New to detailing, first try didn't work

[SAAB9-7x]

Hi all, so I bought a used black SAAB 9-7x late last year. The car looks almost unused inside but the original owner either went through a million brush/power car washes or drove through the woods a lot. Basically the clear coat on both sides of the car is heavily scratched but not through the paint. Like the whole car has heavy clear coat and fine scratches on it. I've never really used an orbital before but I have one so went ahead and tried one fender to see how things would work out. Basically, I washed, clayed, taped off and I bought two turtle wax bonnets from walmart since I couldn't locate any other option locally, the spounge kind and proceded to attemp to use Meguiars Ultimate Compount followed by the Ultimate Polish. The Ultimate compound did almost nothing to the scratches and to my shock tore through and the fender got buffed with the rubber plate severely damaging the clear coat. It was raining out at the time so had to buff in my dark garage and couldn't see the situation well enough.

Now then I seem to have a few problems that I'm hoping to get some advice on. First, the Ultimate compound didn't even make a tiny difference in the appearance of the scratches but the bonnet burned through and tore into pieces before I could really work too much. I did enough before the bonnett failure that there should have been some progress though. Am I using the wrong material bonnet? Should I use wool or something else for the Ultimate Compound? Obviously the turtle wax bonnets must be meant for a DA or just are really cheap so won't be using those again. In the garage, with only background lighting, the fender I tried buffing looks fantastic, smoth and reflects light well even with your face an inch away. Under a halogen light or sun, the test fender and the rest of the car look aweful.

Second then, I tried hand compounding and hand polishing two taped off squared on a door. No matter how much I hand polish the square on the door, I can't get rid of the swirl marks created by the process and of course the clear coat scratches from the original owner don't budge even slightly. I realize the door test sample spots only got a hand compound and polish but the clear coat doesn't want to cooperate.

I'm really looking to figure out the best bonnets to use for the Megs Ultimate compound and Polish and not have to buy a DA and what I can do to get the exterior into shape as the paint is nice...just not the clear coat.

Thanks

[h_bomm]

Re: New to detailing, first try didn't work

Hey there fellow sotie! You may end up having to get a DA, the random orbital buffers (flying saucer type) don't really have enough power to handle any sort of correcting job. They are kind of spendy but if you want to have a good looking car they are worth the investment. What are you using to apply the Ult Compound and Polish? If you're using a terry cloth towel, those are way too aggressive and you are probably marring up the surface even more. You should use a soft foam applicator for both the compound and polish. You should have at least a couple for compound and a couple for polish, you don't want to use the same applicator for each liquid, each liquid should have its own pad. Also, don't let either the compound or the polish dry on the surface, they do their work when they're wet. Apply it until it is spread thin then wipe off with a micro fiber towel when it is still wet. When using a foam pad you want to avoid using your finger tips to apply pressure, use the flat part of your fingers to apply even pressure to the pad. Also you may want to get a smooth surface clay kit. The clay will get all of the bonded contaminants and grime off your paint that a normal washing can't get. It is amazing how much crud is left on your paint when you think it is "clean" from a good washing. Even with all of that, you may still have "hard" paint which is going to be difficult to correct no matter what you do, even with a DA. A DA will make it go by much easier, especially with hard paint, than going at it by hand. You can do it by hand, but it will take a lot of work and effort. Sorry about getting on a bit of a soap box here, but i hope it helps a little anyway. Good Luck!

[SAAB9-7x]

Re: New to detailing, first try didn't work

Hey there fellow sotie! You may end up having to get a DA, the random orbital buffers (flying saucer type) don't really have enough power to handle any sort of correcting job. They are kind of spendy but if you want to have a good looking car they are worth the investment. What are you using to apply the Ult Compound and Polish? If you're using a terry cloth towel, those are way too aggressive and you are probably marring up the surface even more. You should use a soft foam applicator for both the compound and polish. You should have at least a couple for compound and a couple for polish, you don't want to use the same applicator for each liquid, each liquid should have its own pad. Also, don't let either the compound or the polish dry on the surface, they do their work when they're wet. Apply it until it is spread thin then wipe off with a micro fiber towel when it is still wet. When using a foam pad you want to avoid using your finger tips to apply pressure, use the flat part of your fingers to apply even pressure to the pad. Also you may want to get a smooth surface clay kit. The clay will get all of the bonded contaminants and grime off your paint that a normal washing can't get. It is amazing how much crud is left on your paint when you think it is "clean" from a good washing. Even with all of that, you may still have "hard" paint which is going to be difficult to correct no matter what you do, even with a DA. A DA will make it go by much easier, especially with hard paint, than going at it by hand. You can do it by hand, but it will take a lot of work and effort. Sorry about getting on a bit of a soap box here, but i hope it helps a little anyway. Good Luck!

