Mirror Like Finish Car Paint Restoration/protection

[Wacky Dee]

this company http://www.paintprotectiondirect.com.au/gallery.html that I saw mentioned in another thread sells this "Glare" product that's like a special polish that lasts for 5 years and requires no further polishing/waxing, yet giving a mirror like finish...

At first I thought my R34's paint is way too far gone for this but then I looked in their gallery and some of the cars esp. bonnets have worse fine scratches and chips BEFORE treatment and look like a fricken mirror after being treated with this product ... Wtf ? How can this be real and not be more popular?

Also the whole kit seems to be under $200 (DOUBLE MEGA WTFWTF!?) I've been thinking of respraying my whole exterior with same colour BUT might just try this stuff for a small fraction of a price of a paintjob...

Anyone here used it ? Is it really as good as they make it seem ?

Edited June 20, 2009 by Delta Force

[Wacky Dee]

Here's an example of BEFORE and AFTER ..just happens to be a Nissan too and the BEFORE pretty much looks like my paintjob lol.. wtf? The 'after' looks like a polished brand new paintjob..

[JGTC]

Generally, off the shelf polishes last up to 6 months and higher end specialist brands last up to 12 months

The steps they describe are quite accurate (wash, de-wax, clay, polish, sealant), however 5 year protection is basically a gimmick, as swirls can be introduced after just one wash.

To bring back the life of your paint, you should consider getting your car professionally detailed, Dr. Detail has a great reputation in Sydney (and on this forum), his charge is around $350 - which is quite reasonable for the work he does so maybe give him a go.

just type "dr detail" in the search bar on this forum to see the work he's done for a few sau peeps

http://www.drdetail.com.au/ - website isn't operational but his number and email is there

all the best, and make sure to post pics!

Edit: just had a look at that Glare product, it's just a glorified waterless wash, put simply, the more rubbing and wiping you do (esp without water) as you wash, the more likely you are to introduce new swirls, without a good pre-rinse and snow-foam, you'll just be rubbing the dirt into your paint which will rape your paintwork with swirls and scratches

Edited June 20, 2009 by squareznboxez

[Wacky Dee]

I've used drdetail ...all the swirls and stuff came back after a few months after he did the detailing, so close to $500 down the drain there ($80 for interior ..just made it wet for a few days, no diff in looks)

The product above costs half of what he charges and isn't actually a traditional wax/polish product at all from what I understand .. it doesn't actually sit on top of the paint it fuses with it and it has 'liquid glass' type of crap in it. Not sure where you got the waterless wash from .. you still need to wash your car with water and low ph detergent.

Anyway, i'm gonna go in for an inspection and see what they say ..

Edit: oops, price of their complete detail appears to be around $700 for an older car incl. swirl removal followed by application of this Glare stuff. Quite costly .. may give it a miss unless I can find some spare cashola and they offer a good warranty.

Edited June 20, 2009 by Delta Force

[JGTC]

You could give DMS detailing (http://www.dmsdetailing.com.au/) a look, i haven't used them but the products he uses are proven top notch brands - P21s, Menzerna, Zaino and Swissvax.

[Turbz RB-25]

ahahaha, I remember when I fell for buying this product. Let me guess, it's got that glassplexin stuff which turns to "glass" when it hardens on the car?

Don't waste you money mate, it's sh!t.

Not only is it difficult to apply, but it's a bitch to take off. I spent about 5 hours polishing my car, as soon as it rained, the polish went away...

STAY AWAY!

Go buy some meguiars wet look stuff for about $20. Does wonders.

[NISMO]

I've used drdetail ...all the swirls and stuff came back after a few months after he did the detailing, so close to $500 down the drain there ($80 for interior ..just made it wet for a few days, no diff in looks)

What kind of process did he use to remove the swirls?

The reason i ask, is if he buffed them out, then the only way they could come back would be if someone put them there. Almost all swirls are caused through washing/polishing. A swirl cannot simply re-appear.

Most detailers for example use 2 buckets when washing, one for the suds, and a second to rince before getting more suds.

If on the other hand he simply used some sort of "filling" polish like Scratch X or something then yeah once it's life goes, the swirls come back.

Given his rep i honestly would be very surprised if he didn't buff out all the swirls.

[Wacky Dee]

I don't know about his "process" because I didn't stand around watch him do it, but I'm pretty sure he buffed them all out ..took a good 4 hours or so. Not all the swirls came back but 80-90% of them did and no, I didn't put them back there. Trust me, I'm extremely careful and anal about washing the car with clean mitts and lots of rinsing etc..

Edited June 22, 2009 by Delta Force

[NISMO]

I don't know about his "process" because I didn't stand around watch him do it, but I'm pretty sure he buffed them all out ..took a good 4 hours or so. Not all the swirls came back but 80-90% of them did and no, I didn't put them back there. Trust me, I'm extremely careful and anal about washing the car with clean mitts and lots of rinsing etc..

haha, you sound like me whne it comes to washing :-)

If he buffed them, and they just re-appeared I'd be extremely pi$$ed. Especially that quickly.

Not pointing any fingers cause obviously i have no idea what he used or how he used it, just saying that if washed properly (as you have) and the swirls were buffed out, there is no reason for 80% of them to re-appear.

Back to your original question, I'm not really sure about the long term stuff. Have heard a few people have had bad experiences and no detailer will recommend it. Then again if they did, theyd be out of business :-)

[Wacky Dee]

yeah that 'glare' stuff .. I might be tempted on a new car/paintjob but I don't think it's worth $700 on a 10 yo paintjob with so many paintchips, swirls etc... might as well get an exterior respray for $1500 instead.

[PsYLoR]

When you get your car polished how long it stays that way really all depends on the exposure to the elements and how often its washed.

You need to also remember that a Polish made in Europe or somewhere like that claiming 'lasts up to X months' might not work the same in the harsh Aussie environment.

For minimal to no swirl marks you need to polish by hand with a certain motion and use softer and softer applicators as you go.

And YES if you already have swirl marks they will reappear just like any other scratch you 'hide' by polishing it.

How fast the scratches and swirls reappear depends on the environment your cars in and the way the polish is applied and wiped off. (forget using a buffer if you hate swirl marks)

Delta you would be wasting your money with that product. They don't even show you photo's of before and after taken from the same position. how are you supposed to compare before and after?

Here's your scratched bonnet....

And if i put the camera way back here and on a completely different angle....

LOOK! no more scratches!!!