Audi A3 Advice

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ZombieWrex

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Hi all, I am new to the forum and have already learned a lot. I have an 07 Audi A3 in black and I am wondering if anyone has any experience with this car. I keep hearing different things about the black Audi paint, one place says its soft, one says it's insanely hard and I am just lost. The paint has decently bad swirl marks that I would like to compound out but I am unsure where to start. I don't have much disposable income to order a bunch of products to see what works. And I live in a tiny town so anything other than what the auto parts chains carry I do not have product readily available. Pretty much everything I have to order online. I do have a low end DA polisher to use and CG scratch and swirl remover I ordered awhile ago but after seeing some information about CG I am unsure to trust it. I am not new to proper car care but I am new to polishing/compounding. I am just trying to get a baseline on what product to look into and what has worked for others on this particular paint. Thank You
 
From what I've read in your post---I think you'll be ok with what you have ( DA and CG scratch and swirl remover.) Do a test spot and see..

Try do 2 passes if not satistfied then try 4 if not, go to 6 passes. You'll see what I mean once you get started. (Believe 4 passes will be all you'll need.)

Then go to local advance auto store or even wal-mart and get some spray wax. Meguiar's Ultimate Quik Wax is a very nice one to use and easy to get nearby.

The main thing is to start...The rest will become clearer as you gain experience. Good luck!

Tom
 
The one thing that you didn't mention is your pad selection. That might be important if you don't have many compounds to try. But if you have a different pads with various levels of cutting ability, you should be ok. Maybe your CG products won't work, but you could always pick up Megs Ultimate Polish at Walmart or an auto parts store pretty cheap.

It won't take long to figure out if your paint is hard or soft. I suspect it's on the softer side if you think it's all swirled up. Hard paint tends to protect itself better. If it's hard, you'll just not see much immediate improvement. If it's soft you'll see the swirl marks clear up fast. But then you'll have to learn how to remove them without getting too aggressive. It's possible to leave DA marks in soft black paint. (And it's possible to fix that, too.) Just go slowly and carefully and you'll be ok.

The one thing that took me a while to figure out is that there is no magic procedure or number of passes that gets perfect results. You just need to be able to get a pretty realistic understanding of what the paint is at the beginning and how it should look when it's done. And then learn to gauge your level of improvement as you go. A 50/50 test spot is the easiest way to figure that out.
 
By the way, great choice for a car. I came very close to replacing my now-departed S4 with an A3 Quattro. Ended up finding a BMW 330i ZHP instead. I'll probably wish for the Audi in a month when the snow starts to fall.
 
TMQ said:
From what I've read in your post---I think you'll be ok with what you have ( DA and CG scratch and swirl remover.) Do a test spot and see..

Try do 2 passes if not satistfied then try 4 if not, go to 6 passes. You'll see what I mean once you get started. (Believe 4 passes will be all you'll need.)

Then go to local advance auto store or even wal-mart and get some spray wax. Meguiar's Ultimate Quik Wax is a very nice one to use and easy to get nearby.

The main thing is to start...The rest will become clearer as you gain experience. Good luck!

Tom
Click to expand...

Thank you Tom! I have been using CG Blacklight for wax which I actually really like but I do want to get something to seal and protect the paint as well. Some wet sanding may be necessary due to some very stubborn spots on the hood.
 
brettS4 said:
The one thing that you didn't mention is your pad selection. That might be important if you don't have many compounds to try. But if you have a different pads with various levels of cutting ability, you should be ok. Maybe your CG products won't work, but you could always pick up Megs Ultimate Polish at Walmart or an auto parts store pretty cheap.

It won't take long to figure out if your paint is hard or soft. I suspect it's on the softer side if you think it's all swirled up. Hard paint tends to protect itself better. If it's hard, you'll just not see much immediate improvement. If it's soft you'll see the swirl marks clear up fast. But then you'll have to learn how to remove them without getting too aggressive. It's possible to leave DA marks in soft black paint. (And it's possible to fix that, too.) Just go slowly and carefully and you'll be ok.

