Recommendations for these issues please

[afie]

I need to detail this car for sale. I just bought some Meguiar's products, but I need to check if they are the right ones or if I should swap them.


There are two issues I would like to deal with:

This is clearcoat damage and cannot be fixed. Correct?


There are some scratches that would be best fixed with? Ultimate Compound or ScratchX?


The rest of the car looks like this and so I should use what? UltimateC all over, SwirlX?


Meguiar's RX recommended Ultimate Compound all over, but will it be too much? RX then recommended NXT Gen Wax, but I had already bought Deep Crystal Wet Look for protection - would using that be okay?

Cheers,

Alex

[sspudnick]

Re: Recommendations for these issues please

First picture is a repaint.

The scratches look like they could be corrected. Are you able to catch them with your fingernail?

What type of car is it, and have you determined how hard soft the paint is?

Are you using a DA, Rotary, Hand ?

There are a lot of elements to correcting scratches, and you have quite a few to fix, so it's best to come up with a plan of attack before going and and buying the wrong materials.

As far as the Deep crystal. I believe that is a Cleaner Polish. Some use it before their LSP, or every few months to get their deep gloss back. I dont believe it contains abrasives so will not have any correcting abilities, someone more knowledgeable on that particular product please chime in.

I'd be happy to help if you can provide the information I mentioned. Look forward to hearing from you!

Wes

[bmrfan]

Re: Recommendations for these issues please

+1 - First picture cannot be repaired without repainting. Etching (?) has gone through clear coat AND base coat to the primer coat

[afie]

Re: Recommendations for these issues please

Thanks for the replies.

BMW 2002 E46. Never garaged.

Not able to catch the scratches on my fingernail - do not really notice them at all when I try to scratch over them.

Will be using my hands.

So would Ultimate Compound on the whole car minimise those scratches and improve the paintwork on the rest of the car?

[akimel]

Re: Recommendations for these issues please

Given the condition of your car, I honestly would not worry too much about "correcting" the paint. My suggestion: swap all your stuff for a bottle of ColorX. ColorX will clean up the paint and give you a layer of glossy protection.

Please believe me--your buyers are not going to be looking at the swirls. Even if you were to successfully remove them, you will not get one more cent for your car. Buyers want a used car that looks good, that looks like it's been pretty well taken care of; but they do not pull out their Brinkmann lamps and check out the swirls in the paint. Having sold two cars in the past year and a half, I feel pretty confident in saying this.

You might pick up a can of Stoner's Trim Shine or Megs' Natural Shine to temporarily "restore" the exterior trim and tires, as well as the interior trim.

Wash and wax your car, by all means, and clean up the interior; but don't invest a lot more money in the vehicle. You won't get it back.

[afie]

Re: Recommendations for these issues please

I have other cars I was going to do as well, but swapping the UltimateC for ColourX might be the way to go.

[Murr1525]

Re: Recommendations for these issues please

Yeah, even if you want to go with the UC, I wouldnt be planning on doing any more than working it in a little and removing, then waxing.

Other than practice, those problems will be much more of a hassle than they are worth worrying about. I imagine the failing areas will cost you more from a buyer than a few swirls.

[sspudnick]

Re: Recommendations for these issues please

All great advice. We have a used car dealership at the same garage as the Wounded Warrior shop. We pretty much just "Clean up" the cars to be resold.

As they said, that car would take a lot more TLC than it'd be worth putting into for resale. A nice paint clean and an interior touch up should do the trick.

Maybe do a great job on the interior and the tires/wheels just to take attention away from the paint. Just a thought. Good luck!

Wes

[Cosmin]

Re: Recommendations for these issues please

from your pic , the paint has clear coat missing and oxidation.
if u just plan to get it in a better shape , focus on interior to be clean and dress, for exterior focus on shine.
if the clear si softer than 205 1 step and nxt 2 coats shoudl do it , if the clear is harder than probably something 1 step more aggressive should work , nxt 2 coats and the car should pass

[afie]

Re: Recommendations for these issues please

How can I tell hardness?

What is 205?

[akimel]

Re: Recommendations for these issues please

Afie, don't worry about M205 or Ultimate Compound. Just get a bottle of ColorX. Work it into the paint with a foam applicator. Let it dry to a haze and then buff off. It will remove oxidation and staining. You'll be surprised how much better the paint will look. Be sure to clean up the interior real good, and put some Natural Shine on the tires and trim. Hopefully, your customers will be so dazzled by the overall appearance of the car that they won't notice the sections of the paint where the clearcoat is failing.

If you decide you want to get more serious about detailing your vehicles, then you'll want to consider purchasing a dual action polisher, pads, and polishes. But until then, keep things simple. You'll be able to use ColorX on all of your vehicles and can top it with the pure wax/sealant of your choice (e.g., NXT or Gold Class). Check out this simple detailing regimen: Your Daily Driver.

[chet31]

Re: Recommendations for these issues please

How can I tell hardness?

What is 205?

I own an E46 (the series of car you are selling). Your clear coat is hard.

205 is the M205XX Ultra Finishing Polish listed here:

http://www.meguiars.com/estore/produ...e=Professional (Mirror Glaze Brand)>Auto Paint Care>Paint Cleaners/Compounds&sectionID=31301

[afie]

Re: Recommendations for these issues please

I spent 6 hours this morning and got some good results. Started off with the ColorX but it didn't have the desired effect on the scratches, so I tried the Ultimate Compound which didn't do much better.

The Deep Crystal Cleaner/Wax worked noticably to give a great look.

Thanks