# Advice with my paintwork please



## eccles291 (May 4, 2013)

Hi all,

I've not had my TT long but it seems the paintwork isn't in the best condition. (It's an '08 reg with 89,000 miles on the clock). I'm not an obsessive detailer-type but of all the cars I've ever owned the paint on this one seems to be the worst I've had... unless my unfussy cleaning regime is to blame. :? I start by rinsing off the worst of the muck with a hose, wash it [with generic car shampoo] and warm water using a sponge and bucket. I always start at the top and work my down to the bottom doing the wheels last, then rinse the whole car off with the hose and dry it with a leather chamois. Now I know this isn't the absolute *best* way to clean a car but I don't think it's too terrible. (Happy to be told otherwise though!)

The thing is, when it's dry its left with these awful streaks.



I live in a cottage on a farm and the car is parked outdoors on a dusty track all the time (no garage).  When the weather has been dry for a couple of days the dust that settles on the car overnight is pretty bad, especially if there's been a dew. I use it daily for work so it's not feasible to keep it under a dust cover.

So, I have a few questions:

Would paint correction and a decent wax help stop these marks?
Do I really need to change my cleaning routine? [smiley=bomb.gif] 
Is it worth getting the paint corrected and a ceramic coating applied, bearing in mind where the car is kept?

Thanks.


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## Hoggy (May 8, 2002)

Hi, Sponge & chamois not recommended anymore. 
Rinse off with hosepipe first & use a wash mitt with a good wash/wax Shampoo (Meguiars perhaps) rinsing off as you go so it doesn't dry off & then dry off with a good quality microfibre cloth. That's the minimum process.
Hoggy.


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## BW57 (Jun 26, 2017)

Hoggy said:


> Hi, Sponge & chamois not recommended anymore.
> Rinse off with hosepipe first & use a wash mitt with a good wash/wax Shampoo (Meguiars perhaps) rinsing off as you go so it doesn't dry off & then dry off with a good quality microfibre cloth. That's the minimum process.
> Hoggy.


I'd also suggest using two buckets&#8230;.one for the wash/wax shampoo and the other to rinse the mitt in each time you wipe the car, before you put it back into the shampoo bucket for the next wipe.


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## eccles291 (May 4, 2013)

Thanks for that. I realise I probably should use the two bucket method but I've just been a bit lazy at getting a decent wash regime organised. :roll: In my defence almost every one of my previous cars have been a bit ropey so two buckets would have been pretty pointless. I think I need to invest in a better set up for this car though as I plan on keeping it for a while. 

Any thoughts on the paint correction and ceramic coating?


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## Hoggy (May 8, 2002)

Hi, A good going over with Meguiars Ultimate Compound should help get rid of the swirls etc, if DIY. & then another wash/wax shampoo & dry off.
Hoggy.


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## eccles291 (May 4, 2013)

Hoggy said:


> Hi, A good going over with Meguiars Ultimate Compound should help get rid of the swirls etc, if DIY. & then another wash/wax shampoo & dry off.
> Hoggy.


Thanks, I'll give that a try. I'm now getting interested in detailing to try and improve and protect it where I can. Most of it is going to be DIY. (Or should that be DIM... "Do It Meself"? Mind you, DIM might be apt for other reasons! [smiley=dunce2.gif] :-D )


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## ChesterUK (Dec 22, 2019)

If you're looking at detailing your car, get yourself onto Detailing World. There is a wealth of knowledge there. Trust me when I say you can do some serious damage if you don't know what you're doing, so actually practising on cars you don't care about is ideal!

A fully decontaminated surface is the best place to start, but judging from the photos, this could take some considerable effort, and then moving on to several stages of polishing would take a long time before a refined finish is achievable.

So it may be worth looking at a combination route, and using a wax with a lot of fillers if this is something you wish to work on yourself. Or you may wish to seek the advice of a local detailer. If you don't have many cleansing/detailing products, using their services would most likely be the cheapest route to getting results by far as building a collection of products can get expensive. Then they can also guide you on a good maintenance technique.

I've been bitten by the detailing bug, and I just keep buying more products to tackle the next thing! It's worthwhile asking yourself if you want to go down this rabbit hole and add up the product costs and time to do it.


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## eccles291 (May 4, 2013)

Thanks for the advice Chester, much appreciated.  I've registered on Detailing World and have spent a good deal of time reading already. I've also started buying the basics of a detailing kit but I'm not gonna splash out on a DA polisher just yet. I have wondered if it's worth getting a professional opinion on the paintwork and possibly paint correction done first. After that I can start to slowly build my kit (and knowledge) to do more myself.

PS - nice avatar. [smiley=dude.gif]


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## eccles291 (May 4, 2013)

Well, having tried to register on the DW forum, it seems my 1st attempt at registration failed for some unknown reason. That was despite receiving the email to verify my email address and clicking the relevant link. While waiting for my membership to be approved I filled in my profile, uploaded photos of my car and waited for activation of my membership. The next day, when I went back to see if it had come through, there was no record of my registration or screen name anywhere. I sent the admin a message but heard nothing back. :roll: So tonight I tried to re-register with the same screen name as before (which was still available) and when I hit the Submit button I got a message saying "The administrator has banned your email address". :x WTF is going on? Is it really that difficult to register on that forum?! :?:


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## Hoggy (May 8, 2002)

Hi, Hotmail, Google & Gmail addys are sometimes treated as suspicious, without asking for permission to use. 
Hoggy.


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## eccles291 (May 4, 2013)

Weird how it wasn't rejected on my first attempt to register. I've still had no reply from an Admin on there regarding all the registration problems I'm having. :x


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## Hoggy (May 8, 2002)

Hi, Most of the scammers we get on here use Gmail addys,
Hoggy.


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