Swirl marks from machine polishing.

[zetec]

Picked up my new (nearly new) car last week, when I looked at the car i noticed a very small paint scuff on the drivers door. I told the salesman if I was to buy the car that scuff woud have to be dealt with. Upon picking up the car I noticed the scuff had been just hastily touched up. I mentioned this to the salesman and he said to bring it back on Thursday when the paint guy will be at the dealership.

The paint guy did a great job, he used a machine polisher and the mark was completly removed, it didn't need any touching up in the first place, just a damn good polish.

However, out and about in the car today I parked it in direct sunlight and noticed some quite bad swirl marks where he had used the polisher.

Is this normal? Can i just use a good polish to remove them or should I take it back to the dealership?

Thanks!

[Defcon5]

Personally I would do it myself

[domster]

These swirls are likely to be 'hologramming' or machine marks; it's caused when an aggressive polishing stage is undertaken but then the refining/finishing stages are left out. In all fairness, it is difficult to spot at the time by the machinist, as many machine polishes/compounds contain fillers that mask these holograms. The paint looks perfect initially, then in direct sunlight two weeks later, you see a kaleidoscope of swirls and patterns.

I'd say there are machine marks and ask him to remove them - it probably just means a few hours going over with a finishing polish and light to medium cut pad.

[Showroom Valet]

Hello mate,

The swirl marks you have noticed will be holograms, these occur from a couple of reasons, he will have used a harsh compound to remove the marks, probably G3 compound, holograms can also appear through bad machine polishing technique.

To remove them, you need to go over the area with a finer polish on a finishing pad, this removes the haze left by the harsher compound, in some cases dependent on how harsh the holograms are, you may need to go over it again.

To be honest if you do not have the equipment, then try and find a local detailer, or the nearest one with a good reputation.

Hope that helps, but that will be what the problem is

All the best

Michael.

[zetec]

Thanks for the replies!

I've given the area a go with some Autoglym Super resin polish this morning, taking the car out later and I'll try park it in sunlight again to assess. It looks perfect at the moment as it's out of the sun!

The only thing that worries me is that if there has been any permanent damage to the paint layers?

[PJ S]

Only permanent anything, is a thin sliver of the clearcoat having been removed. Not underlying damage to the paint layer, and if not buffed too thin, then the clearcoat has plenty of depth left to protect against UV and the elements.
As Dom and Stephen have said, what's there is as a result of the typical constraints dealerships put on their guys regarding how much time is spent polishing - they're paid per car, so the more cars they get through per day, the more they earn.
Hence why they tend to use Farecla G3 which is effectively liquid sandpaper, and then throw on something that fills/masks the result of using just a very aggressive polishing compound.
Chances are if you go back to the dealer, they won't have G6 or G10 to refine with, so you may as well employ a local detailer who does, or even a bodyshop, who uses 3M's range of polishes.

[Showroom Valet]

Steven? :-0

[domster]

Michael Stevens? Steve Michaels?

Back to the thread... remember that SRP contains fillers, so you will be hiding the swirls/holograms. So if you want to see what damage has actually been done, don't use SRP as it 'flatters' the paint, like many compounds do.

[PJ S]

Showroom Valet said:

Steven? :-0

Ah, I meant Bob, Jon - sorry.

[GTDetailing]

It could potentially also have been polished with a dirty pad and that will have induced swirls in the paint. I would contact a local detailer also, It may not work out too expensive if you only want the local area doing not the whole car.

[mneame]

Notice you're in Essex. Give me a shout if I can be of help Post some pics if you can so we can advise more accurately.