Swirls scratches on a new 2006 Black Prius

A new car with only 4 miles should have NO scratches or marks of any sort, regardless of color. I used to have a 1986 Mercedes 560 SL that was black, and after 10 years of daily driving but lots of pampering, there were no swirl marks anywhere. They can show more easily on black, but a new car shouldn't have any.

This Prius should be 100% free from marks.

 

Aren't swirl marks and scraches an indicator of care not mileage? What does the mileage have to do with having swirl marks? I sounds to me like the dealership did not prep the car correctly. I've done the black car thing (and loved it) but my expereince has been... one bad car wash is enough to give you swirl marks and there are so many good products out there to remove or cover them up...thanks to my 9 year niece I had some pretty nasty swirl marks on my paint and I was able to recover nicely after many hours of corrective treatment.

I'd also get used to the fact that Black paint will show every flaw unless you properly maintain it. I think that Black is a beautiful color, you just have to put more work into making it look great than the lighter colors.

 

My vote would be that the swirl marks got there because of an overly harsh automated car wash at that dealer, as well. They probably scratched it during the prep of the car for you.

 

I have a black prius too. I had the swirl marks as well. I didn't notice them at first, and only started to notice them after the first car wash. I was trying myself to decide if the car needs to go back to have this fixed, but wasn't sure if I should blame the car wash or the dealer. After I noticed this for the first time, the only car wash places I take it to are hand soft cloth places. No washing machines for me anymore. Although now, I recently got my car back from being repaired and the hood was repainted. The swirl marks are not there now.

 

Please tell us what dealer?!

Thanks!

 

I have delivery swirl marks on my Black 05, 4 layers of Zaino have removed some of them.

 

I agree, although my experiance with black cars is that swirls develope no matter what and as others have said zaino and other similar products can reduce them but I can always see them... I hate swirls! I preferenced no Black for this very reason, love the color hate the swirls :angry:

 

You will get swirl or what I call spiderweb scratches even if you wash it yourself. I can see them on my silver. Waxing will hide them for a while. When that car came in at the dealer they decided to wash it and when they were drying it they used too much force. Black is always the worst. Go to any dealer, and in bright sun light look at paint jobs. Move around the car and catch the shine at different angles and you will see the swirls. Especialy a few days after it rains. They have to wash all the cars.

 

Absolutely inexcusable for swirl marks to be on a new car fresh from the factory! Your dealer washed your car with rocks!

Swirl marks are not inevitable . . . unless you too wash your car with rocks . . . which is what you do at those automatic non-touchless car washes! My car has only seen one . . . and I jumped down my dealer’s throat for doing so . . . the car came back dirtier than when I gave it to them. They now know better - their work orders now automatically print "NO WASH" is big bold letters any time I bring my car in for service.

If you wash your car yourself:

1) Get yourself an electric pressure washer. (something like this):
http://www.karcher-usa.com/pressurewashers.php
(Costco sells one for around $130-ish)

2) Rinse off car with hose to soak and loosen hard stuff, then pressure wash it to blast off rocks and other hard stuff which can scratch.

3) Use a car wash mitt and car wash soap. Wash with light pressure and in straight line motions only, never in circles. A circular scratch (swirls) guarantees the proper angle to reflect sunlight to the viewers’ eyes, making any scratch much more noticeable.

4) Hose off mitt before returning to the bucket for more soap.

5) Wash from top to bottom. Less of a chance of bringing a rock from the much dirtier lower areas up to the roof, hood, and side panels (the most noticeable areas).

6) Keep a very good coat of wax (Zaino, etc) on your car. If you scratch your wax, no problem, just wax it again.

My 16 month old Salsa Baby? Not a swirl mark (or washing scratch) to be found . . . even if trying to find one.

 

Hi 'Envy, that's a great tip to use a pressure washer, thanks for the link too. Your 6 steps to washing a car are great. I use 2 wash mitts, one for the top half of the car and one for the bottom half of the car. The mitt for the top half of the car remains cleaner than the other mitt (which gets stained a little from the dirt on the lower part of the car). This means I always wash the top part of my car with a mitt dedicated to the top part, thus the mitt doesn't get as dirty as the bottom mitt, and isn't as likely to have as much microscopic coarse material in it that is usually picked up by the lower mitt. This technique has helped my wife's new Sienna remain scratchless for over a year of washings (so far). I will use this technique on my 2006 Prius (when it arrives).

 

It's not the colour's fault. Having seen the scrub monkeys at my local dealership stick their long handled scrub brushes into a bucket of mud, I do more car washing than I used to. I use two buckets: one filled with warm soapy water, and the other with warm rinse water. After spraying down the car, I wash a small section and dip the cloth into the rinse bucket first and then the soap bucket. Then I spray the car again, and keep going in small patches from top to bottom, wheels last. This way, the dirt doesn't get wiped all over the car again and again as you wash. I use a back and forth motion, instead of circular, which helps reduce swirl marks. I use P21S bodywork shampoo and their special drying cloth. The wash cloth is important, too - don't use a rag or towel - find a microfiber cloth that won't scratch. I don't use a pressure washer on my car; I think it does more harm than good. They're great for cleaning the paint off concrete, though!

 

Congratulations on your new swirl-free Black Beauty, huh/hope this helps!

 

Hey Huh,

Congratulations of the delivery of you shiny new Black Prius! (you do know you are going to have to wash that thing quite often to keep it looking good, don't ya?)

If you are incapable of following simple instructions on using a pressure washer on your car, by all means don’t do it . . . especially if it is one of those high pressure gas models. On the other hand, the electric models I have mentioned are safe to use. Even if you get the wand closer than six inches (which I don’t recommend), it’s not powerful enough to peel the paint! I can hold my hand in the stream, six inches from the nozzle, and feel no pain. The only damage you will do to the car finish is if you violently beat the car with the wand.

Even after pressure washing the car with one of these gutless electric pressure washers, a dirty haze is still left behind - which requires a light hand washing with a mitt and car soap/detergent to remove. That alone should be proof enough of how gentle these sprayers, used properly, are to the car’s finish. The larger stuff, rocks, sand, mud, bugs, bird poop - have been harmlessly rinsed away before you have the chance to rub them into your finish with your wash mitt.

I would much rather spray the stuff off than rub it across the surface of my car.

And yes, the pressure washer does a great job on the wheels and wheel wells too . . . but it is incapable of popping the tires! (Just in case someone is worried about that possibility too. )

 

Go to bed Bill!
It's freakin' 2:14 am!

Good night.

 

See! I'm making mistakes!

 

Not true. if you know how to wash and dry the car properly you absolutely can wash it without introducing swirls.

If you wash the car properly, or pay a COMPETENT PROFESSIONAL to do it, and have the paint polished and sealed twice a year it'll be fine.

They swirled it when they prepped it, thats why I always insist they not prep my new cars before I pick them up.

 

Sounds like it's the fault of the dealers when it was prepped. I.E. the 18 year old "detailer".

The "master detailer" should be able to get them out.

I have black and didn't inspect for swirls.

I wouldn't take my car to any car wash.

I attended the Meguiar's day and will be doing my car myself.

I also keep my car garaged.

I also specifically request that the service department NOT wash may car whenever I take it in. I don't want to spend extra time removing anything they do.