Oh detailing gurus! I cry for your help!

[Moth]

Well, first off let me say that I don't know much about detailing, but I made the stupid mistake of taking my car to a local brushless car wash to get ride of salt, worst mistake. Came home to find swirl marks all over my baby I expected that, but thats not it, theres more! I had decals on my car, took them off a month or so ago, and now after washing the car I noticed a outline of the decal, when I applied some uqw on the hood (just sprayed some on the hood and stopped when I saw all the imperfections). And I noticed the paint on my rear bumper is a little hazy, I do NOT know how that happened, but I am fairly annoyed.

The vehicle in question is TorRed 09 Challenger R/T.

....
Pssst, how do you post pictures?

[Moth]

Re: Oh detailing gurus! I cry for your help!

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Oh detailing gurus! I cry for your help!

Well, the outlines from the decals are the least of your worries - that should come right out as you polish out all the swirls, which is what you really need to concentrate on.

Do you have access to a dual action polisher or will you be working strictly by hand? Either way we would suggest Ultimate Compound to get the job done, but the D/A would make life so much easier for you.

Read through our 5 Step Paint Care Cycle first as it will address exactly this issue. Once you've gone through that feel free to come back to this thread and ask questions if you need any clarification.

Nothing seems terribly out of the ordinary here (annoying as the swirls are, of course), and we're hoping that the hazy look on the back bumper is partly due to the photograph itself. Pretty sure it's an illusion of the image but darned if that doesn't look like the making of clear coat failure. But that would be incredible to see on such a new car and no doubt it would be covered under warranty. Still, it's doubtful that it's that serious. Can you get a shot from a different angle, maybe looking straight down onto it? Does it feel rough at all?

[StadiumDetail]

Re: Oh detailing gurus! I cry for your help!

One thing to note for future knowledge, it isn't necessarily the auto wash that did the damage (although it couldn't have helped at all) but more than likely the damage came from the exact reason you went to the wash. The brushes on those washes shouldn't scratch paint if they are clean, the problem comes from the brush picking up a peice of salt from your car, holding onto it, then beating it down the side of the rest of your car. So now you are wiping with brushes and salt and dirt, plus you don't know the condition of the vehicle before you which only adds to the problem.

Just some food for thought. For some reason it bothers me that the online community outright blames the auto brush wash when really it is the contributing factors involved and not the wash. It would be just as bad to wash your vehicle with the same wash mit for the whole car.

[ziggo99]

Re: Oh detailing gurus! I cry for your help!

But he went through a brushless carwash, not a brush one, which wouldn't install the swirls like they did I think.

[Megafast13]

Re: Oh detailing gurus! I cry for your help!

Did you just purchase this vehicle?
If you went to a Touchless Car wash, but still got the swirls, then my guess is the dealer used a filler to cover up all of the flaws and the powerful/strong chemicals at the car wash removed the filler wax.

And yes the logo outline can be easily polished out.

Your entire car needs to be polished using Ultimate Compound and SwirlX by hand, or M105/M205 By DA.

[Zuke]

Re: Oh detailing gurus! I cry for your help!

Id love to have some quality time with that black trim and some dressing.

[StadiumDetail]

Re: Oh detailing gurus! I cry for your help!

But he went through a brushless carwash, not a brush one, which wouldn't install the swirls like they did I think.

lol, I only read the brush part and skipped over the "less." Told you it bothers me, and I really have no idea why. anywho, thanks for the correction.

[StadiumDetail]

Re: Oh detailing gurus! I cry for your help!

Id love to have some quality time with that black trim and some dressing.

Actually Zuke, you made me look at something in that last pic. The underside of the trunk lip (black part) has the same whitish discoloration that the bumper does. I have no idea what it could be from a pic, but maybe it'll help Michael if he missed it the first time round. But I would have to doubt cc failure if they are indeed the the same cause.

[Moth]

Re: Oh detailing gurus! I cry for your help!

Well, the outlines from the decals are the least of your worries - that should come right out as you polish out all the swirls, which is what you really need to concentrate on.

Do you have access to a dual action polisher or will you be working strictly by hand? Either way we would suggest Ultimate Compound to get the job done, but the D/A would make life so much easier for you.

Read through our 5 Step Paint Care Cycle first as it will address exactly this issue. Once you've gone through that feel free to come back to this thread and ask questions if you need any clarification.

Nothing seems terribly out of the ordinary here (annoying as the swirls are, of course), and we're hoping that the hazy look on the back bumper is partly due to the photograph itself. Pretty sure it's an illusion of the image but darned if that doesn't look like the making of clear coat failure. But that would be incredible to see on such a new car and no doubt it would be covered under warranty. Still, it's doubtful that it's that serious. Can you get a shot from a different angle, maybe looking straight down onto it? Does it feel rough at all?

Strictly by hand friend, meh, I could use a good workout anyway haha

Its pretty hazy, feels rough too.. Here is some *hopefully* better shots

Did you just purchase this vehicle?
If you went to a Touchless Car wash, but still got the swirls, then my guess is the dealer used a filler to cover up all of the flaws and the powerful/strong chemicals at the car wash removed the filler wax.

And yes the logo outline can be easily polished out.

Your entire car needs to be polished using Ultimate Compound and SwirlX by hand, or M105/M205 By DA.

Had the car since July, and there are no touchless car washes in the area. Ill deal with it when the weather is warmer, or just have a detailer do it for now.

[Markus Kleis]

Re: Oh detailing gurus! I cry for your help!

To me, the picture of the bumper looks like someone did an airbrush touch-up job and the paint atomized (dried) before it hit the bumper. It tends to give it a dull, white-ish look to it when that happens.

Can you find out if touch-up work has been done on the car?

Was this purchased used private party, or from a dealership?


**EDIT, I posted as you posted... and I noticed you said it feels rough - another indicator of it being a bad airbrush paint job.

Is there a dark, relatively normal looking section of paint somewhere in the middle of the rough spot on the bumper?

[Moth]

Re: Oh detailing gurus! I cry for your help!

To me, the picture of the bumper looks like someone did an airbrush touch-up job and the paint atomized (dried) before it hit the bumper. It tends to give it a dull, white-ish look to it when that happens.

Can you find out if touch-up work has been done on the car?

Was this purchased used private party, or from a dealership?


**EDIT, I posted as you posted... and I noticed you said it feels rough - another indicator of it being a bad airbrush paint job.

Is there a dark, relatively normal looking section of paint somewhere in the middle of the rough spot on the bumper?

I bought it from a dealership.
Yes, there is a pretty small area thats normal looking, smaller than a penny.
Ill take it to the dealer Tomorrow morning, perfect way to start a weekend eh?

[Markus Kleis]

Re: Oh detailing gurus! I cry for your help!

I bought it from a dealership.
Yes, there is a pretty small area thats normal looking, smaller than a penny.
Ill take it to the dealer Tomorrow morning, perfect way to start a weekend eh?

Hate to say it, but odds are that one shiny spot is where they painted it on really heavy, and the dull surrounding area is the improperly dried paint.

Dealerships use services like that fairly commonly.

[Moth]

Re: Oh detailing gurus! I cry for your help!

I really appreciate it guys, you were all a big help.
I'm taking it to the dealer hopefully tomorrow morning.
Luck hasn't been on my side lately, I'll just keep waiting till things turn around.
Thanks again