Hello Cl,

I have an issue with the paint after using the rubbing compound and sealant on the door paint discoloration. The paint discolor is in the photo that is circle, the other is my shadow. Please help me for any advise, thanks

Why did you use rubbing compound?
Rubbing compound can be too aggressive and remove gloss from a highly polished surface. It can also damage paint if you are not careful.
You may need polishing compound to buff it back to the original gloss. At this point in time I wouldn't touch it and take the car to a detailing professional before you do anymore damage.

It may have already gone through the clear coat.

You should ask this question in the vehicle detailing section, those guys are awesome over there...they helped me out earlier this year.

You have rubbed through the clearcoat with the rubbing compound. Only way to fix it at this point is to repaint the panel.

Hard to make a definitive judgement just from a photo, but it does look like you may have gone through the clear.

Typically, to remove paint imperfections, you should start with the least aggressive method slowly moving towards more aggressive if it does not fix the issue.

For example:
Clay Bar >> Swirl remover/polish >> Heavier cut Polish >> Fine cut rubbing compound >> heavier cut rubbing compound >> wet sanding (3000 grit)

If you've gone through the clear coat, there's little you can do now for a proper fix, besides getting the panel re-cleared. If that is not the direction you want to go in right now, then you can try to polish it to get some gloss back into it, but as devh mentioned, you can further make things worse if you are not experienced. I would put a coat of wax on it as to slow down the degradation from oxidation, but you'll eventually have to get it re-cleared/re-painted at some point.

I have a scratch on the surface so I decide to apply the rubbing compound and after the wax it created the problem.

Take it to a pro. If you attempt other things then it might cascade to a point of no return.

It does look like you have gone through the clear coat. Sorry to see that, but a repaint is the only solution.

It could be spotted, the whole panel doesn't need repaint.


Question, how did you apply the rubbing compound?

Yeah it does. The whole panel may not need to be color coated, but that area will have to be and be blended into the whole panel, and then the whole panel will need a new coat of clear.

I use rubbing compound with Makita polisher, I have done this with other spots on the car but this is the only one that create an issue. I probably cross contaminate the surface with compound and wax that is the only thing that I could think of right now.

You don't use rubbing compound with a polisher, especially a rotary polisher. It's RUBBING compound.

You didn't cross contaminate the surface, you essentially sanded through the clear with the abrasive compound and the abrasive pad on the polisher. That's a professional tool and should only be used by someone who knows what they are doing. The wax didn't do this the abrasive rubbing compound and powerful polisher did.

Even though you dont see any other spots where it's burned through, you sanded away a lot of the clear in those areas and the clear coat could fail at any time.

For those of you who know what they're doing, I'm using he word "sanded" in an attempt to make him understand what he's done.

Removing scratches is an art form. You really need to know what can be removed and what can't. I brushed a large construction cone and took it to a professional to see what could be done. A lot was taken out but not all. At the risk of destroying the paint I will just have to live with it and / or eventually repaint.

Yes and no. No question you and I would do a full clear coat of a panel... or at the very least, to a "break line". Especially on a car like ours. However, there are plenty of shops that will apply clear coat to a spot repair and blend it in without painting an entire panel. The question is though....why? It would be fine for a very small area, but the OP's damage is more extensive.