Gotta be picky, strictly speaking a polish contains abrasive particles and thus doesn't fill in defects in the paint surface. A machine polisher like the PC7424 and appropriate pad and type of polish will remove some of the clearcoat layer resulting in a much better finish. Detailers may then choose to use a paint cleaner, then a sealant and finally a wax to get the very best finishes.

Flyingpuck - I'd check out those offering Detailing servers on autopia.org and for those in the UK; detailingworld.com

 

Two rules I try to live by: 1 - Never let anyone touch the car for service, detailing, or anything else unless you have no other choice...chances are very good that something will get messed up. Understand that I, as the owner of the car, have a very different idea of what "messed up" means than anybody who does NOT own the car. 2 - Never use anything with a cord on it, on the finish of a car. PLEASE....do not tell me how this machine or that machine is different than the rest and it's easy as pie, or you can't go wrong. Very simple...if it a machine never touches the car, then it can't leave those machine swirl marks we have all seen. When I am forced to violate my rule #1...I tell them...if it has a cord...don't use it...under ANY circumstances.

 

I think dealers are the worst place to get "detailing "done , some kid with a circular buffer vs a random orbital with a dirty pad is usually what you get.............. I NEVER let them wash my car. When my new car arrives I will ensure they dont touch it , I'll clay,polish,seal,and wax it myself. I've never seen a showroom where you can't find swirls or micro scratches............. they don't get it !

 

+1

 

I always take my car through a car wash. Sometimes I'll use a hand wash, but most of the ones round here are pretty rubbish and miss parts so you have a spotless car minus 3 or 4 very very obvious dirty parts that they missed. I bought a silver car because I'm lazy - it doesn't look bad until it's REALLY dirty, and car washes don't leave any visible marks.

This is, after all, the UK, and as much as I like the look of a clean black car, I also like to DRIVE my car

 

I am really sorry for your trouble. However, whenever I read something like this it reassures me that I made the right decision by passing on Carbon Black. I just couldn't take the heartache

 

Re swirl marks.

I have worked with some top end car manufacturers setting up their paint finishing so have seen some real anal requests for the deletion of all swirl marks - its almost impossible.

Firstly, you will always get swirl marks which are very light scratches in the clearcoat. the only way to get rid of this is by using abrasives and abrasive polishes to cut down the clearcoat past the scratches. this is fairly specialist and should done with super caution - especially if it is around panel edges and with a machine.

Mostly all commercially avaialble polishes are fillers for these scratches and usually use a load of silicone to fill them up so they become invisible. unless you are prepared to spend big money and time cleaning your car - these swirl marks are a part of life. just buy a good silicone based polish and apply with a micrfofibre cloth for the best finish.

Also even if you really go for the big time / money option, all of the abrasive work causes a small amount of surface tension in the paint and the scratches you have worked so hard to remove can reappear if the car is left in the sun or in hot conditions as the paint relaxes - as the clearcoat is like glass, always a liquid and never quite making it to a solid state.

also you will sometimes get holograms in the paint. this is again where it has been cleaned / polished and the rotary movement of your hand puts micrscopic circular scratches into the surface. this is especially notiable on black cars (like mine) and can be seen in sunlight mainly. th only way to remove these is by using a random orbital polishing machine which breaks up the scratch structure and hides them.

It used to break my heart to see Aston Martins go out after having a couple of days prep work knowing that the perfect finish was about to be destroyed by some chump putting it through a car wash a week later........