Show car finish for daily driver?

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Clutch34

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I have a lot of swirls on my car and am planning on doing some paint correction in the spring once I order a DA. I want it to be as close to show car finish as I can make it, but it is also my daily driver as it's my only car. I've seen a lot of posts on this forum that show car finishes are not recommended for daily drivers because, put simply, they're daily drivers. I know a lot of you here are not professional detailers and are just looking for ways to keep your own cars in good aesthetic standing, so what I wanted to know is whether or not it's even worth it to attempt getting a show car finish on my car. How hard will it be to maintain the finish if I do go through with it? Other then improper washing techniques, how else are swirls put on a finish?

Oh, and my car is black...

Any tips/tricks/products/suggestions/etc. will be appreciated!

Thanks.
 
First off, welcome to the forum.

When it comes to your own vehicle, it is going to be considerably easier to maintain a show car finish, because you control what is touching it. Most of the guys on here do keep somewhat of a show car finish on their DD.

Swirls on black are inevitable...what causes them? Anything and everything. Just do a yearly correction (which should be light after the first time) and keep it sealed/waxed.

Best of luck.

DLB
 
Just my take,

Once you determine your plan of attack, for example,

PC 7424XP
CCS Pads
WG TSR 3.0
WG FG
Wolfgang Füzion Estate Wax

You would of course do a test spot and make sure your pad, product and process is removing the majority of defect you want to remove and then in most cases the only thing left will be the RIDS.

At this point your car will look like a show car! Except for having a few randomly placed isolated deeper scratches.

For a daily driver this is going to look phenomenal. You could invest the extra time and energy to remove the RIDS or deeper defects and feel free to go for it but from a practical point of view, you've reached an appearance level that's probably as good or better than new and most people when they see your car will see a show car or stunning finish. There's not too many people that will put their nose right down against the paint and try to locate any remaining defects and only you will know where they are.

Leaving the deeper defects in the paint and learning to live with them means leaving more clear on the car overall and that's important if you want your paint to last over the service life of the car.

Typically show cars with their show car finishes are not daily drivers and not exposed to the same type of wear-n-tear daily drivers are exposed to.

My daily driver has a nice finish, it's certainly not a show car finish. It's a mediocre paint job to start with, (I bought it already painted), I keep it clayed, polished and waxed and to the average person it looks very shiny.

So finding balance is the goal for how you use the car.


:)
 
Mike.Phillips@Autogeek said:
Just my take,



Leaving the deeper defects in the paint and learning to live with them means leaving more clear on the car overall and that's important if you want your paint to last over the service life of the car.

Typically show cars with their show car finishes are not daily drivers and not exposed to the same type of wear-n-tear daily drivers are exposed to.

My daily driver has a nice finish, it's certainly not a show car finish.

:)
Click to expand...

:iagree:

I keep my DD as nice as possible but I don't freak out out when something happens to it. I polish it once or twice year but , I wax it as often as possible !!!!
 
dave_from_here said:
:iagree:

I keep my DD as nice as possible but I don't freak out out when something happens to it. I polish it once or twice year but , I wax it as often as possible !!!!
Click to expand...

I would have to agree with both of you. I polished my truck with M205 and white LC pad when I first bought it. I clay and wax it every 2-3 months. It not that hard to keep the car looking good. Once you correct it wash it once a week with proper washing techniques and you should be fine. I use a QD on my truck everyday (DP Rinseless Wash and Gloss) and a spray wax on my truck once a week (Pinnacle Crystal Mist) This helps keep my truck looking good all the time. I alway have people asking my how often to you wax your truck since it is always shining, and I haven't waxed or clayed it in about 4 months.

