I had recently gotten my 2007 XKR detailed and was dissatisfied with the job that was done (almost no paint correction was done at all for $300+). So when I had the chance to use someone else's garage over the long weekend, I spent about 8 hours or so with my Flex XC3401 VRG and my trusty Meguiar's M105/205 polishes. The paint had been badly abused as the car looked like it had been driven through many machine washes. Plus I had marred the paint using clay to remove some overspray on one side of the car but I was able to correct virtually all of this.

Here are the results! I am a really horrible photographer and these shots were done using my phone. The car looks even more beautiful when the paint is sparkling and there are no swirls!

 

Looks great! Good job.

 

nice, i should have bought a convertible...

 

I used the same polishes on our Range Rover and ended up with swirll marks. Do you think I'll be able to remove them with 205 by hand? The marks are in perfect straight lines from the buffer. I had the right pad for each polish. I am not very experienced with a buffer. Other the marks, it came out way shinier than before.

 

Thanks for the compliments, guys!

mosesbotbol, working these polishes by hand would take a hell of a long time. What sort of pads did you use? Did you use a dual action buffer or a rotary?

I used Lake Country 6.5" pads.

Lake Country Pads

It's important to keep your pads clean. If the pads have caked on polish and/or debris in them, you will just mar the paint when you polish.

 

I took a sort of "split screen" shot by taping off a line. To the left, I have used M105 and M205 successively (no wax applied). To the right is how it looked originally. The light source is a cheap 24 or 36 LED work light I got from Home Depot.

 

Here is a video of the same spot.

 

If one is interested in learning how to detail his/her car, autopiaforums.com is imo, the place to be. Similar to this site that forum is populated by experts who freely give advice. Autopia.com is the online store for detailing products and offers a wealth of information on how to properly care for your car.

Before I bought this car fifteen months ago I thought that washing a car regularly and waxing it three times a year was sufficient. Oh how wrong I was.
Admittedly, I've made an investment in equipment and product. Thanks to that site I am comfortable detailing our cars (both black) and must confess each car looks pretty darn good. When I take either car to the dealer I tell them to absolutely NOT wash the car. They are your worst enemy in that respect.

Like any other business there are folks who proclaim themselves to be expert detailers. Caveat emptor. A lot of these so called professional detailers will make a mess of your paint. As with anything else do your research before selecting someone to detail your car.

Alan, your car looks fabulous!

Kindest regards,

 

Great Job..............she looks stunning

 

Very well done!!

 

I have a Makita rotary with Lake pads. I think I may've had the pads too dirty. My neighbor got the same results as me and did it the same way. Will check up on the forums.

My XK doesn't need a buffer at all. Looks like new at 27K.

 

Ye gods, it's going to take some heroic effort to buff that out.

It even looks to have ears!!!

Nice work Alan, best of luck with the rest.

 

How much do you charge? m ' joking, nice job.