I got my 4th gen Prelude repainted early this Spring. The paint looked beautiful but had one thing that bugged me. When the sun was shining directly on it, I noticed it had holograms pretty bad. So I got it rebuffed and waxed, which took most of them out but not completely.

I am really **** about my paint and try to take really good care of it. But it seems like the clearcoat is way more sensitive to scratches than it should be. Even when i wash my car, I wash it with a microfiber mitt, than dry it off with a Mother's microfiber waffle weave drying towel, and i use minimal pressure. Even with that, i notice it has left some little scratches.

What really pisses me off about it is what happened earlier today. I stopped over at my parents house for a little while today. Their cat ran outside when the door opened and instead of running underneath the cars like he always does, he jumped on top of my car.

He doesn't have claws (thank God), but he slipped and slid down my hood. My car was somewhat dusty, so now after that I am left with about 8 paw prints slid down my hood, made up of really fine scratches. I wouldn't think that should do that much damage, but it did, and its pretty noticeable. It almost looks like smudge marks, but it is a bunch of really fine scratches.

So my question is is this common for new paint to be this sensitive to scratches? I also just got done putting Klasse High Gloss Sealant on my car about a week ago.

Is there anything I can do to fix these marks?

I have heard that a good way to test a drying towel or washing mitt to make sure it won't scratch your paint is to see if it scratches a CD, because if something scratches a CD it might scratch your paint. But my paint seems A LOT more sensitive than a CD.

 

pics. and try the cd test with your equipment.

 

Clear shouldn't be that sensitive, but it all depends on what clear was used on your car. Another big factor is the color. Black will obviously show scratches very easily, where white will stay new looking for a very long time and rarely need to be polished. Some high end show clears stay relatively soft and will scratch very easily. I've heard a lot of people refer to them as 'buffing clears' that respond well to repeated light polishing, like you would do before a show. Regular 'hard' clear wouldn't shine up as easily. I've never run into that personally, but then again we don't use anything that's that fussy. Our clear will scratch easily right after it has been painted but not as easily and as long after painting as your car. Call the shop that painted your car and ask, there's no harm in open dialogue. They might tell you it's normal or maybe that there's a better way to take care of it.

 

My car is azure blue green pearl, so it is a pretty dark color. The paint looks awesome overall, but for being my daily driver (except for winter) it pisses me off that it gets scuffed up that bad from something like a cat with no claws jumping on my car. Especially after how much time and money I spend to make it look the best that it can.

And also I have tried that CD test before, and I can tell you that my paint does seem to scratch easier than a CD does.

 

the hologram look that you're talking about seems to be the swirl marks that come out when buffing the car after it's been painted. Whomever did the buffing probably didn't use any type of swirl remover, so it might not be the clear coat at all.

 

What he's describing is a sort of 'soft clear syndrome'. Regardless of how it looks before hand, after touching the car even lightly it leaves visible scratches right where it was touched. Although you're right about holograms, I don't think that's what he's describing.

 

Actually both of you are right. The hologram look I was having troubles with is from poor buffing. It leaves wavy 3D looking sunmarks in the paint. So I'm not sure if these holograms were just from poor buffing or if it is a combination of that and really soft paint. Heres a picture from when the holograms were really bad on my car.



But the holograms are mostly taken care of, and can not even be seen at all after a good glaze and sealant are put on. But DC2.2_GSR is right about the super soft clear. It just scratches way too easy. Even with using expensive microfiber drying towels and washing mitts to wash my car, I still am extremely cautious when washing it because if any dirt at all is left on my paint when drying it, it will scratch it. Its just stressful having new paint that sensitive to scratching for a daily driver.

 

That looks like typical body shop buffing to me.
You said that you had the car re-buffed and then waxed. What I am curious about is did you have the body-shop that did the work do the re-buff and wax? And how long after the car was painted did the re-buff and wax occur? Was the wax that was used carnuba based?
The reason that I ask these specific questions is that after your car gets painted the paint needs to spend a significant amount of time out-gassing.
As it has been explained to me, this is the period where the clear coat is releasing the gases and curing completely. Meaning that the paint is going through it's chemical completion to completely harden. Most body shops tell you not to wax the paint for 60-90 days after a fresh paint job, because the wax prevents the paint from curing.

If you went to a separate shop to have the re-buff performed and they didn't know they were working on fresh paint and went ahead and waxed it.......... Well then I would be afraid that the paint was never allowed to fully cure and you might be up **** creek.

 

^ true, except it's usually 30-40 days. About the typical body shop buffing... yeah, that's also true, unfortunately. Personally I'd never let something leave the shop that looked like the pic above but there are a lot of shops who couldn't care less.

When we cut and buff a car after paint, no matter what color it is it will look better than any detail/wax job for the rest of the life of the vehicle. Part of that is due to the fact that when you pick the car up at the body shop after paint, that's the best the surface will ever look. Clear coat that's laid out properly looks absolutely incredible right out of the gun. As soon as you lay a finger (or even microfiber) on it with no lubricating media, the scratching begins. Any time we even have to wipe dust off or anything we use a non-silicone based lubricant spray like Norton's Liquid Ice or Meguiar's Final Inspection with a new microfiber cloth. Newly painted panels don't ever get washed or anything. We use the Liquid Ice for everything fresh. In fact, that's the best way to 'wash' your car. With a show finish, soap/water and a wash mitt should never touch a painted surface. New microfiber and liquid ice is the only thing to use. That's just not practical for a DD though. lol.

 

I went to a different shop that does detailing to do the re-buff and wax, because obviously the body shop that painted my car were not very good at buffing so I didn't wanna have them attempt it again. And I heard that 90 days is the maximum time your car would possibly need to finish curing and hardening. So I waited until about 3 1/2 months after my car was painted to get it rebuffed and waxed. And the wax that was used was Meguiars NXT, which I am personally not a fan of anymore. The time span the wax lasted seemed to be extremely short.

That is true, when I went to pick my car up from the shop after it got painted, it looked amazing. That is until I saw it the next day when it was a bright sunny day.

I might have to try that Liquid Ice out though. I'm sure it probably won't be the best thing to use after my car has bug goo/bird crap/heavy dirt on it from DD-ing it, but it would be nice for wiping off a thin coat of dust off it if it works good. My car never seems to stay clean and free of dirt for more than an hour or 2 after washing it. Dust clings to it like a magnet.

 

Might try the Detailing forum in the Appearance section. Some of those guys have tons of knowledge about how to correct that kind of stuff and prevent future damage.