Scratches clear coat

[royjpoff]

I bought a new 2009 Hyundai Santa Fe SE model last year, it is black in color and at present is one year old.
When I first bought vehicle (9/2009) put 2 coats of wax on vehicle (Meguiars Gold Class) before winter set in and notice no scratches on vehicle.
Had vehicle wash many times during winter (brush-less car wash) and dried with terry cloth/cotton towel (damp)
At spring this year did full cleaning /waxing (Meguiars cleaner wax) and noticed many scratches on vehicle and removed most with Scratch X2.0.
The following week wash vehicle and noticed had blemish of "bird dropings" on vehicle and when I dried vehicle again with a terry /cotton cloth (damp) "scratched vehicle" when I rubbed a little harder on spot!!!
I believe I may have a major problem with my clear coat on vehicle which also shows plenty of orange-peel paint !!!
Could the cause be that of the car wash soap degrading the clear coat and when I dry scratches are easily formed ???
I am seeing the Hyundai Factory Rep next week (9/28) about this clear coat/paint and any information that anyone has will be very helpful to me !!!!
Please Help.
Thanks,
Roy

[Murr1525]

Re: Scratches clear coat

Terry cloth is a more agressive material, that could be part of the cause.

[Shawn T.]

Re: Scratches clear coat

Hold on there royjpoff. I promise you there is nothing wrong with your clear coat. The fact that you are puttin scratches (swirls) into your paint via terry cloth is nothing to worry about. You are going through a change, detailing puberty. You are looking at your paint in a whole different light now and your life will never be the same.

Seriously though, there is nothing wrong with your paint. Terry cloth has been known to cause swirls in paint especially when pressed firmly against the paint. This is also dependent on how hard or soft your paint is. The paint on your car may be particularly soft and terry cloth is easily scratching it. Even using a high quality microfiber towel and pressing too hard will cause swirls. Every time you touch your paint, there is an opportunity to cause swirls. Nothing to worry about and definitel no reason to see the Hyundai Representative.

Clear coats are notorious for showing every little scratch because when you scratch the clear coat, that scratch looks white against the base (color) coat. This is why on white cars, swirls and scratches are not easily detectable but on black cars they are clear as day. During the single stage paint days, this was not as big of problem because the single stage finish helped to hide the swirls. That is why old school rocks-in-a-bottle rubbing compounds and polishing compounds were able to produce satisfatory results. Use the same products today on a clear coat finish and you will find yourself with a mess of swirls. That is merely one of the downfalls of clear coat paint.

However, a positive point is that it slows the rate of oxidation tremendously. Single stage finishes needed to be waxed constantly in order ot guard against oxidation. Clear coats also need to be waxed but even if they are not, oxidation takes a much longer time then it would on a single stage finish.

Ultimately, change from terry to microfiber towels, use as little pressure as possible, use Meguiars and you will be happy for life!

[J. A. Michaels]

Re: Scratches clear coat

Clear coat is okay. The problem lies in the terry cloth towels. Get yourself some microfiber water magnets, the absorber or even the large microfiber drying towel from Wal-Mart.