My 2014 Mirage all DONE

[HateSwirls]

As most of you know I bought the all new 2014 Mitsubishi Mirage DE on 4/4/14.

But it came with defects, the car had 9 miles on it but already had swirls in the paint, they said the car was never touched, I said that's impossible ,cars that leave the factory is darn near flawless, it's after it leaves when the problems begin.

They asked me if I wanted them to wash The car , I said might as well looks terrible , but only to me, everyone there thought I was crazy, all they continued to say "The car is brand new", whatever, wash it I must go.

Most also know I just had surgery so I worked on it a little each day starting on 4/5/14.
Today I finished the corrections and protection on the 3 banger
That's right, three cylinders.

I took a few pictures before I began but I'll only show one being the entire car pretty much looked the same

The paint was rough and IMO didn't shine as it should have so I did the following.


Two bucket wash using Chemical Guys Maxi-Suds
Using my new Handy Prep towel I removed all contaminants, defects really showed up. Lol
The paint however was smooth as you'd want, so on to my test area, the hood.

First I used the Optimum Fine Polish with a white pad and my Porter Cable 7424xp, did nothing, moved up to the orange pad, again nothing.

Up next Meguiar's 205 Ultra Fine Polish using a white pad, hmmm, looked good, I inspected it in the sunlight and figured this would do the trick.
I did the entire car, after I was all done there was still areas that had defects, like wth?
Hard paint come to find out.

Took a day off to rest, the pain was starting to effect my work.

So I thought, I must get it this time so I took my Wolfgang Uber Compound and a white Lake Country Flat 5.5" pad.

A little each day I worked at it, did the hood and did another inspection , looked good so I finished it with the Uber.

Step two....

PC, White LC pad and the 205, took my time with it.
By this time the paint was popping but I wanted better.

Step three...

PC, black Lake Country 5.5" Flat Finishing pad using the Optimum Fine Polish, again a little each day, taking my time.
The reflection was to my liking:dblthumb2:
I got it about 95% defect free mostly because I couldn't use the required pressure but I was happy, hey, you do all that you can, newbies, remember that

Now to protect the paint and my work...

I applied one coat of Wolfgang Glossy Paint Sealant, two coats of Collinite #845 Aquawax , let cure well between coats then I hit it with some Duragloss 951, man what a shine and so slick.

Next up protect all plastics using the Wolfgang Trim Sealant, two coats , a must if you want to keep your new plastics looking new.

Tires...

I coated the tires using the Turtle Wax Tire Coat Kit, not the spray type, applied it with the applicator pad that came in the kit.
Three coats and they looked great.

It's not my dream car but I needed something that got great gas mileage , 40 plus, I'm getting that in town.
I travel 100 miles each day to and from work, 100 miles total.

Yesterday I had to run a few errands and here's what I got.

I want to detail and protect the interior next, then the engine but for now here are the end results.

Well that's it for now, thanks for looking, comments or questions welcome:dblthumb2:

Kevin

 

[jamesboyy]

As always excellent work you sure know how to make a paintwork shine to the max

 

[BobbyG]

Hey Kevin,

Beautiful work on that Mirage! I like the way you worked through both pads and products until you reached your goal. With the products you used I suspect the finish is now bullet proof....rops:

Metallic red is one of those colors the glossier the better....:cheers:

 

[HateSwirls]

As always excellent work you sure know how to make a paintwork shine to the max

Thanks for the kind words James

 

[HateSwirls]

Hey Kevin,

Beautiful work on that Mirage! I like the way you worked through both pads and products until you reached your goal. With the products you used I suspect the finish is now bullet proof....rops:

Metallic red is one of those colors the glossier the better....:cheers:

Thanks Bobby but man I don't ever recall having to try so many combos on paint corrections.
I knew nothing about the clear coat on the new Mirage but here to tell you it's hard.

I think it's important for all of us to take our time on our test area, you see I screwed up thinking all was good with the 205 on one test spot, I should have also worked on another panel to make sure it was true.
No matter how long one has been detailing there's always something that will make you really think what's best.

There's no such thing as one size fits all when it comes to correcting paint/clear coat.

Yes Bobby the finish is now "Bullet Proof":dblthumb2:

 

[tpr1634]

Very nice results, you forgot one thing removal of the dealers sticker. That's always the first thing to go, unless they are paying me to advertise funny no have offered. :buffing:

 

[Tato]

Great Write up!

