supraman317

Any fix for this or DIY to make it look better?

supafamous

Only permanent fix is paint protection film - I was quoted $200 to get it done. Even ceramic won't protect it as the plastic is too porous to let the ceramic stay solid on top.

Texasrdx21

Easy DIY paint correction if you have an orbital buffer. Just did my entire Acura last fall with a home DIY paint correction.

Just get some polish (similar to Griot's Garage Complete Compound Polish - sold at Autozone), use an orange or blue pad - and all those fine swirl marks will disappear. I then follow up with Nextgen ceramic coating (sold on Amazon) and it will be better than new. All trim and paint gets that way after a while.

SilverJ

Not if you never go to the car wash...

Texasrdx21

Ever paint and trim over time will get scratches (swirls and other stuff), from washes, drying and anytime you touch the paint. You’d be surprised the marks in the paint new from the factory.

DIY Paint correction (clay bar, orbital buffer polish and a ceramic coating) results are easy to do over a weekend. The results are night and day difference in smoothness and paint clarity/depth. A bonus, is that after that process - less dirt sticks and easier to wash.

SilverJ

Interesting. Maybe sometime you can go over your routine...I basically just use a powerwasher, suds it up, wash it gently with a shammy mitt by hand and blow dry with a leaf blower. I use rainx on the glass with a glass cleaner first.
My car has some type of ceramic finish on it from the dealership but I have not had to touch it up or anything yet. But I feel that day is coming
No swirls on anything as of yet, but my car is less than a year old. I am married with kids and all so i don't have endless hours to polish my car you know ?

Texasrdx21

You must super paint coating. 😎

OP was looking for remedies to remove swirls. Swirls happen in real life with washing the vehicle and drying it over time. I just did a paint correction after 36 months of ownership, a few hours of work.

Ludepower

That's called normal wear and tear

rdx4me?

Where are you located?

jmhumr

Pretty sure you can just order the pillar PPF and install it yourself too and save a lot of money. For such a small and flat section, it’s a good beginner’s job. PPF installers are crooks - it’s not hard work.

supafamous

That kit is listed at $100USD which is about $135CAD so for me, it's worth paying the extra $70 or so for a a pro to do the work. The guy I use does great work and it's definitely not worth my time to do it myself considering the cost also includes a paint correction.

Texasrdx21

$170 for PPF for the small pillars?

If your trim has swirl marks - my bet is your paint does too (less noticeable on light colors - like white and silver - but still there when you look at it in the sun). Super easy DIY - Investing in an orbital buffer, some polish and ceramic spray would/is my go too.

BTW - I DIY PPF on the hood, mirror and bumpers - material only cost me $110 and took two hours.

John from PA

You might want to also give some of the Mequiar's Plastic polishing products a try. I used to use them extensively on my Porsche and they worked quite well. As I recall there is a #10, #17 and an #18. You started with the middle grade and worked to a very fine polish. Perhaps start with a middle grade, do a test on a small area, then if you see improvement move to the finer grade. This didn't really take too long. There line of plastic polishes are at https://www.meguiars.com/search?sear...plastic+polish.

supafamous

My quote of $200 was for both the door pillars and the C pillar piano black trim. As mentioned before the plastic is too porous for the ceramic coating to protect it so while my paint is fine, the piano black trim is not. I use to do my own paint correction and while it was fun and very rewarding to do I have no desire to spend my time that way anymore and I prefer to pay someone else to do it for me and to have them use professional grade materials as well.

Texasrdx21

Sounds like you found the best solution for you. OP was looking for a DIY, that’s the option i took and shared. For most, if you don’t have the tools and or skills/knowledge - best to go to a professional to get it done.

russianDude

The obsession with details. Its not a Porsche, its just an Acura….

Roka

try not to use drive through car washes, if you have to, use the touchless washes, NEVER EVER use ones with rotating brushes unless u want swirl marks and scratches all over your car.

SilverJ

So only Porsche's should be obsessed over ? To a lot of guys...their Acura IS their Porsche. Nothing wrong with taking pride in what you work hard for.

