Honda Car Forum

With my new RSX I have been fairly obsessed. I bought a variety of Zaino
products and purchased the 100% cotton, white Fieldcrest towels. I wash the
towels in liquid detergent -- no fabric softener. During the summer I wash
the car weekly with a soft sponge followed by a towel-dry and during the
winter I've managed to wash it about once every two weeks, as temperature
allows (I live in New England.) Last fall I clayed and polished the car with
two coats of Zaino including the gloss enhancer (which is really amazing),
to prepare it for the tough winter.

Today was sunny and as I was getting in the car I noticed the swirl marks on
the hood. What the heck. A rather naive question, but what should I not be
doing to avoid the swirl marks, and is there any way to truly get rid of
them?

Thanks,
Raab

On Mon, 9 Feb 2004 17:47:08 -0500, "Raab Himself" <Raab@House.of.Raab>
wrote:
>Today was sunny and as I was getting in the car I noticed the swirl marks on
>the hood. What the heck. A rather naive question, but what should I not be
>doing to avoid the swirl marks, and is there any way to truly get rid of
>them?

My Los Angeles dealer swirled them in before I bought the car. You
can walk all over the lot and see the new cars with swirls. I never
noticed them until I'd had the car for several months, but I could
never have put them in -- all my cleaning and waxing was by hand, and
these were clearly buffing machine patterns. The dealer sort of
admitted as much, but said that "everyone does it". Funny thing is, I
can walk around any mall parking lot and see Acuras from other
dealers, with no swirls.

Don't know if that helps, but maybe.

J.

On Mon, 9 Feb 2004 17:47:08 -0500, "Raab Himself" <Raab@House.of.Raab>
wrote:

>With my new RSX I have been fairly obsessed. I bought a variety of Zaino
>products and purchased the 100% cotton, white Fieldcrest towels. I wash the
>towels in liquid detergent -- no fabric softener. During the summer I wash
>the car weekly with a soft sponge followed by a towel-dry and during the
>winter I've managed to wash it about once every two weeks, as temperature
>allows (I live in New England.) Last fall I clayed and polished the car with
>two coats of Zaino including the gloss enhancer (which is really amazing),
>to prepare it for the tough winter.
>
>Today was sunny and as I was getting in the car I noticed the swirl marks on
>the hood. What the heck. A rather naive question, but what should I not be
>doing to avoid the swirl marks, and is there any way to truly get rid of
>them?
>
>Thanks,
> Raab
>
>


Never make any circular rubbing motions on a car. Always make up and
down motions on the long axis.

In article <thng20l9mivksousj5go57e7sph0pb1k8k@4ax.com>, Hans
<Hans@spamkiller.com> wrote:

>
>
> Never make any circular rubbing motions on a car. Always make up and
> down motions on the long axis.


Very good advice indeed. Also... if nervous, use a lower speed random
orbital polisher. Nothing can substitute for quality products and a
good maintenance schedule though. There are many products avail. to
solve your problem provided the damage is only in the clear coat and
not the paint base itself. My suggestion would be to find a good
detailing shop that uses Farecula. This stuff is a blessing... I
think that a little love from the G-Mop and some G10 should solve your
problems.



Andrew.

Our dealer buffed swirls into our hood, trying to get rid of a mark
left by a bird, which I don't think should have left a mark for only
being there very shortly. The dealer basically told me that bird poop
leaves permanent marks on all cars. Pooh-y.


On Tue, 10 Feb 2004 03:25:39 GMT, JXStern <JXSternChangeX2R@gte.net>
wrote:

> On Mon, 9 Feb 2004 17:47:08 -0500, "Raab Himself" <Raab@House.of.Raab>
> wrote:
> >Today was sunny and as I was getting in the car I noticed the swirl marks on
> >the hood. What the heck. A rather naive question, but what should I not be
> >doing to avoid the swirl marks, and is there any way to truly get rid of
> >them?
>
> My Los Angeles dealer swirled them in before I bought the car. You
> can walk all over the lot and see the new cars with swirls. I never
> noticed them until I'd had the car for several months, but I could
> never have put them in -- all my cleaning and waxing was by hand, and
> these were clearly buffing machine patterns. The dealer sort of
> admitted as much, but said that "everyone does it". Funny thing is, I
> can walk around any mall parking lot and see Acuras from other
> dealers, with no swirls.
>
> Don't know if that helps, but maybe.
>
> J.
>

In article <4029cab6.19741640@news.charter.net>, Kelly
<kelly@nospam.net> wrote:

> Our dealer buffed swirls into our hood, trying to get rid of a mark
> left by a bird, which I don't think should have left a mark for only
> being there very shortly. The dealer basically told me that bird poop
> leaves permanent marks on all cars. Pooh-y.


