I'v read you can polish a brand new car that is delivered to the dealer, before the dealer has it's employees "detail" it. Question is can it be machined polished with a white pad and 106FF (relatively light polish) or does the paint need to cure. Or, should I just wait a month or so, then give it a full detail. I've already decided not let the dealer touch it, so I'm wondering how soon I can give it a full detail and how soon I can machine polish it. I highly doubt the paint would require SIP/Orange pad.

Thanks

you should be able to polish that car out with no issues.

and you can request that they leave the film on it so you can do it yourself

you probably don't need sip.

I agree, tell them to not even touch it or else.... if they insist tell them you'll take your business elsewhere. If they take the plastic off they will want to wash it and then you'll have to polish it to remove the swirls and damage they cause.

Most manufacturers heat cure the paints at the factory so they are ready to go as soon as they hit the show room floor.

Just make sure to check it under direct sunlight or at least 500W-1000W lights to see if it's in need of any abrasive polishes at all. Otherwise I'd just wash, clay and go over it with a white pad and light paint cleanser then seal it up with whatever sealant/wax you prefer.

Josh

You would be surprised how much damage you will see on a brand new car. Even from the top manufacturers.


John

If you're taking delivery of a new porsche, there should not be any need for a paint correction so long as no one has touched it. Porsche is very good about properly prepping their cars at the factory. As for doing a detail on frsh paint, keep in mind, your car was painted weeks, sometimes months, ago. The paint has properly cured by the time it hits our shores.

A simple clay, polish, and wax routine will do the trick. No need to machine polish a brand new car. Of all the new cars we've done, only the 997 GT2 has needed paint correction.

I've seen several Porsches come from the factory with swirl marks in them. This happens when a piece of dirt lands on the wet paint, they bake it, nib the dirt out with a D.A., and polish it. Unfortunately, their polish job is not up to our standards. Mercedes is the worst, they have swirls in just about every "040" black paint job. If the car has been sitting on a dealership lot for a while, lots of mistakes can happen, lot attendants wash with a brush with dirty water, the adhesive on the car sits out in the sun and bakes for a long time causing damage to the oem paint job.


John

I wish I could find a car that needed only clay and light polish, every new car I have done and I mean EVERYcar has needed correction and in my case Ferrari takes the title with the most paint issues with the rear ends of Porsche 997's coming in a close second. Audi and Rolls Royce have the least issues with new car delivery prep in my neck of the woods.

what do you guys mean by needing "paint correction"? is orange peel part of that?

Paint correction is the process of eliminating swirls, scratches, halogramming, etc. When you polish by hand, you're simply removing the finer imperfections and rounding out the edges of the larger swirls and scratches. So optically, your eye doesn't notice as much imperfection.

When correcting the paint, you're using a machine polisher like a PC, Flex, or in the case of a pro, a rotary. This tool, accompanied by the correct polish and pads, will remove and eliminate imperfections in the paint so you have a perfectly prepared surface void of swirls, scratches, etc. to apply wax to.

Hmmmm...things must be delivered poorly up in NorCal. In my experience, if you're the first to remove the protection film, then it means no one has touched it prior. So far, I can't remember a car being so bad that it needed correction. In my case, Lexus LS is probably the best paint that is kept in excellent shape. It's positvly void of any imperfections when dellivered properly.

I have never been able to detail a car on the lot of any dealership on the customers behalf, things can get sticky as for the liabilty unless you are subleted to do the work for the aforementioned dealership and the two times I was brought in to do the work they required a tax ID number and a copy of my insurance policy.

What is happening in most cases these days is the car is not handled with kid gloves, then the dealership tries to fix the damage(whatever that might be) on the quick and very cheap.... and "voila" you have a poorly delivered car. When I bought my 06 Toyota X-runner I watched them take it off the transport and only allowed them to PDI the truck, I still found a dust nib from the factory(nummi plant in fremont ca)on the right passenger door with compound swirls under the protective delivery coating, but over all my truck was in better condition than 95% of the exotics I touch for the first time.

Most dealers "insist" they detail it upon delivery and at a minimum require they remove the film otherwise how would they know if it was damaged during delivery overseas. I could come back a week later and say it was damaged.

If I polish by hand, can I use 106FF with a white pad, rather than with the PC?

That's where most consumers are misled. The dealer's responsibility is merely to make sure the vehicle is delivered in proper working order. Once the film is removed, a visual inspection is all that's required.

As for polishing with 106ff, it's to be done by machine. Your hand will not properly break down the polish to its full potential.

Thanks for your advice. I won't back down upon delivery.