First car wash on my wife's Tanzanite Blue X6M, and the paint is full of micro scratches and swirls that are very noticeable in direct sun. How do you fix something like that and protect from happening again?

 

Only costs a few dollars....in most cases, on very shallow scratches, it will do the job, or at least a lot of it. Shake the bottle, rub the liquid on the affected area with a clean rag like you would with a wax/cleaner (you might have to use some elbow grease or a repeat on tougher scratches/stains), and just wipe it off with a clean rag.

As far as preventing the same scratches/swirls from happening again, do one of three things......wash it yourself, keep the vehicle out of that offending car-wash, or simply find a better car wash....sometimes easier said than done. Swirls can be very difficult to prevent in a lot of automated car washes, even brushless ones....they are more or less a fact of life.

 

Double bucket method. Just google it. If you are lazy, full XPEL will prevent swirls. Expensive though...$5k.

 

Was it an automated car wash, or did you or someone else use a foam brush at a coin-operated wash?

To fix micromarring like that, usually you'd need a good polish, followed by a wax or a sealant to protect the polished finish. I've never used the product that mmarshall mentioned, but it looks like a good option.

A polish or rubbing compound works like an extremely fine sandpaper and filler. When it is rubbed in, it levels the surface so that it appears smooth. You can apply it by hand or by machine, but it's possible to burn right through the clearcoat with a machine if you aren't familiar with how to use it.

Micromarring is just something that happens, you can't really prevent it unless you apply PPF all over the paint surfaces. But you can extend the time between "touch-ups". Don't use automated car washes with brushes that touch the vehicle, and don't use the foam brush at the coin-op to scrub dirt off the car. These brushes are often too aggressive, and they can also retain dirt/rocks/other junk that was cleaned off of the previous vehicles that went through the wash. Personally, I hand wash and dry my car with very soft microfiber towels using a variation of the 2-bucket method EZZ mentioned. In the winter, I usually just use the pressure washer at the coin-op car wash to rinse off dirt and salt (most places won't allow you to hand wash in their bays).

My current car is almost 3 years old, and aside from a few rock chips, the paint finish is in very good condition. I've machine polished it once so far, but I apply wax twice a year (spring and fall).

 

To fix, you will need a polish and maybe a compound. I recommend Meguiars M205 Polish but then use Meguiars M105 compound if the polish does not work. You will need to polish after you compound, and apply paint protection after that (wax, sealant etc.)

Prevention is a bit trickier. Its all about the wash. First, realize that any time you touch the car, you are grinding and dragging the surface dirt over the clear coat. My method to reduce this involves the following:

1. Never touch the car unless its buffered with a lubricated solution (soap, quick detailer).

2. When washing, use three buckets and three sponges (the knobby microfiber variety). One sponge is for the wheels, one sponge for the bottom 1/3 of the car (basically a bit above the rocker panel) and one sponge for the top 2/3 of the car.

3. One bucket is for wheels and the bottom/lower part of the car. The second bucket is for the top 2/3 of the car. The third bucket is for rinsing the dirty sponge. Look up the two bucket method for more details, but I add a third bucket to separate the wheels and dirtiest part of the bottom of the car from the top of the car.

4. When filling your clean soap buckets, add a generous splash of Optimum No-Rinse (ONR) to act as an extra lubricant. Also prepare two spray bottles of the Optimum No-Rinse.

5. Always hose the car down first, then use a foam gun with the mixture of soap and ONR and let it sit for a few minutes. Then use the hose to rinse off the soap. This helps to loosen and pull off some dirt/sand. Then spray the entire car with the ONR quick detailer mixture. This adds an extra buffer of lubrication before you touch the car with the sponge.

6. Wash the bottom part of the car first (rocker panel, no more than 6" up from the bottom), then the wheels, then the top part. As you wash the top, wash the roof first, then the hood, then the trunk. Then the top 1/3 of the car (usually the window area), then the top of the doors and fenders, then the bottom of the doors and fenders. As you use your sponge, only drag it across 2-3 feet of area at a time, then flip it over and wash another 2-3 feet. The sponge is now contaminated, so you must dip it in the dirty water bucket, then the clean bucket and go at it again. This is the step that is most responsible for swirls. If you use the sponge too much before cleansing it, you will drag the same dirt over the car and cause swirls.

