Ok, first of all, this might be a stupid question, but what is the difference between rubbing compounds that are clear coat safe vs. ones that are NOT clear coat safe? Will the not clear coat safe ones be more abrasive, and probably work better providing that you know what you're doing? The reason I ask is that I found a brand new bottle of 3M fine cut rubbing compound in the house today. It states that it's "Clear coat Safe", but I wasn't sure if it would be as safe as using something like Scratch X. Any thoughts? Also, has anyone had the following problems below before? My main concern is the first one. Do you think the Paintless Dent Removal guy's theory holds water?


Ok, this is kind of a weird issue, but it still exists. On the trunk lid of my 07 TSX right where you would put your hand to close the trunk if you were going to close it from the top, I have what appears to be two little dents. I had no clue where they came from, so I had a Paintless Dent Removal guy come out today. (NOTE* These dents are faint, but if you look them the right way, you can definitely see them). Anyway's, he took off the truck liner (on the piece that swings open) and tried to get the dents out. He discovered that Acura puts a Piece of what appears to be like hard fiber glass on the inside of the metal right BELOW where my dents are. It's a strip of this stuff. Anyway's, he thinks that this stuff is contributing to my dents. He thinks that the glue is spreading on it, therefore causing stress on the metal. Can some of you look at your trunklids VERY carefully and see if you see even the faintest of dents? Also, does his theory seem to hold water? I am going to go have the Acura Service Manager take a look at it tomorrow, and see if Acura can fix this.

ALSO.... I noticed after washing my car tonight (touchless car wash) that on BOTH of my headlights, by the side turn signals, I had some condensation. NOT very much, but after driving for about 5-10 minutes, it was totally gone. Is this leading to a major water leak or something? This is really going to make me mad too, because I had Paint Protection Film installed on them... If someone could help me out with these issues, that would be great!

Thanks,
Jeff

 

1. Quote: … what is the difference between rubbing compounds that are clear coat safe vs. ones that are NOT clear coat safe? “
Non-Clear Coat safe compounds are used by body shops to prepare a surface for painting (i.e. to srtip the paint down to the base metal) Not part of a detailers products ‘toolkit’

2. Quote:…Do you think the Paintless Dent Removal guy's theory holds water?”
IMO glue doesn’t cause enough stress to metal for it to cause stress dents

3. Quote: I noticed after washing my car tonight (touchless car wash) that on BOTH of my headlights, by the side turn signals, I had some condensation. NOT very much, but after driving for about 5-10 minutes, it was totally gone. Is this leading to a major water leak or something?”
Check the seals around the light units, if they are not badly cracked or too hard try a product that contains glycerin to ‘soften them

Note: avoid ‘touchless’ car washes