Owning a black car is a labour of love. I’ve had five in the past, and keeping them looking good does take a lot of time and commitment.
The old school method of using a single bucket and sponge to wash with and a chamois leather to dry with, or using one of the many hand wash set-ups with will inflict swirls to a car’s paintwork, and with a black or any dark coloured car, they’ll be particularly noticeable in bright, sunny conditions. As your car is currently showing signs of swirls, if you don’t clean your car yourself, or you don’t use - or intend to use - a safe washing technique in future, then a polish containing fillers such as Autoglym Super Resin Polish as suggested by afropelican is probably your best bet. You will need to reapply it every few weeks though to continue to hide the swirl marks.
If you already use - or intend to use - a safe washing method, you might want to consider getting the paint work professionally corrected so you have a good scratch free and swirl free base to move forward from for the future. However, as afropelican has said, it won’t be a good investment to do this if you then take your car to one of the hand wash places, as they’ll very quickly re-add the swirl marks you’ve paid to have removed!
A professional detailer will offer a range of services at varying prices that will involve decontamination of the paint work (remove iron and tar deposits and other surface contaminants) and correction/removal of the swirls and scratches by a number of machine polishing stages prior to applying a protective coating of a good wax or sealant. You should then have paintwork that’s in good condition, and it will be easier to keep it that way with a good washing technique. I invested in a dual action machine polisher a few years ago, and it’s paid for itself many times over, compared to what it would have cost me to get my car professionally detailed (I am OCD about my car’s paintwork, but fortunately enjoy car detailing ).
The key to minimising future swirling and scratching is minimal contact with the bodywork, so a pre-wash stage is worthwhile to remove most of the dirt before the main wash.
- Pre-wash stage; Snow foam and pre-rinse to remove most of the dirt before making contact with the paintwork during the main wash. While the dirt is being loosened / soaked during the pre-wash, wash the wheels, and the difficult to clean areas such as grilles, door shuts, inside the filler flap etc. Rinse off any remaining snow foam prior to carrying out the main wash.
- Main wash; Two bucket wash method using a good quality ph neutral shampoo and wash mitt.
- Drying stage; with good quality car drying towels or a warm air dryer.
Lots of information on websites such as Detailing World on safe, effective washing techniques.
It’s also worth considering investing in some good quality detailing brushes for those difficult to clean areas mentioned at the pre-wash stage above, and if you’re as OCD as I am about your car’s appearance
, also consider investing in some wheel cleaning brushes that are suitable for cleaning the wheel barrels as well as the front face of the wheels. I’ve got a set of Wheel Woolies; they’re not cheap, but if they’re looked after they’ll give many years of good service.
Edit: once you get your car looking the way you want it to, ensure you avoid the VW dealer complimentary service wash when your car goes in for servicing or repair work. They use a very poor washing technique, which will add swirls to your paintwork. I always instruct them not to wash my car!