So my daughter has lived in LA since graduating college (Marquette), she was working in the TV/Movie production business. Of course, that business has been hit hard so now she is living with us in Florida.
Her 2006 Ford Focus looked kind of dingy and I just bought the 7424XP so I thought I would use its maiden voyage shining up her car. I washed the car and grabbed the towel that came with my Forum Favorite kit to dry the thing and sweet fancy Moses, I have never felt paint like that on a car, ever. It felt like sandpaper, I wasn't planning on using the clay bar on the car because, well it's just my goofy daughters car but I think I have to now.
Folks from LA, is this a normal thing or just the standard lack of care by a 25 year old girl?
If the car never got washed and waxed, then part of it is the 25 year old girl. My step sister in law's car is like that. Heck, my wife's aunt's car is like that. Age may not really matter.
We don't get a lot of rain, so stuff is always in the air. It does not take long to build up stuff on the paint. We also get lots of sun and heat, so things get baked in without getting rinsed off by rain. We also measure distance in time not miles, which can be weird if you are from other parts of the US. We drive a lot and spend a lot of time in our vehicles. Many will commute an hour or more to work each day. It's nothing for us to drive 2 hours each way to visit friends or family.
I worked next to LAX and used a car cover to cut down on fallout. If she worked near LAX, you have jet fuel and metal shavings falling from aircraft all the time. As a rep in LA, I had a white company car that always looked like there were tiny little rust dots on the paint from the fallout. There is so much traffic at all hours of the day, there is always stuff coming off trucks, cars and trains too.
I live about 40 miles outside of LA with much less traffic and fallout, and still clay a few times per year to keep that baby butt smooth feel to the paint. Clay will make correction and polishing so much easier. You will feel the difference in the pad movement between clayed and missed spots where you didn't get all the stuff off. If you find spots where you missed with the clay, take a moment to pull out the clay to pull off the surface bound contaminants.
You may also find it beneficial to use a chemical prewax paint cleaner or even mineral spirits if you find that clay is not taking some of the stuff off the paint easily. When I see little black spots on my paint on the lower quarter panels, I will sometimes use a tar remover before the clay to see if I can take it off before using clay. If the paint feels real gritty, she may have gotten paint overspray on the car too. Just something to think about.
Now you know a little about living in LA. The weather is worth it to me, but it is expensive to live here.
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