Swirls

[swisspilot101]

Hi everyone,
I'm new here. I used to have a 208GTi but made the change to a red RCZ R just a few days ago. With only 32000km, it was fairly new and the previous owner didn't really drive much over the past 5 years.
However, the car has been let down in terms of carefully cleaning it. The paint has many swirls which really hurt my eye.

So, I was wondering if I should bring my car to a detailing shop? I have no experience at all with detailing myself and would rather have professionals taking care of this beauty.

What should I look for? What sort of package would be necessary to get more or less rid of the swirls and bring back the colours? There are so many different options and prices to choose from that I'm a bit lost in what would be best to start with.

I'm based in Switzerland.

Thank you all!

Cheers
Loïc

 

[RCZ-R]

Welcome!

The red metallic paint on the R wasn't the strongest paint I ever experienced. But which paint is nowadays. I was able to buff out any swirls with mild cutting polisher. With polymer sealant applied afterwards it protected the paint for about 3-4 months of driving.

Do you have any pictures of the paint so we can assess the damage? Is it normal car wash damage?

 

[indoldn]

I know of a place not to far from where I live in the UK with starting charge around £300-360 for coating which includes full decontamination wash, 1 stage polish and a ceramic coat. For your reference the place is called Concourse Detailing. If you look at their pages it may give you some ideas. Depending on condition on the paint they may have to do more paint correction and potentially wet sanding it. Probably best to go and see some of the places for them to advise you what they think and do a comparison.

If you want to go down the route of doing it yourself there are lots of good info on the net. Personally I like Forensic Detailing youtube channel. The guy has various useful videos. Bear in mind the cost can ramp up pretty quickly to buy the tools, compound etc, plus the time to do it. Another option is to go down the filler type of compound like Autoglym resin polish. You can do them by hand and they would temporarily cover the swirls.

 

[neilgsxr69]

Look for a reputable detailing company they will advise what is required weather a one stage or two stage paint correction is required there are other cleaning and decontamination stages before this so it’s a time consuming process and so is costly but your car will probably look better than the day it was purchased brand new.

 

[swisspilot101]

Thank you all for your answers.
I'll take some pictures tomorrow but I'll head to a small detailing shop nearby which has a very good reputation and let them have a look at the car.

 

[swisspilot101]

Sorry guys, I wasn't able to get back with old pictures. With that said, I was able to get my car detailed. It looks so much better now!

However, today, my car stayed under the rain for an hour or two and thereafter I drove it back home with the "light" rain persisting. Now after parking it in the garage I noticed some streaks falling from the black arches along the window and further down the car. I guess that these streaks come from the wax?

As it's the first time I see that, I wanted to ask here first to see what i should do.

May I simply rinse and then clean the car as usual or is is there anything I should be careful about?

EDIT: the pictures were taken just after the detailing was done. I haven't taken pictures of the streaks yet as the car was still wet. The streaks were noticeable though.

 

[swisspilot101]

Find attached some pictures of the streaks I was talking about.

There are no streaks on the boot or bonnet. So it seems as if all originated from the black arches.

 

[Verminator]

It's from what they have used to buff up the black arches as I use a black polish and when it rains it does leave streaks your lucky as on the white car it stands out a mile... Ask them what they used.. I would
Drive safe and stay lucky
Les n Co

 

[swisspilot101]

Hi Les n Co,

Thank you. Alright that's what I thought. But in that case that would be easily cleanable by just rinsing, snow foaming, rinsing and drying?

Cheers!

 

[Verminator]

I just clean as normal or damp micro cleaning cloth Will do the job..