Once you choose your plan of attack, IE buffer, chemicals, wax. It all in the maintenance after that. If you are adamant about your car and having it look great all the time then go for it.
 
sullysdetailing said:
I would have to agree with both of you. I polished my truck with M205 and white LC pad when I first bought it. I clay and wax it every 2-3 months. It not that hard to keep the car looking good. Once you correct it wash it once a week with proper washing techniques and you should be fine. I use a QD on my truck everyday (DP Rinseless Wash and Gloss) and a spray wax on my truck once a week (Pinnacle Crystal Mist) This helps keep my truck looking good all the time. I alway have people asking my how often to you wax your truck since it is always shining, and I haven't waxed or clayed it in about 4 months.

Once you choose your plan of attack, IE buffer, chemicals, wax. It all in the maintenance after that. If you are adamant about your car and having it look great all the time then go for it.
Click to expand...

:iagree: +1 on all above posts. My experience is that it's very easy to become so OD in the pursuit of perfection that you can stop enjoying your car and start thinking of it as just another responsibility. My car was new when I got it, but I'd created some swirls with poor washing techniques in the first few months I had it before I found Autogeek and knew what a swirl was. I don't trust myself with a polisher, so I do everything by hand. Putting forth that much effort alone helps me define what "show car finish" is for me. Once you get your DA, it's like Mike said above, you can get it as close to "show car" as you want. The maintenance from that point is what has been so much fun for me. Again, as Mike mentioned, I have had great results with the Wofgang products. They look excellent on my dark metallic and are very easy to use for the noobie. That's where I'd recommend starting. However, I've come to believe there is no end to the amount of time and money you can spend or knowledge you can gain with respect to detailing. If you love your car, then learning all the proper processes to keep it clean and protected and comparing all the products to find just the shine you're looking for can be one of the most rewarding activities/hobbies you will ever find. My belief is that as long as you maintain your passion for detailing, then your natural result will be a daily driver with a "show car finish." Plus, just look around at other cars. Compared to the vast majority out there, a well maintained one with a few rids and swirls is still "show car" quality! Welcome to the forum and to the addictive world of detailing! :cruisin:
 
LDJaxon said:
My experience is that it's very easy to become so OD in the pursuit of perfection that you can stop enjoying your car and start thinking of it as just another responsibility.
Click to expand...

Wow, that sums it up exactly. I have been gradually working to make myself less OCD about my car since I would refuse to drive it in the rain and would have basically avoided doing stuff that involved driving if the weather was less than optimal. Granted my car looks spectacular but I wasn't enjoying the most enjoyable part: driving. That would seem to defeat the whole purpose of detailing a car to perfection since it does your effort no good to just sit in the garage. ;)
 
christian900se said:
Wow, that sums it up exactly. I have been gradually working to make myself less OCD about my car since I would refuse to drive it in the rain and would have basically avoided doing stuff that involved driving if the weather was less than optimal. Granted my car looks spectacular but I wasn't enjoying the most enjoyable part: driving. That would seem to defeat the whole purpose of detailing a car to perfection since it does your effort no good to just sit in the garage. ;)
Click to expand...
My car has still not been driven in the snow or rain for almost 2 years now, and I live near Chicago:help:
 
Mike.Phillips@Autogeek said:
Just my take,

Once you determine your plan of attack, for example,

PC 7424XP
CCS Pads
WG TSR 3.0
WG FG
Wolfgang Füzion Estate Wax

You would of course do a test spot and make sure your pad, product and process is removing the majority of defect you want to remove and then in most cases the only thing left will be the RIDS.

At this point your car will look like a show car! Except for having a few randomly placed isolated deeper scratches.

For a daily driver this is going to look phenomenal. You could invest the extra time and energy to remove the RIDS or deeper defects and feel free to go for it but from a practical point of view, you've reached an appearance level that's probably as good or better than new and most people when they see your car will see a show car or stunning finish. There's not too many people that will put their nose right down against the paint and try to locate any remaining defects and only you will know where they are.

Leaving the deeper defects in the paint and learning to live with them means leaving more clear on the car overall and that's important if you want your paint to last over the service life of the car.

