Another new england Newb.

J

J.Bawb

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Hey guys/gals. My name is Jim. from New Hampshire. Drive a dark green 02 A4. And thats what brought me to this site.

Long story short.(Well as short as possible.) When i bought my car it looked like someone had used sand paper to apply the last coat of wax. Bought the car from a friend who owned it for 3 years and had washed it 2 times per summer. Never during the winter.....The thing is covered in scratches. as well as water spots and sap on the hood.
3 weeks ago, i finally gave in and brought it to a local detailer. Paid him double his exterior detail price to spend extra time on the paint. About $300.
He was unable to: Remove scratches, remove water spots, remove sap. He was able to: Make the car shiny, Scratch the car even worse, and cover the entire car in holograms.( It was dark out when i picked it up) Brought it back and he said he'd try to fix it. No thanks.
Came home, found this site, spent hours/days reading/watching videos. Reading product reviews. Then purchased the porta cable with lc 6.5 in pads, m105, m205, mothers clay, meguiars ultimate wax, and a bunch of other odds and ends. I haven't had a ton of time to work on the car. But what i have done so far has been quite an improvement.
Ive learned a lot trolling this site, and seems like a great community to become a part of, and learn from.
Thanks for the help so far, and sorry for the novel.
 
Welcome. Sorry you found a bad detailer. Got any pics? Before, during and after?
 
kimtyson said:
Welcome. Sorry you found a bad detailer. Got any pics? Before, during and after?
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I will do my best to get some pics up asap. Hopefully the sun is still shining when i get out of work so i can get some detailed shots.
 
:welcome: To Autogeek Online Jim! :props:

I live South of you in MA..

Autogeek is a great place encompassing a wide variety skills, experience, and knowledge. If it can be saved it will be saved, all you need to do is ask a question.

The only stupid question is the one's that's not asked...
 
BobbyG said:
:welcome: To Autogeek Online Jim! :props:

I live South of you in MA..

Autogeek is a great place encompassing a wide variety skills, experience, and knowledge. If it can be saved it will be saved, all you need to do is ask a question.

The only stupid question is the one's that's not asked...
Click to expand...

Thanks for the welcome. I have already learned a lot from this site just in a few weeks. And i look forward to learning much more. Since i found this site, I have gone from wanting to fix the paint on my car to quickly having a slight obsession, finding flaws with every car I see.
 
J.Bawb said:
Hey guys/gals. My name is Jim. from New Hampshire.
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Hi Jim,

Welcome to Autogeek Online! :welcome:

J.Bawb said:
3 weeks ago, i finally gave in and brought it to a local detailer. Paid him double his exterior detail price to spend extra time on the paint. About $300.
He was unable to: Remove scratches, remove water spots, remove sap.

He was able to: Make the car shiny, Scratch the car even worse, and cover the entire car in holograms.( It was dark out when i picked it up) Brought it back and he said he'd try to fix it.

No thanks.
Click to expand...

Ouch! We call that a Horror Story,

The story of 3 H's - Horrendous, Horror Story and Hack Detailers...


Generally speaking the BEST detailers are detailers that hang out on detailing discussion forums like AutogeekOnline.net because this is the place where you can learn about all the right techniques as well as cool products to help you do better work.

Detailers that don't hang out on detailing discussion forums only know what they teach themselves or learn from others and that's historically not a very good recipe for success as you've now experienced first hand.



J.Bawb said:
Came home, found this site, spent hours/days reading/watching videos.

I haven't had a ton of time to work on the car. But what i have done so far has been quite an improvement.

Ive learned a lot trolling this site, and seems like a great community to become a part of, and learn from.

Thanks for the help so far, and sorry for the novel.
Click to expand...


Thank you for sharing your story, it's very rewarding to hear how our forum helps others to be successful.


:xyxthumbs:
 
Ok so i didnt have a lot of time to take pics. But here are a few.
I know it's filthy. it's been a busy week.

This one is the first example of what the detailer was able to do for me.This is the rear bumper. The horizontal scuffs of the left were the only ones there prior to detail.
IMG_02131.JPG


The scratches on the left were not there prior to the detail.
trunk1.JPG


Still trying to figure out what he was using to remove the sap.... Sandpaper?
roof3.JPG


The rest will speak for themselves.
side5.JPG

Gotta love holograms...
side_pre_existing.JPG

The obvious scratch right below the body line also was not there prior to detail
other_side.JPG


This is the only way i can explain what he did to my car..:buffing: Buff the floor, then buff the car, and repeat until "done".

P.s. Is it normal that i can edit this post, but not my original post? Wanted to put the pics up top. Ohwell.
 
