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'Hologram' marks or swirl marks on black car


TOOGUD

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Very upsetting incident. Car is only 1 month old and there is hologram or swirl marks on the car. Brought it to a detailer (TLC in Brisbane) and they say its a common thing with black cars and the cost is pretty high to rectify it (approx. $1400). Might be the work of the dealership's detailer as they carry out very slipshot work. Well I have posted my concern to the dealership and see whether what kind of mediation I can obtain out of this. Any one out there who's had a black car and has these concerns before? Any good paint correction people to recommend in Brisbane region? I will really appreciate any help rendered. :help:

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Very upsetting incident. Car is only 1 month old and there is hologram or swirl marks on the car. Brought it to a detailer (TLC in Brisbane) and they say its a common thing with black cars and the cost is pretty high to rectify it (approx. $1400). Might be the work of the dealership's detailer as they carry out very slipshot work. Well I have posted my concern to the dealership and see whether what kind of mediation I can obtain out of this. Any one out there who's had a black car and has these concerns before? Any good paint correction people to recommend in Brisbane region? I will really appreciate any help rendered. :help:

It happens on all colours, it's just more obvious on black and dark colours. Our is showing them too as well as scratches just from washing it. The joys of a black car. :angry:

I have used Meguiar's Swirl Remover before to deal with swirls on my WRX (silver). Haven't tried it on the Kluger yet but I tried their Scratch-X on some light scratches caused by polishing out bird sh!t stains not long after we got it and it worked well so I'd be pretty confident about the Swirl Remover doing the job. Just take care using a rotary polisher if you have a crack yourself. When I need to do it I may try by hand and see how it goes before using my rotary.

Edited by The Fly
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Very upsetting incident. Car is only 1 month old and there is hologram or swirl marks on the car. Brought it to a detailer (TLC in Brisbane) and they say its a common thing with black cars and the cost is pretty high to rectify it (approx. $1400). Might be the work of the dealership's detailer as they carry out very slipshot work. Well I have posted my concern to the dealership and see whether what kind of mediation I can obtain out of this. Any one out there who's had a black car and has these concerns before? Any good paint correction people to recommend in Brisbane region? I will really appreciate any help rendered. :help:

It's very visible on dark coloured cars... like mine... I am going to try out TurtleWax Scratch & Swirl Remover liquid next weekend if I get the time to wash and polish my car. I'll do a before and after pics of the same area if I get the chance. It's not really worth taking it to someone to do as the result will be unknown. You'd be wasting money on something that might not work. Try down at Autobarn or the likes and see what things they have. Maybe wash car yourself, use bar of car detailer wax, then a polish. See if it makes a difference.

However if you want to try I suppose panel beaters should be able to help. I know of a reputable one however they are located on Northside of Brisbane. McCormacks Smash Repairs... located at Sandgate on Rainbow St.

Edited by 11TWO
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I work for me, it does get on most wash marks.

Most products are the same, and the fact that you have very strong elbow or an orbitor/polisher does not make a lot of difference.

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Happened to us too, the dealer HAND WASHED it, as you do, missed a few spots, and the "professional" used what seems to be a dry shammy to clean the missed bits, half our car he had done has marks on it, back and right hand side. It had only less than 1000ks!

I have not let anyone touch the car, and then my wife bumps the door into the carvan and chips the edge of the door...divorce papers are ready....LOL just kidding.

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Good on ya Black Kluger.. did you actually bring the matter to the attention of the dealership? Is it worth doing after getting the car for one month? I actually did email the sales rep but so far no reply. Not really very good after sales service I reckon.. I did make a big complain to Toyota when they sent me the customer feedback survey for the poor customer service and follow ups I receive prior to the delivery of the car. They can call me a ****** for all they want. Merely stating the facts..

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I work for me, it does get on most wash marks.

Most products are the same, and the fact that you have very strong elbow or an orbitor/polisher does not make a lot of difference.

Works for me too as I mentioned above. Pity the tube is small. It is designed for use by hand although I have also used it with my orbital polisher, and as Taka said, it won't necessarily do a better job but it does save on elbow grease. Haven't needed to try it with my rotary yet.

I looked over our car the other night and the paint work is in terrible condition and in need of a attention. It feels really rough, lots of bonded contaminents, and there are clearly visable water marks on the bonnet. I'm a bit surprised that it feels so bad given that it's only 6 months old and is always garaged. I used a few products on the bonnet by hand: Paint cleaner - no good, then Scratch X - no good although it did get the washing scratches out, then Fine Cut #2 and it just started to do the job. It's definitely an orbital job or failing that, rotary, then clay bar for anything still stuck on, then polish and wax.

There goes Saturday just to get that glassy-smooth finish back again.... :wacko:

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If you want it really smooth, sometimes you have to clay bar the surface to get rid of the residue. I found this is the best way to get that smooth feeling when you run your hand over the bonnet.

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If you want it really smooth, sometimes you have to clay bar the surface to get rid of the residue. I found this is the best way to get that smooth feeling when you run your hand over the bonnet.

I can vouch for them. I have seen fantastic results on my car the the Mrs' last car with one. You just need to use plenty of lube or it sticks and then you have to clean the residue off and go again! :rolleyes:

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I did tell the sales rep and the service manager, they said they will get their pre delivery person to repolish the whole car, but i feared this would cause more problems in the duco.

I will use cut and polish but as it is still new, i will do it when it is older.

Just make sure no one else washes the car.

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Well the sales rep got back to me yesterday (finally after 1 week).. Apologised for being very busy atm and advised me that he has notified the service department and someone there will get in touch with me soon. Well at least he did not shrug his shoulders and walk away. Just have to see what happens from there..

