Jbg

[JBGoldstein]

Recently had my 2007 Audi A3 detailed at a body shop here in LA. After a wash yesterday I noticed some dull spots that looked to be in the shape of a bird deposit. It's odd because it looks like the whole car is waxed beautifully but underneath the shine are these dull spots. Anybody know if the shine can come back to these spots and if so with what product?

[W211E320]

Re: Jbg

Hi, I would use Ultimate Compound for this problem - you can work by hand or machine doing as much as needed. I like to use it by hand - then you get a good feeling how much product and pressure is useful.

[JBGoldstein]

Jbg

Thanks so much. Is ultimate compound a Meguiars product or will any light compound work?

[W211E320]

Re: Jbg

Yes, Ultimate Compound is by Meguair's. A bit softer is SwirlX. But the effect of both products depends a lot how you work with them: using a machine will work much harder on the paint than using them by hand - so you can use UC by hand in a soft way - if this doesn't works you can work more and more intensive till you got the solution.

[the other pc]

Re: Jbg

.... It's odd because it looks like the whole car is waxed beautifully but underneath the shine are these dull spots....

Once you start playing with this stuff, you'll find this isn't odd at all. It's very common.

Wax sits on top of the finish. At best, it highlights the condition of the surface. But if the condition of the surface is compromised, it highlights that too.

... Anybody know if the shine can come back to these spots and if so with what product?

The technical answer to that question is no, nobody knows. Every finish is different. Every bird bomb is different. It's impossible to know if it can be fixed until you've played with it.

The good news is that it's usually doable, at least to some extent.

Here's an excellent article on the subject: How to remove a defect by hand with ScratchX

The article was written about ScratchX, but the process for Ultimate Compound would be exactly the same. (It was originally written a long time ago, before Ultimate Compound or the new, improved version of ScratchX were developed. But the process is just as valid today.)

.... Is ultimate compound a Meguiars product or will any light compound work?

Any compound will remove some paint. Beyond that, you can't make any absolute statements. There are too many different products out there and they're all unique.

Some may work very well. Others may do do more harm than good for a particular finish. Again, the only way to know for sure is by trying it.




pc