Local Paint Detailer Recommendations? Black Truck/water spotting :(

Hey! At yesterday's Hollister run, I drove my black truck through some puddles. All my previous Tacomas have had lighter paint w/ the metallic specks. I never realized how difficult black was to maintain! I washed it today- tried a clay bar (nothing) and Meguiar's ultimate compound-removed a lot…but I still have streaks/spotting on the plastic fenders, etc.

I'm still in the anal "my truck is new" phase, so I'd like to remove them if possible . Keep trying by hand or can anyone recommend a local place on the Peninsula with a Porter-Cable or similar to get this junk out?

Thanks for the help! Sean

 

Man, seriously. I speak to you as a black truck owner.

If you need to take a trip to the detailer every time you go offroad, you'll either

1. stop going offroad or
2. stop keeping your truck clean.

Post in the detailer thread the specific problems you're having - but you otter be able to get your truck "factory clean" again without much more than a good Saturday morning worth of effort.

 

The exception is those unpainted fender flares - since they're unpainted plastic they're a little harder to "pretty up" than paint.

But as far as the paint goes - a good "glaze" covers a lot of sins - an you don't end up taking down 10% of your paint every time you use it, as you would with an abrasive polish.

 

I use this stuff (followed by wax) to hide my "sierra pin striping"
http://www.meguiars.com/en/automotive/products/g19216-ultimate-polish/

But I bet this works great:
http://www.meguiars.com/en/professional/products/m0716-show-car-glaze-16oz/

 

Use the Meguiars Ultimate Compound more. It will take it all off. Since you have a black truck I highly recommend avoiding a buffer. Do it by hand and just keep going. It WILL come off. You need to realize that the damage is in the clearcoat, basically when you buff things, you're ever so slowly sanding off some of that clearcoat. Get all the spots off, try not to put too much pressure in one place or you'll leave spiderwebs. Once you get the clearcoat all cleaned up, WAX WAX WAX. In your case, I recommend a marine wax, they are much much more durable. Put a couple coats on it. As long as you have a good coat of wax, the spots will come off much easier, and in the future, you'll just be taking the wax off instead of the clearcoat. Too much buffing and eventually you will wear through to the paint. I hate the water quality here in California. My truck is just as bad, I just try to ignore it.

On a side note to Steve's follow up about Ultimate Polish, it works, but I've never found a need for it. The compounds job is to remove the contaminants, and generally its a little more abrasive. The polish is a finer abrasive. When working by hand, I'd just stick with the compound, saves time. Again though, I want to reiterate.... I highly recommend NEVER touching a black truck with a buffer.

 

Thanks guys for the great info.

Brian- I really appreciate the encouragement! So the black paint on the new Tacoma DOES have a clear coat? That's good news. I ran into a post somewhere that stated it was a single stage paint? Weird. I'll keep at it with the ultimate compound . Thanks again!

 

BJMoose- thank you as well. I'll follow up on those links. I traded in my 12 for this 13 baja, so I'm trying to keep it "new" for as long as possible while having fun in it in order to rationalize my purchase

 

All vehicles should have a clear coat. If it doesn't, you will know when you start buffing it or polishing it because the rag you are using will turn black because you're taking paint off. The plastic fenders may or may not have clearcoat on them, you'll know it. Just go really easy on it. The front bumper is hit or miss on some trucks, my rad red front bumper has no clearcoat.

 

FYI, this is kinda what you will see if theres no clearcoat If you ever come up to Sac, feel free to hit me up and I'll help you out, give you tips, pointers, etc. Everyone in this forum always gives me shit cuz my trucks always clean, I'll take that as a compliment to my skills as a detailer

 

Hey Brian I was wheelin with Sean, aka reddington trd, and got my truck dirty too. Can I hit u up the next time I'm in sac? Mine is a spruce mica.

 

Thanks again Brian!! You've been awesome. I'll keep in touch should I have further questions and I'll definitely catch up with you if I'm in the area.

 

Just send me a PM when you're going to be around and I'll give you my info.