Hi, my name is Trisha and I came across this site meanwhile I was searching google for some info regarding my 2001 white honda accord. I posted on Autogeek about 2 months ago b/c I had some serious issues with my paint. I found out that my car is not clearcoated which I think could be the cause of my problem.
I have owned my car for 4 years and as much as I love my car, I hate the paint problems and aggravation it has caused me to feel. I am not someone who neglected their car ever. I used to take it to the local car wash for a wax once before winter and once before summertime and my car paint seemed to hold up well until a year ago when I noticed I had dirt that was stuck in the paint and regardless how much you would clean the car, it would not come out unless you waxed it. I live on Long Island and my car is a daily driver and has never been garaged since I've owned it. That's why I thought waxing it 2x per year would be okay. Anyway, after I noticed my car getting these wavy looking dirt spots and lines, I decided to take my car to a guy called Charlie Simoniz. He was known in my town for years and one of the best auto detailers. At the time I took the car to him, last May, he was about 80 years old (i'm not kidding). But, this guy enjoyed what he did so I said hey, I'll pay the $200 to have only the exterior done. He told me that he was going to clay the car and then handwax it. Well, I got the car back that day and to be honest with you, it looked cleaner but you could still see the dirt in the paint in certain areas. I was extremely disappointed but didn't go back to him b/c I felt terrible b/c of his age and I am sure he worked really hard on my car.
After Charlie Simoniz did my car, my husband went over my car with Mother's Cleaner wax and then waxed over it. That lasted for about 2 weeks, no joke. Then my father went over it with NuFinish (he swears by it.lol). I have to say, NuFinish held up the longest. I'd say about 5 months. Back in April of this year, my car started looking crappy again, so I took it to the local car wash to get it waxed. I told them they would have to really do a good wax to get the car clean as that's what was taking off the dirt all these times (so I thought). Well,I got it back and it didn't look terrible but if you looked at it closesly, you could still see the dirt in the paint. So, I went onto the Autogeek website and posted up some pics there and asked everyone for their opinion. They suggested that I try Klasse All In One and Duragloss over that. I wanted to get my car looking nice ASAP b/c it really looked terrible after 3 weeks of my last wax and I was embarassed to drive it around. So, my husband and I used Mother's Cleaner Wax and then used Liquid Glass Polish over it (my father used iton all his sports cars when I was younger and I knew it was highly regarded back then). The car looked really nice when we were done with it but my husband was doubtful b/c of everything I've gone through with the paint condition of this car. Me and my dad applied a second coat of Liquid Glass a week later. The car held up for about a month or so and then strated to look bad again. It's kind of like when it rains, the wax just disappears and also, if you wash the car once, it removes the wax. I was washing the car at home with Liquid Glass car wash concentrate.
Finally, I couldnt' take it anymore. I was at the point I wanted to paint the care, I took it to a local body shop that I've used in the past and showed the owner my car. I told him the car was waxed 3 weeks ago. He couldn't believe it b/c of the way it looked and if you ran your hand across the paint, it felt like there was NO wax left after everything I did in the past 3 weeks (waxed it 2x). He recommended I have the car fully detailed which he explained that the car needed to be buffed with compound to bring out the white color of the car and also to flatten out the waves in the paint. He also informed me that white cars are not clearcoated. I was skeptical about getting this done but at this point, I'd try anything. This was 3 weeks ago. These are the steps that the detail place took on my car:
Exterior Wash
Clay Magic
Compound (with buffer) & Polish (not sure if buffer was used)
Dress All Rubber Molding
Trunk Cleaned & Vacuumed
Clean Windows Inside & Out
Vacuum Interior
Clean & Treat Leather
Detail Dash & Console
Steam Clean Carpets & Upholstery
Hand Glaze & Carnuba Paste Wax/Teflon
Rims Detailed & Black Magic Tire Shine
I must say, after I got my car back, it looked awesome. I haven't seen it look that good in years and I fell totally back in love with my car. I called the place to tell them what a great job they did and also asked them if I should wax over it right away. They said there was no need too but when it rains, I should rinse my car off this way the sun doesn't bake the water spots into my car b/c it causes etching which I believe is what was happenign with my car before I had this detail done. I think there was a lot of etching and also apparently all the times I was having it waxed, the dirt was being waxed into the paint. But now, after a compound and everything they did above, my car looked mint.
This brings us to the present, sorry this is so long! I washed my car 2x with my Liquid Glass Concentrate cleaner since I got it back from the detailer and rinsed the car off with water everytime after it rained and would drive my car on the highway this way the water would dry. The reason why I washed it a 2nd time is b/c this past weekend, we had some severe thunderstorms and rain here (crazy weather) and I noticed that I had dark lines coming from the back of my trunk down the bumper like I used too before I had it detailed last. So, I washed my car a 2nd time last night and I have noticed that I have a few spots on my hood where it looks like those brown spots I had are developing again! I don't know what else to do. I am lost and so upset. If anyone can suggest a wax or anything that will withstand the elements outside longer than 3 weeks, I would really appreciate it. I am scared though that if I wax it like in the past, the wax will just come off real quick kind of like when it rains, it just disappears. I feel like my paint just doesn't want to hold anything and it's defective. Has anyone ever heard of this? When I went to Autogeeks to talk to them last (before my recent detail), they told me if I had the car buffed with compound and the hand buffer, everything would be fine but in reality, it's not b/c my car is starting to hold dirt again. Can any of you explain this to me? I've heard of Collinite for cars and was thinking of using that but I really am lost at this point. As much as I want my car to look shiny, I care more about how the paint is holding up in general so if anyone can recommend a polish or wax that will withstand the element for more than 2-3 weeks, that would be great. I have to say, I really thought Liquid Glass would work for me after everything I heard about it when I was younger but I was disappointed by that as well. If I wax my car again, does it need to be buffed again b/c it's holding dirt already? Would I need to use a cleaner's wax. I have to say, I don't mind waxing a car every 5 mos. or so but every 2-3 weeks is just insane. I live by a train station so I am assuming that it doesn't help me with the train dust but I park my car in front of a building that blocks the tracks. I am really lost here and would really appreciate it if anyone can help me. Thank you and I apologize that this post is super long.
