Paint Correction & Enhancement

Have you ever washed your car using premium mitts, soap, and waxes to make your car look as best as it could and the finish just doesn’t look as great as you thought it would? After all, after properly washing and even decontaminating it, waxing it should make the paintwork look more glossy. If your car looks dull, has scratches, swirls, and tough water spot stains, your car may need to be paint corrected

If you’re someone who is into their car, it’s quite possible you feel comfortable washing your own car, and even applying a spray on coating or hand waxing. If you follow the proper methods, anyone can do it without causing new defects. When it comes to paint correction though, there are some doubts and worries about what can be done but no worries because there is good reason for that.

Let’s take a look at some of the do’s and dont’s of it and see what can actually be done for your vehicle. What does it take, why would you need it, when would you need it, and when it’s all done – how do you protect your vehicle paint from damage in the future?

What is Paint Correction?

It is the process of removing minor scratches and defects that are on the surface or embedded in the vehicles clear coat. Typically, using a machine polisher, different varieties of pads, and compounds/polishes we would be cutting and/or polishing(refining) to level out the clear coat to bring back the clarity of the base coat.

Here at Nguyen Auto Detailing, we usually offer single stage and two stage corrections. Single stage would be more for a vehicle that has light scratches, spider-webbing, swirl marks. It would bring back the gloss of the paint as well. A two stage correction is perfect for any vehicle that has moderate to heavy water spots, deeper scratches, swirl marks. However, that being said, it is possible to damage the clear coat to the point where the integrity of it would not be good for your car in the long run and could go past the point of repair.

Paint correction can be broken down into many stages – based mainly on the damage to the clear coating.

Stage 1 Paint Correction(enhancement)

In this single step polishing job, we would use an AIO(all-in-one) type of liquid polish that is a cutting compound, polish, and glaze all together! It is designed to remove light scratches, swirls, light water spots, and spider-webbing while also leaving a nice glossy finish after wiping off the excess product.

Stage 2 Paint Correction

If your car has more moderate to heavy defects, that is when it may be time for a 2 step correction. This would be the next progression and the reason for it is because instead of doing an AIO step, we would first hit the paint with a stronger more abrasive cutting compound, then we would switch over to a finer polish to refine the leftover haze and cutting marks that was left over.

Stage 3 Paint Correction

If you think that your car may need even more than a 2 step correction this may be for you. However, if you get to this point – it may be a good idea to make sure that you won’t compromise the integrity of the vehicle’s clear coat. Essentially, there is only so much clear coat that is sitting on top of your base color coat. If you remove 90-95% of the clear coat to remove a scratch, yes it may be worth it for the apperance, but in the long run, it won’t be able to perform its duty to protect the base and could lead to quicker clear coat oxidization, fading, cracking, and peeling.

Why is Paint Correction Completed?

The intention of doing paint correction is to remove defects and imperfections of the vehicle’s clear coat so that the finish has a more glossy appearance shining from the base coat sitting underneath. It is a service that is completed usually to prep a vehicle for a protective coating or film application. The process can be different for different vehicles because it is based on the type of paint, the amount of defects, and what the client really wants to get out of it. Defects and imperfections that are typically removed by this method include:

Remove fine scratches
Remove spider webbing or swirl marks
Removing bird stains and bug splatters
Remove water spots(calcium deposits)
Stripping old wax, sealants, coatings

What Should You Use to Protect Your Vehicle from Future Damage?

Although traditional waxes and paint sealants have been the noise for years, nowadays there are more different, long lasting alternatives. If you’re looking for the the best protection that you can get to reduce the potential of swirl marks, scratches, and defects on the vehicle’s surface, paint protection film or a professional-grade ceramic coating is the best way to go.

Paint Correction & Protection Level 1 with ceramic based wax – Six Months of Protection
Paint Correction & Protection Level 1 with ceramic coating – Five Years of Protection
Paint Correction & Protection Level 2 with ceramic based wax – Six Months of Protection
Paint Correction & Protection Level 2 with ceramic coating – 7 Years of Protection

There are plenty of great quality ceramic coating brands out there but here are the ones that we use and believe that are the some of the best ones with extreme durability. Gtechniq, Adams, CarPro, & Gyeon. Ceramic Coatings could be applied to all the vehicle’s paint, glass, trim, and rims! After application, the coating cures to a hardness of 9H which is as strong as quartz.

That being said, ceramic coatings do not eliminate the chances of rock chips, scratches, swirls, and imperfections. If you are looking for that type of protection, PPF(paint protection film) may be the option for you.

If you are a car enthusiast or someone who just likes a clean ride without having to work as hard to keep it shining year round, it would make a lot of sense to have a high quality paint protectant applied to your vehicle. Plus, it’s good for the long run!

Request Free Quote

Nguyen Auto Detailing

Paint Correction