2018 paint repair swirled

jberglan

Member
I was in a fender bender with my metallic gray 2018 CX5. They had to replace the drivers door/rocker plate and repaint the whole side. When I didn't see it in the direct sun the color matches but today when i had it washed and saw direct sun i see all of these "swirl" marks in the paint. I don't have these same shine swirls in the side not repaired. Is this something to be expected or is it a bad paint technique by the body shop? I left them a voice mail tonight but I am wondering if this is common for folks that have had a repair job /paint job.
 
Post a picture. Likely what you are seeing is micro marring, which is really fine swirling in the paint that you can see, but can't feel. It might have been caused by their wash guys using a foam brush or dirty rags to clean the car, without giving the paint/clearcoat enough time to fully cure. The body shop would likely need to polish the paint to get rid of the swirling. After the polish, I would immediately apply a wax or sealant to protect the freshly polished areas.
 
Never put wax on fresh paint. It needs about 30 days to outgas (or cure), then they can compound the newly painted areas and remove the swirl marks. Swirl marks are likely do to compounding or wet sanding to get out the orange peel or any runs.
 
Never put wax on fresh paint. It needs about 30 days to outgas (or cure), then they can compound the newly painted areas and remove the swirl marks. Swirl marks are likely do to compounding or wet sanding to get out the orange peel or any runs.

This. 30-60 days to be safe. Most paint shops will use a rotary machine for a final buffing, which will usually leave behind a fine haze or micromarring like others mentioned. That can be removed with a DA buffer machine and a foam or microfiber cutting pad, then finished up with polish on a foam pad. But if you have that done you'll likely want the whole car "paint corrected" to have everything matching. Just look up paint correction on YouTube to get an idea of the process.
 
Never put wax on fresh paint. It needs about 30 days to outgas (or cure), then they can compound the newly painted areas and remove the swirl marks. Swirl marks are likely do to compounding or wet sanding to get out the orange peel or any runs.

Maybe that's what happened to my buddy's car. They use wax after 3 weeks being painted.
 
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