Trouble Polishing Black '07 Passat

[3Putt]

Is anyone having difficulty getting out the tiniest of scratches and swirl marks?

I think this might be a problem confined to the black paint.

Meguiars are stumped by my paintwork, btw - i took it to them at Silverwater in Sydney, and they referred me to 2 specialist car detailers.

Both detailers commented how hard the paint is.

I had the car professionally polished / buffed, and now it just has little swirl marks all over it when viewed in direct sunlight.

AND, all the original little scratches are still there!

Is this some kind of new paint none of the experts no about yet?

[Northy]

did you get paint protection?

[Lance B]

Is anyone having difficulty getting out the tiniest of scratches and swirl marks?

I think this might be a problem confined to the black paint.

Meguiars are stumped by my paintwork, btw - i took it to them at Silverwater in Sydney, and they referred me to 2 specialist car detailers.

Both detailers commented how hard the paint is.

I had the car professionally polished / buffed, and now it just has little swirl marks all over it when viewed in direct sunlight.

AND, all the original little scratches are still there!

Is this some kind of new paint none of the experts no about yet?

Black cars look wonderful....when clean.

A car salesman once said to me, "You only ever have *one* black car". I should have listened to him but I didn't and I went ahead and bought one. Worst thing I ever did as it was a real bastard to keep clean and keep the swirl marks and minor scratches out of. As I am rather finnicky about the cleanliness and appearance of me cars, keeping it clean was a *full time job* and during these wayer restrictions it is nigh on impossible. I now have a water tank which allows me to wash whenever I want.

I had paint protection put on it, but I think it made it harder to get the swirls and small scratches out of.

The best thing I did was trade it in and get a dark metallic grey for my next car with no paint protection and I had a detailer visit me every 6 months and do a detail and use Zano polish/protection, which I think is about the best paint protection/polish/sealent. I really do not think paint protection is worth the money, IMO. Nothing beats regular, maintenance.

Both of these cars were Subaru Liberty's and I think Subaru use a soft type paint when fully cured which is less prone to chipping from stones - a good thing - but was a real pain to get minor scratches and swirls out of - a bad thing. It would appear that VW use a harder paint which chips more readily - a bad thing - but easier to polish out swirls and scratches - a good thing. Everything is a compromise.

[tezza]

Black GTi

Hey guys, Yes Black is an ******** to keep clean but it looks so "speck" I bought my GTi from new and had it protected with Infinity Paint Protection the use a glass polymer some such thing. NEVER had a scratch or swirl mark from it since. Even when taken to those car cleaning joints comes our perfect everytime.

Tezza

[ope126]

I say NO to electric buffers!

[Jarred]

apparently meguiars scratch X is the product to go for (if you haven't already)

A few members on VWW cant attest to it's good ness (for lack of a bettter word. I don't have a black car, or had to worry about swirl marks, so I can't personally recommend it.

[3Putt]

I have used ScratchX with no success.

Actually, I've rubbed the stuff in so hard it leaves its own little 'cloudy' swirls - AND THE ORIGINAL TINY SCRATCH IS STILL THERE!

I hear you all on the 'black's a bitch' comments, but this paint is something else - just the slightest of scuff marks do not come off, even after professional polishing.

Can anyone suggest a knowledgable, expert detailer who might be able to offer a second opinion?

[Lance B]

I have used ScratchX with no success.

Actually, I've rubbed the stuff in so hard it leaves its own little 'cloudy' swirls - AND THE ORIGINAL TINY SCRATCH IS STILL THERE!

I hear you all on the 'black's a bitch' comments, but this paint is something else - just the slightest of scuff marks do not come off, even after professional polishing.

Can anyone suggest a knowledgable, expert detailer who might be able to offer a second opinion?

It's not necessarily VW's paint fault as I had the same trouble with my black Subaru Liberty. Best thing I ever did was get out of a black car!

[hazards_golf74]

if the strach has white in it you won t get it out, faded it maybe. wat are you apply it with? that is the polish

[hazards_golf74]

I say NO to electric buffers!

these aren t the problem it s people that don t know how to use them.as for the paint protection wouldn t trust them as far as i could kick them

[3Putt]

I'm talking the slightest of scratches here, ones you only see when the lighting angle is just right. Picky, I know but frustrating.

Also, the swirl marks from the machine detail i just got. Didn't think they would be so obvious in direct sunlight.

Must just be black cars. I admit, the thing looks speccy when viewed from a distance with the naked eye. I'm only talking about up close with the microscope here, but it is stilll annoying not to be able to get the slightest of scratches out.

In Peter from Meguiars in Silverwater's words.. "something just doesn't look right with this car. This paintwork should look better"

Oh well, might try another coat of Techwax..

[brumue]

I really think you need to see someone who knows what they are doing, I am really surprised it stumped the guys at meguiars...

Spend some time on a detailing forum like Detail Addiction or Detail Paradise and im sure they will be able to point you to somebody who will be able to assist. You can also read up on safe washing techniques to reduce scratches and swirls.

[mikinoz]

Possible respray before delivery for transit damage?

[brumue]

I suppose that could be a possibility.

Some detailers have paint depth measure tools, would be a good way to find out if something sus like that is going on

[3Putt]

Car was ok when I bought it, although there were some swirl marks from some sort of pre-delivery detail.

I'm talking about the little scratches you get after 1 years worth of ownership.

I'm fairly picky with my cars' appearance, and this is the first car i've owned that I literally cannot get one single scratch out of, no matter what product i use on it.

It is my first BLACK car though... hmmm..