actionzhe

Is anyone else experiencing this? I feel like the black upper part of the side mirror housing is extremely easy to scratch, and because it is black, super obvious under the sun.
I like to detail my car on the weekends to make it look as good as possible for a daily driver. So I noticed that they were a bit scratched when the car was new presumably from dealer prep work, but they were generally looking OK. But after a recent wash, I noticed a new long clear coat scratch on the left side caused by who knows what. So I tried to polish it out, but oh man big mistake. Now in addition to the scratch, there are swirl marks all over the mirror housing from the polish.
It's the same polishing compound as I use for car body paint for many years, and never caused me any issues. I even checked the microfiber cloth I was using to do rub the polish to make sure it didn't have debris in there, nope, nothing on it. Rubbed the same part on car body paint and not a single scratch.

So I guess whatever they are using for the mirror is so much softer and thinner than the body clear coat. Not sure how everyone else's mirror housing is holding up, and if you are just living with it? The two tone mirror looks good design wise, but I'd much rather have a full body colored mirror just to prevent this crap. After all I didn't buy the car in black for a reason... The ones they have on the RX where the black piece is the LOWER part of the mirror is a much better design if they are going to scratch this easily.

And any ideas on what should I do to fix the swirl marks? They are clearly not the same thickness or hardness as normal paint...so I'm a bit lost...They still pass the 3 steps away test, so they are nowhere near destroyed, but as I walk up to open the door I can definitely see...

BMGS

iTrader: (1)

What product were you using?

bc6152

Do you take it to a commercial car wash? None of my cars EVER go through a car wash and that includes the dealer... Your side mirrors stick out and those brushes can scratch and cause swirls. Black, it seems, highlights any imperfections in paint more than any other color... Especially swirls.

lesz

Without seeing your car, it is hard to make a specific recommendation with confidence, but many shops would use 3M products. I would start with 3M Machine Glaze, which should have a good chance of removing the swirls, provided that you haven't burned through the clear coat. Then, I would use 3M Hand Glaze, which should bring the finish back to its original shine.

The 3M products that I've mentioned are not cheap, but a 1 quart bottle of each should last for many years and through the period of ownership of a good number of cars.

actionzhe

Meguiar's ultimate compound and Turtle wax polishing compound.

Nope, I never took any of my car to automatic car washes, and always decline the wash at dealer. Dealer prep was the exception because they already prepped the car when I was doing the paperwork.
The new long scratch just seems like to be from someone's clothing or handbag swiping over it in the parking lot or something, judging from how soft the material is, it's bound to happen sooner or later. The swirls are just my doing because I thought I can polish the scratch out, but ended up with bunch of swirls...

actionzhe

I thought the purpose of glaze are to hide imperfections by filling them in. Is it really necessary I start with the machine glaze, if the hand glaze supposedly do the same thing? Any difference between the two other than method of application? I'm not too familiar with the glazing process and not sure if it needs to be multi staged...

BMGS

iTrader: (1)

The turtle wax is probably your issue, if it's the white paste stuff, toss that as its not intended for use on clear coated finishes. I would use Meguiars M105 followed by M205 on a 1" backing plate with a light cutting pad for the M105 and a polishing pad for the M205. With some precision control over the trigger, you can use an electric screwdriver if you dont have a polisher.

If you dont want to invest in the backing plate, a hand application may work if they are light swirls.

actionzhe

No it's not the paste, it's a white liquid from a bottle and it's labeled clear coat safe, been using it for many years and never had an issue. I don't think they sell it anymore. But it works very similiar to the Meguiar UC where it starts coarse and work itself to be finer as you rub it in. I was running low on it after many years of use which is why I got the Meguiar UC. But neither product did much in this case.
I read a lot good things about the M105 and M205, but at this point I'm just a bit scared of continued polishing. I'm less concerned about getting the long scratch out now, but more concerned with the fact my polishing compounds that never failed me in the past years created all the new swirls. I was watching it closely and most of the swirls were not there before I started polishing, apart from some lights ones from the dealer prep...
Using polishing compound was never a 100% guarantee that it was going solve whatever imperfection I was working on, which is fine, but it never created new swirl marks on paint for me before, so I'm confused on why it happened on the mirror...and if the paint on mirror should never be polished...

BMGS

iTrader: (1)

I'll still stand by my view that the Turtle Wax product is your issue. I'm assuming the rest of the car is not black so you may not see those same swirls. Try the M105 and M205, it will get anything out and you can control it based on pad choice, pressure and duration. I use it on my obsidian paint now and have on many other black vehicles with flawless results under high powered lighting.

TechNut

I have paint protection film on the mirrors, so they may not show the swirls as easily. I have also been able to cover up some very minor scratches by using the film. This will only work in very light scratches though. Also, I agree with comments regarding avoiding machine car washes if you are concerned about the finish.

lovemyGSFS

the paint on these cares are extremely soft, I've only been on the highway three times and it already has few small chips on the front bumper. so last week I had the clear film installed on the hood and front bumper.

lesz

The word "glaze" in the two 3M products has noting to do with "filling in" scratches. The 3M Machine Glaze and 3M Hand Glaze, are both just mildly abrasive polishes designed to remove minor surface scratches, polishing swirls, etc.

The difference between the two products is that, while both are mildly abrasive, the Hand Glaze is more mildly abrasive than is the Machine Glaze. (Note that both can be used by hand.)

If it was my car, I might start with the Hand Glaze and see if that does the job. In the more likely event that it didn't remove the swirls, I would use the Machine Glaze. The Machine Glaze might very slightly dull the finish. So, as I said in the previous post, I'd finish the job by restoring the shine with the Hand Glaze

mikemu30

My ES is nearly two years old, on the highway every day and has not a single stone chip so far.

chrisdabos

mine already has a stone chip on the roof. This car is a more sleeker design than my Impala and I can hear a lot of debris hit the car when I drive. That's Houston for you.

mikemu30

I've used a product called SwirlX on previous cars and it seemed to do a decent job for light scuffs and swirl marks. The beauty of white paint - you rarely see swirls with a white metallic finish.