Best way to remove minor car wash scratches

[markayash]

I bought a race red 2021 Convertible Ecoboost that is in decent shape. I looked for about 6 months before finding one that wasn't abused.

It was a rental go guessing it went through a bunch of car washes that weren't the best maintained. No major scratches but if I look close I see lite scratches all over the hood and trunk mainly.
What is the best product and method to polish it? Or would I make it worse Polishing compound?

I have tried a clay bar which helped the looks but not the scratches.

Sponsored

 

[GrabberBargeCaptain]

A DA polisher along with your favorite polishing compound (i use Griot's Perfecting Cream and Correcting Cream). Start off with the least aggressive pad and polish and go from there. In my experience, at least on my Grabber Blue, Ford paint takes a while to get the swirls out compared to Japanese cars (what im used to). These cars are also annoying to polish due to all the curved panels as well as accent lines. If you've never done it before, definitely watch a few tutorials because it's quite the rabbit hole.

 

[glene]

random orbital with a medium pad, I like the Griots polisher.
Meguires 105, then 205…
Then your favorite sealant and wax
no doubt about it, removing scratches and restoring high gloss is a lot of work.

A better alternative might be to pay a detailer to do it, 150 to 200 bucks probably, then you can seal, coat or wax it.

 

[DFB5.0]

I bought a race red 2021 Convertible Ecoboost that is in decent shape. I looked for about 6 months before finding one that wasn't abused.

It was a rental go guessing it went through a bunch of car washes that weren't the best maintained. No major scratches but if I look close I see lite scratches all over the hood and trunk mainly.
What is the best product and method to polish it? Or would I make it worse Polishing compound?

I have tried a clay bar which helped the looks but not the scratches.

While you can polish by hand, its hard going and you will only go so far at removing scratches. If all you want is to instill some gloss and make it shiny enough to take the attention away from the scratches, then hand polishing will serve you well. In which case, look at something that will also have some fillers in it, which will also disguise minor marring/wash induced scratches. I would also stick to the consumer line of products for user friendliness. Think Meguiar's Ultimate Polish or Adams's Hand Polish. I used Mother's California Gold Polish for years with great results.

Meguiar's® Ultimate Polish, 16 oz. (meguiarsdirect.com)'
Adam's Polishes Revive Hand Polish | Fine Polish | Hand Polishing (adamspolishes.com)
California Gold® Pure Polish | Mothers® Polish

Best results will be achieved via machine though. In particular, I'm referring to dual-action polishers as these are more forgiving and you have to be doing something really stupid to cause any damage. For machine choice and selection, have a read here -

Polishing Machine Progression | 2015+ S550 Mustang Forum (GT, EcoBoost, GT350, GT500, Bullitt, Mach 1) - Mustang6G.com

I too have Race Red and have found Sonax Perfect Finish to be excellent on this paint. The great thing with Perfect Finish is it's considered a 1-step polish/compound, meaning you can dial it up or down depending on the level of polishing required without having to follow with a fine grade polish afterwards. Teamed with a cutting pad, you can remove a decent amount of scratches while still finishing down to an acceptable level. Paired with a finishing pad for a finer cut and gloss enhancement.

Personally, I found the sweet spot with Race Red is teaming Perfect Finish with a mid-level pad such as the Rupes yellow or Lake Country Orange SDO (in my case below, it was a Shine Mate Blue intermediate). You could also buy a pad kit to give you options depending on how the paint responds.

Sonax Perfect Finish | Car Supplies Warehouse – Car Supplies Warehouse
Rupes D-A Fine High Performance Polishing Pad (Yellow) | Car Supplies Warehouse – Car Supplies Warehouse
Lake Country Orange Flat Light Cutting Pad | Car Supplies Warehouse – Car Supplies Warehouse
RUPES | D-A Pad Kit – Car Supplies Warehouse
Buff and Shine Reflection Artist Complete Buffing Kit | Car Supplies Warehouse – Car Supplies Warehouse

No editing in these images, rather the result of being polished and coated with Gyeon Q2 Wax.

 

[kilobravo]

I'll second the emotion for Sonax Perfect Finish. Best compound I've found and the diminishing characteristic makes it twice as fast.

 

[Bulutt]

Do some research and find a good dealer Pay them for a ceramic coating which will include all the prep. After that, just a quick wash and it will always look like new for years to come. Well worth the money Imho. DIY is great but a lot of work - but very satisfying when done and of course, much cheaper.

 

[markayash]

Great information, I think I will try and hand polish at first and if I am still not happy hire a local company to do it.
I did a quick search for mobile ceramic coating and one was $999!!

