Swirled up C pillar...anyone else? How to fix?

Kinda hurried to see this today, it's on both sides but passenger side is way worse, in direct light I can see it a few feet away.

Truck is basically new and I'm pressured washed it a few times, maybe I was too aggressive with the microfibre...

Is this correctable?

 

Black… nothing looks better when it’s clean, but when it’s not, you see everything. I would get one of those Turtle Wax kits at Autozone.

 

Isn't that just covering it up? Want to know if this is permanent or if I (or a pro) can correct it. DEFINITELY regret going black.

 

Yes, the wax will fill in the micro scratches to diminish the reflectivity of those scratches and reduce their visibility.

Yes, swirls can be easily removed using a dual action polisher like those produced by Griots Garage, Porter Cable, and others. That's the easy way, but can get expensive once you start buying pads.

Those swirls may be removed by hand polishing.

As the detailers say, start with the least aggressive approach first, i.e., hand with a decent polish, e.g., Meguiars Ultimate Polish. Use a quality mf polishing pad and start with moving horizontally with overlapping passes before moving to a vertical polishing motion in a 1x1 ft space, repeat 2-3 times in each direction, wipe clean, and inspect. Hopefully, you'll see the swirls going away. If so, repeat the process until the swirls are removed.

If hand polishing doesn't work, you might then switch to a compound, like Megs Ultimate Compound. Similar approach as above but start with a single horizontal and then vertical passes, wipe and inspect. If no joy, try multiple passes, wipe, and inspect. If this works, you may have induced some marring with the compound, so go over it with the polish til it shines, then apply wax/sealant of choice.

Of course, a machine polisher will work, too, and work more quickly. Similar approach with the multiple horizontal and vertical passes, wipe clean, and inspect.

In both cases, those badges are going to get in the way which is why I am removing mine this week.

You might visit and join the forum at autogeek and post your pics there. Be aware that you'll get recommendations for fairly expensive compounds and polishes. $20 gets you into Megs Ultimate series, both compound and polish, and I used both and was happy with my old metallic black 300C SRT8.

 

Polishing will correct it, but the real issue is avoiding it. Avoid any carwash that touches the paint with anything but water. When washing yourself try using the two bucket or one sponge one dip (sponge never goes back in the bucket) methods. Micro fiber for drying and such.

 

And make sure you wash your microfiber cloths after every wash. I used what I thought were clean microfiber towels and got some light swirls. Since then, I wash them by themselves in their own laundry load.

Ive been off roading more lately, and the pinstriping makes swirls look cute, so I may not care a out washing my towels much longer

 

That is super easy to fix. Start with ultimate compound and terry cloth towel. You won't know it was there. Again, super easy. G.L.

 

Even without a DA polisher? Have really no experience with this stuff, nervous it can mar up the paint if I don't do it right.

 

Yeah a DA polisher would take this out no problem. Where you located? If you don't have one I could do it for you if you're close by.

 

Start without DA polisher. It looks like those swirls were result of Polisher use with either too abrasive pad or incorrectly loaded pad.

 

Yes, you can mess it up with a DA polisher, though unlikely. If you got a case of the dumb you might try to use a wool pad or a microfiber pad with a strong compound and really mess it up. But using a foam pad with a decent compound or polish, like Megs Ultimate series, is pretty hard.

As I noted above, this is why you want to start with the least aggressive approach first. Start by hand with a small foam pad and polish and check the results. If no change, try a compound (youre gonna want to buy each anyway) and a foam pad by hand and check results. If that doesnt work, then you can move to a DA polisher.

 

Yeah, looking more closely now, that doesnt look like normal swirls from the local car wash, but someone getting too aggressive with a wool pad.

The OP should go to the autogeek forums, post his pics, and get some feedback there.

 

Just finished using this on my black Venture (used it exclusively most of my life) - had some stubborn water spots and bug impacts from a recent road trip. Takes some elbow grease if you are not skilled with a motorized orbital applicator (I don't use them - all hand applied here). Follow normal precautions for applying wax (cool surface, not in direct sunlight, etc) with terrycloth towels. Do small sections at a time. You'll be fine.

 

Yep agree with the cause. Odd that it happened on both sides same location. So...start with a damp microfiber towel moderately loaded with Mequiars Ultimate Compound on it. Gently roll into circular motions from top of window line moving down into field of scratches. Make sure you leave a light coating of compound as you go. Then come back through the field working from bottom of rear window line upward. Concentrate on this area over and over. Apply just enough pressure, let the compound do the work for ya. After each complete pass, down and up, remove any residual compound with clean micro fiber cloth. Stand back, at look the area from an angle and repeat as often as needed until all scratches are removed to your liking. It will take sometime, but really an easy fix. Remember....let the compound do the work for you. Dark colors are unforgiving with swirls, scratches and incorrectly applied topical coatings. But your issue is easily rectified...patience.

