Paint Problems

[Kirbys]

We have a metallic black C class sport coupe which is only a few weeks old. It has never been to a car-wash. It is valeted by a professional car valeter on our premises along with our other vehicles and has only been polished once with Turtle Wax Wax it Wet, which you simply spray on when the car has been hosed off and then leather the car off. This is currently Auto Express' product winner in the polish category.

The black paint appears to have a patchy "bloom" on it and in many places appears to have faded. The problem seems to be getting worse on a daily basis. The car was not like that when it was collected brand new from the M-B dealer as our car-valeter would have noticed it immediately. He alerted us last week and now it is obvious when you look at the car.

Obviously this car will have to go back to the dealer for them to inspect it, however before we do that, has anyone heard of this before and does anyone know what is causing it?

Any advice would be gratefully received.

 

[SCEE]

Hi

Turtle wax is not a wax, it is actually a mix of silicons which damage your paint. Honestly to sort it there is only one answer and that is ZYMOL, you must ZYMOL it at once as this is the only way to rectify the problem. If you use the pre-wax HD CLEANSE this will take out all the impurities and then follow up by using CONCOURUS WAX, which is a real wax made from the CARNABUE tress in Brazil. Trust me you wont be dissapointed. There are about three approved detailers in UK let me know if you dont want to do it yourself and I can email you their details. suraj@mayurfoods.com

Cheers.

 

[Arnie]

I agree that there's no quick route to a good shine (elbow-grease is required), but while this Turtle-wax may not be the greatest product, I would find it surprising if it was the cause.

Of course, first try the easy thing and see if you can fix it with some good wax polish. By all means use Zymol, if you can get it (as you see above certain people swear by it); otherwise, try the Autoglym range of products which are pretty good (Halfords). Give the car a thourough wash with branded car shampoo and then try to polish a small area of the bloom with one of the above products to see if it improves. If not, you can try a fine cutting polish such as Autoglym Paint Renovator, which will gently remove a microscopic layer of paint and give a good shine. It's important to use a proper cotton polishing cloth (Halfords) and not to press too hard, changing the cloth surface often.

However, it could be that the bloom is due to some chemical that has penetrated deep into the paint (car paint nowadays is waterbased and almost totally non-resistant to many everyday things compared to the older solvent-based paints.). In this case, it may be hard to remove.

Check that the vehicle has not had any re-spray since new (dealers sometimes repair paint damage that may have occurred on the transporters en-route from Germany.) A poor re-spray could give this effect, after exposure to the elements.

If the paint-work is totally original, then the cause must be something quite unusual, but acid rain or a bad washing solution might do it.

In hindsight, it would have been best to have treated the car to a real (carnuba) wax polish as soon as it was delivered. It's tough work to apply and buff, but it's the hardest and best protection available and also gives the best shine.

Most other polishes, as was mentioned above, are silicone based, which is not too good for the paint in the long run (clogs it up and seals in the dirt), and these quick-to-apply versions don't really work effectively. Most people don't have the time or inclination to give their car a good polish these days, and so these fast products appeal. But, as I said, I would be surprised if it was the cause of your troubles.