RDX10

Agreed. Every car I've ever owned has been my Porsche, even used ones with a billion miles are my Porsche.

russianDude

I’ve never had ppf on my new cars, and never will.

supafamous

I'm not into being judgy about how much or little they take care of their cars - it's their choice. I've seen people treat a $5k car like a queen and I've seen people take their supercars through a drive through car wash (ok, I judge those folks a bit). If someone wants to spend time on their car that's their thing, if they want to treat it like trash that's their thing too - I don't think it's necessarily to talk down or be dismissive about their preferences.

Texasrdx21

PPF has some pros and some cons. I've used very sparing on my daily drivers and some motorcycle parts. Mostly DIY - as money the so called professionals want is just ridiculous and to me zero ROI.

Pros:

• Protects to an extent the underlining paint. Great for track days - where debris gets thrown at high velocity toward your front end and lights.
• Less expensive to repair than repaint (front bumper, headlights, mirror covers and lower portion of the hood and where the tires will fling things into).
• Door edge PPF guards and rear bumper top are super easy DIY projects.

Cons:

• Costs a lot to install. Pain in the @ss to remove when it gets old and brittle - it's plastic.
• PPF lasts about 5-6 years, then needs to be removed and reapplied.
• ALL PPF will turn yellowish over time - regardless of the manufacture.
• Distorts the depth of the paint.
• If you only do a "partial body panel", when you have to remove it there will be to different colors to the paint over time (regardless of ceramic coating).
• When selling it - you will not recoup your investment of PPF. Most buyers don't care.

Every daily driver will get some character blemishes over time (rock chips, swirls and light scrapes). I prefer to just do a yearly deep detail (clay bar, orbital buffer + polish and ceramic coating (including the black trim) - which is super easy.

I did a DIY PPF on the mirrors caps, parcial hood - 18" and corners of the front side fenders all for $110 of material. Acura paint is very durable and hard - after 40 months/23k miles, several 1K mile road trips and exposed to all climates (Texas summer inferno heat to sub-zero Colorado mountains with snow, sleet and salt) - I only see one tiny mark in the PPF and almost nothing on the non-PPF front bumper. Everyone is different, but I would not pay thousands of $$$ to get PPF (nor ceramic coating) done by a shop.

John from PA

Worse case scenario, see the content at Range Rover going through car wash

RDX10

That is totally your choice dude.

Where I live they don't salt or sand the roads during the 6-8 months of winter, they use sharp GRAVEL! PPF is pretty much a necessity if you don't want your car looking run down in 2-3 years. When I am looking at a used vehicle (regardless of age) I always am willing to pay more for ones that have PPF applied because they look 10X better than those that don't.

If I lived in a warmer place or where they didn't use rocks for traction in the winter I could understand not applying PPF. YMMV.

mapleloaf

I have a ceramic coat on my 2022 PMC RDX that has some swirls in the paint. What is the simplest way for me to remove without investing in a lot of equipment or expensive options? I do use a ceramic spray from time to time to renew the finish.

Texasrdx21

What type of coating product? Was the vehicle paint corrected before the coating? Does the coating have a warranty?

Answer to your question: A paint correction is the only way to remove swirl marks (Thus an orbital buffer, orange or blue pad, some good polish - that’s after a wash and clay bar). Then re-apply a ceramic coating to the paint (my go to is NextGen ceramic spray coating).

supafamous

You could also "repair" it with CarPro Essence Plus: https://carpro.global/catalog/essence-2/ - I haven't used it myself but reviews say it works reasonably well and will last for 6 months at a time.

But for a permanent fix you have to remove the coating by polishing it off and re-applying a new coating. Swirls are expected on a ceramic coating - they're ultimately the sacrificial layer for your paint though it's a much harder layer than pain though you can minimise it by how you care for it (and what product you use).

jmhumr

LOL, well yeah, if a pro is quoting you only $70 labor, then go for it. But that's a serious deal compared to quotes in my area.