I have a black excursion, year 2000 that is in good shape as long as you stand back about 10 feet. Even though it's been garaged most of it's life, I have the standard amount of swirls and scratches, etc. I've always stayed away from any type of wax product with cleaner or abrasives in it, preferring to leave that to people who know what they're doing.

I had a professional detail done in 2006 that I thought looked great. I believe, though, that they get those results by gently scraping the surface of the vehicle. So my question. How many professional details does the average paint job have in it before it becomes too thin? Is my question even worth worrying about? I'd like to take it in again.

Thanks!

 

It's not really worth worrying about. As long as the paint is in decent shape, they are only going to use minor abrasive polishes. Those polishes just buff the edges of the scratches so they don't show up easily.

Black is a pain to get and keep right. I'd recommend getting a collection of Zainos polishes/washes and giving them a try. It will take a while, but their products work great on black cars.

 

I've been detailing since the 1950's, I've never heard of anyone scraping the paint.

What was prolly done was someone skilled in using a professional buffer (not those el cheapo two handed types), and using a scratch remover.

Another method is using very fine wet/dry sandpaper, then buffing the paint out...but only by the hands of a pro should this be done.

You have clearcoat paint on your truck...everytime a scratch remover is used, it takes away a bit of the clearcoat. Once the clearcoat is gone, the paint underneath fades away.

Meguiars makes a product called SCRATCHX...I've used it, but not with the usual application. I use my fingers.

If you rub this stuff on with a rag or one a those foam pads with too much force, you can kiss your clearcoat good-bye.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Big Dummy recommends that you buy one a those California Dusters, use that on your truck to wipe it down.

Do not wipe down your truck with rags, cotton anything, towels or worst of all...paper towels.

Paper towels today are all made from recycled paper, and these towels contain bits of metal shavings.

Do NOT use paper towels anywhere...especially on the glass. I learned that the hard way, by scratching the hell out a my wifes new cars windshield.

Even jewelers rouge (what pro's use on glass) wouldn't remove all the scratches.

I had to buy her a new windshield, which cost $500.00 installed.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Do you wash your Expy? How do you dry it? With a chamois? Bad idea...once a chamois is used a coupla times, grit gets into it, so it'll scratch the paint.

I use a leaf blower.

 

thanks for the feedback guys. I think I can safely say this is going to be my last black vehicle. In my opinion nothing looks better than black when it's clean, but lord is it difficult to maintain.

 

I'm a little late replying but I second the Zaino products. I just finished washing, clay bar cleaning, and putting 3 coats of Zaino Z-5 polish on my truck. Between the coats of Z-5 I used Z-6 detailer spray. I would say that no vehicle I have ever waxed/polished looked as good as my truck right now. Tomorrow I will apply 2 coats of Z-2 polish with Z-6 between coats and that should make the paint pop out to the point that my paint will look a mile deep.

My truck is a black 2008 that is just over a year old. I don't pamper the truck so it had swirls and light scratches. I also had not waxed it since last fall so she was looking dull. All I can say is I am 100% convinced that Zaino is the best product out there. I've used all the others and there is no comparison. You need very little product to achive outstanding results. I used 2oz of polish to apply 3 coats on a Crew Cab F-350. However, I will say I am meticulousnand I probably spent 9 hours on it today alone. Figure another 2-3 hours tomorrow.