re: If you don't know how to buff a vehicle, you should learn.

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Completely untrue. New paints are much easier to compound because there are fewer swirls and rids. Older paints that require wet sanding to remove defects are better left to professionals.

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I disagree. Turning a beginner loose on a new car is a mistake.

First, different cars have different amounts of paint. Second, doing things things wrong or using the wrong product can actually put defects into the paint. New paint is easier to compound, but it can be less forgiving. (not as much paint to work with)

My point about the clear coat was, that if you see the actual color of the car (red, blue) etc, you have cut down into the color coat.

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single stage paint

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So you can actually buff and compound that like the old acrylic enamels.

White is very forgiving and it will really come out well.

I also would've bet it was base coat/clear coat.

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Yeah man. Taking care of stuff you spent a ton of money on is totally woman-like.

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You can polish your suv until you can admire your own reflection. I'll go fishing.

There are few things I hate more than washing a vehicle.

It is a stress reliever for me.

Turn the radio on, pop a beer, and just relax.

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First, different cars have different amounts of paint. Second, doing things things wrong or using the wrong product can actually put defects into the paint. New paint is easier to compound, but it can be less forgiving. (not as much paint to work with)

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How is there not more paint to work with? It has the thickest amount of clear coat it will get unless you bring it to a shop to be painted more.

I agree that if you have a hacked up older car then letting a beginner polish it won't make it worse. But new cars are easier to get 90-95% correction when using the right pad and polish combination.

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Turning a beginner loose on a new car is a mistake.

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It still depends on the hardness of the clear coat. If it's the GM diamond tri coat metallic, it would take a lot to mess that up since it has one of the hardest clear coats I've ever worked with. It looked almost as clear as a 2 step polish after the compounding step.

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My point about the clear coat was, that if you see the actual color of the car (red, blue) etc, you have cut down into the color coat.

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I certainly agree. That would be scary to be doing a red car and see red on the pad. Big no-no.

Nice to see there are others that care about their paint being defect-free.

For God's sake, if anyone here cares about his or her car staying clean, do NOT drive through Benny's or any other touch car wash. Those big rollers absolutely hammer your paint and swirl them like crazy. There is nothing worse you could do for your paint short of keying the thing.

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is there a best kind of drive through wash?

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If you don't want to damage your clear coat, stick to touchless washes. If you want a clean car free of defects, hand washing is the only way to accomplish this.

I guess after I saw a guy eat up a black Porsche at a auction once, I'm skeptical of new guys and buffers.


I've gotta get rid of some orange peel on the bumper of my car (it was repainted about 2 months ago).

I'm gonna try 101. but I think it's gonna have to be wetsanded.

Of course it's black.

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Question for the fellow detailers: how often do you replace pads, and how do you clean them?

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One large Lake Country pad can last about 8-10 cars if washed after each vehicle. The smaller ones (4 inch) often take much more of a beating and don't last as long.

Use Chemical Guys pad cleaner to clean them. Simply mix it with some water, let the pads soak, then rinse and squeeze them out under hot water. Then let them air dry before using them again. If they're still wet, the polish will clump up and not work as well.

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I've gotta get rid of some orange peel on the bumper of my car (it was repainted about 2 months ago).

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I don't think 101 will be heavy enough to remove orange peel. It cuts pretty hard but it surprisingly does it without ripping the clear coat to shreds. It will most likely need wet sand.

EDIT: I notice you said it's black. Why do people keep buying black vehicles!? They look excellent when clean but look awful the other 75% of the time. Not to mention black paint acts as a giant lie detector when polishing. I can never get that crap even close to 100%! Black is easily my least favorite color to work on.

Bapple, want to wax QRs Buckingham blue Range Rover?