Okay guys, I will make this as short as I can, as I hate long posts.
I was all stoked on Saturday as I had the day set aside to finally detail my G (had it since 2/24).

I had all my detailing stuff, and started in the morning.
To my HORROR, after I finish claying my paint, I see that there are SCRATCHES in the clear coat/paint from the freaking clay bar!

Now, I read the instructions multiple times, read about it online, and deemed it was necessary after putting my hand in a plastic baggie and running it over the (rough) paint surface. Plus, it has been out in the sun a lot and I wanted to do this right. I did not rub too hard, drop the clay bar and used plenty of solution.

I then spend the rest of the day laying down the multiple layers of paint polish/protectant/detail spray, hoping the SCRATCHES would fill-in. No luck. I dropped a lot of cash on this stuff, and the end result is a smooth, glass-like finish over SCRATCHED paint. I purchased the Blackfire complete kit and love everything about it, except the results from claying. I still don't know WTF happened, but what an awful feeling in the pit of my stomach. I already had some swirl marks from the idiots in the dealership, but this only adds to my misery.

What can I do next? To say the least, I am a little nervous (and inexperienced) about polishing the paint to remove the SCRATCHES. Help!

Given everything going on in the world, I realize this is a joke of a problem, but I love my car and spent a lot of hard-earned money on it.

BTW, I will hold-off on bashing the company I purchased it from, as I will wait to see how they respond to my email about this situation.

As for some good news, on Friday night I debadged my car, and it looks sweet. I removed everything but the logo. I ended up with some blisters on the tips of my fingers from rolling off the adhesive, but it was worth it. The "G35" lettering was the most difficult.



[b][i]<font color=red>BoneDaddy
2003.5 Garnet Fire, Premium, Aero, Sport

 

I have never used the clay, but since the car is pretty new, the finish may not have been hard enough for using the clay. Is there anything in the G35 owners manual about how long to wait before waxing, etc. the first time; to let the paint cure?

The product recommended to me by a body shop, for swirl marks and such, is 3M's Finesse It II. If you do a search on the name, you'll find a number of forum discussions about it.

 

Moving post... Think you would bet alot better responses in the Detailing forum..

..pestilence..

 

I have used the clay bar on my "G" and I 'assume' you used the lubrication spray when you used the bar, so I really do not know what to tell you. But when using the clay bar there is VERY light pressure used, basically just laying it on the car and holding it only so you are just sliding it across the surface.
Hope this helps.

<font color=blue>Merlin</font color=blue>

 

the only way the clay bar could have done that was if it picked some dirt some ware. break the car down into small sections doing each section then stop look at the bar and try to remove any visible contamiments then roll the clay into a ball then work it back into shape so the surface u just used is no longer on the bottom that should prevent u from picking up dirt. U dont really need to clay ur car i would only do it once or twice year. our cars are so new that the surface should be pritty smotth and there should not be a lot of contamiments in the paint. Hope that helps u

 

Now I need to do something to remove the scratches.

Any ideas??

[b][i]<font color=red>BoneDaddy
2003.5 Garnet Fire, Premium, Aero, Sport

 

Depending on how deep the scratches are, you may or may not be able to polish them out. If you don't have access to a random orbital polisher or not comfortable enough to do it yourself, I would suggest taking the car to a good detail shop and see if they can polish out the scratches. Good luck.

 

BoneDaddy,
Yep take it to a good detail shop and see what they think.
BTW, you did not mention if you had washed the car first before starting to clay. If not this is why it scratched, from the minute dust on the car.

<font color=blue>Merlin</font color=blue>

 

I definitely washed it, and pulled it into the garage immediately.

The good news is, the owner of the company I purchased the product from is willing to pay for half of the cost to buff it out.

properautocare.com is where I shopped.

[i]<font color=red>BoneDaddy
2003.5 Garnet Fire, Premium, Aero, Sport & Debadged