# Possibly the most damaged car I've worked on yet, total turn around



## stangalang (Nov 27, 2009)

Due to the sheer amount of swirling and deep rds to this car the write up is less based on there whole detail and more based on the trials, tribulations and choices during the correction procedure.

The car is a 60 plate Rav4 in solid black, i edited a small video below to show the various defects and light sources used



So, as you can see, lots of work to do and problem areas. The next step may seem over the top, but i much prefer to do this, especially on expected soft paints, than to rewash the car mid detail. When i know I'm going to be doing a great deal of compounding, and thus generate a lot of dust, i like to sheet and seal up lots of the nooks, crannies and tight areas to stop the collection of all the spent material. It goes thus, side windows are wrapped in cling film individually, and then sealed at the bottom over the trim. This means i can open doors as i require, and simply brush or blow off dust




Next the front screen. Place a sheet upto, and under if poss the side trim, and under the bonnet onto the engine bay




Then tape this up over the trim to fully seal




Once both sides are done and the bonnet is dropped, this is then fully protected




Rear done too



So polishing to begin. Paint measured pretty healthy, if not a little inconsistent, so measurements were taken continuously during the correction sets to stay safe. Correction was done with wool and m101, and when happy, a firm foam pad was used with m101 again on a direct drive da for a little more correction and a more even finish. Solid black is a pain after all











After 2 sets with wool, these still remained, one more set was completed in localised areas to soften them more, and that was as far as i could safely push it




On to the wings







Difference in colour is ridiculous right? So on to the doors, i start with the handles, in the dish, as these were not spared the terror




Then cut in around them



Then complete the door







And so on












Again, more localised work to be done, within safe levels



And on to the rear








And front bumper






All ready for finishing



Now this part was, much like before, not straight forward. I had to double refine as ANY form of solvent cleaner marred the paint. So i had to refine and wipe down to check i had removed any hologramming etc, THEN refine the wipedown marring with 205 and use no solvent afterwards, taking it on faith we had done our job. There was also the added frustration of a couple of repainted panels that simply would not finish properly,i had to move to the das6 pro, with a black lc pad and P2 at a mid speed to get it to where i found it acceptable. Some times its the every day cars that really challenge you! Once refined






it was time for lsp. I chose blackfire wet diamond due to its effortless removal and wet look. This had 2 coats





And checked out pretty good under lighting






Please enjoy some afters as I'm really proud of the finish achieved. I do not envy the owner and her friend who now have to keep it something like, good luck gary 













As always, thanks for taking the time to look, i hope it serves as an honest read to those who assume that things just fall into place, and anything other than 100% in a day is where you need to be to hold your head high. This took a week on and off, and was i would estimate 80% corrected AT BEST


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## Rabidracoon28 (May 31, 2012)

A master at work. Fantastic job Matt👍


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## Obsessed Merc (Apr 10, 2011)

Holy Moses - one unloved car to start with.

Think I would have advised them to part-ex it, re spray it or scrap it.

Great turnaround and a true test of patience.

Love those screen covers !


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## Luke M (Jul 1, 2013)

Wow. Looks like the owners wash technique involved sandpaper.
Great turnaround.


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## neilb62 (Jul 30, 2007)

:doublesho WTF had happened to that? 10/10 for taking that on... :doublesho


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## Lowiepete (Mar 29, 2009)

Obsessed Merc said:


> Think I would have advised them to part-ex it, re spray it or scrap it.


I'd have been tempted to say the same thing. That's just amazing work! :thumb:

Regards,
Steve


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## suspal (Dec 29, 2011)

That deserves a tap on the back.


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## Andymain241 (Feb 11, 2014)

That's an incredible turn around a real testament to your skill and what can be accomplished


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## Choppy (Aug 8, 2013)

What an amazing turn around! :thumb:

One question though and its a silly one but did you just hand polish behind the door handles?


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## Goodfella36 (Jul 21, 2009)

I saw this car at matts it looked even worse close up in the flesh one I would not envy doing every panel had some serious deep marks you brought that back well matt :thumb:


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## Carshine (Nov 11, 2009)

Doesn't Toyotas have very soft paint? But still you went straight on with woolpad...what kind of machine did you use for this?


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## stangalang (Nov 27, 2009)

Choppy said:


> What an amazing turn around! :thumb:
> 
> One question though and its a silly one but did you just hand polish behind the door handles?


Yes sir, many hits until I got bored. I think a drill attatchment is going to be sourced very soon


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## stangalang (Nov 27, 2009)

Carshine said:


> Doesn't Toyotas have very soft paint? But still you went straight on with woolpad...what kind of machine did you use for this?


It was crazy soft, but needed wool non the less. I always do a test spot and work out averages for removal rate, the more info the better :thumb:

Both flex rotaries, a flex vrg, a festool rotex 90 and a das6 pro were all used at one time or another


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## danwel (Feb 18, 2007)

Can't believe how bad it was for a 60 plate car!!!