Did the dealer also tell you not to wash the car for about the first
90d?? Depending on when it was sprayed, new paint should be left alone
in order to fully cure and avoid problems such as what you may be
experiencing. I would ask the dealer (with a cc letter to corporate)
to pay for a reputable detailing shop to fix the problem they created
with either poor technique, poor materials or poor attitude. You
shouldn't accept 'this happens to all cars'.


Andrew.
aka neex.

On Thu, 12 Feb 2004 00:09:53 -0500, The Good Bohemian
<neex@redbull.nu> wrote:

> In article <4029cab6.19741640@news.charter.net>, Kelly
> <kelly@nospam.net> wrote:
>
> > Our dealer buffed swirls into our hood, trying to get rid of a mark
> > left by a bird, which I don't think should have left a mark for only
> > being there very shortly. The dealer basically told me that bird poop
> > leaves permanent marks on all cars. Pooh-y.
>
>
> Did the dealer also tell you not to wash the car for about the first
> 90d?? Depending on when it was sprayed, new paint should be left alone
> in order to fully cure and avoid problems such as what you may be
> experiencing. I would ask the dealer (with a cc letter to corporate)
> to pay for a reputable detailing shop to fix the problem they created
> with either poor technique, poor materials or poor attitude. You
> shouldn't accept 'this happens to all cars'.
>
>
> Andrew.
> aka neex.


This happened on our hood. We got the car in April and a few weeks
later, highway debris hit the hood and made a nice $500 dent. We took
it to the Acura body shop, where they fixed the dent and repainted the
hood. The bird poop left the mark last month.

But no one ever told us not to wash the car for 90 days...even after
the hood was repainted. The dealership even washed the car for us
after it returned from the bodyshop and every time we take it in for
something.

They told me that bird poop leaves marks on all cars (I've never had
one that did). And their buff job left the swrils in the hood.

I plan on saying something next time I take it in...but I doubt they
will do anything about it.

Don't wait until your next visit. They won't take it as seriously as if you
made a special trip for that problem.

Dan


Kelly wrote:


> This happened on our hood. We got the car in April and a few weeks
> later, highway debris hit the hood and made a nice $500 dent. We took
> it to the Acura body shop, where they fixed the dent and repainted the
> hood. The bird poop left the mark last month.
>
> But no one ever told us not to wash the car for 90 days...even after
> the hood was repainted. The dealership even washed the car for us
> after it returned from the bodyshop and every time we take it in for
> something.
>
> They told me that bird poop leaves marks on all cars (I've never had
> one that did). And their buff job left the swrils in the hood.
>
> I plan on saying something next time I take it in...but I doubt they
> will do anything about it.
>
>

"Raab Himself" <Raab@House.of.Raab> wrote in message
news:cuydnT853qtwkLXdRVn-jA@comcast.com...
> With my new RSX I have been fairly obsessed. I bought a variety of Zaino
> products and purchased the 100% cotton, white Fieldcrest towels. I wash
the
> towels in liquid detergent -- no fabric softener. During the summer I wash
> the car weekly with a soft sponge followed by a towel-dry and during the
> winter I've managed to wash it about once every two weeks, as temperature
> allows (I live in New England.) Last fall I clayed and polished the car
with
> two coats of Zaino including the gloss enhancer (which is really amazing),
> to prepare it for the tough winter.
>
> Today was sunny and as I was getting in the car I noticed the swirl marks
on
> the hood. What the heck. A rather naive question, but what should I not be
> doing to avoid the swirl marks, and is there any way to truly get rid of
> them?
>
> Thanks,
> Raab
>

First of all, swirls marks are inevitable. You've obviously taken great care
and still you see swirls. Sorry, but that's the deal.

