up with DG Aquawax.



That said, I swear by 845....



DSCN0640.JPG




Here's the whole car:



DSCN0632.JPG
 
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