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## Bartl (Apr 3, 2013)

Amazing turn around.


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## Buckweed (Aug 27, 2012)

Great write up and fab pics.... thats one hell of a turn round:thumb:


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## TonyH38 (Apr 7, 2013)

What an amazing job superb turn around.


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## Blackmondie (Mar 13, 2011)

Amazing turnaround matt!!
To be honest, seeing how easily this marred, I'd have opted for a WOWA sealant here 
No way I'd have risked waxing it.


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## Pittsy (Jun 14, 2014)

Brilliant job there, just a quick question, how did you do the door handle dishes?


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## dooka (Aug 1, 2006)

Something to test you, especially being solid black..
Nice work and an awesome turn around, nice work sting stang stong ..


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## yetizone (Jun 25, 2008)

Wow - what a contrast to the first shots of the pre corrected paint . A complete transformation, just superb dude :thumb:


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## alpinaman (Oct 9, 2008)

I can only apologise for bringing the Rav to Matt....lol...


The car has never looked this good,it was a total turnaround.I never expected the car to turn out so good.


Just as a bit of a backstory.... The owner is a retired lady and didnt do any of the damage intentionally... It was usually taken to the local hand car wash around once a month for a going over..
That,parking under a sappy tree and super soft paint doesnt help...but as the weeks went on and the car got worse she just gave up trying to keep it clean.

She is seriously considering px'ing the car now,and after owning 2 other RAV's she is now moving away from the brand..

Once again,massive thanks to Matt for bringing the car back to life,its quite incredible in the flesh


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## davo3587 (May 9, 2012)

Terrible condition for a newish car, hats of to you for taking that on Matt.


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## moonstone mo (Mar 7, 2009)

Holy f:doublesho:doublesho k!!! 

Amazing job bringin that back to life mate!!


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## BadgerJCW (Dec 20, 2013)

Superb work Matt. Wow, just wow!


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## Suba (Feb 2, 2013)

Incredible job!! I pity the owners ;-)


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## zippo (Mar 26, 2008)

I Thought it had been used as a training vehicle for the Kosovan hand wash dept, at a set of traffic lights near you.
What an outstanding correction /turn round Matt One of the best corrections I've seen :thumb:
Daz


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## zippo (Mar 26, 2008)

alpinaman said:


> I can only apologise for bringing the Rav to Matt....lol...
> 
> The car has never looked this good,it was a total turnaround.I never expected the car to turn out so good.
> 
> ...


What I think it does is show people the big difference between detailing and a valet .Plus the massive difference in skill, and equipment. Not to mention time and dedication
daz


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## tonyy (Jul 26, 2008)

Fantastic turnaround:thumb:


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## steve from wath (Dec 12, 2008)

very well done Matt

looks like it had been washed with hawthorn branches dipped in rocks

how the hell did just a car wash etc let it get like that, i suppose soft..ish paint wont help

the outside shots are like chalk and cheese

the owner, will be like a dog with two tails at that finish

massive turn around now wheres the r8


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## stonejedi (Feb 2, 2008)

What a Superb turnaround,Good Stuff:thumb:.SJ.


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## Foxhound (May 5, 2011)

OMG.. the car was really a mess!!

Was it too many washes using the house broom and the floor cleaning cloth!? When I look at these conditions the first thing that comes to my mind are those dogs that go to the beach the first time and roll hours after hours on the sand..

Anyway.. it sure was a great turnaround!!! congratulations!!!


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## torkertony (Jan 9, 2013)

Thanks for taking the time to post this detail Matt. What an amazing turn around and such a testament to your skill and patience as a top detailer.

More so, it's great for people like myself, who is new to machine polishing and can see exactly what can be achieved with years and years of practice.


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## stangalang (Nov 27, 2009)

Thanks everyone for the kind words, to clarify, i think the condition of the paint is a mixture of a few factors, firstly solid black paint shows everything, i mean literally there is no where to hide, throw in it being fairly soft and the resulting damage becomes i guess an inevitability. I think the assumption that the owner DOESNT care maybe the exact opposite of the truth, i think the damage had been caused by a desire to keep the car clean with a total lack of knowledge or understanding of techniques and tools. All i know is if she does part ex it, now is most definitely the time and i hope the detail adds some value to it when traded



torkertony said:


> Thanks for taking the time to post this detail Matt. What an amazing turn around and such a testament to your skill and patience as a top detailer.
> 
> More so, it's great for people like myself, who is new to machine polishing and can see exactly what can be achieved with years and years of practice.


