no matter what i do theres scratches..

all the time i come out and theres a scratch.


what do you do to prevent it besides parking away form ppl and being cautious..


certian wax help ?

 

park the box in a CASE!

Unfortunately there is no way to avoid scratches.
While driving, rocks can fling to the body.
Even washing a car can cause scratches

Good wax can hide some light scratches.

 

Sorry brother, wax doesn't hide scratches, in fact wax
makes the scratches show up better!

When you get a scratch and you clean and wax the car,
you are actually making the scratch all nice and shiney.
Since the scratch is reflecting light at a different angle then
the unscratched paint, it sticks out like a sore thumb.

The proper way to "repair" the paint, short of wet sanding,
is to get a random orbital buffer and a super fine polish.
When you polish the paint, you (hopefully) aren't burning
through the paint, but rounding off the harsh edges on those
scratches and making them reflect light more like the
undamaged paint.

Once your paint is clean, stripped of old wax and dirt
and oxidization, *then* you wax to protect your paint.
Good wax will protect from dust and the elements and
*minor* scratches, but the *only* thing that truely protects
paint is a quality paint with a quality clear coat (not counting
bras Etc- that's a whole different issue).

After that it's just proper maintenance and feeding.

 

whit such thin paint on these scions i wouldnt suggest orbital or dual action too risky , i'd go with a medium or fine cut and hand polish , then seal , then wax.

 

i use an orbital on mine........no prob

 

Scratch fix- it comes in an oversized black tube like tooth paste. It works great at removing them or making them less noticeable. If you have a buffing wheel the 3 step meguires products do a fine job of removing fine scratches and bringing the original finish back up. Use the foam pad though it is less agressive than the wool one.

 

That's a good point.

It bugs me how thin and easy to chip the paint is, and mine has a ton of
Orange Peel directly from Toyota.

But someone even mildly skilled with an orbital, with the proper pad, and proper polish
shouldn't be burning through the paint.

 

If I had known how truely crappy the paint was, I'd have gone with the polar white. It shows no scratches and the paint stays cleaner looking longer.

 

Yeah, I use a Porter Cable random orbital polisher. I don't have any problems.

 

My orbital one doesn't get the job done, it is fine for applying wax but does nothing for polishing or applying compound. I use the craftsman rotory polisher (two speeds) with a dimpled foam pad.
When washing to avoid scratches use a soft brush with a long handle and when drying use the cali squegee and a dampened microfiber towel to dry. This is my secret to keeping scratches to a minumum.