I was looking carefully at my 3 day old white WRX,
when I noticed light swirl or spider web marks in the paint.
This is noticeable only under direct overhead light(in my parking lot).
Is this the work of the dealers prep team, I requested they not prep the car but they did it anyway.

Has anyone had a similar experience

Yeah, the dealership probably did it. In my experience, most dealerships don't know the first thing about proper detailing. If the swirls aren't too bad, you can remove them yourself with some Meguiar's or 3M swirl remover. I think (maybe mistaken) you should give the paint/clearcoat a few months to fully cure first, though. Otherwise, you might cause more damage. A good idea would be to get a professional detailer's opinion on what to do.

Jordan

He is right, the dealership probably did it, but on a new car you can polish away on the finish from the day you buy it. You only need to wait if the car has an aftermarket paint job, and then really one month is long enough.
I use nothing but Meguiar's products on my paint and anyone who has seen my car can testify about the shine. I do know that there are other great products out there, and I still try various ones form time to time, but I have been using Meguiar's since I worked building race boats when I was in high school. If there is something you need for your paint, they have a product to do it.

Templar

:)

Get used to it..............it'll only get worse....

Do any of you think I should bring the car back to the dealership???

I called them today and they are expecting me on monday.
You can only see them in direct light at certain angles.
You see the reflection of the light then the marks "spidering"
awy from the center

Go over to http://www.zainobros.com/ and learn The Zaino Way. :D


Their "Z-5 Polish for Swirl Marks & Fine Scratches" fills in those swirls really well. The best part about all of Zaino's products is that none of them contain any abrasives. Use any other car polish out there, including Meguire's, Klasse, and 3M, and you are removing tiny bits of clearcoat and/or paint.

This is my car after I did the entire Zaino process. Check out the reflection of the mini-van parked next to my car. :lol:

http://www.columbia.edu/~melvin/car/images/mel_wrx_01.jpg

/mel :D

I second the zaino for swirl mark removing

Is Zaino Z-5 Polish a permanent job for fine scratches? Or is it like wax in that I have to apply the polish every once in a while (after numerous car washings and environmental exposure)? I've got these hairline scratches all over my car from a complimentary carwash. I'd like to hear if there are any permanent solutions to getting rid of these scratches, short of repainting my whole car.

Firmwind,

If the clearcoat or paint is physically scratched, the true "permanent" solution is repainting. You could also use an abrasive polish to remove additional molecules of clearcoat/paint so that the scratches are no longer visible.

However, to me, using abrasives to fix light scratches is like fixing a bad haircut. The left side is too short. What do you do? Cut the right too short as well so it "matches up". :p :lol: And then if you screw up the right side...... All I'm saying is, you might end up bald. :p :lol:

The question is, how bad are the scratches? If they are the typical superficial swirl/spiderweb marks, I'd go with Zaino.

Zaino is a "wax", so yes, you will have to reapply. It fills in the scratches for the duration that the Zaino remains on the paint. While most waxes need to be reapplied about once a month, Zaino is polymer-based and it's supposed to last for six months or longer. Of course, the best results (shininess, "wet look") are obtained by adding additional layers of Z-2 or Z-5 regularly. The stuff really works, and helps to prevent additional swirls.

Hope that helps. The Zaino web site has more info. Also, check out the Autopia Detailing Forums. Zaino is quite the darling there.
http://www.autopia-forums.com

/mel

Skyline's analogy is a good one. Let me offer another: I was laboring over installing sling studs on a new rifle which had a mirror-like finish when a hunting buddy stopped by and suggested I just lob the rifle into the nearest brush pile and get it over with. As I recall northern Jersey traffic (from the days I lived in the Westfield/Mountainside area), the rifle analogy may be worth remembering.

The silicone-based "waxes" are as shiny as the best carnauba-based, true waxes but the former last substantially longer. That said, I'd simply suggest you park as far away from the front door of any business, always hand wash your car, ask the dealership not to wash your car when they're though, "wax" every four months or so and accept the fact a "daily driver" is never going to be a concours winner

Does anyone has any experience with bringing a car back to the dealership to complain of swirl marks(car is a week old).

If so what did they say??

Also if the dealership deems that this isnt their fault, what can be
done?

And last but not least, if you have swirlmarks that arent removable what does this mean??

Ok maybe I'm being way too picky, the guy above who wrote
a daily driver will never be a concourse winner is probably
right, but BOY DO I LOVE THIS CAR!!!!

