New Lexus (hologramming)

[MP6387]

Picked up a new 2007 black Lexus ES350 a week ago. When I picked it up the weather was mostly cloudy and everything looked fine. That is, until a couple of days later when the bright afternoon sun showed what appears to be buff marks. I have seen pics posted by others and the marks look like what many refer to as holograms. I have tried using a swirl remover by hand but no success. I am ready to order a G100 and would like to know what accessories and polishes I should order along with it. I already have several MF towels and NXT. Some people say that Lexus paint is very soft. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. This is my first black car. I knew it would be a bear to keep clean but I didn't expect buffing issues so soon. Thanks.

[Murr1525]

Re: New Lexus (hologramming)

Well, unfortunately, it isnt that unusual to have to fix the dealers mess.

Give these links a read first, and we can go from there. Browse autodetailingsolutions.com for some pirce ideas.

Recommended Products - G100a Dual Action Polisher

Using the G-100 to remove swirls with the Professional Line

[N.E.W.car]

Re: New Lexus (hologramming)

Some people say that Lexus paint is very soft.

I did a brand new black GS350 last week - and the paint was VERY VERY soft. I was having marring issues with M80. Looked great in the shade - but under the sun it was almost hazy.

M80 will be more than aggressive enough if your paint is anything like the GS I polished.

Make sure you clean your pad often, and work the polish long enough to REALLY break down the product.

Here are a couple poor-quality pictures. There weren't any holograms, just some minor swirling. Once I figured out how to deal with the super-soft paint it polished out quite nicely.

Two passes of M80 and two coats of M21.

Before


After (I don't know what those specks are, but they aren't in the paint.)


Hope that gives you a bit of an idea of what you are dealing with. As always, we are here to help. Welcome to MOL!

[Murr1525]

Re: New Lexus (hologramming)

#82 could be a good product to have then as well, to follow up the #80.

[MP6387]

Re: New Lexus (hologramming)

So if the paint is VERY SOFT would I still start off with the Speed Glaze? Also what is M21? Is that a synthetic sealer? As you could see I am a newbie and have never used a PC before. I could use all the advice I could get. BTW I will also be ordering the dvd.

[MP6387]

Re: New Lexus (hologramming)

Also I notice Megs has a New Car Glaze. Is that something I could use?

[Murr1525]

Re: New Lexus (hologramming)

The #5 New Car Glaze is a pure polish, which means it will not be able to remove swirls. It is also designed more for a high humidity environment, so you probably wont need it.

You will certainly want #80 Speed Glaze in order to remove the swirls. Now, if the paint is indeed that soft, you will have to see how things go. Either being extra carefull and cleaning the pad often could work, or following up with #82, which is an even milder cleaner.

#21 Synthetic Sealant is basicaly a "synthetic wax", one of my favorite products.

[MP6387]

Re: New Lexus (hologramming)

Thanks Murr...so #82 is milder than #80? I would prefer to start off with the mildest # because the car is very new and I am afraid of damaging the paint. It seems most people prefer #80 to start. I just want to make sure I understand what the different product #'s do and in what order they fall abrasive-wise.
Thanks.

[MP6387]

Re: New Lexus (hologramming)

One more thing. The swirls/holograms are primarily on the passenger side doors of the car. I have read where many users have had success using Scratch-X. Is Scratch-X safer to use than M80? Maybe I can try to find some locally and try that on one of the doors before ordering the G100 and accessories. What do you think?

[Mike Phillips]

Re: New Lexus (hologramming)

Also I notice Megs has a New Car Glaze. Is that something I could use?

M05 New Car Glazer came out in the 1950's for use on single stage acrylic lacquer and enamel paints, it can still be used on new cars today, but it's not specifically a product formulated for "New Cars" as in the year 2006.

[MP6387]

Re: New Lexus (hologramming)

One more thing. The swirls/holograms are primarily on the passenger side doors of the car. I have read where many users have had success using Scratch-X. Is Scratch-X safer to use than M80? Maybe I can try to find some locally and try that on one of the doors before ordering the G100 and accessories. What do you think?

[Mike Phillips]

Re: New Lexus (hologramming)

Thanks Murr...so #82 is milder than #80? I would prefer to start off with the mildest # because the car is very new and I am afraid of damaging the paint. It seems most people prefer #80 to start. I just want to make sure I understand what the different product #'s do and in what order they fall abrasive-wise.
Thanks.

