Swirl marks after application

[tslrock]

I recently had the OptiCoat Pro applied to my 2020 Ram 1500 and from afar it looks fantastic.  But as you get closer, I can still see a lot of swirl marks (in the right light).  The Opticoat dealer that I took it to promised a "Decontamination wash, minor paint correction, clay bar and opticoat polish and prep" prior to the application.  Is this a result I should have expected to see after application?  

[Ron@Optimum]

you should contact the installer and show them what concerns you - it's their responsibility

[tslrock]

I did and they mentioned that the ceramic coat wouldn't remove the swirl marks, but my understanding was that the prep work would get rid of the swirls prior to the application.  My feeling is that they rushed the prep which lead to a poor outcome.

[Lowejackson]

Issues like this are always going to be tricky.   The dealer says they will do minor paint correction which to my mind is a polish to reduce the worst of the swirls (rather than any meaningful attempt to remove all swirls) but I accept this could have a very different meaning or expectation to a customer. 

On a broader note,  spending a significant amount of time polishing will remove most swirls but once someone goes looking for swirls, they will always find them.

Of course, Ron is right, go and have a chat with the installer.

 

[tslrock]

Lowe, I do appreciate the input, very insightful.  With the ceramic on there now, would they need to completely remove the ceramic coat to get rid of the swirls?  I have been having issues with the installer on other items (they did a terrible tint job). 

In fact the first time I picked it up, there was actually dirt and smudges on the paint that he verified (showing that it wasn't even washed properly prior to the application)and had me bring it back to have the full coat reapplied.

My concern is that now I have a ceramic coat on top of a non prepped factory clear coat and I may make it worse asking the installer to correct it.  I have already sent it back for spots where I could see the ceramic not being present (water not beading). 

@Ron@Optimum do you have any recommendations for how to best handle this?

[A2D]

@tslrock shoot me an email Danny@opticoat.com. 
 

let me help you get some answers. 

a coating will not fill swirls the refinement or polishing can but, that is only done with the correct pad combo. A simple black pad cleans the surface where as an orange pad with hyper polish will refine 60-70% of surface defects.  Sounds like a simple step just needs to be added to help find what the client is seeking. 

[pontiac6_6]

This happened to me as well. From what I understand, unless you pay for stage 2 or 3 paint correction, installer will only do a stage 1. This basically means only some of the swirls/scratches will be removed. Just as a FYI, scratches on plastic/fiberglass parts of the car are significantly harder to remove. in a lot of cases you can't remove them at all. The back end of my car has a bunch of scratches/swirls from whatever jackass washed my car. The installer said for $250 he'd come back and try to get those scratches out doing a 3 stage paint correction then reapply the ceramic, however, he can't guarantee scratches will come out since it's on the plastic/fiberglass.

[Ron@Optimum]

there is no limit to what prep the installer will do (and no "stage 2 or stage 3) - the detailer has latitude in pricing to include whatever level of correction is necessary.  If the customer won't spend the money to do the job right, that's their call.

[dlc95]

The package you purchased  wasn't enough to remove the majority of the defects. 

 

It sounds like what you  needed is commonly referred to as  "paint correction". 

 

I offer a package (Option 2) where I do a single polish step and protect. If this isn't enough I will advise the client to purchase the (Option 3) package that addresses the deeper and more severe defects. 

 

Working in even a nice shop I see things that I just shake my head at, and continue with my job...