HELP!

I noticed that I have damn swirlmarks all over the entire car. You can't really see them during the day, but when I parked in a parking garage the other day it was pretty evident. Any advice of what I can do before taking it to the dealer? or what I can say once I get to the dealer? The car has 1700 miles on it and I've washed it probably 3 times with meguiars car wash and the same sponge I've used on other cars, so I don't think I did it. Thanks!

the subaru paint is extremely soft. I have the same problem....check this thread: http://i-club.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=60595&highlight=swirl
rj

detail clay, and spray... will remove most of the swirls/spider webs unless they are REALLY bad... then...

pay someone to do a nice detail job and remove them....

j.
www.subiegal.com

make sure that the car surface is as cool as it can be....i had a hell of a time with mine... i kept taking it to the dealership... the detail guy did my car it looked fine....i washed it... it looked like **it...so i said for get it... i lost the battle...then i let it sit in the garage for a nite, then washed it before the the sun lite got to the front of the house... then back in the garage and let it sit a while to dry.... did a quick drive...let it sit a little longer then waxed it (i used to use, and still do, mequires stuff on my other cars...did not work well with the suby)....so i used eagle one wet one and it came out great...no more hase and swirls!;)

check out these guys. They are getting RAVE review from all my buds that have tried it. I haven't had the time to do my vehicles yet, but DEFINATELY plan to.
http://www.zainobros.com/files/info.htm

zaino products are the best products I've ever used!!!

What I do, in this order:

Clay bar (every 6 months)
3M SMR or Turtle Wax Clear Coat Restorer (minor abrasive, gets rid of major swirl marks)
3M IHG (fills in minor swirl marks, makes them hard to notice)
pick your favorite wax (seals the deal, provides protection)

The stock paint is terrible, and if you're using a non-natural sponge it can cause swirl marks. I'd suggest a chenille mitt (100% cotton, it's white and usually small) for future washing. And avoid spray detailing without washing first-you'll likely just rub dirt into the paint. It's almost impossible to prevent swirl marks on crappy paint, though, and unless you're religious about detailing they'll always be there to some degree.

If you're not interested in detailing your car, you can have a detailer use a buffer and machine polish to eliminate the swirl marks. Buffers are far better than the human hand for that kind of thing, and if I knew how to use one a little better I'd be in business. Don't try it at home if you don't know what you're doing, though.

Honestly, I really don't care what you do to your car, everyone has their own opinions on dtailing. Keep one thing in mind, I never use any abrasives on the car nor a clay bar. Clay bars are use to take old wax and built up gunk/mildue(sp?) off the paint and provide a new surface for wax to sit. This revitalizes the finish and makes the color come out a bit more. I have a BRP car and have never been able to keep the swirl marks under control. Abrasives - Keep using them if you like but it will eventually wear the clearcoat thin to the point where the luster of the clear is no longer existant, leaving you with the dull paint syndrome. BTW if you try to do a search this has been covered a few times. Might be some help in making your decision.

Nick.:)

I'll add another vote for Zaino products. I used them to revitalize the finish on my 9 year old black Miata. As a former Meguiar's addict I am completely amazed. No more swirls...

We were having a detailing deal here at work for $60 for a full detail. Looks like Im going to take that $60 bucks and spend on a Zaino polish, wax, and swirl mark remover.

I don't think its necessary for me to do the clay bar since its a new car..correct?

Thanks

You probably don't need it, but if you listen to the guys selling claybar, they say a brand new car usually has raildust and other crap imbedded in the finish.

My paint was in pretty good condition for the age of the car, but I did notice a difference after the clay. I figured if I was going through the work of building a finish on the car, I might as well do all of it. YMMV

Anyway, good luck and have fun. Zaino is awesome...

nikkicalves-

At least you understand that a clay bar is not a harmless piece of magic. ;)

But your point on abrasives is silly. As long as you're not using heavy abrasives, all you're doing is basically "cleaning" the paint-removing one dirty, weathered layer (a VERY thin layer) to the next layer. And if they're used every 6 months or so, it'll provide you with a better base to work with. Otherwise you'll get oxidation/yellowing.

Claying is not necessary on a brand new car. Feel the finish-it's still very smooth. Then again, neither for that matter are abrasives (and the 3M SMR is an abrasive.) I would avoid the claying though and just go straight to the SMR/glaze/wax. At least the SMR will help get rid of your swirl marks.

Swirl marks are a fact of life, but you can do many things to lessen the effect.