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  • 2 weeks later...

How did you go with getting the swirl marks out, any before and after pics? Did the dealer come to the party?

We had a similar problem with our black Kluger, dealer washed it with sand paper by the looks of it, swirl marks galore. I even asked them not to wash it when it was booked in. :( The grease marks left on the beige driver seat topped it off. Well done Lane Toyota :clap::angry:

Don't think I will trust it to a dealer again. :angry:

Well that’s my rant for the day. ;)

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wow. you asked them not to wash and they still did it.

It shows how much they care about their cars if they do that, i take 1 hour to wash fully my car(black as well) and sometimes i dont get it all perfect, they get it dont in 10 minutes, obviously a rush job, i'll never get anyone to do mine at all.

I have a bottle of cut a polish that i bought to see if it will fix it, but i hazzard to use it yet as it is still so new! Though i think the magpie that was on my bonnet attacking the bonnet protector left a few marks too!

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Well that's nothing new. I spoke to a paint correction guy and they said the dealerships always defies instructions. They are plain dumb. Anyway Kazi, I feel your agony becos the dealer where i bought my car from just said that they just gave it a wash and no polishing was involved. But they used a chamois. Well CHAMOIS.. Its the easiest thing to give black cars swirl marks given that Toyota does not want to offer metallic black, it just makes matters worse. Well according to the paint correction agent, always use a sheep skin mitts (no sponges) to wash solid paint black cars, and dry them with microfibre cloths. Well for my case, I brought it back to the paint protection agent where i had applied the paint protection solution and they promised to correct all the swirl marks for me but told me that swirl marks will start appearing again after some time. Well at least they are going to return me something pretty close to showroom condition. Well that's going to happen next week so until then, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I will be happy with the outcome.

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  • 7 months later...

I had a black Echo and I always washed the car before it goes in for service (if it's not dirty they won't touch it - wont want to waste their time when they have other cars to rush through). Leave post it note on dash saying DO NOT WASH. If you tell the service guys your waiting for the car when it goes in they wont wash it as they want to get it back to you ASAP.

Friend works for Limo company detailing cars and told me to always wash my car in straight lines in one direction, the same way every time this stops the slight scratches and if they do occur they are not as noticable because they are not swirls. Had the car four years paint job was beautiful - but I wouldn't let anyone else wash the car, no detailers, wife was too scared to touch it, kids knew better than to touch the paint work (thats why they have door handles)

Had lots of problems with Toyota service department, got to the point that the manager would inspect my car before I got it back - think they got sick of me yelling at them!

Cheers, trent

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I've had nothing but trouble with my black car, to the point where i now regret buying it in that colour. I should have gone silver, which is what i originally planned on doing. when i bought mine it had so many swirl marks and scratches that it made me really upset whenever i looked at it in the sun. i wouldn't even let friends see it out of embarrassment.

I ended up only last week getting it detailed and most of the swirl marks are gone, there is still some on all the panels especially the bonnet, but nothing like it was before. I think going professional is the only way to really get it decent again (if you are picky like me).

I also find that if you get bird crap on the paint or park in a basement that leaks water, the paint will be stuffed all the way through, so i have one or two areas where water has dripped in a basement when its been raining and you can see the paint is just stuffed in that area. Also some s**t keyed it like there was no tomorrow, just under the number plate at the rear, so i had to get the whole rear sprayed. That's another reason i now hate black, its more prone to getting keyed.

It looks good now after the detail/re-spray at the rear, but i am at the point now where i don't care anymore because it seems like there is a new scratch emerging daily.

It's interesting to note though that someone said not to chamois your car - i thought using the chamois was the best option as it wasn't abrasive??? I forgot what brand i buy, but it has always been really good... Can someone shed more light on the use of chammies?

Lastly, i've heard that the more you polish your car, the weaker the paint gets - can anyone say if this is true? Correct me if i am wrong but i see an awful lot of toyotas with paint fade/peel/damage, particularly on the roof and bonnets so i have a feeling toyota paint is not that great in any case.

Cheers

Matt

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It's interesting to note though that someone said not to chamois your car - i thought using the chamois was the best option as it wasn't abrasive??? I forgot what brand i buy, but it has always been really good... Can someone shed more light on the use of chammies?

Lastly, i've heard that the more you polish your car, the weaker the paint gets - can anyone say if this is true? Correct me if i am wrong but i see an awful lot of toyotas with paint fade/peel/damage, particularly on the roof and bonnets so i have a feeling toyota paint is not that great in any case.

Cheers

Matt

Matt,

My understanding is that with a chamois you run the risk that something gets stuck between the chamois and the paint, so when you wipe it over the car, the trapped grit gets dragged along and scratches the paint. Most detailing related sites I've looked at recommend the use of waffle weave microfibre towels to dry the car after washing. The structure of the MF towels is supposed to draw any grit into the nap of the towel, preventing it from scraping the paintwork as the towel is dragged across the car.

The tools and techniques you use for the washing are also just as important. This has been covered in detail (no pun intended) elsewhere on the TOCAU forums by DaveXR8 in the topic Car Detailing Tips.

If you want more information I've found the Meguiars Online forum site very educational. Yes it is orientated towards the Meguiars range of products, but a lot of the information is generic and I think could be applied to most other detailing product lines.

I suggest you take a look at the following links to answer some of your questions:

What it means to remove a scratch out of anything...

How to wash your car, show car style

2008 Meguiar's Online List O' Links 2.0

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