my car was involved in a fender bender at work recently so the panel got fixed (front fender passenger side) but the paint came out like brand new...

only problem is, my car is 13 years old, so it has 13 year old paint...

what can I do to make the other panels look like this brand new piece? (or make the brand new piece look a lil older lol)

any ideas guys? :(

also how long should I wait to wash the car? I hear its 90 days with no wax (just for that part, i'll wax the other parts of the car) 3 month does seem like alot of time for paint to fully heal but...

What looks so old about it? Swirlmarks and Oxidation?

What looks so old about it? Swirlmarks and Oxidation?

the color is just dull... I dont see any swirlmarks or oxidation

buff the rest of the panels that should make them shine up real nice like the new one. also removing any swirls or minor scratches( if their are any)which will make it match better.

yeah thats what I figured... and I wont wax the new panel so maybe it'll dull faster and even out lol

Meguiar's Paint Cleaner can be used to bring back some color into the paint. Then polish and consider a glaze to bring some shine and gloss to the older panels. Finish off with a wax or maybe two layers, and you should see some good results.

Meguiar's Paint Cleaner can be used to bring back some color into the paint. Then polish and consider a glaze to bring some shine and gloss to the older panels. Finish off with a wax or maybe two layers, and you should see some good results.

ok i'll do that...

which polish would you reccomend? (i know there are tons of threads about this but I'll quickly ask here :p)

also i've never glazed... can it be done with hand, or need an orbital buffer?

so it would be

wash/dewax
paint cleaner thingy
polish
glaze
wax x2

?

You can get Klasse AIO or Meguiars Deep Crystal Paint Cleaner to use as a polish to take the "dullness" out of the paint

I forgot you don't have any imperfections really. You might be able to skip the polish step.

Klasse AIO would be a good choice for a paint cleaner, and the ease of use make it a popular choice. Also has some polishing power. Not much.
http://www.autogeek.net/klasseallinone.html

The glaze can be applied by hand.
http://www.autogeek.net/meg7showcarg.html

Wax can be anything. Max Wax performs well and is cheap right now.
http://www.autogeek.net/carnauba-car-wax.html

Use coupon code "clubmember" for 10% off.

Think of the oxidation/dullness as a layer of dryed, dead skin. Your best bet is going to be to have the vehicle machine polished, IMO. This is going gentely abrade the surface of dead, dry clearcoat away, and relevel the surface of the clearcoat, which will restore optical clearity and deepen and enrich your shine.

Do you have a PC or buffer?

Think of the oxidation/dullness as a layer of dryed, dead skin. Your best bet is going to be to have the vehicle machine polished, IMO. This is going gentely abrade the surface of dead, dry clearcoat away, and relevel the surface of the clearcoat, which will restore optical clearity and deepen and enrich your shine.

Do you have a PC or buffer?

I dont have a buffer.. I used to work at a carwash actually so I know how to use orbital buffers real well, but I hate non orbital (the one that goes randomly) around too much.... we had this orbital at work at was pretty heavy and all u'd have to do was just put light weight on it, and the orbital weight was enough to give it even pressure... I hate those cheap buffers that are made of plastic and weigh nothing... my best bet would be to take it to a body shop and have them do it I guess.... they told me it would be 300-400 bux to do the whole car though, and I said screw that lol

I forgot you don't have any imperfections really. You might be able to skip the polish step.

Klasse AIO would be a good choice for a paint cleaner, and the ease of use make it a popular choice. Also has some polishing power. Not much.
http://www.autogeek.net/klasseallinone.html

The glaze can be applied by hand.
http://www.autogeek.net/meg7showcarg.html

Wax can be anything. Max Wax performs well and is cheap right now.
http://www.autogeek.net/carnauba-car-wax.html

Use coupon code "clubmember" for 10% off.

what exactly do you mean by imperfections? like minor scratches and such? if so I have those... and chips here and there.... just think of it as 13 year old paint maintained by not a car enthuaist

also would you reccomend turtlewax/mcguier's color wax thingy? (it is a wax in the color of the car supposedly brings color back pretty well)

If you have scratches and such, you could use some polishes to clear them up. I suggest Poorboys SSR 2.5 and SSR 1. They work best with a buffer.
http://www.autogeek.net/popoprkit.html
Can be cheaper if you only buy what you need. Other products in that kit are very good though. I've never used the turtle wax or Meguiar's color wax, so I can't comment on that.

300-400 for the whole car? I normally charge around 200-250 depending on how bad the paint is. If its not that Bad, it would probably be less. You could try Meguiars' ColorX...

300-400 for the whole car? I normally charge around 200-250 depending on how bad the paint is. If its not that Bad, it would probably be less. You could try Meguiars' ColorX...

is that just for the exterior or when you detail a car do you do the interior as well?

I detailed a car the other day and charges $225 for an interior detail and on the exterior I washed clayed klasse AIO and waxed.

300-400 for the whole car? I normally charge around 200-250 depending on how bad the paint is. If its not that Bad, it would probably be less. You could try Meguiars' ColorX...

thats what they said



well if you come down here, you can do my car for 200 bux :p

although I did the whole car today (clay bar/paint cleaner/polish/Ice wax)

car is shining real nice! I'd take some pics buy it was night time and started to rain near the end so :(

is that just for the exterior or when you detail a car do you do the interior as well?

I detailed a car the other day and charges $225 for an interior detail and on the exterior I washed clayed klasse AIO and waxed.

That price would be what I guessimate for an exterior detail on something in that size and condition. Thats assuming the paint is pretty hard and needs to be massaged with a rotary before going to the PC. I would guess 5 hours to get it back in tip top shape.

225 is a pretty good amount to make if you didn't buff the paint and just used AIO and waxed, but then again I hate interiors...