I've herd of (and met) a guy who had his Grand-am wet sanded before pick up because of the paint being "orange peeled" but never herd of anyone gettin the dealer to do anything about swirl marks.


AaRoN

Polish it out.

When I picked up my car, my sales rep was cleaning it with a filthy greasy rag.

Yeah, you dummy... wipe the rotten filthy wheels on a car that was driven 80 miles to the dealership, then use the same filthy rag to wipe the hood. Nimrod.

Yeah I'm begining to think going to the dealer is gonna be a waste of time. I am also leary of having the person who put the marks in get another crack at it.

Hmm what to do????

THEMUSH,

I really don't think bringing it to the dealer will accomplish anything. What are the dealer's possible actions?

a) Don't do anything for you. This is most likely.
b) Polish it out for you. This is what you have to avoid. If they messed it up the first time, why should it be better the second time around? Plus, do you really want them to use an abrasive polish on your car? :eek:
c) Repaint it for you. This will never happen. Besides, would you want someone to replace the factory paint job with an aftermarket one, when it's just swirl marks? Repainting should only be considered if there is physical damage to the car or there are bad scratches (ie, getting keyed, getting hit by a brick).

Seriously, I think the best course of action is using Zaino. It's really good stuff and you'll love how easy it is to use. If for whatever reason you can't get Zaino, then using Klasse All In One Polish + Klasse Sealant Glaze might be good, or the 3M Swirl Remover. I just can't stand abrasives.

/mel

Went to see the dealer, service was quite nice and they did admit to seeing it. It was a bit overcast so they moved the car to a sunny spot and saw what I ment. They said it was very minor
but they understood that on a car with 200 miles that this wasnt acceptable.

I have an appt wednesday for them to polish the car.
I'm a bit leary but I wil give them a shot.

I have been told(on a previous car) that marks like these are a breakdown in the clear coat and isnt fixable.

I also took the car to a detailing place just to get the guys opinion
and he said it should be easily fixable, take it back to the dealer.

We'll I guess I'll wait and see. Thanks for all the responses, any more comments/suggestions would be appreciated.


btw as for Ziano, I tried it on my miata got to like 30 coats of z-5
and i still can see the swirls so I gave up

You have some sort of obsessive compulsive thing w/swirl marks, bro??? (30 coats of Zaino!) I never even noticed 'em myself...til now:eek:

Hey, that was my 500th post! cool. now this is 501 ;) Closing in on Scooby Specialist, hehe

I used to be a detailer at a pretty high volume dealership. Don't have them prep, wax, wash, detail etc. anything on your car. We got paid per car we finished, so we weren't very attentive to detail. They would use the same bucket of water and mit for almost the whole day without rinsing it out. At the end of the day, the water was gray and would have sand and grit at the bottom. Everything is rushed because there is 5 other cars needed to get done. My detail manager would always remind me when me and the other employees were cleaning our cars at the end of the day to really wash off the mitt and use clean water( like we didn't know to do that already) because of all the crap on it. The sales manager was a real D*ck and would want the new cars washed, dried, clayed, vacuumed, tires dressed, windows cleaned, pull off stickers, put on liscense plate, wipe down interior in about 15 to 20 minutes and the cars would get rushed. Imagine trying to do all that to your car in that amount of time, very hard. Our detail manager just told us to get the damn cars outta here so the sales manager would be happy and make them look some what decent. We had some real horror stories of how some cars came out, but that is a different story. Point is detail the car yourself if you want it done right. I can attest to Zaino's being some really good stuff, also Meguair's would be good for those swirl marks. Any questions let me know -KEVIN-

zaino's bad ass

Thanks for the info guys. Yeah, I wish I could just repaint the whole darn car with some quality German paint...dang, no money though.

And using abrasive polish...if that actually means rubbing more paint off just to make the paint look even and scratchless, I don't think I'll do it. This Suby paint is already weak as it is, I don't need to weaken it any further with abrasives. So I guess I'll just live with it, be proud of the "weathered" look.:o

My car also had a minor swirl mark on it, it was on the rear bumper face. The detailer who looked at it said he could tell that this kind of swirl mark came from the factory, i.e. when they were doing the paint, the job was not done evenly somehow. So even if he polished it, it would do no good because the swirl mark was beneath the clearcoat.

What Boosted WRX said is 100% true. I also used to detail cars at a big dealership (in FL) and we had a lot of cars going out. That was the first thing i noticed when I picked up my WRX, the swirl marks. they are mostly visable under those halogen parking lot lights, I dont always see them. but What are they gonna do, ruin it more.. I will try to take care of it myself sometime. later

ZAINO