The one thing that took me a while to figure out is that there is no magic procedure or number of passes that gets perfect results. You just need to be able to get a pretty realistic understanding of what the paint is at the beginning and how it should look when it's done. And then learn to gauge your level of improvement as you go. A 50/50 test spot is the easiest way to figure that out.
Click to expand...

That was another thing I was stumped on. Wasn't sure if a foam cutting pad or microfiber pad would be better suited for the task. Especially if I have to wet sand spots out if my hood. It would be wonderful of it was just water spots but it's actually (pretty damn gross) cat drool. An old sick cat got on there, drooled on the hood, and that baked right on the hot black paint in the sun. Being that it's a very strange problem I haven't found any solution online.
 
brettS4 said:
By the way, great choice for a car. I came very close to replacing my now-departed S4 with an A3 Quattro. Ended up finding a BMW 330i ZHP instead. I'll probably wish for the Audi in a month when the snow starts to fall.
Click to expand...

Thank you sir! I wanted the Quattro but I couln't have the 2.0T Engine with AWD. Just the V6 and Quattro available. But the Bimmer was not a bad choice at all, beautiful vehicle!
 
Are you using the CG VSS? I feel obligated to tell you that it's not a very good product in comparison to other polishes. I used it and got poor results (very little correcting and was creating new scratches). I then got Griot's Perfecting Cream, and the difference was night an day. I use it on either an light cutting (orange) or heavy polishing (green or white), and it provides incredible results. If you can swing it, I would upgrade the product.

I had a grey GTI and I know the paint was very hard. I don't know if black VAG paint would be much different.
 
jdgamble said:
Are you using the CG VSS? I feel obligated to tell you that it's not a very good product in comparison to other polishes. I used it and got poor results (very little correcting and was creating new scratches). I then got Griot's Perfecting Cream, and the difference was night an day. I use it on either an light cutting (orange) or heavy polishing (green or white), and it provides incredible results. If you can swing it, I would upgrade the product.

I had a grey GTI and I know the paint was very hard. I don't know if black VAG paint would be much different.
Click to expand...

Good to know, I definitely appreciate your input
 
ZombieWrex said:
Hi all, I am new to the forum and have already learned a lot. I have an 07 Audi A3 in black and I am wondering if anyone has any experience with this car. I keep hearing different things about the black Audi paint, one place says its soft, one says it's insanely hard and I am just lost. The paint has decently bad swirl marks that I would like to compound out but I am unsure where to start. I don't have much disposable income to order a bunch of products to see what works. And I live in a tiny town so anything other than what the auto parts chains carry I do not have product readily available. Pretty much everything I have to order online. I do have a low end DA polisher to use and CG scratch and swirl remover I ordered awhile ago but after seeing some information about CG I am unsure to trust it. I am not new to proper car care but I am new to polishing/compounding. I am just trying to get a baseline on what product to look into and what has worked for others on this particular paint. Thank You
Click to expand...

Welcome to the site.

Given what you noted about your polisher, I'll recommend the Lake Country Flat Pads. They rotate best on DA's like yours. Product wise, you don't need insanely expensive stuff and in fact are best to keep it simple. Meg's Ultimate Compound and Ultimate Polish will serve you well here and will be readily available online or locally to you. Audi paint with U.C. responds very well to microfiber pads. Then polish it out with U.P. with White pads. I would then wipe it down with CarPro Eraser then coat it McKee's 37 SiO2 Coating. Easy to use, excellent stuff and you'll thank me later. I have a pure black S4 and can attest that the above will bring you excellent results.
 
pdqgp said:
Welcome to the site.

Given what you noted about your polisher, I'll recommend the Lake Country Flat Pads. They rotate best on DA's like yours. Product wise, you don't need insanely expensive stuff and in fact are best to keep it simple. Meg's Ultimate Compound and Ultimate Polish will serve you well here and will be readily available online or locally to you. Audi paint with U.C. responds very well to microfiber pads. Then polish it out with U.P. with White pads. I would then wipe it down with CarPro Eraser then coat it McKee's 37 SiO2 Coating. Easy to use, excellent stuff and you'll thank me later. I have a pure black S4 and can attest that the above will bring you excellent results.
Click to expand...

