So my brother did me the favor of washing my VE with a self-serve car wash. He used the foam brush on it and it scratched the sh*t out of the trunk (surprisingly, nothing else that I noticed). It only appears to be clear coat damage like someone hit it with 100 grit sandpaper, but it is still fairly noticeable. Will a buff job clean it up all right or should I look for a new paint job?

Depends how deep it is in the clearcaoat. I've always had good luck with rubbing compound and then a good polish to bring the lustre back out.

Well I did do a wax job on it just this evening and that seemed to be some improvement. You can still see the scratches in the light at the right angle though. So if that helps any, it is deep enough to see it still, but shallow enough to sort of get by with a good wax job.

Using a random orbital (PC or UDM) with a medium polish will most likely get rid of the majority of the marks. Then wax.

Sounds good. I am really hoping that a good buff job will take care of this because I really do not want to have to pay for a new paint job for a car that is on OSU campus...

Basically, all waxing will do is put a nice shiny seal on your scratches. You really need to get under the wax with something a little more abrasive like a rubbing compound...and then polish out the swirls from the compound.

If you can feel the scratches with your fingernail, they are deep and will require some serious correction. If not you can restore your paint with a good polishing from a random orbital polisher and some care. I'd start out with a medium cutting polish first and if you don't get the required results, move to a heavy cutting polish with coarser abrasives to get them all out and finish up with a medium after that to make it really glow. Be sure to protect it with a sealant for long lasting protection or a wax for less durable protection but more shine.

The most important thing after you do this is to wash and dry it properly so as not repeat the mistake again. Or strangle your brother.

Thanks for the tips guys! It is the better looking panel on the car after having it buffed with the orbital! Problem that I ran into is that the rest of the car does not have the original paint. Once upon a time, there was a real cheap repair job done to it and so there is a lot of over-spray. Couldn't really do much in the way of buffing or the paint would come off. Figure it best to get it repainted someday when I get the money/move off campus.

Try a clay bar to remove the overspray. Then polish, then wax.

I have tried clay bar on the whole body and nothing came up but the obvious grit. I have a feeling that there was some clear coat sprayed over it as well, which could be why it has lasted so long. All the clay bar, wax, and polish do is shine it up. Looks good, but does not really fix the problem.