Hi guys,
today I got my car hand washed. The first time after two weeks owning the car (the weather was finally nice).

But than I discovered, that nearly the whole car's paint is full of little circling welts and the hood/bumper is only a big stone chip. Everywhere are little to medium white spots...

When the car arrived it was a bit dirty and I was not able to see these flaws. Neither the dealership (CPOed) nor the transport company note that bad paint condition.
The transport was from Michigan to South Carolina on an open trailer towed by a Dodge RAM Heavy Duty. The transport was done in the time when there was pretty bad (snowy) weather up there.

I think I have never seen a bumper with that many stone chips with only 23.000 Meiles....The interior says 5.000 Meiles whereas the paint says 150.000....

Does anybody has an idea what I can do?
I am pretty upset right now, because I think THIS should had to be mentioned.

 

The paint probably has hard water spots and those can be removed. The rock chips not so much.

Once you properly clean/detail the car - wash, clay, polish, wax - you may want to try DrColorChip on the bumper rock chips and see how it looks.

 

Or, you can get the bumper and hood resprayed. I've never found touch-up of chips to be very satisfactory.

 

I agree.

First get a professional detail job unless you are very experienced at DIY detailing (even then I think it might be worth a pro at this point)

You have a black car and unfortunately every imperfection shows up on it. But the detail will take out alot of the swirls and marks.

Dr Color chip is a good suggestion once the car is detailed.

I don't think the CPO covers paint or chips. Not sure what you can do with the transport company and I'm not sure you can prove they had any hand in the paint problems.

When I picked up my CPO's car it was full of swirls marks. But after 12 hours with a orbital buffer, the right polishing pads and polishes/waxes the car looked brand new. (Instructors at recent DE's thought I had just purchased it new.)


You can get that car looking great. Don't get bummed out.

 

If I was the OP, after proper detailing, I would try DrColorChip as a batch. If it does not look good enough then I would consider respraying the bumper. The hood is probably fine and I would try to keep its original factory paint if I could.

 

I agree with adias that what you have is hard water spots. Unfortunately, they show up really well on black. I can give you some unconventional advice on how to remove them easily. There are products you can buy in your supermarket called Lime Away or CLR that are designed for removing hard water spots. DO NOT USE IT STRAIGHT! Dilute the product about 50% and accept the fact that if you have wax on the car it will take most, if not all of it off. In my opinion this is a much better solution than polishing them out because you don't have to remove any paint.

This of course will not work for stone chips. I haven't had much luck with Dr. Colorchip on my other cars. I find that when polishing their "paint" changes color and sometimes polishes away too easily. I feel Dr. Colorchip is works best for daily drivers. Touch up is an artform and thankfully, I've gotten pretty good at it through the years. Black happens to be the easiest color to touch up. If you aren't comfortable doing it yourself then bring it to pro. There is so much more to touch up than just applying the paint. That being said, there comes a time when it's beyond touch up and it needs to be refinished by a professional body shop. If your car has reached that point then you might also consider getting paint protection film ("clear bra") installed after the repaint. Remember to wait at least 30 days after the repaint before doing that.

 

Perhaps you could teach your technique in detail...

.

 

I picked up my car in Chicago and when I arrived, it was parked in the shade in July. A few months later I noticed swirl marks on my black 08 C2 and a few minor rock chips on the front bumper. I recently, in 25 deg weather, went and hand washed it, and took her back to my garage for some hand polishing and waxing, using a scratch remover and a good wax w/ urethane polymers. Guess what ? After applying the wax pretty liberally and being gentle with removing it, then polishing it, the swirl marks are gone and that sucker looks good as new. Hope this helps.

 

Thanks for all the tipps.
I contact the transport company - perhaps I can reach there something.

I drove today to the Porsche an took some photos (I upload them later). My new impression is that it isnt too bad.

I think only the major stone chips on the hood are pretty nasty. The bumper has just (a lot) minor chips.

Nevertheless I will get the car detailed in the next days.

