Hazy look on my paint

[weatherman]

I have an '06 Honda Ridgeline and the color is Nighthawk Black Pearl. Although the paint is very reflective and shiny, there is a hazy film that covers the vehicle. When I bought the vehicle it had 16K miles on it. Although I talked the sales manager down to about one half of what they originally wanted, the dealership Simonized the vehicle, inside and out before delivery. Sometime after that I noticed a hazy film that covered the vehicle. It is more noticable in direct sunlight and at a slight viewing angle versus straight on. I took it back to the dealer and they had me take it to a local body shop. The guy there said it looked like an issue with my clear coat. They buffed out the vehicle with some type of liquid polishing compound, took it back to the dealership where they re-Simonized it. Well, the haze is still there. Anyone got any ideas what the problem might be or how to fix it?

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Hazy look on my paint

The guy there said it looked like an issue with my clear coat. They buffed out the vehicle with some type of liquid polishing compound, took it back to the dealership where they re-Simonized it.

Well, the haze is still there. Anyone got any ideas what the problem might be or how to fix it?

It's time to create a dedicated forum for all the threads that have to do with dealerships...


Here's a simple test you can do, because they buffed it with a compound and likely a rotary buffer, this test isn't to remove the swirls but to see if you can restore clarity to the clear coat. You'll need to spend about $22.00, purchase,

Deep Crystal Paint Cleaner
NXT Tech Wax or Gold Class Wax


Wash the car or wipe the hood clean, you ALWAYS want to work clean as clear coat paints scratch easily and it's hard to remove the scratches.

On the hood, to an area about 12" square, (you can tape off a square area if you like to really show the difference between before and after results).

Take and apply the paint cleaner to the small section, this is your Test Spot, apply, work in and over the paint then wipe off, don't let this product dry.

Now apply a thin coat of wax, either the NXT or the Gold Class, heck you can use any Meguiar's wax that you already have as they will leave a clear finish.

Now let you coat of wax fully dry, give it at least 20 minutes, then wipe it off using a clean, soft microfiber polishing cloth.

Now inspect the results.

Is the section more clear than the surrounding areas? If so then the paint can probably be saved you just can't take it back to the dealership or whoever they're using to buff paint.

If the section shows little or now difference then it's probably a problem with the paint.

Our educated guess is that the paint is okay as Honda doesn't have a reputation of paint cars with sub-standard quality paint.

Dealerships on the other hand have do have a reputation for not ever being able to give you a finish that looks good for a myriad of reasons.

There are hundreds of horror stories on this forum that all have to do with the shoddy work done at dealerships, body shops and details shops.

In a nutshell, they try do do the work to quickly using cheap products, pads and tools, the people actually applying the products and then taking them off usually have no worthwhile training or education in proper paint care.

Your story is just another mark against letting dealerships work on your car's paint.

Do the test and let us know what kind of results you get, if you can make the paint look better with two simple Meguiar's products, a paint cleaner and a wax, we can help you to restore the finish to whatever quality you want and we can show you how to do it by hand or machine.

Spend some time reading threads in the Information Station and our List 'O Links.

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