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:welcome:to Ago Jim! and to the addiction.....
 
Thanks. I have had pretty good luck on the hood getting most of the scratches out. But some still remain, as do the water spots. but they are faint and cant feel them. I just ordered 5.5 inch lc pads. Hopefully switching to those will help. The 6.5 just feel too big. Also ordered 3.5 backing plate and a set of the lc 4 inch spot buff pads.
 
I have a pain in my side from looking at those holograms!!!!!
i see that too often in my area also.
I used to live in VT and camp every year for the past 20 or so years of the kangamangus highway in the White Mountians. LOVE it up there.:dblthumb2:
Welcome to the community where you will spend the rest of your "Detailing Life".:buffing:
 
J.Bawb said:
Thanks. I have had pretty good luck on the hood getting most of the scratches out. But some still remain, as do the water spots. but they are faint and cant feel them. I just ordered 5.5 inch lc pads. Hopefully switching to those will help. The 6.5 just feel too big. Also ordered 3.5 backing plate and a set of the lc 4 inch spot buff pads.
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Welcome, I live a little south of you in Acton Ma.

I did a car a few weeks ago with M105 that was not scratched quite as much as yours. I had excellent luck using 4" pads on the PC for the bad and hard to reach spots. You can make the 6 1/2" pads work, it just takes more passes to get there. Going slow is not a bad thing.

My usual setup is a flex with 6 1/2" pads and the PC with 4" pads and use both as needed. :buffing:
 
wild.bill said:
Welcome, I live a little south of you in Acton Ma.

I did a car a few weeks ago with M105 that was not scratched quite as much as yours. I had excellent luck using 4" pads on the PC for the bad and hard to reach spots. You can make the 6 1/2" pads work, it just takes more passes to get there. Going slow is not a bad thing.

My usual setup is a flex with 6 1/2" pads and the PC with 4" pads and use both as needed. :buffing:
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Thanks wild.bill. I appreciate the input. I was getting decent results with the 6.5. It just seems to me that the 5.5 would work a bit better, and a bit less time consuming.

My AG order is supposed to be here on mon. Hopefully i can dedicate all day next saturday to completing the car.

Still have to decide between wax or sealant. Or sealant then wax.

I'll be sure to get some before/after and 50/50 shots to post up.
 
Ouch I can't believed he took 300 from you knowing he will F it up. If your going be using a DA, you should look into getting Surburf pads or MF pads to get those nastier scratch or deeper swirls out.

Did you try asking for your money back?
 
slickooz said:
If your going be using a DA, you should look into getting Surburf pads or MF pads to get those nastier scratch or deeper swirls out.
Did you try asking for your money back?
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I had wondered if I should consider the surbuf pads. My fear is that my clear is already getting a bit on the thin side.

If this is the case, i should probably stay away from something that aggressive, correct?

I did ask for the money back, He wanted to attempt to fix it first.

I didn't want him touching the car again.

Long story short, it basically comes down to he said, she said due to the fact I have no before pictures.

It was going to be a big hassle to get the money back. So money lost, lesson learned, moving on.

And now i've got a new hobby/obsession.
 
J.Bawb said:
I had wondered if I should consider the surbuf pads. My fear is that my clear is already getting a bit on the thin side.

If this is the case, i should probably stay away from something that aggressive, correct?
...
And now i've got a new hobby/obsession.
Click to expand...

I am sure there are many who will not agree with me, but if you are new to using a DA stay away from things that are more aggressive. You can always make two - three or more passes which is better than doing any damage. When I got my Vette there was a scratch that I made 9 passes on before it came out, so on my own car's I like the slow and easy approach. The quality of the finish is more important to me then the time to get there.

I am not that far away so if you want to stop by some time we can looks and talk about approaches, products, and techniques.
 
wild.bill said:
I am sure there are many who will not agree with me, but if you are new to using a DA stay away from things that are more aggressive. You can always make two - three or more passes which is better than doing any damage. When I got my Vette there was a scratch that I made 9 passes on before it came out, so on my own car's I like the slow and easy approach. The quality of the finish is more important to me then the time to get there.

I am not that far away so if you want to stop by some time we can looks and talk about approaches, products, and techniques.
Click to expand...

I have been taking it slow. I started on the hood due to the fact that it is the one panel that could use a respray anyways due to a few good size chips.

I was able to slowly remove/dull the major scratches or RIDS. However, the spots where the sap was, I believe there is very little, if any clear left.

I think for now I will stick with making a few extra passes rather than going with a more aggressive pad. Risking too much/complete clear removal.

I really appreciate all your input.
 
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