TwofourT

One week and 200 miles after I drive my car out of the dealer's lot I find a slight chip on my upper hood. Could it be a rock? That high? So far Nano paint hasn't been keeping up to its hype.

Went to dealer for some touch up paint, my 05 is black (paint code c040) and techi stated that my car doesnt come with clear coat, and that I some metallic colors have a clear coat...is he crazy or is it just me? Can I put on a clear coat?

Ive got to be more carefull with my paint, This is my third black car, and within months I get swirls, scratches, chips, key marks..you name it. I dont even let a towel touch it! I guess since im only 19 I get tons of haters...Looking into buying CompuStar alarm system before I head back out to College. Anyone know anything about CompuStar and/or any protectant I could apply to my car?

Just hope I can keep this car looking good for more then a year!

formula1

Nano paint or not no paint is scratch-resistant. After 2 washes I could see swirl marks on my car under bright sunlight. That's the problem with black cars. Not much you can do about it except maybe wax your car every 3 months or so to give it an extra layer of protection.

Outland

After two black cars, I swore off Black forever. It looks awesome when new, and then as time goes on the only time the car looks nice is in the evening.

Yeah, its a stone chip. I got a chip in my windshield in the first 800 miles. That pissed me off good.

Good luck, you'll need it

Buellwinkle

Nano is amazing stuff, my 2002 Coupe had swirls galore and too many rock chips to count when it was 6 months old, my 2004.5 has one chip on the bumper, one on the side and no swirls even though it's gets the dealer free wash almost every weekend (except when they are closed like Christmas/New Years).

cracker123

pretty good bullwinkle, how do you get a free dealer wash every weekend ?

formula1

Buellwinkle, no swirls? Have you checked it under bright sunlight? What car shampoo does your dealer use? I'd like to know the material of the cloth they use to dry your car as well cause I've heard that it's impossible not to get swirls on your car - unless you don't wash it of course.

Outland

Buell's car gets washed with Baby shampoo, and dried with a leaf blower

Buellwinkle

I went to the Meguires event (http://www.buellwinkle.com/gallery/Meguires/) and their expert, Mike Philips went from car to car analyzing the paint on a bright sunny day and looked at mine and said no swirls and asked me what I do to maintain the finish and told him the truth, the dealer provides free car washes and I take advantage of it every weekend and the car was never waxed, polished, buffed or clayed, just washed. So I clayed and waxed at the event, didn't need anything else.

Now on my old 2002, one free carwash and it looked like pretty bad, a few free car washes and it looked like the before image on any wax infomercial. To give you an idea how incredibly soft the pre-nano paint is, Mike was able to remove pretty much all the swirls on a black 2004 C230 (pre-nano) using a orbital buffer and #80 speed glaze which is a very, very mild polish that breaks down very quickly and would do just about nothing on my other cars for swirl removal.

brabusCcoupe

I also get the FREE car washes every Saturday at my dealer here in Florida, never taken advantage of it because i dont trust other people washing my car. Its good for people that dont have the time to wash or dont mind though.

6speedC230SS

[QUOTE=Whogives98] I guess since im only 19 I get tons of haters...QUOTE]

i know how you fell im 16 and when i get out of school i always check my car.

Also i have a slight scratch on the drivers side quarter panel nothing to bad juss annoying is there any way of getting rid of this scratch without spending too much money

brabusCcoupe

Depending on how bad the scratch is, you can always get it buffed off. If not the only other options are to touch up or get it repainted. CARSMETICS here in Florida does an excellent job with just redoing the one area and reclearcoating.

Good luck.

6speedC230SS

where exactly is this shop

brabusCcoupe

Here is the link with the listings in Florida, there is one in California as well.

http://www.carsmetics.com/Locations.asp

wblynch

You young guys need to learn how to properly wash and detail your cars.

The very first thing you can do to avoid swirls and scratches is use two buckets to wash your car.

The first bucket is clear water, the second is your shampoo. (of course you're using good car shampoo and not dish washing liquid).

After using the soapy mitt on a panel or two, you rinse the mitt in the clear water bucket to get the dirt off. Then dip into the soap bucket for another run.

This method prevents you from scrubbing the dirt all over your car, which would produce more scratches and swirls.

Check the detailing threads on MB World. There's a lot of great information there.

6speedC230SS

good thing i juss read this post i was just about to wash my car. thanks

Buellwinkle

The proper way to wash your car is to take it to the dealer, read a newspaper, have some coffee and muffins, look at some new cars and then pickup your shiny clean car.

Kar don

my non nano 040 black car has no swirls, no key marks, but has a chip that was caused by the dealer and fixed by me with the touch up paint. The black mercedes vehicles ARE clear coated. Only company that doesn't clear coat black is Lexus/Toyota.

nlpamg

from what I can tell, the nano paint has a deeper shine than the non-nano. but, for some reason, I think it gets chipped a lot easier. I have just about the same amount of chips or even more on my 05 now than I ever had on my old black 1997 c280 sport...

Jim Banville

Maybe the old paint was softer, and would "give" a little when struck, whereas the newer paint is harder and cracks/flakes easier when struck?

MarkL

Glad to hear they improved the paint. My 2002 C240 was Capri blue and the paint was very soft, my major complaint with the car. I was very careful with the paint but it would scratch/swirl at the slightest touch, even pure cotton towels or real/simulated chamois.

pokerFACE

great. that explains heavily scratched black Highlander at 12 months.

Kar don

lol sorry to hear. Good news is that since there is no clearcoat there is more paint that can be buffed! They do buff out quite nice and look amazing when fully detailed (properly)... better than a black mercedes if you ask me.