Yet another dealer installed swirl mark - what to do?

[mtiffee]

EDIT: PICTURES POSTED BELOW......


Hi everybody,

First post here. Just purchased a 2008 F-150, all Black with Chrome package. Beautiful truck. Well, at least it was. 3 weeks ago, when I bought, I knew very little about car finishes, polishes, paint, wax, etc. Since then I've been reading a lot here and on other sites.

Before you flame me for doing this, I'll go ahead and flame myself and say it was a stupid move. Like I said, I knew very little about car finishes. But got the Simoniz system 5 paint warranty. When I bought the truck, it was a cloudy rainy day, and didn't notice any swirl marks. Nor did I after I got the truck back, after they did the treatment, a few days later. It's now about 2.5 weeks later and I think the wax they used is starting to wear down because I see swirl marks over the entire truck. I think they're spider marks. Not sure if there's a difference between swirl marks, but they circle around highlights in the gloss. They appear to be very minor.

What should I do? I'm not sure I want the dealer to touch my truck again, and I think they'll probably blame me or say it's been a few weeks, I could've added it. I washed once, but used a brand new washed microfiber and the two bucket method- and the spider marks were there before I washed. At best I want another truck and a refund of my paint warranty. Have dealers done anything like this in the past? While I don't expect to get a new truck, I think the dealership should refund my treatment and pay for me to buy the chemicals (from meguiars of course) to do it myself, or a good detailer where I live in Charleston, SC.

Thanks for all your help.

[Andy M.]

Re: Yet another dealer installed swirl mark - what to do?

First, Welcome to MOL! I am sure you can find the info you need to repair the damage to your truck here. Can you post some pictures of it?
You could look here for some comparisons to your issue and some of the products used to correct it.

http://meguiarsonline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=11800

Hope this helps a little. See if you can post some pics.
Andy
101impala

[cnfowler]

Re: Yet another dealer installed swirl mark - what to do?

Not good. Don't expect the stealership to do anything about it. If anything, they'll try to send it back to their detail shop and do even more damage. You are way better off taking care of it yourself. I know it ***** having bought a brand new vehicle and you're already having to do paint correction but chalk it up to a lesson learned. Look on the bright side - you'll get to learn every square inch of your truck's surface and make it look better than the day it rolled off the assembly line! You've already taken a step in the right direction by joining MOL. You'll have that truck looking like a dream in no time. Post pictures before and after. Pictures are worth a thousand words and Lord knows we love to drool over freshly detailed vehicles.

[Edited for implied language.]

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Yet another dealer installed swirl mark - what to do?

Welcome to Meguiar's Online!

Sorry to hear of your horror story and sad to say it's just one of many on this forum as well as most forums. Dealerships in general have a horrible reputation as making the paint worse versus making it better whenever they touch it, you're experience is just another example of this.

At this point the best thing to do would be to wash the truck, maybe even use a detergent soap and then find some sun and snag some pictures of the swirls.

Then post them here, we can help you to do all that. Then take the photos to the dealership and our recommendations posted here and tell them you want your money back.

It's Saturday morning as we type this and we want to head to the gym but we'll come back and add some more information and links that will help you.

To start with, check these out...

How to capture pictures of swirls in your car's paint

and this one...


Cobweb Swirls vs Rotary Buffer Swirls

Let's hope you only have cobweb swirls and not rotary swirls. Rotary swirls will tend to be deeper in most cases and this means removing them will require you to remove more paint.

Also just to highlight this... if the dealership swirled out your brand new paint, removing swirls means removing paint, and no one buying a brand new car or truck should have to remove precious layers of paint for a problem they didn't cause. Paint is thin to start with and in most cases hard to work on, at least removing swirls is no walk in the park, why should you or anyone have to deal with this because the Dealership doesn't take the paint polishing process or their customers wishes serious?


Also, we can show you how to fix it yourself or we can probably help you to find a Pro that knows what they're doing to do it for you and the Dealership should pay for this.

[mtiffee]

Re: Yet another dealer installed swirl mark - what to do?

I'm out of town right now but will post pics as soon as I return. Thanks for your help everyone.

BTW- Mike, I checked out that link, and they're certainly cob-web swirls. Again, I'll post pics next week.

[mtiffee]

Re: Yet another dealer installed swirl mark - what to do?

Ok everybody, I drove home from the airport and went straight inside to grab my camera. While taking pictures, I noticed a lot more scratches than I did last week in addition to the swirl marks. Sorry for the water spots. I used a california duster before taking these photos. That got some of the dust off, there are still little specks. If I wipe the surface with a cloth, most of the specks come off but some remain which makes me think my truck needs a clay bar.

In this photo you will see the swirl marks as well as some scratches. These scratches can be found all over the truck. I enhanced the contrast slightly which makes the scratches appear a bit deeper than they are. If I run my fingernail across the scratch, I can't really feel it, although I can hear it.





This photo hasn't been enhanced and shows more swirls and scratches. This is how most of the scratches appear.




This photo shows a major scratch on the back of my tonneau cover. They applied the simoniz to my tonneau as well. The swirl marks are HORRIBLE on the tonneau. I would assume due to a less quality finish.
On the left is a major scratch, just a few inches to the right of it, you can see a major nick. The nick goes all the way through the clearcoat and into the fiberglass. I didn't notice this nick until last week, can't be sure the dealarship did this so I can't pass blame on them for that. How it happened is a mystery.




It seems as if my finish is getting worse and worse by the day!!



Thanks again for all your advice!

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Yet another dealer installed swirl mark - what to do?

Where do you live?