Typically show cars with their show car finishes are not daily drivers and not exposed to the same type of wear-n-tear daily drivers are exposed to.

My daily driver has a nice finish, it's certainly not a show car finish. It's a mediocre paint job to start with, (I bought it already painted), I keep it clayed, polished and waxed and to the average person it looks very shiny.

So finding balance is the goal for how you use the car.


:)
Click to expand...

Yea, that's all I can ask for really. I don't mind the RIDS here and there as long as the vast majority of swirls are gone. I know it'll never be perfect, and that's ok with me as long as it looks better than it does now. :xyxthumbs:

I already have some ColorX and SwirlX by Meguiars, but I was looking into ordering the Griot's ROP and some CCS pads. Which color pads, what size, and how many of each would I need as a start up "noob" detailer? (just for my car and family cars) :buffing:

Mike.Phillips@Autogeek said:
You had this at the Dallas, Texas class at Nick's shop right?

:)
Click to expand...

Yes sir! You had me sold on the Griot's ROP after this shin-dig! (yes I said it! :p)

loudog2 said:
My car has still not been driven in the snow or rain for almost 2 years now, and I live near Chicago:help:
Click to expand...

...you need help.


:joking:
 
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loudog2 said:
My car has still not been driven in the snow or rain for almost 2 years now, and I live near Chicago:help:
Click to expand...
+1
My car is 1 year old now, and it too has never been driven in the rain or snow, and I live in Idaho.Im the MANI don't take it out of the garage unless there is no chance of adverse weather, including strong winds...(I do however have other vehicles to drive).
 
Clutch34 said:
I don't mind the RIDS here and there as long as the vast majority of swirls are gone. I know it'll never be perfect, and that's ok with me as long as it looks better than it does now. :xyxthumbs:

I already have some ColorX and SwirlX by Meguiars, but I was looking into ordering the Griot's ROP and some CCS pads. Which color pads, what size, and how many of each would I need as a start up "noob" detailer? (just for my car and family cars) :buffing:
Click to expand...

I had the above on a previous post but I think people just scanned over it. I'd really appreciate some input/suggestions on the bold above. Thanks!
 
I have A LOT of swirls on my car as well as the family cars. Is there a vast difference between the cutting power of orange and white pads?

Thanks for the link, very informative! After reading that how does this sound:

2 white or orange -- can't decide
2 green (think I'll be using a lot of AIO)
2 grey
 
I would get 2 of each pads, Orange, white, and grey it worked great for my black car. Just read next to each color pads that Dusty gave u for that link.
 
Fubar, what products did you use with each pad? Did you just use either the orange or white pad and finish with grey or all three in order of aggressiveness?
 
loudog2 said:
My car has still not been driven in the snow or rain for almost 2 years now, and I live near Chicago:help:
Click to expand...

haha, same here. Hasn't seen rain since early may. But the car is getting shipped to CA on saturday because I am moving out so my goal is to never see rain again lol.

But as for a show car finish, the different also comes down to the quality of the paint job itself since every manufacturer uses slightly different products and methods. Plus, the time that is involved in creating a show car finish is not even near cost effective for a OEM manufacturer. This difference will show in the quality of the paint that no amount of polishing, jeweling, or wax/sealant will be able to account for.
 
Clutch34 said:
Fubar, what products did you use with each pad? Did you just use either the orange or white pad and finish with grey or all three in order of aggressiveness?
Click to expand...

I use Adams Polishes products AG don't carrie there products. The guys here can point u in the right direction for what u need. The pads are in order that i used, Orange Pad w/ Swirl & Haze Remover, White Pad w/ Polish, Gray Pad w/ Liquid wax or u can get Past Wax. If ur car sits outaide 24/7 get a Seal Wax.
This looks pretty good
The Wolfgang Total Swirl Remover Kit is the total solution to swirled, hazy paint. If you like the slick, glossy look of Wolfgang Deep Gloss Paint
 
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