HELP! Please don't tell me I just burnt the clear coat on my new Audi

[docshockalou]

Good morning guys and gals,

Yesterday started off as a great day. I was setting the whole day aside to detail my new car (black 2015 Audi S5). Cleared the garage, temps were cool outside, tunes blasting and off to work I went. I started with a hand wash using Megs Gold Class, microfiber noodle mit, dried with mf towels and really got those wheels sparkling - all while in the shade. Off to a good start. Back to the garage. Here is where I decided that the car was so new that it didn't justify clay and compound. There are a few very fine swirls on the car so I went for Megs Ultimate Polish. I've read and watched about every video out there on the process - Iv'e got this no problem, right?

Grabbed my new Megs DA Power polisher and corded drill, slapped on a yellow polishing pad and went to work. I worked in small sections maybe 2x2 to 4x4 max. I dabbed 5 or 6 drops on the pad and then pressed the pad around my section to start spreading the polish. Then I would use low rpm to initially spread polish around the section and ramp up to about half speed on the drill making 4 or 5 overlapping passes. So far so good. I believe at first (starting on the rear 1/4 panel of the car) I didn't work the polish from the white paste to that almost clear oil but managed to on the rest of the car. I believe I may have let it dry on numerous occasions, not on purpose but the stuff dries QUICKLY. No matter what I did, it was very difficult to wipe the polish residue off of the car. Either way I was very conscious and careful with this power tool. Not too much pressure but just enough to get good contact and coverage with the pad, constantly moving.

Finished the polish and waxed the entire car. It looked AMAZING. At the right angle the car would turn invisible against the blue sky. But this was in the garage. When I stopped at the gas station, walking back to the car I stopped dead in my tracks... At the right angle I could see haze on my entire hood. It's oh so faint that anyone walking by wouldn't have noticed but I'm sure you guys would have. It appears to roughly follow my pattern from the polisher, but mostly splotches. My heart dropped. This is a lease and I'm not sure how I'll explain this to the dealer if I did in fact burn the CC. It really only appears to be on the hood though. I had the dealer apply a protective coating to the front of the car for love bug protection...could this be affecting the polish? Is it from not wiping up the polish fast enough? Is the CC burnt? The paint feels silky smooth in those spots?

Thanks for any input. I'm posting a picture I took last night but lost too much light. Waiting on the sun today and I'll post more.

Edit: I finished up with waxing the car with Megs Ultimate Wax to seal in that fresh polish... If this is some sort of residue I would imagine this step is going to make it even more difficult to remove the haze?

Edit 2: I checked the pad for any color, looks like its just the paste on the yellow pad. Maybe slightly slightly grey if anything but I'm going to say its more just the color of the polish.

[docshockalou]

Re: HELP! Please don't tell me I just burnt the clear coat on my new Audi

So the paint is so shiny it' really difficult to get a picture of the haze I'm talking about so here's a short video that will give you a better idea. I just rolled the car out into full sun and you really can't see it at all. It appears to only be noticeable in dusk type lighting. Any ideas on how to get y'all a better picture?

[docshockalou]

Re: HELP! Please don't tell me I just burnt the clear coat on my new Audi

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ggvyToLo_s&feature=youtu.be

Couldn't get a picture to show what I'm talking about it's so shinny. Here's a video that shows it better. It doesnt appear to be visible in direct sunlight but in dusk like lighting it is very noticeable.

[Don]

Re: HELP! Please don't tell me I just burnt the clear coat on my new Audi

Don't panic yet, first try wiping down the area with either a detail spray or distilled water on a MF cloth. I personally couldn't see anything in your pic that would make me think 'burn.' Odds are you simply didn't remove all the polish and what you're seeing is the dried residue sticking to the finish.

[Loach]

Re: HELP! Please don't tell me I just burnt the clear coat on my new Audi

I very much doubt you burned through on that DA system. Try cleaning the pad off and go back over it with Ultimate Polish, wipe off immediately after you finish that section, then inspect. If it's still there, move up to Ultimate Compound, then follow up with Ultimate Polish, and inspect. The only time Ultimate Polish is difficult to remove for me, is if I have some serious polish/clearcoat residue clumping together and it will transfer on the paint and prevent that specific small spot from polishing out completely clean and clear. So basically everywhere else around the spot is finishing nicely, and this spot of hardened residue after getting it off with some IPA or quick detailer will show a section that is unpolished. This happens as a result of the pad just being too cluttered with spent residue. This could be your issue.

