Nick Chronis
New member
Many months ago, a friend with a black 2000 Bimmer approached me to remove a whole bunch of paint defects. Quite a bit of moderate to heavy scratches, and like hundreds of small pit marks, that seemed to be from dried up water spots. I pulled out a loupe and realized these things were right down near the BC. I told him there was no way I would do this, at sacrificing the clearcoat. This was a daily driver, parked outside 24/7 (NY weather), and that he was the worst person at maintaining his car. From 5 feet away the car looked great. True, certain angles of direct sunlight exposed these defects. I told him to find someone else if that's what he really wanted to do. Sure enough he found someone to do it. With a rotary, wool pad, and aggressive compound, this guy got out about half the scratches, but he didn't even phase the pitting. Forget about the holograms. Two months later, he finds a whole bunch of new deep scratches. Back to the same guy. A couple of weeks ago, what do we see? The first signs of clear coat failure. Chalky, hazy patches that can't be removed. The base coat is right there waiting to go "Surpise...here I am!!" He's in tears now. I've done enough cars, and practiced on enough test panels to know my limitations. I can't in good conscience take a job, where I know in the end I'd cause more damage than fix. Some people don't want to listen.
