Don't get me wrong, Ultimate Compound is a great product, one which I use often myself. I just believe that in this application it was too good....in other words it took off more clear coat than was necessary and that the same result could have been achieved with a less abrasive product.
I do however acknowledge and accept that you were the one working on the paint, and not me, and so I have no way of knowing for sure that your particular Subaru didn't in fact have harder paint.
I too never know for sure if the clear coat on the car I will be polishing is hard or soft, so to speak. That is why performing a test spot with your least aggressive combo is important. You can progressively dial in more cut based on the paint system of that particular car. This ensures you do not remove more clear than necessary.
Clear coat is only so thick - well actually thin - and any time you are polishing paint you are removing some. It is important therefore to preserve it through only removing as little as you can.
The mindset when deciding on how (the tools, process, products etc) to correct paint - essentially grinding down the clear until it is smooth again - should not be 'how do I remove all this damage' but rather 'how do I remove as little of the paint as possible to achieve the desired result'.
What is the desired result you ask....?
To me that is 'as safely close to what the customer expects'... This could be perfection for a show car or 'make my car shiny' for the owner of a daily driver. You have to educate your clients on what they can expect from the detail.
I always have a *detailed (lol) discussion before quoting on what I can do and what in my opinion SHOULD be done, and how I would do it. In the beginning their 'request' is to remove ALL the scratches from their car, but once i have armed them with an understanding of paint correction and preservation, they realize that this may not be the best thing, and that by not chasing perfection (unless it is for a show car for example) they can save their clear coat and thus mitigate an expensive respray down the road, and still leave some clear for a future 'spruce up', they are not only appreciative, but trust you more for it.
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