Will it polish out?

[croyde]

Parked in an underground garage today and under the harsh lighting I can see that my car is absolutely covered in scratches.

Horrible feeling that it's my fault as I used a self service carwash the other day to clear all the salt muck off after a 200 mile trip out West and back.

I did check that there were no foreign bodies in the foam brush and that the bristles were soft.

But it's the only thing that could cover the whole car like in the pic below.

Any good polish that might help? It's not a garage queen and it gets used.

Cheers for any help.

[dave123456]

Not much help now but if I have to use one of them I always foam the car first and thoroughly jet wash the brush… had some funny looks whilst jet washing the end of the brush.

[croyde]

I did foam it first

[Huzzah]

You could

A) Stop parking under harsh lights
B) Wear dark glasses
C) Get a pro in, good chance they'll get it tip top with a mop.
D) Not wash it ever again.

(I'd probably opt for 'd')

Edited by Huzzah on Sunday 26th January 12:45

[Plyphon]

Unless you want to get down the detailing rabbit hole I'd just find a local detailer who can do paint correction. Those should come up fine with a DA polish and an afternoon.

[budgie smuggler]

Yes at some point it got cleaned with a slightly dirty cloth/glove/sponge whatever.

It doesn't look that bad to me, a one stage polish applied with a dual action polisher will probably remove most of that no issue. E.g. Scholl S20 Black. There are a few odd scratches that look a bit deeper, the 1-stage will still reduce those so they don't catch the light (but not completely remove).

Alternatively you can try a very mild polish with a lot of fillers like Autoglym SRP with a layer of wax on the top. It will most likely hide that for several months, even just applied manually.

The nuclear option is a multi-stage polish with something more agressive. It will completely restore it but removes more clear-coat in the process.

Edited by budgie smuggler on Sunday 26th January 12:59

[croyde]

Huzzah said:

You could

A) Stop parking under harsh lights
B) Wear dark glasses
C) Get a pro in, good chance they'll get it tip top with a mop.
D) Not wash it ever again.

(I'd probably opt for 'd')

Edited by Huzzah on Sunday 26th January 12:45

You are correct. It looked lovely after the wash.

[croyde]

budgie smuggler said:

Yes at some point it got cleaned with a slightly dirty cloth/glove/sponge whatever.

It doesn't look that bad to me, a one stage polish applied with a dual action polisher will probably remove most of that no issue. E.g. Scholl S20 Black. There are a few odd scratches that look a bit deeper, the 1-stage will still reduce those so they don't catch the light (but not completely remove).

Edited by budgie smuggler on Sunday 26th January 12:59

It was beautifully waxed when I picked it up from the dealer back in August so maybe the damage occured before my ownership.

I was using the brush in straight lines not circular motions with barely any pressure.

I'll check the front bumper later as that was removed and resprayed due to damage spotted (a deep scratch) when I picked it up.

If it is covered in the same scratches then it's definitely me that's been a fool.

[Huzzah]

budgie smuggler said:

Alternatively you can try a very mild polish with a lot of fillers like Autoglym SRP with a layer of wax on the top. It will most likely hide that for several months, even just applied manually.

Edited by budgie smuggler on Sunday 26th January 12:59

Good tip re the Autoglym, I've an old bottle of Maguires crystal polish languishing in the shed but didn't touch similar marks on one of mine.