 

I vouch for this also, made the paint on my beaten up 2005 Jeep look almost like new. Very good stuff!

 

I had this issue on my M3. Use McGuires swirlX. I’ve never seen it in the store (they have the scratchx everywhere and they look the same), so I ordered it on Amazon.

I got swirls like you did from using rubbing compound. It got rid of the imperfection I wanted gone, but left the swirls

 

Well you would expect to see swirls and scratches after using rubbing compounds especially those that are designed to 'cut'. There is a progression when surface prepping from heavy duty to light duty to finish and polishing compounds. Most DIYrs start from the light duty, to finish to polish. When done properly the swirls will all but disappear. Buffing, especially dark colors, takes time, patience and practice to get it done right

 

They say black is a hobby not a color. After running mine through some trees and thick gourd plants I am to the point of just trying to keep up with the pin stripes. I use one of those scratch doctor drill attachments and cut the scratches in the clear coat out and then use some paste wax. The wax seems to make regular washes easier too so just foam cannon and wipe down unless I go to the trails.

 

UPDATE

So I decided to try my own hand first with some Meguiars' Ultimate polish and a foam pad applied by hand. The swirls started to go away to the point where it no longer looked like my truck was make out of vinyl records.

However when I stepped back I noticed that now I have hazing or some kind of artifact left over by the polish. Got freake dout so I stopped. Any advice? Did I ruin my paint more?

Wondering if I should cut my losses and go to a pro.

 

I feel your pain. I've detailed enough dark colored vehicles to have seen just about anything and everything. (I used to do all of the detailing for a medium sized Toyota dealership after detailing out of my house for over 20 years.)

What you had looked like some poorly executed dealer detailing - possibly to correct some shipping damage. What you now have is relatively minor marring caused by either the type of polish or pad you used to correct the initial damage. Remember, correction is like sanding. You start with deeper scratches that you want to get out, but to do that, you use finer and finer sand paper to reduce the depth of scratches as you go. With paint correction, you're using finer and finer polishes and pads to slowly perfect the surface. You just haven't gone far and fine enough with pad and polish.

What would I recommend? I'm glad you asked. First of all, I never recommend "hand correction." It takes too long and it generally leaves marring due to the inconsistency of the polishing movement. I always use a machine (generally a Flex 3401) with variety of pads and polishes. Yes, the general rule is "least aggressive first," but when you have as many years under your belt as I do, you can get a bit more aggressive somewhat quicker. (Remember, wisdom comes from experience. Experience comes from screwing up.)

Personally, I'd recommend taking it to a professional if you really want it to look right and not do any lasting damage to your paint. Black is one of the toughest colors to correct correctly. It's also the easiest color to mess up if you don't know what you're doing. Worse yet, it shows any screw ups worse than any other color. Yea, it's totally unforgiving. A professional can get the remaining marring out pretty quickly, but that will just highlight marring that you never noticed in the rest of the vehicle. A full detail will solve most if not all of your problems.

 

You mean a full correction? Yeah, that is what I am thinking at this point. Do you think I've made their job any harder here with my DIY attempt?

 

Did you try using a clean microfiber towel after to remove any residue?

 

Yes, I tried to buff it out best I could without pressings too hard.

 

Yes, a full correction / detail is what you need. No, you don't appear to have done any serious damage. Trust me, I see much worse than that on a daily basis. If you were closer, I'd offer to do it myself.

 

Thinking about taking it to these folks, seem to be the best in the city;
https://www.luxusottawa.com/

Do you think they'll have to remove badging in order to even polish the pillars?

 

No

 

I would just call it a learning experience and move on personally. It’s a black rig, it’ll be incredibly hard to keep a showroom appearance. Black paint will show the smallest imperfections.

 

I hear ya but it's 4 months old, want to have it relatively new for at least a few years.

 

Taco, you are on the right track just don't polish the heck of one little area. Cover entire C-pillar on go easy on pressure. Flatness of finish will go away once you get finished and reapply wax.

 

Doing a little bit of polishing now is the logical next step after using compound. The compound got rid of the swirls/light scratching but left micro-marring or haze (as it should). I personally would do that before taking it in to a shop. Meguiars ultimate polish is pretty gentle. I just ordered the M210 to try on my midnight black metallic.