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Faint swirl marks all over car

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fabnavigator

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2024 Honda Civic Touring
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Discussion starter · #1 ·
I have a new Rallye Red Touring Civic and there are visible swirl marks all over the finish. I'm calling them that, but it might not be the correct name for it. Lots of fine little slightly curved line segments.Easily visible in direct sunlight. Most prominent on the hood of course. Does everybody see the same thing? I wonder if it was like this right out of the factory, or did the dealer do something bad to the car. This is the first new car I've had in a very long time. I looked at a neighbor's car (not sure how old it is) paint and was able to see much the same thing.

I just had the car ceramic coated, and even though they did some light polishing as part of the "Paint correction", I can still see these swirls. When I spoke with them about it they said that they can't polish too much because the top coat is very thin.

I'm sensitive to this right now, but I imagine over time it won't bother me as much. In general, the car looks great, if you don't look too close.
 
#2 ·
I have a new RRT as well, but really haven't noticed any swirls. The only way to get rid of them is to polish them out, but you can't go crazy with the polishing compound.
 
#3 ·
I know Honda paint isnt the best, but a good detailer will normally measure your paint. Did they use a paint meter to determine its thin? It will also depend on the pads and compounds they used for the polish, some might not do as good of a job as others and might not take out all the swirls. Maybe take it to a different detailer.
 
#5 ·
Chilly613 said:
A good detailer will normally measure your paint, did they use a paint meter to determine its thin? It will also depend on the pads and compounds they used for the polish, some might not do as good of a job as others and might not take out all the swirls. Maybe take it to a different detailer.
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also a good detailer will show you a finished area to give you an idea of what to expect....

if he encounters a panel that is different (reads higher/lower) he should have let you know

lastly a good detailer starts w/ the less abrasive combo first.



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#6 ·
I took a Sonic Gray last month and I know the car was minimally hand washed 2 times, before my first wash and swirls were already there. Mine doesn't have ceramic coat. Don't think that dealer's staff will take care and do it carefully to prepare for ceramic coating. Must probably the swirls were done while removing snow from the car and using dirty microfibers at dealer """detailing garage""".

I've decontaminated, used iron remover, washed, applied Meguiars Ultimate Polish compound and Soft99 12 months wax. But swirls are still there and I will probably stay with them until I get more of them, inevitably after careful hand washing over a year and them ask for fine polish and ceramic coating from a great professional.
 
Discussion starter · #7 ·
Thank you for all of your responses. It seems that the detailer I chose to do my ceramic coating wasn't one of the best. I said up front that I saw swirls, and they said that their paint correction will take care of that. It didn't. They never called me to say that they weren't able to eliminate the swirls. They just proceeded to coat the car. I don't know how much recourse I have with them at this point because their primary job was to do the coating.

I'll probably go back to the dealer. I've only had the car for three weeks. More just to show them the car, vent some, and inform them that the dealership review that they have been bugging me for isn't going to go well for them.

This has been a learning experience for me. My last new car was a 2000 Accord, and I can't remember at all what the paint looked like when I got it.

As I was on a walk today, I glanced at some parked cars, and saw the same swirls that are on my car. This must be pretty common.
 
#8 ·
fabnavigator said:
Thank you for all of your responses. It seems that the detailer I chose to do my ceramic coating wasn't one of the best. I said up front that I saw swirls, and they said that their paint correction will take care of that. It didn't. They never called me to say that they weren't able to eliminate the swirls. They just proceeded to coat the car. I don't know how much recourse I have with them at this point because their primary job was to do the coating.

I'll probably go back to the dealer. I've only had the car for three weeks. More just to show them the car, vent some, and inform them that the dealership review that they have been bugging me for isn't going to go well for them.

This has been a learning experience for me. My last new car was a 2000 Accord, and I can't remember at all what the paint looked like when I got it.

As I was on a walk today, I glanced at some parked cars, and saw the same swirls that are on my car. This must be pretty common.
Click to expand...
I would definitely do research amongst detailers in your area, some are better than others, some are also more expensive than others, just have to find that happy medium of them doing a good job and at a decent price.

Not sure how much the dealer will do unless it came off the lot like that or they were the cause of the swirls, but I guess it doesnt hurt to try.

