Soft Clear Coat?

[Daleo]

Hi, Just had my black nm35 stagea detailed, car was COVERED in scratches and swirls. My paint correction guy was tearing his hair out.

He spent 24hrs solid on the car, reckons it has the softest clear coat he's ever seen.

I remember seeing another detailing thread with a white 350GT, owner said the clear was very soft.

It looks AMAZING right now, brilliant gloss, no swirl marks, just looks like glass. My problem is, it seems so fragile. Every time i wash it, I'm just going to put scratches on it.

I'm actually considering getting my guy to strip the clear off the entire car and flowcoat the car and be done with it. Cost is around $1000.

What are other people doing in this situation?

Before someone asks, yes, my guy knows his stuff,and I do trust his word, works for a high end paint company. He does cars for Autosalon and Summernats, has had numerous cars win paint awards.

Any help would be appreciated, Dale

[kleicl]

Well if its taking him 24h to get it to the look the good and your paying him how much ??? mabe after 10 washes its covered it.. so go and get the job done right.. but there is such thing as a soft clear it happens when the painter is using a cold enviroment.. and then they go and cutt and buff ect.. its not dryed yet. its like putting putting a coat of wax and pollish on a wet surface it doesent have time to breath...

[Mr Cali]

I would seriously consider a flow coat mate, nothing worse then having a black car with a crappy clear coat. You will never be happy with it and it will annoy you untill you get it rectified.

BTW, how much do he charge for a detail?

[Daleo]

Well if its taking him 24h to get it to the look the good and your paying him how much ??? mabe after 10 washes its covered it.. so go and get the job done right.. but there is such thing as a soft clear it happens when the painter is using a cold enviroment.. and then they go and cutt and buff ect.. its not dryed yet. its like putting putting a coat of wax and pollish on a wet surface it doesent have time to breath...

The cost isn't the issue here. He's an absolute perfectionist, actually charging me less because he's not happy with the end result.

It's actually the factory clear, car hasn't been resprayed. He's told me that the clear the factory apply in japan is not UV stabilised, and really suffers in aussie conditions, that's why i'm considering the flowcoat, plus it should be much harder. Just hoping someone might have had ok results with the factory clear after detailing...

Mr Cali, his original quote was $400, but the service he provides is much like Meguiars type detailing which is somewhere around the $1000 mark, and upwards.

Mine was just a love job really, heard about my car through a friend, was interested and approached me. Glad I gave it to him now, a run of the mill detailer would've completely stuffed it.

Edited April 15, 2009 by Daleo

[SS8_Gohan]

$400 is about right for a days work, about a Stage 2 price at Final Inspection. And i sure as hell hope you didn't get Meguiars products touching your car for that price, because i'd be severly pissed if that happened to me.

Soft clear coats are a bit of a norm these days as car makers try and make their paint processes more environmentally friendly. Subaru has been notorious during recent years for their soft clear coats. Some of the new BMW's have very soft clear's as well, Nissan it seems fairs no better from factory. Just the way the cookie crumbles i guess. So no, there's nothing wrong, just a lot of soft clears running around these days straight from the factory.

It can be managed, but with most cars you need a ~6month maintenance detail anyway, so with the correct washing technique you can keep it in a good enough state that when you get the maintenance detail you'll only need 1 pass of something with a light cut, like Menzerna's Final Finish.

What buffing pads did he use? What polishes did he use? What product did he finish the car off in once after the pain correction?

cheers,

daniel

[Daleo]

$400 is about right for a days work, about a Stage 2 price at Final Inspection. And i sure as hell hope you didn't get Meguiars products touching your car for that price, because i'd be severly pissed if that happened to me.

Hi Daniel, Like I said, no problem wth the price, yeah, definitely no Meguiars products

Soft clear coats are a bit of a norm these days as car makers try and make their paint processes more environmentally friendly. Subaru has been notorious during recent years for their soft clear coats. Some of the new BMW's have very soft clear's as well, Nissan it seems fairs no better from factory. Just the way the cookie crumbles i guess. So no, there's nothing wrong, just a lot of soft clears running around these days straight from the factory.

This is pretty much what I figured, seems to be more common than I realised

It can be managed, but with most cars you need a ~6month maintenance detail anyway, so with the correct washing technique you can keep it in a good enough state that when you get the maintenance detail you'll only need 1 pass of something with a light cut, like Menzerna's Final Finish.

Going to see how I go with it over the next month or so, and assess the situation. If I'm just scratching the buggery out of it, I think I'll just get him to re-clear the car, $1000 isn't cheap, but neither is $400 every six months, or so. Them the problem is solved, clear is thicker, and much harder.

What buffing pads did he use? What polishes did he use? What product did he finish the car off in once after the pain correction?

I'm not really sure about pads etc. He works for a paint company, they specialise in products for show cars and high end stuff, (don't know what the rules are like on the forum regarding plugging businesses) and he has just released a range of products to cater to these kind of users. Apparrently all commercially available products contain "diamond cutters" (miniscule sharp particles) which contribute to swirls and scratches whilst polishing. His don't, they contain miniscule spherical particles, these apparrently are much better (I'm not a paint expert, but the proof is in the pudding; my car looks AMAZING)

If you are interested please pm me with your questions and I'll get some proper info from him ok? He's only just released this stuff, and it seems quite impressive. Dale

cheers,

daniel

Edited April 16, 2009 by Daleo