KrylonBlue

I need to locate a top notch detailer to remove these scratches and see if it's even possible. If not, I have to consider painting it again but I'd rather not go that route. At least my body shop does high quality work but that's not making me happy. Either way, the dealership made good on their promise and replaced the two interior panels and gave me a wing at no charge.

KrylonBlue

Geez, looking through some old pictures, I'm beginning to miss my old Civic a little bit. Oh well, I upgraded haha. I had a TSX Retrofit for my headlights and the interior still stands up as one of the best IMO.

There, I have officially turned my topic into a MISS MY FIRST BRAND NEW CAR THREAD!

KrylonBlue

I decided to drive down the street to my local body shop who does excellent work and asked them a few things. When I mentioned that the other body shop said I'll notice the difference he stated that's because it's not a great shop. Well, obviously, because Dupage Auto Body is subpar at best from what I've heard. I showed the guy my scratches as they do "minor" scratch repair and he looked at it and felt around. He said none of them appear to be catching his finger nail and a simple "quality" buff will easily fix this. He said I could bring it in any day mid-afternoon and his body guy who does EVERYTHING will do his best to remove these.

I have been considering the idea of a detailer but this guy is good. He told me that they have a person in the process of learning the rounds of detailing but will have the guy who's been doing this for years handle it for me. Good news for me. I've seen the work this shop does before with not only collision repair but scratch removal on my old 2001 Cavalier. Excellent work so I'm going to take the chance since it's so close to home (30 seconds). Told me they will start with the rougher stuff first and see if it can be removed. Also said it's obvious that the dealership can't do a thing because all they do is buff for a second and than once it shines their done. I assume they're afraid to break the clear coat since they know NOTHING about body work.

Wish me luck!

ceb

You may need luck going to a body shop. Have you searched for the best detailer in your area yet or are you just blatatly ignoring everyone's advice?

This comment

"his body guy who does EVERYTHING will do his best to remove these."

tells me that you may have issues. They are already lowering your expectations and you have yet to talk to the guy or gal who will actually be doing the work.

Your expectations may be lower than mine, but I wouldn't be happy until the guy doing the actual work can look me in the eye and say "I can fix that better than new."

The problem is that you've released the dealership from their obligation and you will have to live with the results - whatever they are.

KrylonBlue

I released the dealership because there was no where to go. I've been through all of this before and it finally hit a wall that I wasn't willing to attempt and fight through. However, I will be meeting with this body shop guy tomorrow afternoon before he does any work and he will tell me if the scratches can be buffed before he does any work on it. I'm not blatantly ignoring everyones advice because I understand a detailer would be the best option. However, it seems the best detailers are a good distance away from me and I'd rather do it locally if it's not a major detail job. If it's a simple buffing job than I'll be more than happy. I will be heading to a professional detailer if the scratches require more attention. At this point, I can't feel any of the scratches so they appear to be easily buffed if one knows how to do it. I'm willing to live with the decision of letting the dealership off the hook though because it appeared there is nothing more they could or would do. They would not pay for a good detail nor would they let my preferred body shop look at it. It was either let their people touch it or go to a shop that's not highly rated by anyone I know that's used them. I decided to let it go and deal with it myself no matter the cost. We'll see if it can be buffed though.

As for the comment about the guy doing everything - I meant that as a general blanket statement. I've met this guy before - he made my moms car look like new with a paint job and touched up rock chips on my brothers car and it's not noticeable. If he can properly do the rock chips with what I assume was wet sanding and such than I'm willing to listen to him on whether it's possible. Ceb, I sincerely appreciate all of the advice that's been given to me on here. I'm very much a perfectionist but this collision center does advertise "minor scratch removal" which is technically what mine are. It's just in a repeating pattern thus why I'm going to be talking to him. I was told to come in at 1 PM so that I could meet with him and look the car over with him and determine what can and can't be done. We'll see tomorrow but I do appreciate the concern.

As a side note, I did search for body shops in my area and even Chicago and came up with a few but nothing that makes me jump up. I think the best one mentioned may have been on this forum in the Chicago thread so I may be giving them a call for an appointment if this body shop says it's not fixable with a simple buff job. The dealership, without me asking, went over my car more in the area where the scratches looked deeper (and only there) and removed those. So I'm basically dealing with all surface scratches here.

ceb

I hope the body shop lives up to your expectations. That would be a happy end for all this.

If they are actually swirl marks then you may be able to remove them yourself and it might make sense for you to buy a Porter Cable and some supplies and learn how to do this yourself.

KrylonBlue

Picked the car up today as I didn't have a chance yesterday. 99% of the scratches are gone or are nearly invisible unless you look as hard as you can for a ghost image. There was one that came out nearly all the way but couldn't be fully removed as it was on a trunk ledge. However, overall, excellent work.

Told me if they begin to show again for any reason to bring it back and they will do what they can for free. But as it stands, looks sharp.

Overall, a free $700 wing w/ installation and a good detail job that did it's job = happy camper.

PyroDave

sounds like they used some fillers, but hey, if it looks good, it looks good. im glad you came out of this happy bro

KrylonBlue

I don't think they used fillers. I saw them originally working on it and they were using a compound like I'd use had I of been doing this myself. All of their work has a lifetime guarantee though. The scratches that would not come out were on the trunk edge and could be felt with a finger nail. Still can to a point, sadly, but it would need some "labor" and wet sanding I suppose. Either way, as you said, if it looks acceptable than I can't complain. The car isn't going to stay in show room condition forever as it's parked outside and is a daily driver. But I want it to be the best it can from the beginning so it doesn't add up.

Overall, work is great and they went over everything with me slowly and answered any questions. Couldn't have asked for more. He said he could have possibly gone slightly deeper but risked going through the clear coat and didn't want to do it.