Newish Car need advice

[Fit4Spl]

Ok so I have a 2009 Honda Fit Sport, its Blackberry Pearl. Here are a few pictures of the car with 3 close ups of the paint.









Aside from the water spots which is from a water leak at the garage I park my car in at work, you can see the spider webbing. There are a couple scratches that are a little deep but I don't feel they are so deep that I cannot get them out. Especially after seeing some of the work done here by some people that seem to just be car people and not specifically detailer's.

Ok, so here's the cars history, 1st owners where british and bought her brand new in SC, then drove to FL. As far as I can tell they NEVER waxed it once, the water is only beeding BARELY, in some area's not at all its sheeting off the car. Now I am a former "detailer" that was the job title I did mainly clean up's from fresh paint work, scuff and buff work I guess you could call it, and my partner did most of the polishing and then final buffing. I did gain some experience watching and learning from him but this was over 10 years ago so I am pretty much green on technique and how-to.

What I have so far, I have 2 Meg's Clay kits,Deep Crystal Car Wash, a LARGE bottle of quick detail (can't have enough of this IMO), ScratchX, HotShine for tires, Mist & Wipe Quick Interior Detailer, and Gold Class Liquid wax. Tools I have are: 12-15 Microfiber towels, Microfiber Wash mit (thinking of buying a lambskin one), and a 10" (I think) Orbital buffer. I am NOT apposed to buying more product if I need something I don't have already. I am thinking about buying a polisher like the GV110V2 just so I have a great tool in keeping a deep rich shine and protective coating on my car.

I am passionate about my car and don't mind working even daily to keep it that way, as I am sure most here are. I clean the entire front end daily during lovebug season here in FL as an example.

What do I want? This is something I think I need to answer so you guys the "PROS" can help me. I want a deep swirl free shine that I can maintain with ease. Now with ease to me means about 2 hours of work a week on the car, yes I wash it weekly religiously. So I want to remove that spider webbing and the small scratches I have found. I know I need to clay the car there is a small spot of some sort of overspray as well the surface is very rough with contaminants from lack of care. Where to go from there is where I am lacking knowledge. So from the clay on I need some advice, do I need a polisher or can I remove the spider webbing you see here easily by hand, YES I will buy some microfiber applicator pads.

What product do I need other than what I have now? I believe this version of the Honda Fit IS clear coated unlike some of the first generation ones. Anyway I may have forgotten some info needed to assist in you the "PROS" giving me some tips, if so just ask me I will answer any questions.


Finally, THANK YOU Meguiar's and the Pros and users of this forum, its support for end users like me that keep me loyal in using and buying your products as well as recommending them to my friends and family.

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Newish Car need advice

In our experience with this make/model the paint is incredibly soft and delicate. We don't like to make broad generalizations about paint hardness, but the newer Honda Fit and Civic models do seem to be routinely painted with very, very soft paint. We highly recommend staying away from terry cloth towels when working on this paint.

Working by hand with an aggressive product like Ultimate Compound can lead to some issues if you aren't extremely careful about application process. But then again, UC is probably just overly aggressive for this paint. Your orbital buffer may well be sufficient here, but we question the quality of pads available for it. Try using either a foam or microfiber pad with just a small amount of ColorX or SwirlX and test just a small area on the hood - no larger than maybe 2' x 2' - then pull the car out into direct sunlight and critically evaluate it. ColorX is an all in one cleaner wax that we've seen do great things on the Honda Fit while SwirlX is more of a dedicated cleaner only and a wax will be required after using it.

Just go easy on this paint. It should correct quite easily. Unless you attack it, in which case you'll be inflicting a whole new set of defects while taking out the originals.

[Fit4Spl]

Re: Newish Car need advice

So you would recommend SwirlX which is what I have not scratchX, and or ColorX after claying then thin coats of Gold Class after. Would you recommend a polisher be used or can this be done with relative ease by hand. I don't mind putting elbow grease into it but I don't want to exhaust myself at the same time.

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Newish Car need advice

You can try the ScratchX but SwirlX or ColorX are probably better overall products for this application. By all means, try your orbital buffer. One potential advantage of using a buffer rather than hand application on very soft paint is that it's quite easy to get finger marks, or pressure points, show up when working by hand on these paints.

I don't mind putting elbow grease into it but I don't want to exhaust myself at the same time.

It's the elbow grease that is the potential problem on very soft paint. Normally you need to use a fair amount of the stuff on even slightly harder paints, but the exact same process on very soft paint can lead to a negative result. The buffer avoids this by spreading the pressure evenly across the face of the pad. And since the paint is so soft, even the light duty of an orbital may well be enough to get the results you're after.

[Fit4Spl]

Re: Newish Car need advice

Ok, so what I will do is buy a bottle of ColorX so I have both SwirlX and it to try out. I will use just my Orbital for now instead of going gunho and buying a polisher. I will also get the mircofiber applicator pads I do have microfiber bonets for my orbital I forgot to mention that.

I will give this all a try once I have time to devote to claying the car, which could be this saturday and I will post back with the results and pictures.

Thanks for the advice!