BLACK car maintenance *PITA* Advice?

[gtstwincam]

Black paint issues in general:

I have a 1995 Nissan 240SX SE black in color.
Beautiful when it is clean.
sexy during the day and seductive in the evening...
I drive the car once a month and its always garaged..
I used to wash the car using the "touchless car wash" with spot rinse and air dry. As soon as I drive out the wash, i wipe down the remaining water beads with micro fiber towels in one direction and use the meguiar's quick detailer.
What a pain the the arse! I cannot avoid micro marring and swirl marks whatsoever.
I gave up on washing the car myself and decided to take it to the professionals.
So I had a professional car wash detail the car and buff and polish out the vehicle.
BEAUTIFUL! NO swirl marks and/or imperfections! (SEE PICS BELOW)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v631/gtstwincam/240.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v631/gtstwincam/g2401.jpg
This saturday, I decided to take the car out for a drive and there was a thick layer of dust on the car. Instead of wiping it down with a quick detailer or a california duster.. I took it to the detailer that originally polished the car, thinking that they would not swirl it.. (They are the professionals).
Keep in mind that I see high end mercedes, bmws, lexus, infinitis getting washed here with no problems..
So after the car wash.... SWIRL MARKS and MARRING! (ALL OVER THE CAR! SEE PICS BELOW)
HOOD: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v631/gtstwincam/DSC00001-11.jpg
RT FENDER: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v631/gtstwincam/DSC00002-10.jpg
TRUNK: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v631/gtstwincam/DSC00003-5.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v631/gtstwincam/DSC00005-8.jpg
They apologized and said the are going to repolish the car for free..
I did research online and it appears I am not the only black car owner that complains about maintenance. It seems to be a big problem.
My problem:
The swirl marks/marring will eventually come back when I wash the car..
Should I keep the car and only drive it at night or on cloudy days?
Sell the car? (I have my eye on the 2004 Honda S2000s)
Repaint the car?
Just live with it?

[blackrms13]

black paint are easier to see the swirl marks when you compare to other colors
swirl marks are pretty much unavoidable...i think u can use the Meguiar's Scratch X to buff out those swirl marks

[murda-c]

you could polish it yourself every day, lol.

seriously though, it's not a show car, if you have a good glaze and a good wax on it, it shouldn't be THAT bad if your paint is alright.

http://www.autogeek.net/exteriorcare.html

full of good info.

[got boost??]

yep i had a black s13. black is the absolute hardest color to keep clean and clean of scratches/ swirl marks. thats why im contemplating painting my s14 a midnight blue instead of the originally planned black

[PITCH]

Had a black Kouki. It's Best day was the day after it was repainted. :bigok:

My Next will be White LOL.

[emersonLP]

I had a white s14 that was a champ - i didnt wash it all that often but when I did it looked pretty good.

Now I have a car that I actually want to keep clean cause its a lot nicer and its black! Its impossible to keep it looking nice! I find myself using that quick detailer like once a day and I still get frustrated when I find swirls ><




DAMN YOU BLACK! WHY ARE YOU ULTRASEX!?!

[gtstwincam]

Car is buffed/polished again. No swirls and holograms.

I will try to wash the car myself this time.

I think I will invest in a good hose sprayer and spray down the vehicle really good... wash it early in the morning in the shade and keep the car wet.. using a microfiber mitt and microfiber drying towels, washing/wiping in one direction only. not in circular motions.

If I can successfully wash the car w/o swirling it.. ill let you guys know.


:naughty: :naughty:

[flip3d]

What wheels are those? They're hott.

[yoni_nismo]

^^^ they look like silver sportmax 962 which i think they stoped making

[allntrlundrgrnd]

sportmax 962

[kensreliableb18b]

black cars arent hard to maintain once you know what you're doing. just time consuming at times thats all. but its all worth it in the end. my advice is for you to read up on it and practice.

[gtstwincam]

What wheels are those? They're hott.


Discontinued Sportmax 962s in silver.

Only avail in gunmetal and gold now.

check ebay if your interested.

Not a bad wheel for the price.


Back to the paint...

hopefully there will be a sticky on the forum on washing black cars. Ive been looking/researching and browsing youtube for tips..

[gprb25]

I have a black Kouki with the factory paint job and i get swirl marks, too. I think its inevitable, you cant stop it. I hand wash my car and use the foam brush at the car wash.

I use Meguiar's Tech Wax and Scratch X. Does a great job, it makes the paint look really deep and takes MOST of the marks out. I just bought a Mother's polishing ball and attach that to my power drill. Makes the job a lot quicker.

I've heard that a clar bar and carnuba wax works awesome to restore old paint, but I've yet to try that out.

[blueshark123]

claybar is real good on black cars. It removes marks u dont even know u have

[kevtrinh]

pay the cost to be the boss

[Forge_55b]

i've researched this alot lately and no matter what you do, eventually your car will need to be polished again, NOT WAXED but polished for those that don't know the difference look it up. what you can do however is keep the car waxed every 4 car washes and polish it every 8 or 12 or however you feel is necessary to keep your paint perfect.

but like someone said, if this isn't a show car who the fuck cares? as a daily my car has a host of door dings and imperfections that used to bother me at first but then, shit its a daily, this stuff is always gong to happen so why stress out about it

[dynamicck]

To keep swirl marks off black paint.
Wash the car early morning, or sunset, when the sun is least hot. Or wash in the shade. Also, having a water filter removing all impurities and dirt is really helpful stopping hard water spots/stains.
Use a clean wash cloth. After wiping down a panel or section of the car, wash the cloth. THere is dirt on it, that can cause swirl marks or spread dirt on the paint.
A dirty wash cloth, or dirty shammy can cause swirl marks.
Then clay bar entire car.
Wax car w/ a high speed buffer.

[gregfarz78]

I'll never buy another black car, if you have no life and have the time to wash it every day and spend countless time polishing it go for it. I got fed up with the swirl marks and you can see every little rock chip in the paint. Silver/white cars FTW

Clay bar removes paint contamination not marks in the paint

[dynamicck]

Same here, I hate black cars. After my lexus, I refuse to buy another black car, unless it's flat black. Black FTL

yea, you gotta remove the contaminates before you buff/polish. Sorry forgot to mention that. Thanks.

http://www.properautocare.com/usporcabpol.html

[fcdriver]

yeah man repaint it, unless you are a professional detailer and can wash, wax, and polish it at least twice a week you will constantly see that.

[mRclARK1]

I have a black Z and it's been constantly rainy here for the last 10 days. :-/

I feel your pain.