7. In short, start from the cleanest parts then move to the dirtiest parts. I always move from top to bottom and forward to back in each "slice" of the top to bottom progression. I do the bottom first with the separate bucket and sponge because once I reach the "bottom" of the top to bottom progression, I don't want the dirtiest part of the lower area of the vehicle interacting with the sponge used for the top part of the car.

8. Once finished with the wash, I like to apply a sealant every time to avoid marring while drying the car. I use Adams H20 Guard and Gloss. Its applied to the wet car so you spray it on and dry it with microfiber towels. You also are sealing the paint at the same time.

Even though the method above pretty much guarantees a 99.9% swirl free finish, I try to only wash once per month because as careful as you are, the more you wash, the more of a chance of swirls.

 

Similar to what BMGS mentioned above, here's a thorough write up.

https://www.motorauthority.com/news/...car-like-a-pro

But assuming you don't wash yourself, that will definitely need a light polish job and then good sealant, as mentioned by others. You could get a ceramic coating, but that doesn't make it scratch proof. I don't think anything will make it scratch proof, just possibly more resistant.

 

Ceramic coating is worthless for scratches. It just makes the last-step-product last for a very long time (sealant, wax, coating). If you XPEL the whole car, it will make it very scratch resistant as the XPEL self heals but the cost is high. I've really only seen 911s and other exotics with the full PPF treatment as it runs ~$5k but does make the paint last forever.

 

Wait, didn't you buy this car several months ago?? This was it's first wash????

 

really? if it's ceramic why doesn't it protect from scratches? maybe it's just entirely worthless (snake oil, like so much car 'maintenance' stuff).

 

sounds about right.

 

It's not worthless at all. It protects your paint and clear coat from things like etching and light marring. It's like an extra thick wax that lasts for quite some time. The ceramic coat itself can develop swirl marks in it, but it becomes the sacrificial layer and takes those swirls rather than getting the swirls in your clear coat.

 

That's a lot to do just for a wash. My two bucket method involves four or five clean microfibers soaking in one bucket of clean, soapy water. The other bucket is empty. I rinse the car, pull out a soapy towel, and fold it in half twice. I wipe down one half of a panel, then flip the towel over and wipe down the other half. Then I unfold the towel once to expose two more clean sides. When those sides are dirty, I unfold the towel completely, flip it over to the clean side, then fold it in half twice to get four more clean sides. Once the towel is completely dirty, I toss it in the empty bucket and pull a new, clean towel from the soapy water bucket and repeat the process. I prefer this method as rinsing in dirty water always carries the risk of not rinsing the dirt out well enough.

Also, when washing/drying the car, I try to only wipe horizontally. I think horizontal scratches are harder to see compared to vertical scratches. Using a quick detailer while drying the car is an excellent suggestion - I've been using Meguiar's Ultimate Quik Detailer or Aero Cosmetics Wash Wax All as a drying aid since I got my CX-9.

 

Good idea. For me that would be too much thought to keep track of which side of which towel touched the car and then which towel was previously used for the wheels or the top or the bottom of the car.

To me its not just a wash, its the most important part of keeping a car looking new. My last two cars have been black and as you know they show every swirl if not washed properly. Using the method I described, I once went five years without a single added swirl and thus no need for correction in between. That ended when I got an airbag recall and the dealer washed it and ruined my record.

 

someone’s getting filthy rich selling $5000 paint treatments

 

Its really a self-healing transparent wrap. Its expensive but if you are buying a $180k Porsche....just a drop in the bucket. I just got the front portion done and the rocker panels for $1600. Saves me heartache on the bumper getting mashed by rocks so it was worth it for me. As I said before, I don't see many cars have the full treatment done.