Cheers tony, hope the show went well at weekend? Call me for a chat about the thing when you are ready :thumb:


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## wylie coyote (Jul 15, 2007)

If I didn't know better I'd say those were two different cars. Great quality work there, just as I would expect.:thumb:


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## torkertony (Jan 9, 2013)

Cheers Matt, the show went well thanks. As mentioned by text at the weekend, I was going to leave the car until next year as show season is coming to an end. But with the promise of some dry weather these next few weeks, I was hoping to bring it over to you so you can weigh the job up and let me know your thoughts. Hopefully then I can get it booked in with you for next year in readiness for when the weather gets better and the shows start again.


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## nichol4s (Jun 16, 2012)

Great work again Matt, what I like about your write ups is the honest no fancy photo work, no waffle just good honest taking and pictures 

Nick


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## Jord (Apr 3, 2012)

Spectacular result, no other words for it.. Crazy how damaged that was for a 4-5 year old car! 

Very impressive work indeed, can take away a lot of pride from this one I'd say.


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## Keefe (Jun 30, 2008)

Spectacular turn around. What was the paint levels you begin with and how much paint did you take off to achieve this result? It'll be interesting to see what happens when the oils in the compounds wear off.


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## -Raven- (Aug 26, 2010)

What a challenge Matty! Looks like you got the better of it though, looks awesome mate! 

The owners must have been floored by the difference! :thumb:


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## Spyco (Mar 24, 2011)

Having seen this the word "Lazarus" keeps coming in mind...


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## stangalang (Nov 27, 2009)

Keefe said:


> Spectacular turn around. What was the paint levels you begin with and how much paint did you take off to achieve this result? It'll be interesting to see what happens when the oils in the compounds wear off.


Pint levels were inconsistant, but ranged from 110 mark to well over 140. The thicker areas seemed to be the worst affected, and an average of 6 microns was removed in the areas where lots of rds lived. Wasn't prepared to push further
There will be no drop back as i DID wipe it down as stated, i just had to refine again afterwards to remove solvent marring :thumb:


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## Soul boy 68 (Sep 8, 2013)

What an amazing turn around, the car looks like a 14 plate now, you deserve a big drink on me fella.:buffer:


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## chefy (May 9, 2011)

Amazing job there :thumb: just amazes me what people do to thier cars ! I mean, what is / was there wash techniqe ?
How long did that take ?


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## The_Weasel (Nov 23, 2006)

First time I read this I was looking on the phone so the pics were small, the difference between the finished panels and untouched made it look like they'd been wet sanded! Great work and not surprised you spread the work out over a week, to do it non stop would have probably driven you mad, sometimes you have to take a break, do something else, refocus then come back and do a bit more


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## camerashy (Feb 9, 2014)

WOW!! amazing turnaround Matt, I bet the owners were well pleased
Dave


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## cossiecol (Jun 29, 2014)

Great work :buffer:


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## cleancar (Sep 21, 2006)

man thats some serious correction , thanks for sharing !!!!!


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## JBirchy (Oct 9, 2010)

Blimey, top work Matt. Don't think I'd have the conkers to take that one on to the finish you've managed to achieve!

Well done to you. Hope you had a very well earned beer after that one!


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## CodHead (Sep 21, 2012)

Fantastic Matt, you must be the most patient man on the planet!


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## Steve (Mar 18, 2014)

Amazing. Superb work


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## stangalang (Nov 27, 2009)

JBirchy said:


> Blimey, top work Matt. Don't think I'd have the conkers to take that one on to the finish you've managed to achieve!
> 
> Well done to you. Hope you had a very well earned beer after that one!


I may have blown the top off a frothy one when finished, I won't lie lol


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## slim_boy_fat (Jun 23, 2006)

What an incredible turn-around. :thumb:

If that car was a child the owners would have been reported to Social Services!!


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## T.C (Sep 1, 2014)

I don't understand how people can let their cars get into that state! 

Great turnaround though!


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## 123quackers (Jan 29, 2009)

some cars are worst than others and some through us different challenges to over come....

not the nicest job to have to undertake but looking at the end photo a very rewarding one it would appear, along with an owner who must have been gobsmacked at that finish you achieved Matt :thumb:

top work as always :wave:


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## Justbaldchris (Jul 6, 2014)

I may have missed it, apologies if I have, but how long did it take you to achieve this fantastic result?


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## stangalang (Nov 27, 2009)

Justbaldchris said:


> I may have missed it, apologies if I have, but how long did it take you to achieve this fantastic result?


It was done over a week around other jobs, so i couldn't be hour accurate, but i would estimate 3 solid long days


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## ocdetailer (Apr 9, 2014)

A serious test of stamina and patience by the looks of it, and a seriously impressive transformation


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## Eurogloss (Jan 22, 2008)

Excellent work there fella :thumb:
I've been around longer than you and I feel your pain matt :buffer:

Done plenty of Jet Black cars as you know and they are never easy especially this Lamborghini Aventador i did recently 

You should be proud of yourself that this car looks the part now !


Mario


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