I'm a bit shocked over how bad the quality of the paint is. Just got home from washing it and looked at it in sunlight, swirls EVERYWHERE!! It's only a few months old..

:(

I'm a bit shocked over how bad the quality of the paint is. Just got home from washing it and looked at it in sunlight, swirls EVERYWHERE!! It's only a few months old..

:(

have you read the detailing thread

It's nothing to do with how "bad" the paint is. Its how you wash your car which causes the scratches. What did you use to wash the dirt off? If you used the old yellow sponge, then i can see why its full of swirls....

I would never wash my car with a sponge, what do you think i am :P... I normally use the "two-bucket-method" with grit guard, Meguiars soap and a Meguiars lambswool mitt unless i'm in a hurry, then i use the manual pressure washer at the local petrol station.

I have two other cars, but none of them get scratched up as the Fiesta, so i don't think there's anything wrong with my technique.

@titanium_s_spec: Thank you for the tip, i'll have a look. :)

I would never wash my car with a sponge, what do you think i am :P... I normally use the "two-bucket-method" with grit guard, Meguiars soap and a Meguiars lambswool mitt unless i'm in a hurry, then i use the manual pressure washer at the local petrol station.

I have two other cars, but none of them get scratched up as the Fiesta, so i don't think there's anything wrong with my technique.

@titanium_s_spec: Thank you for the tip, i'll have a look. :)

Even although you have the grit guard in place don't be tempted to dip down to the bottom of the bucket as some of the grit could still be making its way down under the guard or indeed lying on top of the guard.

Also make sure you are thoroughly rinsing the mitt in the rinse bucket as with the state of the roads this winter leaving all sorts plastered over the car there will be some getting trapped in the mitt not wanting to move. How often are you turning and rinsing the mitt? Do you have a different mitt for wheels, bottom half and top half?

You should try a few coats of wax to keep the dirt sticking to the car at a minimum. This will result in less grit/dirt to drag around on the mitt. Some Snow Foam to looses any baked on dirt would help also.

So how are you drying this car? Chamois leather or thick microfibre towels?

As said, its nothing to do with the paint. Panther Black is an excellent finish and the paint job on my car is excellent.

Maybe the swirls were on it from the start after the dealer washing it? I'm sure there are swirls on my bonnet but I'm fairly sure I wash and dry it properly.

My blacj Fiesta is 11 months old with 9000 miles, washed once each week with a sponge and yet no swirl marks. I do polish it once per month though.

I'll let you know how it goes when I wash it for the first time since I got it at the weekend! :)

B.

Tried out a few of my cleaning products on my dad's BMW 3 series

Used Autoglym SRP using a foam pad, buffed off and waxed on

This actually removed ALOT of swirls in his paintwork.

What polish are you using? S.R.P has some fillers than fill the swirls in temporary, seal these in with the wax and :D

Result

Tried out a few of my cleaning products on my dad's BMW 3 series

Used Autoglym SRP using a foam pad, buffed off and waxed on

This actually removed ALOT of swirls in his paintwork.

What polish are you using? S.R.P has some fillers than fill the swirls in temporary, seal these in with the wax and :D

Result

SRP will not remove swirls, as you rightly note. It'll look good for a while, but needs topping up. I use a machine polisher and DoDo Juice Lime Prime mainly, and then a wax. Needs polishing annually this way, if good cleaning habits adhered to.

Meguiars ScratchX and SwirlX are good.

Girl at my work got a brand new car in November, she posted on Facebook last week that she was taking it to the car wash - how horrific was that?

Guess a lot of it comes from a rough winter. I'll give it a nice wash, clay bar, polish and wax once it gets warmer...

Can you spot it? :P

Images like that make me realise how truly, truly absolutely pathetic those of the UK really are!!!!