[The Tony Show]

Originally Posted by Mystical_Ice

OK here's what happened today:

so i take it there....

he says "no, the wax will fill the swirls, and when the wax is removed, the swirls will still be gone".

Wrong- unless they use a polish/wax combo. Wax is non abrasive.

i also learned that, to their credit, the only way to get rid of scratches is with a high speed rotary buffer, and that an orbital buffer you can use to remove swirls, or with waxing, but that it won't ever remove scratches (deeper ones, even though they're still relatively light).

Wrong- Polishing is polishing. The only difference between an orbital and a rotary is the rotation pattern, speed and heat generated. What he meant to say was, "It's only possible with an orbital if you're willing to spend time on it. We use a rotary because we're lazy"

....said i should bring it back on monday as soon as i get back and they'll wet sand it with 3000 grit......SO, they want to wet sand it on monday, and mark said it's going to take most of the day to do, if not the whole day (which makes me think... good... at least they'll do a good job)

NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. I wrote this big so you don't miss it like the advice about the rotary. Wetsanding is for removing large amounts of paint to eliminate orangepeel or deeper scratches. The swirl marks are measurable in microns, so you only need to remove a microscopic amount of clear to get rid of them. Wetsanding to remove swirls is like cutting off your head to get rid of a pimple.

took it to ANOTHER friend, who does work on Saleens, Vipers, Corvettes, and Ford GTs for a living, and he said that what he'd suggest is instead of 3000grit wetsanding it (which he said will remove even MORE of my clear coat, which is probably pretty low after that hardcore 'polishing' they did originally (don't know the difference between polishing and buffing)) that i should tell them to use 3M swirl remover...

Your friend is wise, but just remember that the product is only as good as the method in which it is applied. Give me the same paints Van Gogh used and I still couldn't paint you a Van Gogh. If they use the rotary again, it's just going to leave you a thinner crappy paint job.

i also noticed, i must throw in, that the tail lights were 'buffed' or 'polished' or whatever too. the swirls extended right onto the taillights. same goes for the headlights. scratched and all. it's like they just ran the buffer right over the head and taillights. terrible.

what think.

That would be the end for me. Get your car away from these tools before you have bare metal car on your hands, DeLorean style. Tell the owner you've lost confidence in their work, and want a letter guaranteeing payment to another shop to remove the swirls.

Listen to me when I say this:

You passed on the first set of advice and got hosed. Don't ignore good advice a second time. I know you want the car fixed and want it done NOW, but be patient and get it done properly somewhere else, or only allow these 'tards to do it if they use an Orbital.