# What do car garages use to cover up paint defects?



## David Herron (Jan 29, 2012)

I bought a 2nd motor there a couple of weeks ago and although paint condition wasn't high up my list I give it a good check over and was surprised not to see many hairline scratches, dings etc. The car was in great condition so it appeared. It's a Ford with Sea Grey paint.

I give the car it's first weekly wash a few days after I got it home and slowly but surely small defects started appearing throughout the week and after it's 2nd wash.

A few white hairline scratches appeared that weren't there before (1-2").

A few small dings started to appear after I improved the gloss levels which were not visible when I thought the car was already quite clean sitting at the car garage.

But the thing that most annoyed me was the bird bomb etchings. I've never encountered these before as I've kept my previous cars clean on a regular basis but the previous owner must have gone 1 year without washing! There is somewhere in the region of 20-30 marks (the size of a pea) on the roof and bonnet which have etched through the clearcoat and won't polish out completely. These bird bomb etchings were not visible when I initially inspected the car, but they stand out like a sore thumb now because they appear white on a dark grey car.

*Anyway, what tricks do some car garages use to quickly cover up or mask these defects? Considering that there is sometimes a large stock of vehicles and i'd imagine they wouldn't spend alot of time polishing or cleaning paintwork?*


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## Kerr (Mar 27, 2012)

If they had products that could hide dings and significant marks, I think we'd all be interested. 

Sometimes we just don't see things initially. Once you do spot it, you always get drawn to it.

20-30 bird bomb marks is a hell of a lot.


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## Danny B (Apr 14, 2010)

Sometimes Supagard polish type stuff, with fillers. So looks good when first applied but will soon be removed with regular washing


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## Kerr (Mar 27, 2012)

Danny B said:


> Sometimes Supagard polish type stuff, with fillers. So looks good when first applied but will soon be removed with regular washing


Does that have more filling properties than many of the regular polishes and glazes that are bought by the public?


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## 1animal1 (Aug 20, 2008)

Mobile repairs! paint, dent removal, they really are masters of everything 

I used to work in car sales years ago and know quite a few that will testify to this day that these are still heavily in use, even by main dealers! (they are probably the worst).


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## kempe (Jan 9, 2011)

When improving the gloss on paint work dings and dents become more visable due to the finish being more reflective and being able to throw the light to your eye better. Scraches can be filled in with a color wax stick which hides them until it starts to wear away


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## David Herron (Jan 29, 2012)

Kerr said:


> 20-30 bird bomb marks is a hell of a lot.


No joke, 20 is a conservative guess. The bird bomb marks were definitely masked with something because they are clearly visible now. It is impossible to miss them.

Tried to polish out 1 or 2 with P1 and then resorted to AG Paint Renovator but could only correct it about 50%.

Also tried PB Black Hole to see if that would mask a few of them but it didn't solve the problem.

Looks like a wet sand will be the last option.


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## Hasan1 (Jul 1, 2011)

Do you have any photos of the damage


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## DanN92 (Nov 16, 2010)

Try AG SRP with a bit of elbow grease...I have managed to touch in stone chips and remove the excess paint by hand using SRP using a slightly rough applicator follow lowed by a finishing applicator to improve the finish


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## Porkypig (Jun 20, 2012)

1animal1 said:


> Mobile repairs! paint, dent removal, they really are masters of everything
> 
> I used to work in car sales years ago and know quite a few that will testify to this day that these are still heavily in use, even by main dealers! (they are probably the worst).


Nothing wrong with mobile repairs if they are done properly. Trouble is there are a lot of cowboys about dropping their pants on prices to 'win' the work then realising that unless they now do 3 times as many jobs they can't survive. Second problem then is dropping your price doesn't mean the jobs take less time, so they have to do a half arsed repair. Pay peanuts and all that....

Most dealers use mobile repairs, some stay in house and some don't bother at all. Chances are the OP probably didn't notice the dings and stuff at collection cos he wasn't specifically looking for them, but now the dressings and glazes are starting to wear thin and he his getting to know his car and spent time cleaning it they are becoming more apparent, and as someone else mentioned once you know the are there....


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## David Herron (Jan 29, 2012)

Porkypig said:


> Chances are the OP probably didn't notice the dings and stuff at collection cos he wasn't specifically looking for them, but now the dressings and glazes are starting to wear thin and he his getting to know his car and spent time cleaning it they are becoming more apparent, and as someone else mentioned once you know the are there....


That is very true to an extent, but there was definitely something hiding the bird bomb etchings as they're now too obvious to miss. Just interested to know what the car garage could have used.


