KimTT

the car no longer has that "glass like" feeling when clean...

In fact, the paint feels gritty!!!

Is this normal?

Will a zillion coats of wax fix this?

THanks in advance!

John P. (TT 225)

and go to town. That, or have the shop do it (if you trust them).

I'm sorry you have to deal with this. What a shame.

Bluto

I assume you have to wait a few months before you can wax it right?

evan

definitely ask the body shop about the gritty paint feel and see what they say. Also ask them how long to wait until you can clay bar or wax. Find out what they'll do for you if clay and polish still don't result in a satisfactory finish-- you deserve to be happy with the work.

Vegas-roadster

I've had lots of body work over the years, usually at someone else's expense. I have never felt a diference in paint finish between original and repaired areas. Unfortunately it sounds like fine grit in the clearcoat which means the paint shop was not as clean as it should have been. Take it to your insurance adjuster for an independent professional opinion ASAP.

FAME

Either dirt in the paint... or overspray. Hopefully not a poor prep job!

GoKart3

"cut and buff" the paint after it's been on the car for a while. One thing to look out for on a brand spankin new paint job is not to "seal in" all the chemicals in the paint. Todays paints are full of all kinds of nasty little chemicals which help with the application, curing, long life of the finish. Because of this, it is usually advisable for the paint to have a "breathing" period. This will allow the chemicals to vacate the paint. A similar process happens with the plastics in your car, to give you an example. There are plasticizers in the dash etc... which breath out of the plastic. This will be especially evident on hot sunny days. You'll find a nasty accumulation on the inside of your windows which looks like a smokers car which hasn't had the windows cleaned in months. That's actually the plasticizers which have baked out of the plastic and deposited themselves on your glass. During the winter, this process barely happens at all. It's not the same, but sililar. So it's good for your car to see some sun etc.. during the curing period.

Usually a paint shop will want to wait for this breathing period to pass before buffing the car out. The reason for this is that when you buff paint with a wheel, it becomes quite hot, and kinda re-flow's the product. It basically makes a hard shell on the paint. If the buff is done too early, this can seal in the nasty stuff, which you don't want to do.

If they want to charge you some ungodly amount of cash to buff the car, and you can't negotiate something reasonable out of them, you can always do it yourself. I'd wait 5-6 monthes myself, before I went into the paint. Ask your paint shop if they recommend any specific products to use with your new finish.

IMHO..... I'd prolly do something like this;

1) Clay the car. Your choice on clay and detailing
spray which comes with it. I use Meguires.

2) 3M Imperial Hand Glaze (Just awesome stuff!)

3) Wax of your choice. Either of the Z products,
Pinnacle, etc....

That outta make is extremely smooth and shiny! If you have any further questions, e-mail me direct and send me your office number. I'd be happy to give you a call and discuss it if you want. But mostly, don't worry too much. If the finish was applied right, and good materials were used, it should be easy to rectify the situation and end up with a beautiful finish!