I've been following your purchase and I was afraid this write up would delay a bit...

However, it's wonderful to read you were able to deal with your health condition and work it in parts, to accomplish this task in such flawless manner.

It's cliche to say the car looks brand new?

Not at all, your finish looks MUCH better than new. I bet if you take for dealership to take a look they will not give you credit and say: 'I told you car was in excellent condition? See those reflections!'... Yet capable of thinking their wash that let the car this way hahahah

Otherwise they may arrange you some work,

Who won't like to get a brand new car perfectly detailed like yours?

You did a very good job,

Thanks for sharing,

Kind Regards.

 

[HateSwirls]

Very nice results, you forgot one thing removal of the dealers sticker. That's always the first thing to go, unless they are paying me to advertise funny no have offered. :buffing:

Oh it will be gone just didn't have time to get to it, should have done it before the polishing, in time. :dblthumb2:

 

[HateSwirls]

Great Write up!

I've been following your purchase and I was afraid this write up would delay a bit...

However, it's wonderful to read you were able to deal with your health condition and work it in parts, to accomplish this task in such flawless manner.

It's cliche to say the car looks brand new?

Not at all, your finish looks MUCH better than new. I bet if you take for dealership to take a look they will not give you credit and say: 'I told you car was in excellent condition? See those reflections!'... Yet capable of thinking their wash that let the car this way hahahah

Otherwise they may arrange you some work,

Who won't like to get a brand new car perfectly detailed like yours?

You did a very good job,

Thanks for sharing,

Kind Regards.

Thanks, your right, I should go meet my salesperson and say, come outside I have something to show you. Lol

I noticed some very expensive trucks there that looked horrible.

 

[CDot]

Looks great!!

 

[Dr_Pain]

Mark Hampton giving Kevin some work ...... puahhhaahhhhhhhaahhhahh!!

That doofus does know anything else than slapping the windshield of his cars and trying to sell you a line of bull about how cheap you can get a car (monthly payment)..... his rep is so bad that he got his wife doing his advertising now (to try and compete against Sharron Moss). I personally have met all those characters in public functions and they don't know a single thing beyond selling cars

Great work salvaging this Mirage Kevin. Glad you are back at work. I can only imagine wifey is treating your well and still assisting you??

 

[rms64]

Awesome job Sir.

Good to see you back in action! :xyxthumbs::xyxthumbs::xyxthumbs:

 

[Becciasm]

Great job Kevin! Love the look of the car now that you've finished. Stellar!

Sent from my VS840 4G using AG Online

 

[HateSwirls]

Mark Hampton giving Kevin some work ...... puahhhaahhhhhhhaahhhahh!!

That doofus does know anything else than slapping the windshield of his cars and trying to sell you a line of bull about how cheap you can get a car (monthly payment)..... his rep is so bad that he got his wife doing his advertising now (to try and compete against Sharron Moss). I personally have met all those characters in public functions and they don't know a single thing beyond selling cars

Great work salvaging this Mirage Kevin. Glad you are back at work. I can only imagine wifey is treating your well and still assisting you??

Well she does almost of the interior work except on my new car, I'm doing it all. :dblthumb2:

 

[Just02896]

Great work! Sparkles like a flawless gem now!

 

[VISITOR]

nice color, looks even better without the front plate. any chance of de-badging the emblems on the back? it would look a lot cleaner...

 

[JDGolden]

Very nice color indeed. You weren't in Gulfport, MS on Easter Sunday, were you? I noticed a swirl free car of the same model/color.

 

[HateSwirls]

nice color, looks even better without the front plate. any chance of de-badging the emblems on the back? it would look a lot cleaner...

I'm thinking de-badging yes but today I changed out the factory wheel covers, not ready for wheels yet so this will do fine for now

IMHO they look better than the sliver OEM covers.

 

[HateSwirls]

Added a small graphic to bring it out some.

 

[The Guz]

Nice little car. If you are doing any kind of debadging at least the hampton badge. The others look ok. Much better wheel covers than the OEM covers. With these wheel wells I would go with a slightly larger wheel. Also are there OEM foglights that can be added into the existing areas? Some tinted windows would look good as well.