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## Porkypig (Jun 20, 2012)

Not really sure on that one. Some glazes are oil rich and can make marred paint look glossy for a limited period but hiding bird bombs is pretty extreme.

As an example the attached pic is of a panel that is badly marred and in obvious need of correction. The car had been washed and just as an experiment to see the effects I applied one coat of a well known dressing glaze to half the panel. just wiped it on let it haze and buffed it off. 

It would probably last 3 to 4 washes before returning to its original state.


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## puckacostello (Apr 1, 2010)

With your detailed look around it you will always miss something, 
I also have a sea grey ford and thought it was in good condition, 

Once you start to wash dry etc you pick up on a lot you missed, as your looking closer etc, 

I'd doubt there is some super product that will fill and hide all this


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## Rayner (Aug 16, 2012)

puckacostello said:


> With your detailed look around it you will always miss something,
> I also have a sea grey ford and thought it was in good condition,
> 
> Once you start to wash dry etc you pick up on a lot you missed, as your looking closer etc,
> ...


This.

It's very common on building sites etc for them to look around houses soooo closely and ask you to do tiny little things. When you go back you think how the f didn't they (or I) see that big.......

Sometimes you need to take a step back and just let your eyes take over naturally instead of actually looking for things.

Coloured waxes help with certain things but as said I can't really see bird bombs being masked easily.


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## David Herron (Jan 29, 2012)

Hasan1 said:


> Do you have any photos of the damage


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## Hasan1 (Jul 1, 2011)

Looks like you are going to have to wet sand that. To make it look better for short term you could use ipa to get the white polish out.


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## Benn (Aug 22, 2007)

You'll be amazed what lipstick can hide... Or the ones that came with some T-cut's awhile back.


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## Christian6984 (Dec 20, 2007)

Most heavy filling polish

May find a few ideas in the thread above. Unfortunately the link for the car brite stuff doesn't work anymore and can't remember what it was called now.


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## David Herron (Jan 29, 2012)

Hasan1 said:


> Looks like you are going to have to wet sand that. To make it look better for short term you could use ipa to get the white polish out.


That's not polish remnants!  already been IPA'd


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## Kriminal (Jan 11, 2007)

When something catches our eye that we're so determined to fall in love with, we sometimes don't notice the flaws until after....

....a bit like marriage :thumb:

Either that, or it could've been the direction of the sun not showing the defects up so much on the day.


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## k4ith (Apr 3, 2008)

Kriminal said:


> When something catches our eye that we're so determined to fall in love with, we sometimes don't notice the flaws until after....
> 
> ....a bit like marriage :thumb:
> 
> Either that, or it could've been the direction of the sun not showing the defects up so much on the day.


The honeymoon period, always go 2 -3 times to view a car each time you notice more.


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## PugIain (Jun 28, 2006)

My old mans car had a slick, oily product on it when he bought it. Looked great till i washed it for him. It was a right pig to get off.

Sent from my HTC Wildfire using Tapatalk 2


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## -Raven- (Aug 26, 2010)

David Herron said:


> *Anyway, what tricks do some car garages use to quickly cover up or mask these defects? Considering that there is sometimes a large stock of vehicles and i'd imagine they wouldn't spend alot of time polishing or cleaning paintwork?*


Autosmart Cherry Glaze and Autobrite Cherry Glaze are two such trade products that the garages use.


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## Danny B (Apr 14, 2010)

Kerr said:


> Does that have more filling properties than many of the regular polishes and glazes that are bought by the public?


this will tell you :thumb:



Christian6984 said:


> Most heavy filling polish
> 
> May find a few ideas in the thread above. Unfortunately the link for the car brite stuff doesn't work anymore and can't remember what it was called now.


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## Mike k (Oct 14, 2011)

David Herron said:


> I bought a 2nd motor there a couple of weeks ago and although paint condition wasn't high up my list I give it a good check over and was surprised not to see many hairline scratches, dings etc. The car was in great condition so ?[/B]


i know exactly what u mean o.p.

I've often wandered around second hand car dealerships and wondered how some of the cars look so...i use this word loosely.....immaculate.

I to have bought cars before that look amazing but after a few weeks the blemishes start appearing.

i bought a bmw once where by the owner had it detailed and all he knew was they used auto smart products and it looked amazing and god knows what wax was on there but you would hose the car off and only be left with literally about 6 water beads left on the big e46 bonnet. And most annoyingly to this day and a trial of about 7 different waxes I've still not found the one that can do that.


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## rsblue (May 8, 2011)

David Herron said:


>


not sure theres product that would hide these tbh, maybe something like black colourmagic would fill it a bit or cheap pink wax, but as a few have said its more like they was never noticed , no magic out there sadly


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