Swirls Marks on New Automobile

T

TUD

New member
Hello, I'm newbie to the forum (first post), but I'm certainly not to auto detailing. I have been reading about marr/swirl marks on this forum now for the last two hours, so I am not coming to you guys without researching first.



It has been 11 years since I have owned a dark colored car and now I remember why. They can be so much more work than a lighter colored vehicle (silver or white). Nevertheless, I own a dark gray car now and prior to taking delivery of it, I requested that my dealer not detail it (it was an ordered automobile). When I brought it home I washed it throughly and applied one coat of AIO and since then I have washed it twice. I have now noticed fine marr/swirl marks in direct sunlight. Obviously I want to remove them. I do own a PC with Griot's orange polishing pads and red waxing pads. I currently have the following products, Menzera FP II, Klasse AIO and SG, P21 Paintwork Cleanser, One Grand Omega Glaze and Blitz Wax. I am willing to purchase any new products needed to keep this vehicle looking its best while also protecting the finish. BTW, I suspect I received these marrs during washing/drying as they are not circular, horizontal on the side panels and vertical on the hood, roof, and trunk lid. I'm washing with a chenille mitt and drying with a WW MF towel.



Any advice or recommendations will be greatly appreciated. :xyxthumbs
 
Read up on Accumulator's process for marr free washing techiques. The best thing that you can do is to just not instill marring thru the wash process.



You have all the products necessary to get your vehicle in shape if the marring is fine and slight. Use FPll with your PC and polishing pad, AIO, then SG. You will have a fine shine and durability as well. Just remember to apply thin coats of SG. You can let the products cure overnite or do the WOWO(wipe on/wipe off) method with the SG. You can add a carnuaba after the SG to get a little more wetness and depth if you llike
 
Poorboys SSR2.5 is good for marring and swirls. And if you work it well, you can even finish off with it, no need for SSR1 unless you want the perfect finish.



I think the marring came from when the dealer removed the protective layer. Usually they detail it because there is marring and such from the washing/removal process.



In the case of washing, what wash mitt do you use? If you are using a sponge, then that is the culprit. Go for a pure lambswool mitt. They are worth their weight in silver. :)
 
just a thought but it might be the aio streaking. in direct sunlight it can look like fine marring depending upon the direction of removal. it is just a thought that popped into my head because i had an experience the first time using aio that left streaking that looked like fine marring. it left me scratching my head until i polished them out and learned the proper way to use the aio. i assume it's not your first time using aio but if you can break up the marring by gently rubbing your finger over a small section then i think streaking maybe the culprit. i know i am probably wrong but as i said twice already it was just a thought. i can vouch for the pb's ssr's especially 2.5, i have two black cars and the ssr's do a great job with the marring. good luck. speed six is your friend.
 
aaron33 said:
I think the marring came from when the dealer removed the protective layer. Usually they detail it because there is marring and such from the washing/removal process.



In the case of washing, what wash mitt do you use? If you are using a sponge, then that is the culprit. Go for a pure lambswool mitt. They are worth their weight in silver. :)
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I requested that the dealer not detail it prior to delivery. The cosmoline was removed at the VPC.





I'm washing with a chenille mitt and drying with a WW MF towel.
 
getright said:
just a thought but it might be the aio streaking. in direct sunlight it can look like fine marring depending upon the direction of removal. it is just a thought that popped into my head because i had an experience the first time using aio that left streaking that looked like fine marring. it left me scratching my head until i polished them out and learned the proper way to use the aio. i assume it's not your first time using aio but if you can break up the marring by gently rubbing your finger over a small section then i think streaking maybe the culprit. i know i am probably wrong but as i said twice already it was just a thought. i can vouch for the pb's ssr's especially 2.5, i have two black cars and the ssr's do a great job with the marring. good luck. speed six is your friend.
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I've used AIO & SG a quite a bit. Almost out actually.



