Detail Questions

[Scott]

New to the forums here and need some help/advise. I got a 2002 Audi A4 about a month ago from a dealer and it appeared to have been recently buffed out. The finish was/is very smooth and you could not see any scratches(it is a dark green pearl). I put a coat of polish on it right away anyway with another brand (it was handy - Finish 2000, I think). Well, now a month later, the finish is still very smooth and glossy, but, there are a number of scratches showing up. I guess that the dealer used some sort of color wax/polish to hide the scratches and now it is wearing off - or I polished it off. Some of the scratches are on the surface and some are deep enough to show white, which I assume is the base coat. Should I go over the whole car with ScratchX and then wax with NXT? Do I need to do anything to remove the wax I recently applied? I want something that will be long lasting and I do not mind spending some time getting it to look great. Any suggestions or advice is appreciated.

[Murr1525]

Well, if it is buffed down to the base coat, you are really stuck, at least on those scratches. And cant be sure enough of who did it to go blame the dealer.

The best thing you can do is give it a good wash with something like Gold Class or Nxt. Decide if it needs clayed, if the surface has any sandy feeling bumps, or you think there might be bonded stuff to get off. Then go at it with scratchX. It could be a lot of work, and those deep scratches will never come out. Just have to do you best to get it to where you like it.

After that, hit it wih a polish, like DC#2, and either Nxt Wax or Gold CLass wax..

[Scott]

I plan on giving the ScratchX a try and see if that will get at least some of the scratched out. I don't think that it was buffed down to the base coat, but how can you really tell? I was also thinking about using a clolr wax to see if that would cover up the scratches like it did when I took delivery.

[Murr1525]

Well, you will have t odo what makes it look best, though removing as much of the swirls/scratches is the best solution. Heres a little article on the forums:

Colored Waxes

[Scott]

I tried applying ScratchX 5 or 6 times and it didn't touch the scratches - even the lighter ones. I rubbed so hard I got a blister. Not sure what I am doing wrong there. Maybe they just are not going to come out. Sorry to say I'm not too impressed with it.

So, I plan to use the NXT polish, do I need do anything before that? The surface is smooth since it was probably just bufed out by the dealer. Any recommendations?

[Tim Lingor]

Hey,

If the scratches did not come out after using several applications of ScratchX, the paint will need to be machined buffed. Some paint is very hard and requires a skilled user with a rotary buffer to remove the marring. Further, the deeper scratches, the ones that can be felt with a finger nail or obviously through the paint, can not be removed as they are too deep.

NXT Tech Wax is a Last Step Product that will not remove the swirls or scratches. Swirl and scratch removal must be completed before the application of a LSP.

Do you have some pictures of the scratches you are referring to?

Tim

[Scott]

I will try to get some pictures tomorrow. A couple of the scratches are fairly deep and I did not expect them to come out, but there are some others that I thought would polish out. At this point, I just want to make sure the surface is ready for the NXT, and I am not sure what to use first.