Black paint

[Wallywoozer]

Thanks for the great discussion guys. I too have a black DD - a GMC Sierra truck. It's 2 months old and I've babied it more than any rig I've ever owned. Still, I see very light scratching starting to show up.
I'm bookmarking this thread for when I'm ready to do something about them.

 

[brian45acp]

I think we need to join a help group or something. I seriously am going nuts, lol. To be clear when I say I see micro marring its with a 700 lumen LED light held at the right angles. In the sun the paint looks amazing so I think I need to just not worry about this any more and when it comes time to polish again the AIO light cleaning abilities should clean any induced marring.

Black is very hard to care for but it sure does look nice. I dont think I will do this to myself the next time though. Because my truck gets maybe 200 miles a month on it and sits in a garage I went for the black. I think the trade off for how good it looks is worth it and while it might seem like crazy behavior to the neighbors I enjoy this to some extent.

 

[nrsk4u]

I think we need to join a help group or something. I seriously am going nuts, lol. To be clear when I say I see micro marring its with a 700 lumen LED light held at the right angles. In the sun the paint looks amazing so I think I need to just not worry about this any more and when it comes time to polish again the AIO light cleaning abilities should clean any induced marring.

Black is very hard to care for but it sure does look nice. I dont think I will do this to myself the next time though. Because my truck gets maybe 200 miles a month on it and sits in a garage I went for the black. I think the trade off for how good it looks is worth it and while it might seem like crazy behavior to the neighbors I enjoy this to some extent.

:iagree:

 

[Coakley Carwash]

You need to wax your car every other week to protect it form the sand and the other elements.

 

[FanaticFan]

I think it's probably true that just driving your vehicle and/or parking it outside subjects it to "sand blasting" over time, just from particles suspended in the air, and particles spit up by following other vehicles.

Since you park and drive in all different directions and the wind can be in different directions on top of that, you'll get random fine scratches even if you had some hypothetical, perfect touch-free wash and wax method.

Just my theory. You'd have to do a controlled wind tunnel dust blasting test on a brand new paint job to prove it, but I think you'll have fine scratches for any daily driver eventually. Good wash and wax technique only prolongs the inevitable. Blasting your car with air to remove any loose particles before you wash or wax probably can't hurt.

Wisdom here.

I just picked up a dark grey car as well, used to have dark green, kept the last one a long time.

In the olden times, pre-microfiber and sealants and boutique waxes but post-single stage paint,.... Mother's Carnauba Wax with polishing in it (slight) was my erstwhile friend (on the dark green).

I was totally manual, no orbital polisher, 'nuttin.

Used nice, soft, worn out, thoroughly washed pieces of cut-up 100% cotton pajamas for the waxing. Used a good leather chamois, kept scrupulously clean, for the drying.

Worked great! Tried to not wash in the sun; not always possible. My salvation was just learning really good manual technique with the waxing.

I'm sure the results by current standards would be deemed adequate, but it was a good workout and left me happy with the results. A good carnauba wax, properly applied and buffed, is still fundamental.

What I'm saying is, the closer you get to perfection, the more painful it is to cope with messy reality. Even if you achieve near-microscopic jewelling, there's going to be that one piece of grit that tears across your hood at 70mph the next day. It's inevitable.

Just enjoy your drive, enjoy the process of keeping your vehicle shiny, and enjoy the results as long as they last. Don't let the imperfections make you miserable and keep you from living.