Clear coat finishes have one major purpose; to make the car look wonderful
on the showroom floor. But, after you buy the car you have to rub the
surface to clear it and that causes microscopic scratches in the soft clear
coat. Dust and dirt is really bazillions of very, very tiny rocks. Until
someone comes up with a touch free method to remove these tiny rocks, we'll
keep scratching them into the paint with our ultra-soft cotton pads.

One additional step you can take is to use two water buckets; one for clean
soapy water, and the other to rinse and ring out the towel. NEVER put the
dirty towel from the car back into the soapy water. If you do, all the tiny
and abrasive rocks that you just pulled off the car will be floating around
in what used to be clean water. The next "clean" wipe of the paint will be
with water containing abrasive particles. Once the water appears dirty, you
might as well be using ultra fine sandpaper.

Just keep using a quality wax (Meguiars Polish + Carnauba works best for me)
and enjoy the car. I've been relatively anal with my GSR for several years
and it's ultimately a losing battle.

Example: I always park the car in the anal car owners section about 1 mile
away from the last car in the lot. Several weeks ago I was walking back to
the car and I see a shopping cart rolling directly at the car. I make a mad
sprint to grab the cart only to get there just as the #@!&? thing slams into
my door. It was a slight downhill so the cart was doing about 60 when it hit
the door - the back end actually kicked up on impact. Imagine kneeing your
door with about 90% effort and that's the kind of dent I had.

Just enjoy the car. No matter what you do, it won't stay new forever.

David

DJA wrote:

>"Raab Himself" <Raab@House.of.Raab> wrote in message
>news:cuydnT853qtwkLXdRVn-jA@comcast.com...
>
>
>>With my new RSX I have been fairly obsessed. I bought a variety of Zaino
>>products and purchased the 100% cotton, white Fieldcrest towels. I wash
>>
>>
>the
>
>
>>towels in liquid detergent -- no fabric softener. During the summer I wash
>>the car weekly with a soft sponge followed by a towel-dry and during the
>>winter I've managed to wash it about once every two weeks, as temperature
>>allows (I live in New England.) Last fall I clayed and polished the car
>>
>>
>with
>
>
>>two coats of Zaino including the gloss enhancer (which is really amazing),
>>to prepare it for the tough winter.
>>
>>Today was sunny and as I was getting in the car I noticed the swirl marks
>>
>>
>on
>
>
>>the hood. What the heck. A rather naive question, but what should I not be
>>doing to avoid the swirl marks, and is there any way to truly get rid of
>>them?
>>
>>Thanks,
>> Raab
>>
>>
>>
>
>First of all, swirls marks are inevitable. You've obviously taken great care
>and still you see swirls. Sorry, but that's the deal.
>
>Clear coat finishes have one major purpose; to make the car look wonderful
>on the showroom floor. But, after you buy the car you have to rub the
>surface to clear it and that causes microscopic scratches in the soft clear
>coat. Dust and dirt is really bazillions of very, very tiny rocks. Until
>someone comes up with a touch free method to remove these tiny rocks, we'll
>keep scratching them into the paint with our ultra-soft cotton pads.
>
>One additional step you can take is to use two water buckets; one for clean
>soapy water, and the other to rinse and ring out the towel. NEVER put the
>dirty towel from the car back into the soapy water. If you do, all the tiny
>and abrasive rocks that you just pulled off the car will be floating around
>in what used to be clean water. The next "clean" wipe of the paint will be
>with water containing abrasive particles. Once the water appears dirty, you
>might as well be using ultra fine sandpaper.
>
>Just keep using a quality wax (Meguiars Polish + Carnauba works best for me)
>and enjoy the car. I've been relatively anal with my GSR for several years
>and it's ultimately a losing battle.
>
>Example: I always park the car in the anal car owners section about 1 mile
>away from the last car in the lot. Several weeks ago I was walking back to
>the car and I see a shopping cart rolling directly at the car. I make a mad
>sprint to grab the cart only to get there just as the #@!&? thing slams into
>my door. It was a slight downhill so the cart was doing about 60 when it hit
>the door - the back end actually kicked up on impact. Imagine kneeing your
>door with about 90% effort and that's the kind of dent I had.
>
>Just enjoy the car. No matter what you do, it won't stay new forever.
>
>David
>
>
>
>
Try cleaning clay at www.griotesgarage.com