Do either one of you think SSR 2.5 might be a little too much for a one month old car?
 
TUD said:
Do either one of you think SSR 2.5 might be a little too much for a one month old car?
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It doesn't matter how old the car is. The strength of the polish needed is determined by the severity of the defects, not the age of the car. If you happen to have swirls that are bad enough to justify SSR2.5, it's unfortunate...but necessary. You could use a lighter polish with multiple passes instead, but the end result would be identical.
 
White95Max said:
It sounds like you may have some improvement to make on your washing process. Are you using two buckets to wash?
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I am not, but it sounds as though I need to be. I assume one is to lather with the soap and the other to rinse?



Having owned 3 silver cars within the past ten years I'm used to the lower maintenance of lighter colored vehicles. Time to wake up!
 
White95Max said:
It doesn't matter how old the car is. The strength of the polish needed is determined by the severity of the defects, not the age of the car. If you happen to have swirls that are bad enough to justify SSR2.5, it's unfortunate...but necessary. You could use a lighter polish with multiple passes instead, but the end result would be identical.
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Gottca. As I mentioned before, they are not too severe, very fine. I need to just take some pics and post them. We'll see if I'm even able to capture them.
 
Ok, here are some pics. I am very confident these came from the last time I washed/dried the car as I was using a new chenille mitt and drying with a WW MF towel from Meguiars. I am returning the towel... :mad:
 
Congrats on the new car, what did you buy? I recently bought a new Pilot to replace a black vehicle. When it came to color selection and the salesman suggested black I said "oh, hell no". Anyways, my opinion is that most of the swirls on my black vehicle were due to washing. Use a two bucket method...or 3, or 4. Just keep the mitt clean. Most important I think is getting a heck of a good sealant on the clearcoat. If you can get a few layers of a good sealant on there, I think you eliminate a lot of the problem. Dirt floats off the surface, water floats off the surface. You can get the majority of the dirt off the car from just the pre-rinse. I have an attachment to my hose nozzle, I put the soap in there and hose the car down, let is soak for a few minutes, then rinse off. Takes most of the dirt off without the use of a mitt. Get as much dirt off the car as you possibly can before touching it with a mitt. And there really isn't much drying to do when the water is beading and floating off like that.
 
White95Max said:
If you can't even capture them on film in full sunlight, you shouldn't need anything more than SSR2/green.
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Ok, here are some pics. I am very confident these came from the last time I washed/dried the car as I was using a new chenille mitt and drying with a WW MF towel from Meguiars. I am returning the towel... :mad:
 

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Can you make the picture bigger? If I'm looking at the right thing, those look more like holograms than swirls.

If you upload the picture to your Autopia gallery, you can post it in 3 different sizes.
 
Trunk Lid pic. This is the first time I have seen this and it really got my blood boiling. I know for a fact these were not in the car prior to my last wash. :angry
 

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It could be possible that the dealership applied a glaze to the paint, which hid the scratches until the fillers wore out (after a couple of washes).
 
White95Max said:
It could be possible that the dealership applied a glaze to the paint, which hid the scratches until the fillers wore out (after a couple of washes).
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The dealership did not touch the car. It wasn't even washed. I watched it roll off the truck. It was PDI'ed and then I took delivery immediately after. I brought it home with traces of cosmosline still on the hood, roof, and trunk.
 
This look *really* severe to have come from inproper wash tools/technique. I use the meguiars WWMF all the time without any marring. Honestly, that looks like someone slid a box across your trunk.



I would look into multiple sheepskin mitts, two buckets, and a soft approach to every motion that is made on the paint.



Before seeing the pics, I was going to suggest Meguiars #80. Now that I have seen what we are dealing with, I would think SSR2.5, then a final polish of your choice will be needed.



Are you sure that the paint is 100% clean before drying? Is there *any* dirt on the drying towel afterwards?



Where are you in TN and what type of car did you buy (helps diagnose the paint).
 
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