How to find defects on a white car?

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RubbishReview

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I have a white 2014 Hyundai Azera that once the weather breaks I want to polish, seal, and wax. I have been making a wishlist of items that I will need however I cant seem to be able to see the swirls and scratches on the car, is it possible that there are not any? This car has been maintained by the local automated car wash so I would think that it is loaded with swirls and scratches, but I just cant see them on the car. I have done some searching on the forum here and everyone says use direct sun light, xenon flashlights, move the light close to the paint, and that you have to get the right angle... I do not have a xenon light, but I do have a 250W halogen light that works great for seeing defects on my black car and most others, but it seems to do nothing for this white car. The last time that it was bright and sunny outside I took the car out of the garage and still could not see anything.

Any suggestions?
 
On my white truck nothing works as good as the sun.
When it's parked in full sun I can see defects if some are present.
If you have plenty on the hood you can bet they are elsewhere.
 
HateSwirls said:
On my white truck nothing works as good as the sun.
When it's parked in full sun I can see defects if some are present.
If you have plenty on the hood you can bet they are elsewhere.
Click to expand...

I have tried that already and it did not work...

This is my parents car that I am working on and they take it to a local car wash facility to get it cleaned. My understanding is that this particular place runs the cars through an automated car wash and then wipes the car down and cleans the inside. This place also will "wax" the cars as well now I don't know what type of wax they are using, but I suspect that it is some type of filler wax and maybe this is hiding the defects on the car... So this may be one of those things where I will need to remove everything that is on the paint before I will be able to see the defects.

Thoughts?
 
HateSwirls said:
On my white truck nothing works as good as the sun.
When it's parked in full sun I can see defects if some are present.
If you have plenty on the hood you can bet they are elsewhere.
Click to expand...
:iagree:

While your eye might not thank you after a hour of working on white paint the sun truly is the best way for white.

RubbishReview said:
I have tried that already and it did not work...



This is my parents car that I am working on and they take it to a local car wash facility to get it cleaned. My understanding is that this particular place runs the cars through an automated car wash and then wipes the car down and cleans the inside. This place also will "wax" the cars as well now I don't know what type of wax they are using, but I suspect that it is some type of filler wax and maybe this is hiding the defects on the car... So this may be one of those things where I will need to remove everything that is on the paint before I will be able to see the defects.



Thoughts?
Click to expand...

I would think they use a spray wax more than anything. The defects are visible you just need to get into the right lighting. White is ticky but you can find them it just takes the right angle.
 
on my '11 Pearl White Elantra, the defects are more easily seen at an angle under direct sun or overhead fluorescents. It's very taxing on the old eyes. :/
 
I have a white summite camaro and when the sun is reflecting off the front of the car at an angle (UGH) I see them. Maybe you should strip wash car to get coatings off then chk it out.

Again my 2 cents as a novice..

I am hoping weather here in the burgh gets warmer soon, I want to strip wash car, Iron X and use pro eraser to get everything off and start from the begining.
 
On my white car it's very hard to see defects in the sun because white is just too bright on my eyes in full sunlight. I have good luck with my brinkmann holding it about 3 feet away from the paint from different angles.
 
What has worked best for me is at night under a streetlight. A dark garage with a handheld light would probably create a similar effect.
 
It's far from a perfect method, but on my pearl white subaru I can manage to detect swirls with bright sunlight while looking through polarized sunglasses (in my case, over my reading glasses).
 
White is probably the hardest to detect defects. One thing I suggest is to wash, clay and dry the car first as it is most likely the case it will need it. Dirty, contaminants and wax will make it harder to see. Washing and claying will remove most and make it easier. Then, pull it out into the sun on a nice clear day and search.
 
I have a white Audi S4 and the way I am able to see defects is in my garage without the overhead lights on and my LED shop lights shining on the panel at an angle. I have to look at the panel at the correct angle as well.

Finding defects on white paint is tough, but with some experimentation, mostly angles of light and looking at the panel, you will find it.
 