First off, you are dead on correct about starting with the least aggressive product, Meguiar's has been teaching this philosophy for over 100 years. It's also really great to see all of our competitors now parroting this philosophy,


"Always use the least aggressive product to get the job done"


On a side note, other people often times use the word abrasive in the above statement instead of aggressive and there is a difference.

Second, the numbers on the bottles are just Quick Reference Part Numbers, they don't have anything to do with how aggressive, or non-aggressive the products are, and they have nothing to do with the order in which you use them.

(Somewhere on the forum this topic has been explained in detail, but hard to say where that thread is right now)


M80 is very, very different from M82 and M09, both M82 and M09 are very much less aggressive than M80.

In order of aggressiveness, from least aggressive to most aggressive, here are our cleaner/polishes,

M82 & M09 - Different formulas but similar in ability and function.
Meguiar's least aggressive cleaner/polishes, best results for removing swirls is with a rotary buffer. If your paint is soft and the swirls are shallow, then either of these two products with a W-8006 foam polishing pad on dual action polisher on the 5.0 speed setting should remove them and polish-out to a high gloss. Note, you never want to tackle to large of an area at one time when removing defects using dual action polisher, the tool is just to safe and non-aggressive to start with; about one foot to two food square is about as large as you want to go.


M80 Speed Glaze
In-between the above two products and M83 Dual Action Cleaner/Polish. M80 started out as a product to be used with a wool cutting pad or wool finishing pad on a rotary buffer to prepare used car for wholesale auction. The goal was a product that would quickly remove defects using a rotary buffer and a pad with some cutting power and leave the car very glossy looking. At auction yards, it's not about a swirl-free finish, it's about shiny paint. (swirls can be there as this demographic group isn't as AR as they serious enthusiasts like found on this forum and other detailing discussion forums.

It's a rather wet and oily product which gives it a lot of play time when used with dual action polisher. When used with good technique it becomes a very versatile cleaner/polish in that it will tackle about 90% of most defects that the average person wants to remove out of their car's paint.

For some scratch-senstive paints it will remove the defects, (keep in mind that's the initial goal, removing below surface defects), but will leave micro-marring in the paint. Usually a coat or two of wax will mask this micro-marring and leave you a show car finish. If you want to do a second polishing step to remove this micro-marring then you can follow up with M66 Cleaner/Wax using a new, clean W-8006 foam polishing pad on the 5.0 setting, (very effective), or use a lighter cleaner/polish such as either M82 or M09.


M83 Dual Action Cleaner Polish
M83 a gentle cleaner/polish but that's relative to what you compare it to. It's gentle compared to an aggressive cutting compound like our M85 Diamond Cut Compound or our M84 Compound Power Cleaner. On the other hand, when compared to M09, M82 and M80, it's an aggressive cleaner/polish capable of removing serious swirls and scratches out of hard paint when applied using the correct technique with a dual action polisher on the 5.0 setting.

For many paint systems, you can use M83 to remove the defects and then go straight to wax. For some scratch-sensitive and softer paints, M83 will leave a haze in the paint which should be removed using M66, or M80, or M82/M09.

This is why if you decide to get into machine polishing, it's a good idea to make the investment into obtaining a number of different products because this give you options and enables you to test and then use the best product for the job.

Hope this helps...

[Murr1525]

Re: New Lexus (hologramming)

I would not say it is any safer, both are quite safe. But it would be cheaper to try first if you want. It ***** to do a whole car with ScratchX, but you can do a small area with it ok.

A PC also makes regular details easier with better results, but that is another issue.

ScratchX is a good product, just check out the How-To threads about ScratchX.

[mavrick]

Re: New Lexus (hologramming)

hey,same thing happend to me.Please check my other posts and see what i did befor.Well i lisened to what Mike and everyone else said.LEAST AGGRESSIVE FIRST.It worked.I only have a rotory,but it looks 95-98% better.I used w8000 polishing pad & #9 swirl remover then waxed by hand.I have pics,but not posted yet,oh also a mf towel to remove the wax a pc will probably finish it better than a rotory,good luck! Mavrick