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drei4runner

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Hello there. New to the forum and new to car detailing. The only experience I have in detailing a car is washing it and doing the old school method of using a compound and then waxing everything afterwards by hand which was taught to me by my dad many moons ago. Sad to say it’s been years since I’ve actually polished and waxed a vehicle. I usually just take it to a car wash place every once in a blue moon to get it clay barred and waxed. I have no experience with either a rotary or DA machine.

So now that my brief history with car detailing has been explained my question is this, my 4Runner’s clear coat is cracking in certain places on the roof and a small section of the roof’s clear coat has started peeling. See pictures

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My question is, how would I go about fixing the clear coat? My worry is that if I use a DA polisher on the peeling clear coat, it might make it worse by making the clear coat peel even more. Or am I just worrying too much? As far as getting the vehicle repainted, that’s out of the question as this my daily driver and I can’t afford to not have a vehicle.

Also can you suggest of a good brand of polish and wax that won’t break my bank? And also what do you folks think of the GoPlus Hyet DA polisher sold on Amazon? I’m not trying to break my bank as this is more geared towards a necessity and not as a business venture.

Thanks for all your help.


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First... Welcome. Second cant really fix without repainting. One can slow it down. Sealant. Wax. Wolfgang Deep Gloss Paint Sealant. Dodo Juice waxes I like. Lots of good stuff on Autogeek. Key is to keep it on there. As in after so long one needs to reapply.

Dont know anything about that polisher but cant go wrong with the Griots Garage GG6. Also sold here. Just stay away from where the peel is with the pads to be safe maybe.

Good luck.

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Goonie75 said:
First... Welcome. Second cant really fix without repainting. One can slow it down. Sealant. Wax. Wolfgang Deep Gloss Paint Sealant. Dodo Juice waxes I like. Lots of good stuff on Autogeek. Key is to keep it on there. As in after so long one needs to reapply.

Dont know anything about that polisher but cant go wrong with the Griots Garage GG6. Also sold here. Just stay away from where the peel is with the pads to be safe maybe.

Good luck.

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Click to expand...

First thanks for the info. Much appreciated.

Second, how would I go about applying the sealant or wax without damaging more of the clear coat without using a polisher? Thanks


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drei4runner said:
First thanks for the info. Much appreciated.

Second, how would I go about applying the sealant or wax without damaging more of the clear coat without using a polisher? Thanks


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By hand... foam applicator. Could use a red pad on a D/A but don't have to per se. Judging by those pictures the failure didn't look too bad. If you have to go over the failed spots just be very gentle so maybe it doesn't flake off more.

Otherwise seal it up and just keep it sealed to prolong the life.

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If just using once in a few moons and don’t want to spend 100$+ I’d go with HF over the Hyet. When I first started collecting things for my 1st polish and coating last year I looked into the hyet and was not bad. Reason I recommend HF is get their warranty. If it goes out it’s probably going to be while using it and you can take back and exchange for 2 years. This will keep you from having to stop and order another polisher from Jeff. He’s in the middle of a divorce and might not get right back to you....

All that being said if your budget will allow I agree with the griots. Look around, find one on sale. If AG carrys what you want and you find it cheaper do the right thing and call up for a price match. AG’s customer service is top notch and company should be supported for hosting this forum.


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this is not an answer, more like a question ? that clear is definitely peeling but the paint looks intact. couldn't a body shop sand & re-clear that roof ? maybe you could check in with a local shop & get their opinion. there's no way it's going to get better by waxing it. if you do speak to a body shop I'd be interested in their opinion. good luck
hmardown
 
hmardown said:
this is not an answer, more like a question ? that clear is definitely peeling but the paint looks intact. couldn't a body shop sand & re-clear that roof ? maybe you could check in with a local shop & get their opinion. there's no way it's going to get better by waxing it. if you do speak to a body shop I'd be interested in their opinion. good luck
hmardown
Click to expand...

Thanks. I’ll check on that. Don’t want to spend too much but if it’s not too bad then I’ll do it


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Goonie75 said:
First... Welcome. Second cant really fix without repainting. One can slow it down. Sealant. Wax. Wolfgang Deep Gloss Paint Sealant. Dodo Juice waxes I like. Lots of good stuff on Autogeek.

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Click to expand...

What do you think of HD Poxy? Is it the same as the Wolfgang Deep Gloss Sealant and Dodo Juice waxes? It seems like the HD Poxy is a combination of both a sealant and wax.

Also would this be the proper way to start off with polishing and waxing my vehicle?
1. Use a compound
2. Use a polish
3. Use a sealant
4. Use a wax

Or is there something I don’t need in one of those steps I mentioned. I’m not trying to fully correct my paint, but I do want to bring back some of its luster and shine to it.

Thanks again for the help.




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I would skip the compounding step and only polish the paint. Since you are experience clearcoat failure your paint is most certain thinner and a compounding will only move it nearer to more. It's not necessary to do both sealant and wax. Go with a good sealant and get a drying aid or after drying apply it. I would look into Optimum Car Wax as it's ability to block UV as a topper. And you could go with an AIO and maintance with OCW. Since an AIO is often less aggressive than a polish and gives you a little protection behind as well. The polish will gloss and clean the paint great. The compounding is more for going after as much of defects as possible. So in your situation I would not advise to compound.