Can somebody recommend an good car detailer in Charleston, SC / Summerville, SC ?

 

As you requested . . .

Let me start by saying that even the best touch ups aren't as perfect as having the panel(s) refinished by a professional body shop. Also, touch up takes years of practice so make your first attempts on your daily driver or if that's not an option then practice on someone else's ride or even a metal object such as a soda can.

Step 1: Buy only QUALITY touch up paint, tools and supplies. You *don't* want to go to the auto parts store and buy the typical Dupli-Color stuff. Go to the dealer for the color coat and see if the manufacturer also produces a clear coat. Many don't. Porsche doesn't either. If they don't and you want to clear coat the repair then I suggest you purchase a kit from a specialty place like:

http://www.paintscratch.com/

I've had good luck with their products.

Step 2: Go to an artist supply store and purchase QUALITY brushes. Don't buy sets, these are crap. Buy individual brushes. A good start is a #0 or #000. Don't buy a 10/0 because they are too small and the paint will dry on the brush before you can get it on the car. Buy synthetic brushes and not genuine red sable. Automotive paints are too harsh on natural materials like sable.

Step 3: Pick a good day with comfortable temperatures and low humidity. Use good lighting. Remember, you can't paint what you can't see! You'll want to paint inside your garage rather than outside in the sun and dust.

Step 4: If the chip is down to the bare metal you'll need to decontaminate and prime it. If the chip hasn't penetrated the primer then you'll just need to decontaminate it. The worst case is when it's already started to rust because you'll need to remove the rust and decontaminate before you can even prime it. Assuming that you have a "clean" chip that is only down to the primer then you can being by decontaminating the area. Clean out the chip first with Prep-sol which is available at body shop supply houses or online. If you don't want to spring for Prep-sol then tar and bug remover will do. Next clean with dishwashing soap and water. You need to clean with BOTH types of agents because they each remove different contaminants. Remember that the best paint jobs start with the best preparation!

Step 4: Time for the color coat. Apply the color coat making sure to stay within the confines of the chip as much as possible. DO NOT try to fill the chip with one coat because this is impossible. As solvents evaporate from the paint it will snuggle down into the chip. The best approach is to apply multiple coats of paint until the chip is nearly (but not totally) filled. You don't want it completely filled because you'll want to save a little room for the clear coat. Remember to wait anywhere from 15 minutes to 2 hours between coats. Follow the instructions on the type of paint you are using. If you don't have patience then I suggest doing one coat a day. It will take about 5 to 7 coats to fill the chip 80-90% of the way which is the goal.

Step 5: At this point I like to remove the excess paint and see how it looks. Then I can make a decision as to whether or not to clear coat. I personally like to give it anywhere from 10-30 days before applying the clear coat (depending on the size of the chip). Select a good rubbing compound. I happen to like 3M brand but there are other good brands out there as well. DO NOT use that old brown colored Turtle Wax rubbing compound. That stuff is way too nasty for modern clear coated cars. Save that stuff for your late 60's/early 70's muscle cars with their crappy single stage paint jobs. Today's rubbing compounds are formulated so their abrasives break down a little with each stroke. This way the abrasive grains get smaller and smaller and finally disappear all together after about 15-20 seconds of rubbing. I prefer to do this step by hand but you can also use a machine if you are careful. I suggest using a random orbital machine - NOT a direct drive machine. I still think you are better off doing it by hand. If done properly you'll have paint in the chip and not anywhere else. At this point the repair may be good enough if you are not a perfectionist but if you are then you'll want to read on.

Step 6: Apply several coats of clear coat. Again, don't try to fill the chip with one heavy coat. The goal now is to actually have the last coat ~overfill~ the chip slightly. It can take several coats to achieve this and you'll need to follow the manufacturer's directions on how long to wait between coats. Paintscratch.com sells acrylic lacquer clear coat which (I believe) is the same type of stuff as current Porsche models are painted with at the factory.

