ok...i am sure this subject has been brought up a few times here, but here it goes. My car is a 93 and obviously the paints condition is not at its prime. If you look at the car at an angle, you can see lots of small scratches all over it. Its just on the clear coat. Is there any kind of compound of some sort that i can purchase to help hide these scratches. Any ideas are appreciated in advance...thanks

Yes, swirl marks are very common, and easier to see/spot on Black cars. Meguiars makes a "Swirl Mark Remover", what you are suppposed to do is wash the car, polish the car with a pure polish (not a wax/polish combination), then apply the swirl mark remover, be careful, it may take it down a layer, you may see some black on the rag as you do it, that's normal, just don't rub too hard or leave it on there too long, do one panel/section at a time (ie- the hood, then the roof, then the trunk, then the door, etc), let it haze up then remove it.

After that protect the paint with a nice liquid carnuba wax like Meguiar's Yellow or Mother's or Griot's... :buttrock

Scary, but I just might have to do it when the weather gets predictably warm.

Anyone else got tips on using this stuff?

is the zymol stuff good at removing scraches like swirls and what not? I also have mcgwires cleaner wax which is better. Also after i do that should I apply gold class on top of it or what would you recommend?

... is a decent one-step combination polish and wax. It will remove minor scratches and leave a protective finish.

It's not a super-cleaner/strong polish. And it's not gonna leave a superhard shell of protection like a pure carnuba paste wax would.

But it's a decent one-step fix if your paint is in decent shape to begin with.

If you have lots of little scratches and some oxidization, you're better off using a pure polish/cleaner, than a second step of protection like a pure carnuba wax (such as Megiuar's #26 Yellow Paste wax or Mother's Pure Carnuba).

Griot's makes a real nice liquid carnuba wax that goes on and comes off easier than a pure carnuba paste wax, leaves a nice protective shell too. And they have a decent polishes/cleaners too. www.griotsgarage.com

I was just browsing upon Meguiar's website and noticed their advertisement for ScratchX. It looks like this is exactly what I am looking for. Does anyone know if this will do the trick?

I'm not familiar with Scratch-X, but if it says it's for swirl-marks and minor scratches, should be good for you.

If it's for major scratches, etc, it could be too strong (ala compound) for what you need. Read the label or indications on the website...

I have used Meguiars Scratch-X on my 7 series which had swirls all over the hood. Scratch-X took care of them wonderfully, and the car looks great. I have no complaints, and the product is well worth it. If a scratch cannot be removed by Scratch-X you better go get professional help.

Depending on how bad it is my regiem looks like this:

1. Wash car
2. Clay bar car (if needed)
3. polish car (this can be done with some of the paint scrubs)- the purpose of this step is to remove the contaminants in the paint
4. Swirl remover (it's actually a polish but it has glaze in it and I like to use it if there are some marks left, if needed) otherwise just glaze- this step is to hide the remaining marks in the paint
5. Wax
6. follow up with quick detailer

Now, my opinion on the meguiars products is that they are excellent. They are priced very competetively and for most of us they will be better than needed. Their show car glaze is excellent but harder to use. The Deep crystal #2 is a snap and gives good results. Currently what I am using for swirls is 3m swirl remover for dark cars. It works excellent when used with a random orbit (by hand takes too long on large panels).

I have been using gold class wax. This material has both polish in it and wax. It's a great compromise for someone that wants one step with results just like doing the 2 steps. My only problem with the gold class is that it's so shiny it makes the depth of the cosmos black decrease. On silver, red, and blue it is phenominal and I would definately recommend it. I will be trying #26 very shortly (monday or tuesday) and I will report with pictures of my results.

The only way to make sure to not have swirls it to wash the car correctly. The only way that swirls get onto your car is by you washing it. I use 2 sponges and 2 buckets of water. Keep one bucket with your soap solution and another with clean water. I use a larger bucket for the rinse bucket because the water gets dirty fast.

Keep your sponges in the rinse bucket when not using them. I use a newer sponge for the top and sides of the car (above the molding) and an old sponge (several washes old) for the bottom of the car. Your car will have more grit on the bottom and it's best to keep that off the top of the car. Also, never use a sponge for the top of the car if you drop it on the ground. You will pick up bits of sand that will scratch the paint. After through rinsing it will be ok to use for the bottom but I would not use it on the top.

Lastly, if you use a california duster you will see what look like swirl marks in your paint after dusting with it. This is mostly due to the wax being streaked by the duster. They are not actually swirls and will disappear with the next washing.