 

[skinnyb]

Great information, I think I will try and hand polish at first and if I am still not happy hire a local company to do it.
I did a quick search for mobile ceramic coating and one was $999!!

Thats about the going rate in East TN where I live. I got a local company to do mine back in the spring. Full paint correction and a 9 year coating was 1K. This included interior clean and detail as well as wheels off clean and ceramic on the wheels as well. And the guy that did it for me is still working full time and does this on the side so he had my car a week Fortunately it's not my daily driver. A full time shop can ususally get in and out in about 3 days.

 

[markayash]

Thats about the going rate in East TN where I live. I got a local company to do mine back in the spring. Full paint correction and a 9 year coating was 1K. This included interior clean and detail as well as wheels off clean and ceramic on the wheels as well. And the guy that did it for me is still working full time and does this on the side so he had my car a week Fortunately it's not my daily driver. A full time shop can ususally get in and out in about 3 days.

I am cheap so if a shop told me $900 I would choke on my food
I knew buying a used 2021 the paint wouldn't be perfect but saved a good $15000.

 

[skinnyb]

I am cheap so if a shop told me $900 I would choke on my food
I knew buying a used 2021 the paint wouldn't be perfect but saved a good $15000.

Yeah I'm cheap too but I know my limits, especially at my age. My shoulders and back can't take a marathon polishing session. I can wash a car and even apply sealant or whatever, but polishing is not my forte.

 

[glene]

understand when you get a quote of $1000 for a ceramic coat, the majority of that is prep work to get ready for the coat. The coating is 100 - $150 cost Max, but you are putting in 8 to 15 hours of polishing to get the car ready to accept the coat, as it is semi permanent. So if the labor rate is about $60-80 an hour for Detailing, it doesn’t take long to add up when you’re doing a two-stage polish.

If you’re basically happy with the condition of your paint, and if you want to get into the coating game and not pay much money, look into $70 Gyeon Cancoat. It’s a semi permanent 6-12 month lite coating and it’s very easy to apply, go to YouTube and find some videos on its application. I’ve been using it for a couple years. this is the look it gives you after one coat::

https://www.amazon.com/GYEON-CANCOA...qid=1702957160&sprefix=cancoat,aps,105&sr=8-1

 

[markayash]

understand when you get a quote of $1000 for a ceramic coat, the majority of that is prep work to get ready for the coat. The coating is 100 and $150 cost at Max, but you are putting in 8 to 15 hours of polishing to get the car ready to accept the coat, as it is semi permanent. So if the labor rate is about $60-80 an hour for Detailing, it doesn’t take long to add up when you’re doing a two-stage polish.

If you’re basically happy with the condition of your paint, and if you want to get into the coating game and not pay much money, look into Gyeon Cancoat. It’s a semi permanent 6-12 month lite coating and it’s very easy to apply, go to YouTube and find some videos on its application. I’ve been using it for a couple years. this is the look it gives you after one coat::

Talked to a friend tonight who said he paid $1300 to have his Dodge Charger done.
I will look into that for sure. Thanks

 

[markayash]

Have a stupid question, how is this coating different from a spray ceramic coating from someone like The last coat?
I watched a few video's and am impressed and it sounds like it actually a true coating.

 

[glene]

the hot buzz word these days is ceramic , and to a degree, They all have some SIO2 content in them. A true coating is a heavy duty infusion of SIO2 ceramic, usually wiped on very carefully. Most of the sprays that are lighter with less protection are a smaller amount of the good stuff and more forgiving to apply.

there are huge amount of sprays out there that just are not very good, my feeling is, if it’s being hyped on Facebook, it’s crap. The true stuff is by manufacturers like Gyeon, Carpro, Adams and others, dicussed /sold on the true Detailing sites/forums.

 

[DFB5.0]

Have a stupid question, how is this coating different from a spray ceramic coating from someone like The last coat?
I watched a few video's and am impressed and it sounds like it actually a true coating.

Longevity and chemical resistance.

Products labeled as "ceramic" spray sealants are designed to provide glass-like gloss and slickness while being ultra easy to apply. The durability and chemical resistance are on the lower side.

A true resin delivered ceramic coating provides the gloss and extreme water repellency, but also much much higher longevity and tolerance to chemicals. Although not necessarily harder to apply than a wax, you need to be mindful that these coating set HARD, so you need to keep organized and be thorough to prevent high-spots.

And when I say "chemical resistance", I don't mean you can go and pour random chemicals on the car. It's a term usually used to describe the toughness of the coating, meaning you can safely use specific cleaning chemicals without worrying about removing the coating. Think bug and tar removers and stronger cleaning soaps ect.

Sponsored