Thank you very much! It's nice to get advice from someone with experience with black Audi paint. All great products I will look into. Will the Mckee's pair well with the CG Blacklight? I absolutely love the depth it gives even with my all swirled up Black paint.
 
ZombieWrex said:
Thank you very much! It's nice to get advice from someone with experience with black Audi paint. All great products I will look into. Will the Mckee's pair well with the CG Blacklight? I absolutely love the depth it gives even with my all swirled up Black paint.
Click to expand...

You won't need Blacklight. Ceramic coatings will fill in any microswirls from the buffer. Actually, I'd suggest polishing it with CarPro Essence vs Ulitmate Polish but I wasn't sure how familiar or interested in coatings you were. Essence fills in as well.
 
pdqgp said:
You won't need Blacklight. Ceramic coatings will fill in any microswirls from the buffer. Actually, I'd suggest polishing it with CarPro Essence vs Ulitmate Polish but I wasn't sure how familiar or interested in coatings you were. Essence fills in as well.
Click to expand...

I was actually looking into the car pro ceramic coatings for after paint correction. It's a daily vehicle and kept outside in the elements. It's hard to want clean paint and not have a garage so I could use all the protection I can get short of clear bra.
 
ZombieWrex said:
I was actually looking into the car pro ceramic coatings for after paint correction. It's a daily vehicle and kept outside in the elements. It's hard to want clean paint and not have a garage so I could use all the protection I can get short of clear bra.
Click to expand...

CarPro makes some good stuff. I use it quite a bit but will give the edge back to McKee's for their latest formulation. Long term testing has yet to be done but my S4 is done half and half and they seem to be performing nearly identical. Given McKee's is $35 for an amount that will do 5-6 vehicles easily, it's by far the best bang for the buck.


Sent from my iPad using Autogeekonline mobile app
 
From the sounds of it you are going to need some in depth compounding then polishing to get where you want finish wise.

At least megs UC on a MF cutting pad. URO fiber , megs burgundy pad etc. then follow with essence if you are coating the car. I would go with the cquartz ti02 (classic regular version) not UK. It’s easier to use for the first time IMO.

You just have to first focus on getting the paint corrected first. Sounds like 12 or so hours of correction so if you don’t have that kind of time of patience I would try to farm the work out to a local on this forum. Not some alleged detail shop cause they vary quite a lot in results


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
MattPersman said:
From the sounds of it you are going to need some in depth compounding then polishing to get where you want finish wise.

At least megs UC on a MF cutting pad. URO fiber , megs burgundy pad etc. then follow with essence if you are coating the car. I would go with the cquartz ti02 (classic regular version) not UK. It’s easier to use for the first time IMO.

You just have to first focus on getting the paint corrected first. Sounds like 12 or so hours of correction so if you don’t have that kind of time of patience I would try to farm the work out to a local on this forum. Not some alleged detail shop cause they vary quite a lot in results


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Good to know, I think I can get it knocked out but it will have to be in sessions. I will have borrow someone's covered carport as well. Definitely fighting an uphill battle here
 
pdqgp said:
CarPro makes some good stuff. I use it quite a bit but will give the edge back to McKee's for their latest formulation. Long term testing has yet to be done but my S4 is done half and half and they seem to be performing nearly identical. Given McKee's is $35 for an amount that will do 5-6 vehicles easily, it's by far the best bang for the buck.


Sent from my iPad using Autogeekonline mobile app
Click to expand...

It is something I will more than likely do. It seems well worth it and i am tired of find new things I have to fix in the paint.
 
So I went ahead and did some testing on the hood with what I had laying around. I did two passes over most of the hood with CG scratch and swirl remover and two coats of CG Blacklight. I wanted to work more but the ultra cheap orange foam cutting pad I had literally started shredding itself from the inside out. Upon inspection with an LED light I'd say it did maybe a 40% correction so it's very clear I will have to take a more aggressive approach. Definitely want to try a microfiber cutting pad and compound instead of foam and an SSR.





 
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