SCRATCHED!!! Ok, this is with regard to my black 2010 Acura MDX and not my 04 Max. In February my wife started taking the MDX to the auto wash several times a week for about 6 weeks. I thought it was a touchless (cuz she knows I told her 1,000 times in the last 20 years to NEVER take our cars to a car wash with scrubbers) but when I saw my MDX in the sun I just about crapped my pants. It has a ton of scratches from the scrubbers from the beltline of the MDX on down. I showed it to the owner of the car wash and he said he will wax the car and see if he can get it out. He also owns a body shop and has all of the tools to do it and, obviously, he is not charging me. I demo'ed a few areas with my cheapo Sears random orbit buffer and I was able to get about 90 percent of the scratches out except for the deeper ones. My question is, do you think a Porter Cable 7424 will be able to make it showroom again and get the deeper scratches out? Any insight will be appreciated.

 

Any knowledgeable person with a DA (dual action/port cable) will be able to get the scratches out and make it look new......a pro can make it look better than new. If you want to work on it by yourself, wash the car with a water/dawn detergent mix..this will remove all surface waxes and reveal the true finish...use meguiars scratchx 2.0 and megiuars ultimate compound and see what you can do to it

 

AGREED....a good wetsand/compound/buffing and you will be ok...oh and pull out the belt on the wife

 

Sounds like just swirl marks, the guy is being cool about it because all carwashes have a sign that they are not responsible for any damage. It'll buff out.

 

Meguiar's ColorX with that Sear's RO should do the trick. It sure does work wonders and I know from experience.

 

Thanks guys for the responses, especially phatboislim's belt comment- I wanted to go Ike Turner on her but she saw that I was mad enough that she said that she will never do this again. I will see how it turns out from the car wash owner and then see if I need to make any adjustments to the finish. I will keep you posted.

 

 

3m perfect-it compounds. i swear by them. expensive but paired with the correct pads it will come out better than factory
http://www.amazon.com/3M-PERFECT-BUF.../dp/B001D9IJN2

 

You should get a Griot's Garage Dual Action (lifetime warranty and more powerful than the PC XP). For polishes, you can't go wrong with Meg's stuff (D300/D301,M105,M205) or Menzerna (PO203S,106FA). Acura clears tend to be soft, but the newer ones have slightly harder clears.

I would do PO203S with a Yellow buff & shine pad and 106FA with a Blue buff & shine Pad. Pad size either 5.5" or 4" (great for bumpers/mirrors/tight areas).

 

i have never used an orbital as i've learned that swirls are made by them and they dig into the clear too much. i do all my detailing with zymol products ( by hand ) and i swear by them. i use a lehm lube spray to clean all deposits off, then i use hd cleanse pre-wax cleaner for filling in swirl marks and to prepare it for waxing, then the final touch i wax with zymol carbon wax and this stuff is amazing!!!! after you open the wax container and use the first time, you have to refridgerate because there is soo many oils and the carnuba is like 35%, highest i;ve ever seen. i've learned that when you wax a car, that you should not swirl on the wax rather back and fourth which is how the car stays swirl free. orbitals can produce good results, but i have never seen an orbital look as good as doing by hand soft and easy. my professional opinion, yes i detail cars in the summer and never had a complaint in 5 years. but i've been detailing since the 80's

 

Wow i would be pissed at my wife lol. U must love her

 

I work at a carwash. Any owner who doesnt claim responsibility for damage done by his machinery is a poor business operator. We are conjoined with a detail shop, and occasionally we'll fork out 200 bucks or so to fix something for a customer.

 

How deep are the scratches? If you can feel them with your fingernail, then I think you'll need a rotary buffer to pull them out. PC 7424s are great (I have one myself) but they can only do so much, even with a more aggressive compound.

Bonus points if you can remove the scratches while asking your wife why she was out of the kitchen (wocka-wocka-wocka). J/k, don't do that.