Buffing Out Scratches / Just How Hard is the Clear Coat on these Cars?

[jakealake18]

I have a 2018 GTI in great falls green metallic that I bought used, sight unseen from Carvana, in February. I got a good deal on it but the paint was covered in micro scratches, probably from the previous owner taking it to gas station carwashes a lot. I've been trying to restore it at home but haven't had much luck so I'm looking for any advice or suggestions to bring the shine back and get rid of the scratches.

I've tried buffing the hood twice and it's still covered in scratches. You can't feel them, but you can definitely see them if the light hits them at certain angles.
The first time I buffed the hood, I used a TORQX Random Orbital Polisher on speed 5 with light pressure using Hex Logic cutting pads and Meguiar's 205/105 compounds and got almost no results. A couple months later I tried the same TORQX polisher and same settings with Griott's Fast Correcting Cream and the recommended Griott's foam pad. The results were a little better than before, but not good and definitely not worth the cost or effort.

The only thing I can think of is that I'm doing something very wrong or the clear coat on the GTI is rock hard. I'm reluctant to take another pass at it if I'm taking off clear coat with no real results. Anyone have a similar experience or any suggestions for how I can get better results?

 

[SPLR337]

The Torqx isn't going to cut it, trust me I have one and I tried. Switch it to a 3 inch backing plate and use it for smaller or tighter areas. I then bought the Griots G9, but have also used the G15, and griots boss foam pads. the Griots polishers have more power and are much easier and more comfortable to use. They also have their Fast correcting cream, correcting cream, and perfecting cream. Maybe start in the middle with an orange pad, and step up to a white pad if needed. These compounds finish out very fine, and depending on your color you might be able to move right to a last step product like a coating or a wax instead of a finishing polish first.

And as far as pressure goes, Mike Phillips suggests about 15 pounds of pressured as a starting point. You can use a scale and push down with your DA and pad setup to get a feel for it.

 

[jakealake18]

Thanks for the advice on the Torqx polisher. I bought it from Chemical Guys without doing much research. I checked the power rating on the Torqx and it's 680 watts. The Griott's G9 is 1,000 watts. There were a bunch of times when I was using the Torqx that the pad would just stop spinning.

Also, good idea to use the scale to gauge the pressure. Now I just need to decide if I want to drop $160+ on another polisher...

 

[Ghost GTI]

I've had a very hard time compounding and polishing this car. The clearcoat is very hard. My wife's Mazda3 was super easy, insanely good results. As for my GTI, I've done two yearly polishes and it doesn't not get rid of most of the stuff I'm seeing. I was using a similar combo, Griots G6 with Lake Country orange/white pad with 105 and 205.

If you do find a way, please let me know your product combination so I can give it a try.

 

[SPLR337]

Pad color and abrasiveness varies between manufacturers. With Lake Country, it looks like orange is light cutting and white is polishing, neither would do much for real paint correction.

I had good success with the griots system; DA, pads, and creams. I was able to get 90% of the bigger stuff out with the regular correcting cream and the boss white and orange pads (heavy and medium cut in this case). If that's not enough then you can move up to the fast correcting cream or a microfiber pad.

 

[Codeca]

From what I understand, if the pad stops spinning, you're pressing too hard, no? At least for most tools you let the tool do the work. I'd imagine its just about impossible to actually polish an entire car with even pressure throughout if you're pressing down, and would make the clearcoat uneven in many places. That color looks incredible though btw

 

[sterkrazzy]

Should you use a new pad for every panel?

 

[draftgli]

Should you use a new pad for every panel?

Ideally, yes. Obviously won’t always be possible. If a pad is going to be used for multiple panels, at a minimum, it’s advisable to clean the pad with a brush and/or compressed air between panels. If you’re going that route, even more critical is living by “less is more” with the amount of product you use. The more the pad gets loaded with product (and paint you’re shaving off), the more inefficient the pad becomes, and thus the more the pad will heat up, which also runs the risk of ruining the pad. Alternatively, you could throw a couple soiled pads in the washing machine while you continue working (hopefully you have more than 2 pads of a particular type/color). When they’re done in the washer, stick the clean pads on your buffer and run it for a few seconds to “spin” the excess moisture out of the pad. Not ideal. But IME that will allow you the ability to “stretch” your pads a litter farther.

