*Official* Ask A Detailer Thread

Mine was $350 and that was sort of the 'friend-discount' lol

 

I found a different shop that's gonna do a 1 step paint correction and ceramic coat with 5 year guarantee for $600

 

Use caution with the drill since it is pretty much a rotary buffer. Rotary has a much higher potential to burn paint.

 

I got a PC 7424 for my birthday and had good results with auto geek aio mckees 37.

 

Original 2010 Barcelona red
These are my trouble spots and I'd say I'm a COMPLETE novice as far as actual paint care. Have not put any product whatsoever on the paint so far but was considering this:
- Careful and thorough 2-bucket wash
- Meguiar's ScratchX by hand/pad on the trouble spots and then possibly lightly over the entire body?
- Followed by another wash then what? Never applied wax to paint.

 

You need a machine for all that. Sorry to say. Even then can't promise a lot of that will come out 100%. Some might ne to the primer others might just be too deep to perfectly smooth out.

Also never polish without clay barring or some other similar method first.

Stay away from Scratch-X if you use a machine. It's a horrible machine product. Flings everywhere lol.

 

Crap. Well I suppose it isn't a Cadillac.
So would I clay bar after the first wash, then see what ScratchX can do by hand on the spots, and then wash again?
Then hand wax?

 

Hitting it by hand might clean the spots up and get some of the scuff out but it's really not going to do anything. Polishing by machine takes a lot of effort, by hand is just pure insanity. The only bits I do by hand are under the door handles and all it does is clean the scratches so I can't see them, it doesn't do jack to remove them.

You don't wash after a polish. Then you would have to clay bar again. Just buff all the polish off with a microfiber towel then lay a wax. For a hand wax I highly recommend Chemical Guys Butter Wet Wax. Its very easy to go on, no cure time, and buffs off super easy. You can also use on glass and headlamps and use in direct sunlight.

On a red truck I'd go with a sealer though. Sealers will last 6-12 months a wax lasts maybe 6 weeks. Red and black cars you want to touch as little as possible they show scratching so well.

Do some reading on these threads. Detailing is a lot of fun. Get yourself a DA polisher and some basic starter products.

 

I'm insane. (if I know what I'm doing)
Thanks man I definitely have a lot more reading to do.

 

At least need to do an IPA wipe down after polishing to remove any leftover polish/residue.

 

What about Goo Gone afterwards on every body panel? Then wiped dry.
I've used it on another vehicle before, my novice eyes saw "improvement".

 

Don't know about the wipe down but the more IPA's I have, the better it looks

 

Not sure I would use Goo Gone to wipe down body panels. Isopropyl alcohol is fairly cheap and should be diluted depending upon mixture that you get.

 

For those of you who have ceramic coatings. Like @harpolith I know has one, who do you recommend these coatings for?

A good friend of mine just bought an Infiniti that's black. It's used and needs a decent polish with some sort of exterior protection. She's looking to keep the black looking nice but I know she's likely to take it through automatic car washes and probably won't adhere to a two bucket wash.

Is a ceramic coating a good idea for her? Is it going to offer any kind of protection from light swirls and scuffs?

I know she's looking for something to help keep the finish looking nice without having to spend a lot of time on the vehicle or being meticulous with hand washes.

 

I have been using Optimum Glosscoat. It sounds like a ceramic would do her well however it does not negate the need for good wash practices. Coatings can still get swirls. I would suggest GTechniq Crystal Serum Light. It offers superior protection compared to Optimum but is more difficult to apply.

 

Personally, I wouldn't spend the time/money on a coating if you're not going to use good wash/dry technique. Coatings aren't bullet-proof. Improper washing and drying will still put swirls in a coating. Maybe not quite as easily, but they'll still show up. One run through a car wash and there goes your $$$ (or time if you did it yourself).

And paint needs to be properly prepped for a coating (clayed, machine polish, oils removed, etc). All defects present before coating will essentially be semi-permanently sealed up and visible under the coating. It's a pretty good amount of time to get it prepped and applied. Or a good amount of $$ to have someone else do it ($ hundreds).

She sounds like a candidate for a polish and then get her set up with a good wipe on walk away sealant like Ultima Paint Guard Plus or Blackfire Crystal Seal. Super easy to apply. 5 minutes to do a vehicle. Reapply as needed. Or simply hit it with a good AIO like McKee's 360 a couple times a year.

If money/time is no object, sure try a coating and see how it works out. McKees coating is priced to sell and easy to apply from what I've heard.

 

Still better off with a coating. At least it will be more resistant to poor wash methods. Plus the car will stay cleaner and even when dirty will have some gloss to it. Cquartz can be picked up for a relatively inexpensive price. Plus with Essence plus there is an option to go back and remove swirls while keeping the coating.

 

The issue is, shes really probably not going to do handwash only and do those properly, so I do worry if a coating is the right choice.

Shes been told that with the coating you can basically power wash/soap gun clean the car and use a leaf blower to dry it. So you don't have to touch it. Some truth to this? This might be what keeps her from auto washes and not using proper trchnique when handwashing.

 

Not sure about the professional coatings but the consumer coatings you still need to hand wash especially if the grime builds up. A car will stay cleaner with a coating than a sealant.

 

Something to keep in mind-- some coatings are extremely slick... and some aren't. Just another thing to consider.