Looking in direct sunlight with some sunglasses will help
Overhead street lights usually also work quite well
In the garage try turn off all the lights and use just one light source (I have found LED type lighting to work better than halogens) or even just a single incandescent bulb
 
So after reading all of this I am starting to ask my self if it is this hard to find the defects is it even needed to correct them? Plus every time you have to correct defects you are pretty much taking a very small layer of clear coat off of the car which overtime will weaken if not completely remove the clear coat. So would it not make since to just wait until the defects are clearly visible on the paint?
 
I don't know about you, but I can see plenty of defects on my white Mustang in direct sunlight. I just bought the car, so I would like them corrected, then the clear coat sealed and waxed.

After that, I only anticipate the need to properly maintain the paint (wash, quick detail, etc) every week or two, and reapply sealant and polish every 3-6 months.

If done correctly, I should not be removing so much clear coat as to cause failure during the life of the car.
 
mightypudge said:
I don't know about you, but I can see plenty of defects on my white Mustang in direct sunlight. I just bought the car, so I would like them corrected, then the clear coat sealed and waxed.

After that, I only anticipate the need to properly maintain the paint (wash, quick detail, etc) every week or two, and reapply sealant and polish every 3-6 months.

If done correctly, I should not be removing so much clear coat as to cause failure during the life of the car.
Click to expand...

I think that this really depends on how long you plan on keeping the car, how often the car is used, is it garage kept, and how many miles are driven per year just to name a few... I mean here in PA where I am at if you have a daily driver I don't see anyway that you are going to avoid putting defects in the paint in the winter time. So just from that alone you are going to be correcting defects at least once a year, which is what I currently do.

However for the sake of argument lets just pretend for a moment that none of us (including me) are concerned about the long term affects on the clear coat. Is it really worth the time and money to remove defects that you can only see with special lights and at just the right angles? Really the point of my post was to find out if there is any real benefit to removing what amounts to almost invisible defects?
 
RubbishReview said:
Is it really worth the time and money to remove defects that you can only see with special lights and at just the right angles? Really the point of my post was to find out if there is any real benefit to removing what amounts to almost invisible defects?
Click to expand...

I think that's a personal choice.
In the beginning... having a black car every defect annoyed to a point where I was spot correcting every other weekend. I mean I drive this car and by no means it is a garage queen. At the end of the day I accepted that things will happen and defects here and there are to going to happen to a certain degree. Now, if I need a microscope to see the defect, I don't bother and prefer to save the cc for something more major.
 
c8n said:
I think that's a personal choice.
In the beginning... having a black car every defect annoyed to a point where I was spot correcting every other weekend. I mean I drive this car and by no means it is a garage queen. At the end of the day I accepted that things will happen and defects here and there are to going to happen to a certain degree. Now, if I need a microscope to see the defect, I don't bother and prefer to save the cc for something more major.
Click to expand...

I am incline to agree with you. My personal car is black as well and shortly after owning my first black car (this one is my 2nd) I decided that it was best to stick to paint correcting only once a year. Since on a black daily driver I find it next to impossible to keep it looking perfect. However I would like to start doing the same once a year correcting to my parents white car and this is what started this thread...
 
RubbishReview said:
I have tried that already and it did not work...

This is my parents car that I am working on and they take it to a local car wash facility to get it cleaned. My understanding is that this particular place runs the cars through an automated car wash and then wipes the car down and cleans the inside. This place also will "wax" the cars as well now I don't know what type of wax they are using, but I suspect that it is some type of filler wax and maybe this is hiding the defects on the car... So this may be one of those things where I will need to remove everything that is on the paint before I will be able to see the defects.

Thoughts?
Click to expand...
I was doing some thinking about this.....

Since this is your parents vehicle and this is how they take car of the car now, is it worht all the trouble to create a show car finish and the have it taken through the same car wash again to get swirled up and all the hard work goes down the drain?

You should decide how the vehicle is going to be maintained will it be hand washed by you or go through the local car wash?

If its going to be maintained by you and only you then doing a full correction would be fine.

However if its going to be going through a car wash the doing a one Step or All in One would be a better option.
 
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