OP I’m in the same boat as you, other than the fact that my car is black. Just the other day I tried griots FCC on the hood with an LC orange pad. G6 polisher on speed 4. The hood just laughed at me and commented, “Nice try asswipe!” Needless to say I was a little surprised with that outcome. Then I tried a fender section with M105. Same result. Huh.

So at this point I’m not necessarily convinced the problem is so much a function of product as it is cutting power (pad and/or machine). So, I’ve ordered some microfiber cutting pads to try to gain some more cutting power, and I’ll give it another go when they arrive. If all goes well, I’ve got some Sonax perfect finish for finishing polish, followed by Carpro Reload for LSP. If however the microfiber pads don’t work, I may just throw in the towel and take it to a pro. In the old days I’d break out the rotary. But I don’t have one anymore. Fingers crossed.

 

[Maiden69]

So, the TorqX can do the work, but you need to pair it with an aggressive pad and a decent compound. I started with the Porter Cable 7424 which has the same throw as the TorqX, 8mm. It will take a lot of time to get results, but the most important thing is to not do the same time over and over. If you heat the clear coat it will swell and the scratches will "disappear" just to come back a few days after the clear shrinks back to its normal size.

If you can afford, try to get a decent 15mm or 21mm 5" machine. I switched from the PC to Adams Swirl Killers 21mm 6" and 12mm 3", the 6" was great for trucks, but I find it too big for most cars. I added a 15E2 Zentool as I was a dealer for Opticoat Pro and that was the machine they sell, it is pretty decent for the price when it was introduced. Now it is the same price as the Rupes 15ES, and their performance is about equal. My last addition, and what I use to do the final polish is a Flex rotary, I never thought about using it for polishing until after training with Yvan Lacroix when he was with Optimum. The way he does it brings a lot more clarity to the clear without the extra care needed with a DA without creating micro marring. My last addition was the Ruper iBrid nano long neck.

I could also recommend switching from 105/205, unless you have a bigger machine and really know how to get the best out of them. That is what Jason Kilmer uses, he explain into detail how to use it... too much for me to deal with, even for me as a certified detailer. The polishes Optimum and Adams sell are good, but I moved to SONAX Cut & Finish, SONAX CutMax, Sonax Perfect Finish 4/6, Sonax Ultimate Cut 6+, and SONAX EX 04-06. For the GTI, the Perfect Finish and the EX 04-06 worked great. Another great "one step" compound is TLD The Last Cut. Best thing between Optimums Hyper system and The Last Cut is that you don't need to tape the trim, as it won't stain it.

As far as pads, Lake Country. Their HDO and SDO for most compound work, and for some "one step" polish. For 2 step I switch to Rupes Yellow or White depending on how soft the paint is. For heavy compound, I use Rupes Blue and Yellow wool pads.

You should clean the pad after every pass if possible, compressed air or a pad washer is what I use and recommend as brushes tend to break the foam from the inside out. When I don't have either I use a microfiber and run the pad on it for a few seconds to remove the build up.

One last thing to consider. You don't want to be polishing your car all the time. You have about 1.5 mils of paint, and about 1/3 to 1/2 of that is clear coat. Clear coat has a 5 year half-life, which means that every 5 years you lose about half of what you have. For a new car, that is no big deal, but for a 5 year old car that has not been maintained well, could mean that a hard compound could severely compromise the clear coat. This is why I recommend using a coating as soon as possible, or if you're going to use wax or sealant, to use it more often than recommended.

 

[mrmatto]

Tornado Red 2015 here. I’ve too noticed the clear coat is quite hard. Anything but the lightest swirls takes a lot of work to improve. I’ve gotten good results with Griots Complete Compound with a microfiber fast finish pad. Effective correction that isn’t too aggressive and finishes up nice.

Food for thought.

 

[jakealake18]

So, I’ve ordered some microfiber cutting pads to try to gain some more cutting power, and I’ll give it another go when they arrive. If all goes well, I’ve got some Sonax perfect finish for finishing polish, followed by Carpro Reload for LSP. If however the microfiber pads don’t work, I may just throw in the towel and take it to a pro. In the old days I’d break out the rotary. But I don’t have one anymore. Fingers crossed.

@draftgli How'd those microfiber cutting pads work out?

 

[draftgli]

@draftgli How'd those microfiber cutting pads work out?

Unfortunately life got in the way the last few weeks, so I haven’t had the chance to try them. Now the weather isn’t too hot. Hoping and praying for a couple warm days and I’ll get out there. Will report back.