Step 7: After a good drying period (I like to give it about 10 days) it's time to finish it off. You're going to need 2000 grit sandpaper. Take a small piece and soak it in water for at least 10 minutes. Wet the area on the car before beginning. Now - CAREFULLY - give the overfilled chip about 3 strokes (AND I MEAN ONLY 3 STROKES) with your sandpaper. Stop and check to see if it's level. That's what we are going for here is leveling the repaired area with the rest of the paint. Keep sanding 3 strokes at a time until your repaired area is level with the factory paint. You'll notice that the sandpaper will make the area very dull. Don't panic. Now perform the final polishing with your compound and if you've done everything right you'll need to look really hard to see that there used to be a paint chip there. Please wait for at least 30 days before waxing. Wax will seal the chip and not allow solvents to escape. This can cause the repaired area to crack and/or not adhere properly.

Tips: Black and white are the easiest colors to repair. Metallic paints are almost impossible to match well because the way the metal flakes "line up" when being applied with a brush is completely different from how they "line up" when being sprayed on. Clear coating can sometimes make the color coat appear darker so if your color coat is already too dark you may want to forego the clear coat and simply fill the rest of the chip with color. The repair won't be as robust as if it was clear coated but it will be more invisible. Remember, as I said up front even the best touch up jobs aren't as perfect as having the panel(s) refinished by a professional body shop.

Good luck and PRACTICE on your daily driver or even a friend's ride before you take on your 997.

 

way to go auto_union

great info...thanks

 

Thanks auto_union! That is an awesome description.

Here are some pictures. All the white spots are NO dust.

 

geestyleed,

You have what is known as "road rash". At this point your options are somewhat limited. You can polish the car but this will only take out the very smallest imperfections. You can follow that by using my method posted above on the larger chips but it will be extremely time consuming and you'll still have plenty of spots.

Realistically, you only have two options. You can try Dr. Colorchip and see if it will work for you. Keep in mind however that the Dr. Colorchip system will not completely fill the chips level with the original paint. The people at Dr. Colorchip will even tell you that. Their system is only designed to hide the chips when viewed from about 2 feet away. If that won't be satisfactory to you then don't even waste the money on their system because it's not cheap and they won't easily offer you a refund if you aren't happy (ask me how I know this ).

I hate to tell you this but the ultimate solution is going to be a complete respray of the front of your car. Find a shop that specializes in Porsche. You can also go to a Porsche dealer and let them sub it out to whoever they use. Most dealers don't have their own body shop. This can be VERY expensive because the dealer adds a hefty markup for themselves but the tradeoff is that the dealer already has an established relationship with a body shop who is capable of doing "Porsche quality" work. There definitely is a difference in the way a body shop resprays a Porsche as compared to the way they work with say a Chevy or Nissan.

There is one more suggestion I can offer you but it can be difficult to carry out. See if you can make friends with someone at a Porsche dealership and get them to tell you who they use for body shop services. You can then contact the body shop direct and it should be MUCH less expensive that way since you would be elminating the dealer markup. Good luck.

 

Thanks for your reply.
I started to plan to replace the front bumper to an Aerobumper - so this problem would be out of the way. Only the hood remains.

My first way is to get the car detailed to see how it looks like afterwards.

I already expected something like that - a new paint job is the only "real" good way for such many chips - and unfortunately the most expensive one.


Do you think these many stone chips might be a result of the open carrier transport?
These are the pictures from the dealership. This pictures were made on my request. Sadly no very detailed pictures(+resized by me, bigger ones on request)

 

Pictures may be your only salvation. I 'd send pics of how the car looks now that you've received it to the dealer who sold it to you. If they can confirm that they did not send you the car in that condition you may have recourse with the transport company along with proof the damage was done in transit. Beyond that a respray is the only solution you're going to be happy with. As for finding out where your dealer sends it's cars for paint work I don't think you'll have that hard a time of it. You could also go to the Mercedes dealer in town or Audi find out where they send their cars. Any high end dealer will be using to notch paint and body shop for their cars.