Its common if you wash your car poorly like using abrasive cleaners or even use the wrong towels. My neighbor uses dish soap to clean his car and old bath towels, his car is full of swirls and scratches.
 
#13 ·
Before I bought my 24, I looked at them at another dealership and all the civics on the lot had what you’re talking about in the paint.

It’s from their crappy automated car washes.

The dealership I bought from hand washes their cars so mine had this minimally. But I see it here and there if looking at the right angle. It’s hard to spot on Sonic Pearl Grey.

Obviously you can see them more when the light hits it right during the day but you have to be close. All cars are deteriorating as soon as they get driven for the first time. I just try to keep it clean and looking good and accept that the paint these days just sucks and metal moving at high speeds down the road only adds to the fact that damage to the paint will happen sooner than you know.
 
Discussion starter · #15 ·
zeRep said:
Post a pic of these swirls

zeRep
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I had trouble taking a good picture. This is a little blurry, but you get the general idea of the pattern at least. I couldn't get a picture of the hood. This is below one of the windows. The swirls aren't as bright or pronounced as they look in the photo.

Image
 
Discussion starter · #16 ·
troppstar said:
Before I bought my 24, I looked at them at another dealership and all the civics on the lot had what you’re talking about in the paint.

It’s from their crappy automated car washes.

The dealership I bought from hand washes their cars so mine had this minimally. But I see it here and there if looking at the right angle. It’s hard to spot on Sonic Pearl Grey.

Obviously you can see them more when the light hits it right during the day but you have to be close. All cars are deteriorating as soon as they get driven for the first time. I just try to keep it clean and looking good and accept that the paint these days just sucks and metal moving at high speeds down the road only adds to the fact that damage to the paint will happen sooner than you know.
Click to expand...
What bugs me is that I never thought of this possible issue, and I didn't see these swirls the day I picked up the car. I will write them a review which hopefully might save someone else from the same regrets.
 
Discussion starter · #17 ·
So, the car dealer is getting a bad review for improperly washing the car.

What to do about the detailer who applied the coating? Ideally I would have received a call stating that there are swirls all over and they can't safely polish them out, and should they still apply the coating? That didn't happen, and nothing was said to me when I picked up the car.
 
#19 · (Edited)
So basically the swirl marks you are seeing are small micro scratches within top protective layer of the painted surface. The top clear coat isn't completely flat making the light bounce off in weird ways and aka swirl marks. The only way to remove them is with abrasion through paint correction. This basically sanding down the top clear coat to the same thickness so the light can't hit all the valleys in the paint.

Now since your ceramic coating was applied overtop of the micro scratches you have 2 options. Live with the swirl marks or you must remove the ceramic coating you just paid for. The ceramic coating will get removed when you try to correct the paint.

Like @zeRep said the detailer might have had your expectations too high. For the detailer to make the paint 100% scratch free that would remove a lot of clear coat which isn't good. It's better to not expect perfection with paint correction.

It could also be what @Eiching1 said and they really didn't do any paint correction. The picture you sent wasn't great but I'd expect better from even 1 step paint correction on a newer vehicle. You said the detailer stated the paint was very thin. I mean sure Honda paint is very thin but did the detailer use a paint thickness tool? I'd almost guarantee a new car will have plenty of clear coat for paint correction. That makes me think the detailer probably full of sh*t. They may have been trying to get around doing the most costly and time consuming part of a ceramic coating (the paint correction).

It comes down to if you're willing to deal with the swirl marks for the next few years until the ceramic coating starts to degrade to the point you should reapply. Like you said 95% of the cars on the road are going to have those same swirl marks. The only ones that don't are the ones that have had a paint correction and afterwards properly washed and maintained.
 
Discussion starter · #20 ·
zeRep said:
that's a horrible pic, see below for a good sample pic..

View attachment 19990

the detailer mistake was setting your expectations too high.

you said he did 'light polishing' could he removed 20% of the swirls? without seeing a before and after its hard to say..

zeRep
Click to expand...
Sorry. It's the best picture I was able to take. Your picture is much better. That is what the swirls look like on my car.

Maybe the detailer did improve it some. I certainly can quantify the improvement. I'll take him at his word that he did "some" polishing.

And yes, he should not have led me to believe that all of the swirls were going to be gone.
 
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