My TCH scratches more easily than any other car I've had.



My brother has a 08 Sienna that scratches easily like my TCH.

I am resigned to it all at this point.

 

So the paint is easy to scratch, the windshield is easy to pock... Do these cars look like crap within a few years? I am getting scared. My white 2009 TCH should be arriving soon.

 

jg013c,

They still look good as long as you take care of them. Any new car (Toyota, Honda, Ford, GM, etc) has this soft paint issue. Learn to take car of it and it will still shine like a new one.

A lot of people stop and ask me how I like my new car and ask to sit in it. They are surprised when they find out it is a year old and has almost 20,000 miles on it. I have not polished it (yet) but will when the swirls become noticeable. Until now, the car has been clayed (twice), sealed (twice) and topped with carnauba wax (monthly). I will admit though that I did not allow the dealer to wash, wax, prep, clean or do anything else to the car other than remove the plastic.

Most dealerships rate right at the bottom of the scale with their detailing staff and by preventing them from screwing up the finish at the start, I have not had that many problems.

 

For those of you that are interested here is a great video on how to safely wash you car. Washing your car the wrong way puts scratches and swirls in your paint.

Safely Wash Your Car

Mike

 

That video is awesome, thanks! Anyone know if retail stores carry the grit guard (like Pep Boys or Advance Auto)?

Oh, and be careful if you're using an absorber on your TCH! I put 3 major scratches in it, and the absorber appeared to be perfectly clean! Yikes! Mine's black too...so that primer doesn't look so great if you're standing at the right angle

 

I couldn't find them at Pep Boys, Kragen, Target or Walmart so I just ordered them from ADS.

http://www.autodetailingsolutions.com/grit-guard.htm

I also bought the Gold Class Car Wash, mitt and some other stuff to offset having to pay for shipping.

Mike

 

I always thought I was super careful washing my car, but there are scratches all over (and dings from rocks and stuff too). I'm resigned to the fact that I'll probably need to just have it repainted in a few years (I know my Corolla was terribly pock-marked on the hood, but I didnt' really care about that on such a cheapo).

Has anyone had their TCH repainted? Where and how much?

 

Oh, and I forgot to ask: does anyone have a good strategy and/or product for getting ride of really noticeable scratches?

I tried the Nu Finish scratch remover, and it works "for awhile" but the scratch reappears after a few washes. (and touch-up paint is horrible!) Any ideas?

 

Joe,

It depends on how much you want to spend. The only way to eliminate the scratches on the paint is to physically remove them. This means a machine polish done by you or a pro.

Least cost for you (and safest) would be a Porter Cable 7424, an assortment of pads and some good grades of polish. There are several kits on the market that can be purchased for between $200 to $300 dollars that will do the job.

This setup will be slower than a rotary polisher but a lot safer as you are VERY unlikely to do harm to the paint. A rotary on the other hand (Dewalt 849, Dynabrade, and my favorite the Makita 9227, etc.) will be MUCH faster but more likely to damage the paint if not used correctly. This option will run from $300 to $400 when purchased as a kit with pads and polishes.

A good pro will usually charge a by the hour fee (sight unseen) or will meet with you to see how bad the car is before quoting a price. Rough number? Somewhere between $150 to $400. If you like working with your hands and enjoy your car, you can see that buying the equipment and doing it yourself can save money, give you some good exercise and be very rewarding when people ask about your car and who detailed it.

A lot of the "scratch removers" on the market are glazes that just hide the scratch for 2 or 3 washes and then they "reappear" You need to remove them, protect the paint and try not to induce marring of the paint when washing/cleaning.

There are a lot of sites on the web with a great group of people willing to help. My favorites would include "autopia.org" and "autogeekonline.net". You might try giving them a "look see", ask some questions, do a lot of reading and give some products a try.

One other thing, with the price of paint running what it is now (have you priced a gallon of Dupont's Chroma Clear and Base lately?) you might want to try and keep the original paint looking as good as you can for a while.. Good Luck...

 

Thanks for the response!

How time consuming (and "easy") is the do-it-yourself method? I'm pretty sure I would be careful enough not to harm anything, but then again, things go wrong!

Thanks again!