Had some body work done recently, and discovered that the shop left some good swirls in my clear coat when they finished buffing it out. Any suggestions how to remove these things EASILY? I usually use Meguiars Cleaner Wax, but I'm not sure this is strong enough to do the trick. Thanks in advance for the input.

 

How recently? You can't polish/wax new paint. You're supposed to wait about 45 days before doing anything.

Once the paint has fully cured, just use some glaze or polish...check http://www.carcareonline.com for some great products. One grand makes good stuff...or if you're going to work by hand 3m Imperial Hand glaze is supposed to be the best.

 

try zaino brothers products. www.zainobros.com

 

zaino

 

Problem with Zaino, at least from what I know about it, is that it's totally non-abrasive. It might temporarily cover up the swirls a bit (although from what I have seen it doesn't do this any better than any other wax) but it won't take them out. If you want to take the swirls out you need to use something abrasive (glaze, polish) to remove a little clearcoat.

There aer a LOT of people who swear by that Zaino stuff though. Personally I am extremely skeptical given that a.) it's synthetic/loaded with chemicals and b.) they make a lot of BS claims about their products. The fact that they put so much hype into their marketing makes me not trust them very much.

I was actually just reading this site and this letter about that site. Given the results of the test (which is pretty much what I expected..it's really not any worse or better than regular wax) and given that they didn't really respond to the guy's questions...I don't trust them.

 

Thanks for the info guys. It has been about a month or so since the bodywork, so I'm O.K. there.

 

Here is a long term comparison of several waxes. Make up your own mind.
http://www.nsxsc.com/nsexcitement/waxtest.html

I have used lots of diff. products. Real world experience...I use Zaino. It may not make swirls disapear any better than another high quality wax but your results will last much longer. In my experience swirl marks on a black car are very very difficult to remove or hide. I currently have 5 coats of Z-5 and two coats of Z-2 on my TL. It took this many coats to make virtually all the swirls disappear. I wonder how the other waxes stack up after several coats.

 

Use 3M swirl mark remover. You can buy it from any NAPA store. It's pricy but works very well. I use the Zaino Products and it didn't remove swirl marks very well, although I love Zaino. Frank Zaino himself recommended using the 3m product.

 

the 3m works miracles. Make sure you use a RO buffer, because normal hand buffing hardly ever works. Also, it's not always going to come out in one shot. Each time you wash/was your car, apply it and buff out. Over time, they'll disappear.

Speaking of which, check this out: www.autopia.org

They have the most combined knowledge about car care in one place. If you have questions about anything from cleaning your car to specailty detailing, that's the site to check out.

 

They won't. Wax doesn't hide problems with your paint. It can hide them a little tiny bit, but you really need to get rid of the problems and THEN wax.

Re: the polishing thing. You don't have to wait until you wash again to use another round of polish (whatever 3m stuff you guys are referring to...imperial hand glaze is supposed to be the best). Just keep polishing and buffing, polishing and buffing until the paint looks how you want. Then wax it and you're good to go.

 

I have used many 3M products including Imperial Hand Glaze. It seemed to take out some of the deeper swirls but replaced them with 2x's as many small swirls.

 

will mother step 2 (they call it glaze) remove a little clearcoat?

 

unless the car has a custom paint job.. the nissan paint is not going to hold out like a high end car that can be treated and worked with.
i compared my 99 SE to my friend's 99 740i paint, and i almost wanted to cry. his car has more miles than i do and i did not see ONE front end rock chip.. you look at my front end and it looks horrible.. considering the amount of care i put into it, as opposed to he does none to his. Unless you REALLY know what you're doing with all those abbrasive products.. i wouldn't experiment on my car.

 

I don't use that stuff, so I can't say for sure, but some *extremely* reliable sources swear by it. You might want to check out what type of towel you're using (should be 100% cotton....manufacturers OFTEN lie about this). I beleive this was you're experience but I doubt it was the hand glaze that caused it. It could also be streaks and not swirls...always use towels washed/dried without fabric softener. I use "reject" bath towels from Bed Bath and Beyond...terrycloth is good because it gets dirt away from the surface...flat towels tend to grind it into the paint.

also @Bonzo: I agree about Nissan using ****ty paint...I've heard this many times before. Seriously though, don't worry about abrasives. NEVER use oldschool polishing compound, or non "Random Orbital" buffers...but usingglazes, espeically by hand...is extremely safe. I never owned a car before my Max, and have experimented with TONS of different products on it. None of them have ever done any harm. Modern polishes (ones suitable for clearcoat) are extremely gentle...and glazes are even more gentle. I did 3 rounds of Ardex glaze on my car this spring...the only result is a lot less swirls.

 

the facts:

Nissan uses such sh1tty paint that 5th gen owners have organized a class action lawsuit against NOA.

The only way to tell if you have true cotton/terrycloth towels is to burn it. Burn a tiny corner of the towel, if it burns like a candle wick, it's cotton, if it starts to melt, it's a polyester blend, and will help increase swirls.

Random orbit buffers are the only buffers that you can use that will not harm your paint. Non-RO buffers will cause friction and heat, and if you don't know what you're doing, will burn a hole into the paint.

there is no one miracle product that will take swirls out. the only thing that will fix it is time, hard work, and a lot of patience.

If you want to know how to keep your car looking good, and how to remove swirls, etc. Check out Autopia.org. It's a site run by and for detailing pros, and has more TRUTHFUL info than max.org.