Thanks for the response. When I was using buffing pads on the random orbital, they were the soft foam type that fit over the backing disk kind of like a sock. I'm realizing that isn't the correct type after reading more on here. The ones I'm seeing on here are really thick and they stick onto the backing disk. When I did it by hand after the pads were completely destroyed (I hardly used any pressure and there was almost no heat and they just discintegrated) I used microfiber cloths. I don't use terry for anything on the car. I do make sure that I apply any product and wipe it off when it is still wet. I also clayed the whole car as well and yes it was amazing how much junk comes off of what looks like a clean car. Before I tried the above, the paint was really smooth from the clay. I'm thinking that the clear coat must be really hard but by the same token, there are more clear coat scratches in this car than any I've ever seen especially a nearly $50,000 car that you would think the original owner would have not brush washed.
I've actually used my random orbital in the past but only with wax and on a different car so I have some experience actually using it just not true compounding or polishing.

[h_bomm]

Re: New to detailing, first try didn't work

I used to use a random orbital as well for waxing and after reading on here it seems that that is about all that it is good for. I don't know what your $$ situation is, but if you can afford it, a DA is one of the best investments you can make. It makes life so much easier. Maybe the previous owner put a bunch of those scratches in his paint brushing snow off in the winter, i know i did. I usually see the Megs DA on amazon for around $150. It may seem like a lot, and maybe it is, but if your paint is that hard and that messed up, it may be almost a necessity. Good Luck!

[akdetailing28]

Re: New to detailing, first try didn't work

if we could see some pictures that would be awesome but it sounds like to me u may need a rotary esp since saab clear coats tend to be harder than most others (from my experience atleast) but again i cant see what ur talking about pics would be especially helpful lol a da will make it look much better tho with the correct pads lol

[SAAB9-7x]

Re: New to detailing, first try didn't work

if we could see some pictures that would be awesome but it sounds like to me u may need a rotary esp since saab clear coats tend to be harder than most others (from my experience atleast) but again i cant see what ur talking about pics would be especially helpful lol a da will make it look much better tho with the correct pads lol

Thanks, I will try to capture the scratches in some pictures. Being my first black car, it is amazing how the light has to be just right to see the clear coat scratches as bad as they are. Under the lights of a well lit garage like in my parking garage at work, the paint looks perfect. It takes direct sun to realize how bad the clear coat is scratched.
I bought this car off the internet and had it shipped from across country and needless to say the pictures of it in the dealer's photo booth made it look as immaculate as the interior is.

[SAAB9-7x]

Re: New to detailing, first try didn't work

I used to use a random orbital as well for waxing and after reading on here it seems that that is about all that it is good for. I don't know what your $$ situation is, but if you can afford it, a DA is one of the best investments you can make. It makes life so much easier. Maybe the previous owner put a bunch of those scratches in his paint brushing snow off in the winter, i know i did. I usually see the Megs DA on amazon for around $150. It may seem like a lot, and maybe it is, but if your paint is that hard and that messed up, it may be almost a necessity. Good Luck!

Thanks, the scratches for the most part are right down along the fenders and doors while the hood and roof were spared and only have your normal swirl marks. As though the original owner went to the same car wash that luckily had less harsh brushes for the horizontal surfaces than the verticle surfaces. I can't imagine the owner was scraping the front fenders or the doors in the spots where they need attention.

[akdetailing28]

Re: New to detailing, first try didn't work

yes different lights will help u see different types of scratches and yeah cars always look great in pictures most of the time especially in the right light and angles lol