When I picked up the new TSX last week for delivery I noticed that I have a few (looks like tiny scratch lines, barely noticeable) on top of the hood near the front end, when inspecting it...but very faint and not felt. The exterior is black/ebony perhaps shows more... I know that they kept the car a few extra days to remove the liner that the car is wrapped in iniatially cause of the hot weather recently and ability to remove it properly...as I was told.

They will use some kind of rubbing compound i'm told to remove them and then what appears to be re-appying the clear coat on top that they initially took off for the purpose of eliminating the scratch...

I told them I can live with these if not possible to remove but they said they can remove them this way...any comments?

This is the body shop at the Acura dealership in Ottawa...

thanks, Marc.

 

What a crock of crap! They can't re-apply the clear coat without re-painting the car. And if they are truly using "rubbing compound" on a black NEW clear coated car then you had better call them pronto and tell them to step away from your car!

No one with any sense uses compound to remove some faint scratches...well cept a dealer perhaps...all most clears need is a light polishing product designed for mild defect removal or paint correction. Get your car and take it home and do it yourself because it's a 99% sure thing they will end up doing more damage than good. They may remove the scratches but then introduce thousands of micro scratches in the form of buffer swirls.

Do it yourself..

Anthony

 

My '05 TSX came with what looked to be a line of scratches on the very front of the hood that followed the line of the grill from the right to the left of the center-line about a foot. I took some wax and put it on and buffed it off by hand, and it was actually the hard, clear plastic residue that comes on the car from the factory. I looked over the rest of the car, and there are some other spots where they missed near body lines and such. I still haven't taken the time to get it off yet, or to find a product that will remove it easily.

 

Yes it is the dealer's own body shop that is doing this, I am assuming they know what they are doing... but just being cautious by asking opinions...thanks.

 

I agree with Anthony. First, how deep are the scratches? If it's a really light scratch, the detail shop should be able to use a polish with mild abrasive like Poorboy's SSR or Optimum Car polish instead of a rubbing compound.

 

Let's hope the person you were speaking with at the dealer was using the wrong term ... Anthony is right, rubbing compound is a bit aggressive based on what you described. A good light cut polish would be a far better choice, then top it with a couple of coats of a good polymer and you'll be good to go.

 

Yea, I remember seeing this all over my TSX when I first got it. A good polishing got rid of all of it.

I cant imagine picking up a new car and having swirls all over it. I saw this the other day when my wife and I were test driving a new CR-V for her. It was a black one and it had massive swirls on it. Just another reason to avoid dealers when its comes to your paint. Do these guys use friggin brillo pads to wash their cars when they sit on the lot??

 

did u polish it yourself?... how and what polish did you use?...thanks.

 

Yea, but this is different then what you had I think. These you could actually feel on the surface, it was just the residue left over from the plastic protective covering.

Sounds like you have actual swirl marks which are just micro scratches in the clear coat. If you dont have experence removing these, I would stick with the pros...

 

Marc, read about how to remove swirls. As far as a polish is concerned, I mentioned 2 of them in my previous post. Preventing swirls on a dark color is difficult, it's gonna happen. You can minimize swirls by using the right tools and techniques when maintaining your vehicle. I think NBP is one hell of a color - it turns heads and definetly stands out. It's just a bitch keeping it that way and lot of time and effort staying on top of it.

 

I do alot of Porsches and they come with the same type of thin adhesives lines. I use a solvent based cleaner wax to remove them.

Something along the lines of ClearKotes Vanilla Moose, or I believe Auto Magic also has one called "Seal-It" and Top of the Lines has one also called "Snap Seal".

These are liquidy products that seperate and must be shaken well. They are solvent based so they remove tar, grease, gum and adhesive materials like those left from the plastic car wraps.

Anthony

 

If you run your nail lightly over the scratch lines, does it get caught in it? If it doesn't, don't let the dealer fix it. Take it back and do it yourself without rubbing compound. Rubbing compound is too aggressive for this. All you need is some Vanilla Moose, or Poorboys SSR2, or even off-the-shelf ScratchX.

 

If its just the residue, those products you mentioned are a bit harsh. Klasse AIO or NXT or any polish with cleaners in it should do just fine.

 

I agree, I used Meg's Cleaner Wax, and it came off pretty easily.

 

Those products I mentioned were for scratches that do not catch the fingernail, not residue.

 

Liquid Glass Cleaner will remove wax/oil residue and is NON-abrasive. Works great as a prep for any polymer product.