My new Gen 5 needs some paint TLC

[dwhitt]

Hoping a good detailer can help me get my paint looking like it should. It's a new '14 GTS that's probably been on the showroom for a year or so (VIN 509). Sitting under the bright showroom lights it looks a bit rough but the dealer has done no washing or prep of any kind on the car which is probably good it's in a raw state. It went straight from the Reliable truck to the showroom and has been sitting ever since. My friend who took these shots today said it's a bit dusty as well. The dealer said all they did was pull some plastic off the exterior (hood ?) after parking it on the floor. I told the dealer to just leave it as is and have Reliable send it my way ASAP for it's new home. The silver stripes actually look good close up but the black shows everthing under those very bright showroom lights.

Can a good detailer get the paint finish back in shape without being too aggressive when working with the paint? Any thoughts are appreciated.

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[cfiiman]

Yeah, probably would be just fine using a DA polisher like the PC 7424XP and a decent cutting foam pad and good compound followed by finishing pad and polish. A great combo that is highly under rated IMO is Meguiars Ultimate Compound and Ultimate Polish, they are identical to the Mirror Glaze 105/205 if I remember correctly. I just 2 step corrected my whole car, took me a month going slow and an hour here and there. A great detailing forum I found with freaks like me about detailing is autogeek.net, there is some of the best detailers in the industry over there. Here are some pics of mine after correcting:

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Before:

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After:

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[dwhitt]

Wow - awesome looking and thanks for sharing. I was a bit intimidated after seeing pics of my car close up and was ready to run but heard it should be fixable with the right products and person on the job. Below is a pic of my car from yesterday which looks just fine from a distance

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[cfiiman]

Yeah, most paint looks ok from a distance, but if you are kind of OCD like most guys on AutoGeek (myself included) then you want it to look good out in the full noon sun, or under a bright spotlight. It is a slippery slope though, I remember having more fun when I lived in bliss thinking my paint was in good condition because I thought all cars had swirls lol. Like my Dad, he rubs his car with a brillo pad and has a ball, ah to be that way again

 

[agentf1]

Problem is the dealership probably wiped dust off of it numerous times not thinking about all the damage they were doing. Good news is 95% will come out with the right detailer and product. Do your homework before letting anybody touch the car and get recommendations from Autopia or Autogeek or a reliable source. and I have found it is also good to look at their work as well. I have heard recommendations and then saw the persons work and cringed before.

 

[agdetail]

darn, want to help but you are on the other side of NA. I just finished detailing my F355 which is black and in the process of doing my white viper.

For your paint, you would have to strip it down of any wax or polish to reveal the true condition of the paint. How that works is a lot of time, waxes and polishes will mask the scratches and after a few washes, all the scratches show up.

Judging from the paint, you would only need m205 polish followed by 3m jeweling polish to bring up that glow using a rotary. Be careful who you send the car too. With over 5 years of experience i still get the occasional buffer mark that i didn't finish down good enough but a unskilled person can easily damage the paint and if not done properly, only mask the scratches.

I would also recommend gtechniq c1 coating. Creates a new film on the paint and will last outside in the hot sun for over 2 years. With 3 coats, it will be a lot harder to mare the paint and keep it in pristine condition for years to come.


This was a 1 stage polish and jeweling. Removed 95% of the scratches. Compounding was not needed as this is my parents X5 DD.

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