scratches advice
Discussion
Hi folks, i have been meaning to swap my current golf for a diesel pd130 version and have found what seems to be the perfect car today. Its on really, really low mileage and all the mot mileage adds up. From the history has lived in manchester for most of its life (probably explains the low mileage) as nowheres too far in a big city.
Anyway the bodywork has a fair few light scratches to it... i guess expected for a 'city car' and something 12 years old and more noticeable as its black. They aren't too deep, i know its hard to explain or guess but how good actually is t-cut or other similar products as i'd be interested to know if they would buff out with a bit of TLC?
The current owner obviously hasn't had a go at buffing it out himself for whatever reason but its an excuse to haggle even more off the already cheap price
i wonder if anyone has any before and after pictures of their own work getting scratches out?
thanks in advance, Phil
Anyway the bodywork has a fair few light scratches to it... i guess expected for a 'city car' and something 12 years old and more noticeable as its black. They aren't too deep, i know its hard to explain or guess but how good actually is t-cut or other similar products as i'd be interested to know if they would buff out with a bit of TLC?
The current owner obviously hasn't had a go at buffing it out himself for whatever reason but its an excuse to haggle even more off the already cheap price
i wonder if anyone has any before and after pictures of their own work getting scratches out?
thanks in advance, Phil
I wouldn't use T-cut myself. There's a good Sonus bundle from cleanyourcar.co.uk that I've used myself on a variety of cars. VAG paintwork tends to be very hard though, and making progress hand polishing it is really time consuming and kills your arms. I used the kit on the OH's Audi and swore never to hand polish it again. The results were a lot better but there's still some visible scratches that I couldn't get out.
The results from machine polishing will invariably be better imho as that will break the polishes down as they're worked, giving you a better finish.
If you want it polished up then I'd give serious consideration to getting a professional detailer with experience in paintwork correction to attend to it as a one off to get it up to scratch. If you then use decent wash methods and a quality LSP there's no reason why it won't stay looking good for a long time afterwards.
The results from machine polishing will invariably be better imho as that will break the polishes down as they're worked, giving you a better finish.
If you want it polished up then I'd give serious consideration to getting a professional detailer with experience in paintwork correction to attend to it as a one off to get it up to scratch. If you then use decent wash methods and a quality LSP there's no reason why it won't stay looking good for a long time afterwards.
Rule of thumb seems to be that if you can "feel" the scratch with your nail it wont fully polish out with a buffer.
You can however take the edges off deeper ones to lessen the effect.
VW paint is hard though and you need a decent polisher to get the best out of it - if you can foot the cost a pro will do a great job and it will have the car looking really nice. If you take care of it from then on it will stay like that for quite a while, long as you wash with a mitt and take care of the paint.
Detailingworld forums are good for some end to end examples of poor condition paint with pictures showing the process.
I used to machine polish all my cars but got to a stage where I couldnt be bothered with it - but did get some really good results with a DA polisher
Currently have a BMW and thats the worst paint of all, local detailer has quoted £400 for a correction over 2/3 days.
You can however take the edges off deeper ones to lessen the effect.
VW paint is hard though and you need a decent polisher to get the best out of it - if you can foot the cost a pro will do a great job and it will have the car looking really nice. If you take care of it from then on it will stay like that for quite a while, long as you wash with a mitt and take care of the paint.
Detailingworld forums are good for some end to end examples of poor condition paint with pictures showing the process.
I used to machine polish all my cars but got to a stage where I couldnt be bothered with it - but did get some really good results with a DA polisher
Currently have a BMW and thats the worst paint of all, local detailer has quoted £400 for a correction over 2/3 days.
Autoglym super resin polish will reduce the appearance of most scratches and is a great all round polish.
Yes you could get them professionally removed but on a black car you will just spend your ownership chasing them around.
A once over with srp and maybe a little extra on any big ones every couple of months is more than enough IMO.
Yes you could get them professionally removed but on a black car you will just spend your ownership chasing them around.
A once over with srp and maybe a little extra on any big ones every couple of months is more than enough IMO.
Jimmyarm said:
Autoglym super resin polish will reduce the appearance of most scratches and is a great all round polish.
Yes you could get them professionally removed but on a black car you will just spend your ownership chasing them around.
A once over with srp and maybe a little extra on any big ones every couple of months is more than enough IMO.
Whooops didn't notice its black - agree SRP and a decent wax on top works wonders before splashing out on anything.Yes you could get them professionally removed but on a black car you will just spend your ownership chasing them around.
A once over with srp and maybe a little extra on any big ones every couple of months is more than enough IMO.
Thanks guys, i have been pricing up machine polishers as they are supposed to give better results than hand? Im not fussed about spending a weekend doing it myself - as with all new cars its your new pride and joy :P
I'm not too bothered if theres one or 2 scratches visible, aslong as the majority go. At the end of the day its a 10 year old car...
I'm not too bothered if theres one or 2 scratches visible, aslong as the majority go. At the end of the day its a 10 year old car...
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