[Michael Stoops]

Re: HELP! Please don't tell me I just burnt the clear coat on my new Audi

The good news is that you most certainly did NOT burn through the paint. Not even close. The unevenness that your're seeing may be slight hazing from the yellow pad itself, depending on just how touch sensitive this paint is. We've worked on Audi's that are extremely touch sensitive, and others that are hard as a rock so it's always a bit of a toss up. It's doubtful that you need to step up to something more aggressive to even this out - we'd actually go with something less aggressive first. If it is indeed a bit of haze, using the black pad with a good cleaner wax like our White Wax (yes, we know this is a dark colored car, but humor us for a bit here!) and go over just the hood.

One other thing: you mentioned having had the dealer install a protective coating on the front of the car. Is that a clear bra or just some sort of sealant that they applied? If it's just a sealant then you may have actually done a slightly uneven job of removing it and that's what's giving you this look. Without knowing just what that protective coating is, however, it's a bit tricky to say definitively.

[docshockalou]

Re: HELP! Please don't tell me I just burnt the clear coat on my new Audi

Thank you for the replies everyone. I'm feeling much better about the situation - I was literally sick to my stomach when I first thought I burned it.

So for the dealer installed bit: I called because funny enough I couldn't find the paper work saying I had it installed but did wait an extra 30min for the process before driving off. They call it Gameron or Gamaron, something along those lines. I can't find any info on it online but I was told that it's a sealant the prevents bug guts from eating the paint and if they did they cover the car for three years. ( a bra is an actual piece of film installed, right?) I didn't even think about this before starting...

It's really cool to see actual Meguiar's reps on here helping me work through this, thanks again for your help Michael!

I'm also thinking that this could very likely be residue from the polish. This being my first time, I think I let the polish dry too much and used too little pressure on a mf towel to remove the leftover. I probably used too much polish in the first place, scared to run the pad too dry. Let me know if this is correct but when polishing it should start out white but blend into a clear oil/high gloss like texture, then easily wipe off?

I'm just really afraid of causing permanent damage to the paint. You all are making it sound like I would really have to try to burn the CC on a new car and with this DA, though?

Will repolishing help melt the residue back to a state where I can better wipe it clean? or stick with the wax pad and white wax? Call a professional and throw in the towel on detailing on my own?

Thanks again for the help everyone!

BTW: Detailer spray did not have any affect on the haze

[The Guz]

Re: HELP! Please don't tell me I just burnt the clear coat on my new Audi

Try repolishing if you don't have a cleaner wax handy. You can use the same yellow pad or the black pad.

[kivyee]

Re: HELP! Please don't tell me I just burnt the clear coat on my new Audi

I suspect it has something to do with the paint protect the dealer applied. Did you do any kind of prep in terms of stripping whatever sealant might have been on the car?

[Don]

Re: HELP! Please don't tell me I just burnt the clear coat on my new Audi

Try repolishing if you don't have a cleaner wax handy. You can use the same yellow pad or the black pad.

In addition to what The Guz said, only use a small amount of polish on your pad and only buff a small area, wiping off the residue right away before it has time to turn to cement like you experienced before.

[Jarhead0754]

2x2 and 4x4 is to big of an area for a 4" pad. Do a 1x1 and make sure u don't work it into long as well letting the pad or product dry out as well.

[drumdan]

I had this happen when I first used Ultimate Polish. What I've learned is that it must be well shaken before use. You also don't want to "over work" the polish.

As previously mentioned, reapplication will take care of the hardened elements with ease.

For what it's worth, Ultimate Polish is probably my favorite product from Megs. I use it with microfiber cutting discs to red foam waxing pads (although it's usually paired with blue hex logic/buff and shine pads), and it works great every time.

I also love the way it smells.