Take extra care when you wash your car. If there is dirt and sand on the washing mitt, it's going to make a lot of swirls. Start washing from the tops, and then the sides. (tops are less dirty). The clay might actually make it look like you have more swirls, until you buff or polish your car.

If you have the money, and you want your car to look great. take it to a poffesional detail shop. Exterior detail should run around 90-15 bucks depending on the color.

good luck.

why do all of you wash your own cars? take them to an automatic car wash, not a gas station one, but one where there only business is washing cars for 10 bucks they make it look great, and they have sprays and crap that add to the clear coat, i dont reallllly kno if they help but for 2 extra bucks, why not they gotta do something, i never get swirl marks, but that might also be because my car is silver, who knows i dont think washing your car by yourself is that good of a idea though sorry

i've always believed if you want something done right, you do it yourself.

besides i'm not going to trust my car's paint job to some teenager or high school drop out who works at the local car wash. but i guess that's just me.

well im a teenager. im not a drop out, i have friends that work at the car wash, they are not drop outs, you can see the car at all times threw windows, they drive the car all of 10 feet, the machine does the rest, they do have supervisors, and they cant trash that car in 10 feet, unless u try really really really reallly hard, and then i would complain and make them buy whatever they broke plus pay for a rental car, so i figure its a win win situation

Never go through a car wash that uses those big blue brushes that slap up against your car.

That is the #1 cause of swirl marks on my car.

When it was new, before I became a scooby specialist, I would take it to those places all the time.

I was so stupid.


Now the hood is nothing BUT swirl marks, and scratches, rock chips, etc etc.

But the WORST part is the claw marks from my former tabby cat when I lived at my parent's house.

Her favorite spot was right above the hood scoop or the roof. Cat jumps on freshly waxed car. Cat begins to slide off. Cat extends claws. Paint begins screaming. Cat smiles.

Now I have to wax it every 2 weeks if I want the hood to look nice.

Some of the scratches are deep enough that wax stays in them because the buffer cloth (very smooth microfiber cloths) can't reach the wax to rub it off.

I don't care... wax is better than rust.

Need to go buy some touch-up paint big time.

I'm not too anal about the car's finish. I drive offroad alot and scratches/dings/etc are to be expected.

If a cat did that to my car I would absolutely kill it. Jeez I'm surprised you didnt.......

I totally agree about the swirling brush wash, that is THE worst crap for your paint.

So far I have GOOD NEWS! about the swirl marks. I took a meguairs wash to the car and washed it a few times in a straight pattern and stuck my famous meguairs gold wax and the car is looking better, still got some swirl but not as much as before. I'm figuring that once my zaino stuff gets here, next weekend I'm going to tear down this wax job with Dawn and spend a saturday afternoon doing the 3 zaino steps. Blue will look NIIIICE with that =o)

I'm finding success [waxing] with Callinite - anyone else?

The big trick to not getting swirl marks is to never, ever wax with a circular motion. Just wax straight forward and back (the same direction as air would flow over your car.) If you wax in a circular motion you will always have swirl marks no matter what products you are using.

Swirl? Your worried about swirl marks? I've got 5000 large pieces of hail dents. I'm 6 weeks in the shop, but at least I get a full new paint job. Hopeing that it will be better than the factory paint. Swirl problems, i wish....
:(

I've never had any experience with Zaino products, but I'll be sure to try it in the near future. I've been using Zymol wax/swirl mark remover, it restores paint to showroom condition and hides all swirl marks...only drawback is it only last a few weeks. On the other hand its easy to apply/remove...and smells like coconut oil :)

My Zaino order arrived Friday, so my fist Zaino treatment was Saturday morning. I went driving in the mountains today on some dirt roads, came home covered with dust. One quick wash later, everything sparkles again. :)

I don't know about swirls yet, but Zaino does seem to make a quality product. I would give the Z5 Polish a try, and probably the clay as well.

If you have more serious scratches, you might try the Machine Polish 1-3 from Griots. You will need a random orbital buffer to use those, however. You can get them at most auto stores, or give sears a try. These products work well, I was able to almost completely remove a nasty scratch in the clearcoat of my previous car, a Saturn.

As for prevention, make sure you hand wash and wax, and use good materials. Cheap tools may lead to cheap results.

I use mostly all of Griots Garage products to wash and wax and detail my car. Look them up they are really good, not really as cheap as other brands but i really like them above all the others i have tried.