Advice on scratches

I just took my car to a drive through car wash, I know stupid thing to do, and it came out with some scratches and what not on the hood. I'm guessing, or hoping rather, that these are just in the wax and not in the clear coat. Any suggestions for products or methods to try?

A large proportion of all paintwork scratches are caused by automated car washes. Minute particles of hard materials, such as road dust and sand, become lodged in the rotating brushes and etch scratches into the paint surface. These “hair-line” scratches are particularly noticeable in darker paint shades.

If you think they are just in the wax (doubtful) use some isopropyl alcohol (IPA) to remove the wax and inspect the surface, if the scratches are still there (very likely) the clear coat is scratched and will need to be polished with an a abrasive



“Paint Surface Scratches (Cause & Effect)” - http://www.autopia.org/forum/guide-d...se-effect.html

Sounds like a good polishing is in order then add some new wax and stop going to the scratch o matic car washes

Originally Posted by jlittle67

I just took my car to a drive through car wash, I know stupid thing to do, and it came out with some scratches and what not on the hood. I'm guessing, or hoping rather, that these are just in the wax and not in the clear coat. Any suggestions for products or methods to try?

When ever you see any imperfections in paint, it is always in the clear - there is no such thing as having them in the wax layer.

As others have said, stay away from Scratch o matics

in 33 years i've stripped the paint and clear coat off of lots of company cars in the "free wash with fill up" places. anything with whirling brushes or anything that drags strips of heavy cloth across the car to supposedly clean the car will never see another car of mine -- because i own them now.