scratches, how to fix?

[mikedev10]

bro picked up ebay car from boston, hasn't been in any accidents on carfax, i think the seller said none either. oddly though hood, front 1/4 panels, and front passenger doors seem ok, while most/all other areas have scratches. they are kind of odd though, i thought maybe improper drying, my brother thought car wash, my friend thought maybe sandstorm... in any case it's in these areas, many small scratches, and i think all are in the same direction. no swirls, just a bunch of minute horizontal scratches. strange. anyway, ideas on the best way to buff them out ? any products ?

[Tiger]

How about salt/sand spreader in winter?

[bfd]

bro picked up ebay car from boston, hasn't been in any accidents on carfax, i think the seller said none either. oddly though hood, front 1/4 panels, and front passenger doors seem ok, while most/all other areas have scratches. they are kind of odd though, i thought maybe improper drying, my brother thought car wash, my friend thought maybe sandstorm... in any case it's in these areas, many small scratches, and i think all are in the same direction. no swirls, just a bunch of minute horizontal scratches. strange. anyway, ideas on the best way to buff them out ? any products ?

Try claying your car. Three step process, but works wonders:

1. wash and dry car
2. clay it
3. apply polish/wax

Takes about 3+ hours to do above, but car will come out wonderfully smooth...

[Russell]

Try Roadfy detailing forum- great info.

[632 Regal]

sounds like a clearcoat breakdown, looks like a sheet of plastic that was twisted and left lines/scratches? I hear you can cover it up kinda with wax and buffing but in reality I believe that the clearcoat needs to be removed and resprayed. This was a topic about 4 months ago and I do not remember the exact conclusion. was quite a debate tho!

[Jon K]

sounds like a clearcoat breakdown, looks like a sheet of plastic that was twisted and left lines/scratches? I hear you can cover it up kinda with wax and buffing but in reality I believe that the clearcoat needs to be removed and resprayed. This was a topic about 4 months ago and I do not remember the exact conclusion. was quite a debate tho!

I had this on my car... only the front two doors. It ended up requiring a respray.... so i did the whole car.

[mikedev10]

thanks for the info so far guys... might consult a pro, am downstate now but will try and get a pic from my bro so you can see it exactly.

[Mr. BILL]

Claying won't help your problem. It will clean what's ON the paint, not what's IN it. Try a scratch and swirl remover. Meguires make a good one. If it's really bad, you might consider taking the car to a pro and have it "color sanded" They sand the clear coat with 2000 grit sanpaper and polish it back up.

BTW, bfd, I don't understand how it takes 3+ hours to clay a car. I do it in under 30 minutes.

[AllanS]

That was me I think- I got decent results using a high speed polisher with compound and then meguiars scratch remover, but the problem is like Jeff says, the clearcoat is shot. When I get around to it, I'll be repainting the whole car, but for now, the polisher was a decent band-aid.

[andyman32]

I tried a porter-cable orbital buffer on some rather deep scratches on my car's deck lid and passenger-side rear fender, but it did almost nothing. A good long languorous hand buff with Meguiar's also did very little; the scratches are just too deep. I've been considering getting the clearcoat re-sprayed, since there are 2 small spots where the cc has "rashes" (small quarter-sized spots that just appear to be cracking in very small intricate patterns).

What I'm most worried about is durability: how long could I expect an aftermarket clearcoat to last before it starts to get dull?