/ Tony
 
SWETM said:
I would skip the compounding step and only polish the paint. Since you are experience clearcoat failure your paint is most certain thinner and a compounding will only move it nearer to more. It's not necessary to do both sealant and wax. Go with a good sealant and get a drying aid or after drying apply it. I would look into Optimum Car Wax as it's ability to block UV as a topper. And you could go with an AIO and maintance with OCW. Since an AIO is often less aggressive than a polish and gives you a little protection behind as well. The polish will gloss and clean the paint great. The compounding is more for going after as much of defects as possible. So in your situation I would not advise to compound.

/ Tony
Click to expand...

I agree with using an All In One.

In this situation Duragloss 101 "Polish & Cleaner" would get the nod. It is a synthetic cleaner wax. So it has a really light abrasive to lightly exfoliate the paint, and remove some really light scratches and seals with their durable polymer.

Iike 101 on black Buff and Shine pads, which are a bit more rigid and aggressive than the Lake Country, offering.

Yeah, go with the Griot's GG6 for your polisher. Lifetime warranty on it.
 
What Tony said

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Other than the clearcoat fail, your paint doesn't look bad at all (of course I don't know what it looks like IRL). Do you really need/want to polish? Even by hand? Do you wash the car yourself? I would second the Optimum Car Wax (OCW), which has UV inhibitors in it (make sure you shake the bottle frequently while you're using it, it separates), or Duragloss AquaWax, or Meguiar's Ultimate Quik Wax (same as the Detailer Line Synthetic Xpress Wax). Those can be put on while you're drying the car. If you wash the car even monthly, any of those ought to keep you in pretty good shape when used at that frequency.

That's just a suggestion to keep things simple, you can, of course, make things as complicated as you want...some of us if we had it to do over again would keep it on the simple end of things.
 
If you are looking to get the clearcoat redone, talk to the body shop, they might have loaners available.

Waxes have carnauba in them. They tend to give your vehicle a "warmer glow". Waxes also dont last as long so you need to apply more often to keep your paint and clearcoat protected.

Sealants are often times more durable. They can give your car
a "hard candy coating" or extra layer of clearcoat" type look to the paint. They tend to last longer than wax. I think a sealant would look great on your color.

Some great sealants I've used are Collinite 845, Finish Kare 1000p Hi Temp paste wax, and Duragloss Clear Coat Polish #111 with the #601 bonding agent. I think I like the Duragloss best on my wife's silver Jeep.

Like I said earlier, terms in the detailing industry can get interchanged. The Hi Temp paste wax is a sealant. And the Duragloss Clearcoat Polish isn't a polish as there are no abrasives in it to polish the paint or remove swirls.

Good luck in your endeavor! Read everything Mike Phillips has written. Watch his videos. Use what he uses. Keep us up to date.
 
SWETM said:
I would skip the compounding step and only polish the paint. Since you are experience clearcoat failure your paint is most certain thinner and a compounding will only move it nearer to more. It's not necessary to do both sealant and wax. Go with a good sealant and get a drying aid or after drying apply it. I would look into Optimum Car Wax as it's ability to block UV as a topper. And you could go with an AIO and maintance with OCW. Since an AIO is often less aggressive than a polish and gives you a little protection behind as well. The polish will gloss and clean the paint great. The compounding is more for going after as much of defects as possible. So in your situation I would not advise to compound.

/ Tony
Click to expand...

Sorry for my ignorance, but what is an OCW? I know what an AIO is but so far haven't heard of OCW before in the short amount of time I've been researching on how to properly polish and wax my vehicle. Thanks.

Disregard. After reading your reply more carefully and also reading the other replies, I realized what OCW stood for. Thanks again for your input.
 
Welcome to the forum and you have been given great advice from our fellow members. As far as a polisher is concerned, I have not heard of that brand name that you are looking at on Amazon so I do not know much about it. What I can tell you is that if you buy cheap, you get cheap. Many of us started on with the Porter Cable 7424XP. It is a great starter machine with plenty of power to polish out some defects and add an even coat of sealant. The Griots GG6 is a very popular machine and one that I recently moved up to. Shop around and find the best deal. Then bring that to Autogeek.net and they will match the price.
 
Thank you for all the replies and suggestions. I appreciate it. I took your suggestions and purchased some of the items that were mentioned in this thread, specifically the Wolfgang Deep Gloss Combo and the Duragloss Clear Coat Polish #111 and Bonding Agent #601. I did also purchase a polishing compound to do all my vehicles. A couple of the vehicles, specially my son's Accord and other son's Rav4 have been neglected. Unfortunately I haven't purchased a DA yet. It's been raining a lot here in Southern California so I haven't had the chance to wash any of my vehicles. I'm just gonna wait on purchasing the GG 6 for a bit. Hopefully the sale will still be up. Just bummed that I missed the President's Day Sale for the extra 25% off
 
25% off usually doesn’t cover polishers. Only a few sales a year cover polishers. Best bet when ready pep boys offer 20% off online most of the time. Have Autogeek match it when ready.


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Coatingsarecrack said:
25% off usually doesn’t cover polishers. Only a few sales a year cover polishers. Best bet when ready pep boys offer 20% off online most of the time. Have Autogeek match it when ready.


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Thanks for that info. I thought that this past President's Day Sale did cover it. I put in the discount code and it took 25% off. Unfortunately I couldn't complete the sale and when I returned the following day, the sale ended already.
 
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