Besides that, considering the size of your truck a 2008 Ford F-150, the fact that it's black, and the cost.. you might want to seriously consider purchasing a dual action polisher and learning how to use it.

Otherwise you'll want to become very proficient in your hand techniques and maybe lower your expectations for finish quality as a machine will always outperform your hand.

Let us know which direction you want to go, hand or machine and we can guide you down the path to restoring a new finish to your new truck.

Or we can help you to find a Pro detailer to do it for you but even after someone else fixes the problems, you'll still have to learn how to maintain the finish or hire your detailer to maintain it for you.

Is it too late to return the black truck for a white truck?

[mtiffee]

Re: Yet another dealer installed swirl mark - what to do?

Funny, I traded in a white Chevy truck for my black Ford! I've always thought black trucks were SEXY! Ever since Back to the Future when Marty McFly opens the garage at the end of the movie:



I am planning on investing in a good DA polisher. I was also going to purchase this DVD: http://www.autodetailingsolutions.co...ailing_dvd.htm

Which features the Porter Cable using Meguiars products. Are you familiar with this DVD? Or is there a better or more up to date video? I've read some of the how-to articles on MOL but I do better by seeing (wish I was in socal) and I figure $24 isn't much considering the cost of my truck.

I live in sunny, warm, humid Charleston, SC. Is there a good detailer here you recommend? I wouldn't mind taking my truck there and having them inspect it and possibly perform the swirl / scratch removal and try and get the dealership to pay for it. Once the detailer gets my truck in pristine shape I can take over by maintaining it, although I'm somewhat protective of my new truck, especially given my recent experience, so I'm still debating that option. The place that did my simoniz was a so called- detailer / truck accessory store down the street from the dealership. I'd want someone who would treat my truck as if it was theirs. (Like in your thread that articulates the mind of a detailer).

Otherwise, what steps/products would you recommend? I have a lot of chrome and a leather interior.

I'm certainly going with Meguairs products. The reputation alone is reason enough, but having a "personal product rep" here on line is invaluable.

[Murr1525]

Re: Yet another dealer installed swirl mark - what to do?

I am pretty sure Mike is familar with it... he stars in it...

Here are a few links also...

Meguiar's 5-Step Paint Care Cycle
Step 1 Wash
Step 2 Clean
Step 3 Polish
Step 4 Protect
Step 5 Maintain

Suggested Products for Taking Care of a New Car

What it Means to Remove a Scratch

How To Remove Swirls By Hand

How to remove a defect by hand with ScratchX

1986 Ford Bronco II - Extreme Makeover

Rotary vs. PC vs. Regular Orbital Buffer

Recommended Products - G100a Dual Action Polisher

Using the G-100 to remove swirls with the Professional Line

Each one, teach one... Ferrari Fiorano 355 F1 Spider

Esp the ones about the G100, which mostly will apply to the new G110 also.

Just because a shop says it details cars, it may end up just liek the dealer, or worse. But perhaps there is a forum member in your area that can help?

[mtiffee]

Re: Yet another dealer installed swirl mark - what to do?

I am pretty sure Mike is familar with it... he stars in it...

LOL, ok good!

EDIT: I re-read the product description, yup, there's his name!

[Murr1525]

Re: Yet another dealer installed swirl mark - what to do?

Chrome would just need one of the metal polishes. (real chrome, not the plastic stuff)

With leather you have a few options. Being brand new, just an all-in-one like the Gold Class Cleaner/Conditioner should be fine. Just apply, work in, then wipe off excess after a few minutes.

Just fyi, the DVD is for the G100 also. The new G110 machine that should be on sale soon will be very similar, same products, pads ,etc. The only change might be the speed settings.

[Ticman]

Re: Yet another dealer installed swirl mark - what to do?

mtiffee,

I live over around Greenville, SC. If you get over here to the upstate then let me know and I'll be glad to help you. The G100 is well worth the investment. It's very easy to use and does way better than you can by hand. The DVD is great but I'd be glad to show you how to use a G100 if you decide to get one.

I have a Dark Toreador Red Chrome Edition myself. One thing to be careful of is the chrome is clear coated so treat it like paint. The only thing I use NXT metal polish on is my exhaust tip.

Tic

[mtiffee]

Re: Yet another dealer installed swirl mark - what to do?

Tic, thanks for your offer, I'll keep that in my back pocket. So if I'm understanding you, treat my chrome bumpers, trim, etc, just like my paint. Polish, Wax, etc. Interesting, I had no idea.

[Ticman]

Re: Yet another dealer installed swirl mark - what to do?

Tic, thanks for your offer, I'll keep that in my back pocket. So if I'm understanding you, treat my chrome bumpers, trim, etc, just like my paint. Polish, Wax, etc. Interesting, I had no idea.

Yes, you are correct. I had some stubborn stains on my wheels as well and used Scratch-X. It worked like a charm. I polished the bumpers with #80. Came out great. Remember to tape up that trim.

I keep a good coat of NXT wax on the bumpers, grille and wheels as well as the head lights and tail lights. Especially the front. Bugs just spray right off with a hose most of the time.

Highly recommend the NXT 2.0.

Tic

[mtiffee]

Re: Yet another dealer installed swirl mark - what to do?

Ok, I ordered the G100 and #80 and NXT 2.0. I'm hoping that #80 will be enough to get out the swirls. I also ordered a bunch of pads, bonnets, the backing plate, etc. Oh, and a clay bar and detailing spray. I basically followed the instructions in the "How To" article for removing swirls with the G100.

I also ordered the DVD.

Hopefully someone can recommend a good detailer in my area, I'd still like to have the truck looked at.