Hi guys, as you know, I recently sold my 2020. The buyer reached out to me recently, complaining that he seemingly damaged his paint by driving through an automatic car wash. It put a bunch of swirl marks in it and he asked if I knew how to get rid of them.
If you own a Hellraisin car, or any dark colored Hellcat (black, Sinastick, Octane Red, etc), this advice is going to be helpful for you. Mopar does a FANTASTIC job painting these cars (sarcasm). The paint is somewhat thin and the clearcoats are fragile. You should think twice about ever taking it through an automatic car wash, touchless or not. That being said, here's my advice. Feel free to add yours if you have some of your own:
- PPF: I actually don't like PPF as I'm OCD and can tell the difference between PPF and a waxed car. However, PPF is great for protecting the paint... until the PPF starts to show wear.
- Never rub/buff the car when it's dry: Again, referring to the delicate top coat, it's very easy to put swirl marks and micro abrasions in the car's finish. If you have to rub out a hard water spot or something off the car, wet the spot and use a wet rag or sponge. If it needs some elbow grease, spray detailer on it first.
- Fixing blemishes: Hellraisin in particular was challenging for me to keep pristine. To get out swirl marks, I used a rubbing compound and a 3" orbital to blend and polish it out. For scratches, I used the same rubbing compound and a scratch fix compound to blend it then went back over it with PCD touchup paint and buffed/blended that in.
- Be careful with water-free spray washes: You can use these, products like No H2O Spray Wash and Griot's Garage Speed Wash. However, you have to use them liberally. When it tells you to spray on, then wipe off... you should spray 2x more than you think you needed, then wipe it off. You don't want to rub dirt around on the paint if it isn't soaked.
- Splash guards are awesome: Yeah, they don't look the best, but they keep rocks and dirt off your doors and rear fender flares if so equipped. Super easy to install, works great.
- Ceramic coatings: This is another good protection you can perform, if you want to pay for it. I didn't ceramic coat my car, and instead opted for aircraft grade professional wax. Ceramics are expensive and have some unique maintenance requirements. They also produce a high gloss top shine, but it isn't very deep. This is why I went with the wax. The great thing about ceramics is that if you take care of them, they last a long time. At home treatments you can get at most part stores can last a year or more (depending on how many coats you overlap). Professional treatments can last 5-7 years. This makes cleanup a breeze. You rarely have to do nothing more than hose it off and dry it every now and then. I'd recommend to skip ceramic coating the wheels. I've never been impressed with those, as they don't seem to inhibit brake dust collection, nor ease the process of getting it off.
- Wax: If you take nothing else from this article, take this. Never drive the car if it isn't waxed or ceramic coated. Waxing is much cheaper, but labor intensive at regular intervals. I personally recommend Collinite Fleetwax. It's an aircraft and naval grade wax that's made to withstand both saltwater and airborne environments (direct UV exposure, high speed rain strikes, ice, etc). Both ceramics and quality waxes will protect the car from minor impacts with things like small rocks, dirt, road debris, and inclement weather. Further, waxes like Fleetwax are very hydrophobic and they will prevent water spots, thus reducing the amount of times you feel implored to rub on the car. The other plus to wax, for me anyway, is that they make the car silky smooth... which is just a very satisfying thing.
- Wheel coatings: Black wheels + brake dust + 10 minutes of driving = brown wheels. The absolute best system I've found to combat brake dust is Chemical Guys Jet Seal (matte). It's a paint treatment that repels dirt and water. Super easy to apply, and a bottle of it costs under $15. If you put on two coats, you can usually blow the wheels off with a high pressure air hose and it will literally shoot the brake dust off. If you need to wipe them, all it takes is a microfiber with no elbow grease to get out any stubborn spots. For silver or chrome wheels, I love Eagle One Never Dull. I've been using that stuff for 30 years and I have never found anything better.
If you own a Hellraisin car, or any dark colored Hellcat (black, Sinastick, Octane Red, etc), this advice is going to be helpful for you. Mopar does a FANTASTIC job painting these cars (sarcasm). The paint is somewhat thin and the clearcoats are fragile. You should think twice about ever taking it through an automatic car wash, touchless or not. That being said, here's my advice. Feel free to add yours if you have some of your own:
- PPF: I actually don't like PPF as I'm OCD and can tell the difference between PPF and a waxed car. However, PPF is great for protecting the paint... until the PPF starts to show wear.
- Never rub/buff the car when it's dry: Again, referring to the delicate top coat, it's very easy to put swirl marks and micro abrasions in the car's finish. If you have to rub out a hard water spot or something off the car, wet the spot and use a wet rag or sponge. If it needs some elbow grease, spray detailer on it first.
- Fixing blemishes: Hellraisin in particular was challenging for me to keep pristine. To get out swirl marks, I used a rubbing compound and a 3" orbital to blend and polish it out. For scratches, I used the same rubbing compound and a scratch fix compound to blend it then went back over it with PCD touchup paint and buffed/blended that in.
- Be careful with water-free spray washes: You can use these, products like No H2O Spray Wash and Griot's Garage Speed Wash. However, you have to use them liberally. When it tells you to spray on, then wipe off... you should spray 2x more than you think you needed, then wipe it off. You don't want to rub dirt around on the paint if it isn't soaked.
- Splash guards are awesome: Yeah, they don't look the best, but they keep rocks and dirt off your doors and rear fender flares if so equipped. Super easy to install, works great.
- Ceramic coatings: This is another good protection you can perform, if you want to pay for it. I didn't ceramic coat my car, and instead opted for aircraft grade professional wax. Ceramics are expensive and have some unique maintenance requirements. They also produce a high gloss top shine, but it isn't very deep. This is why I went with the wax. The great thing about ceramics is that if you take care of them, they last a long time. At home treatments you can get at most part stores can last a year or more (depending on how many coats you overlap). Professional treatments can last 5-7 years. This makes cleanup a breeze. You rarely have to do nothing more than hose it off and dry it every now and then. I'd recommend to skip ceramic coating the wheels. I've never been impressed with those, as they don't seem to inhibit brake dust collection, nor ease the process of getting it off.
- Wax: If you take nothing else from this article, take this. Never drive the car if it isn't waxed or ceramic coated. Waxing is much cheaper, but labor intensive at regular intervals. I personally recommend Collinite Fleetwax. It's an aircraft and naval grade wax that's made to withstand both saltwater and airborne environments (direct UV exposure, high speed rain strikes, ice, etc). Both ceramics and quality waxes will protect the car from minor impacts with things like small rocks, dirt, road debris, and inclement weather. Further, waxes like Fleetwax are very hydrophobic and they will prevent water spots, thus reducing the amount of times you feel implored to rub on the car. The other plus to wax, for me anyway, is that they make the car silky smooth... which is just a very satisfying thing.
- Wheel coatings: Black wheels + brake dust + 10 minutes of driving = brown wheels. The absolute best system I've found to combat brake dust is Chemical Guys Jet Seal (matte). It's a paint treatment that repels dirt and water. Super easy to apply, and a bottle of it costs under $15. If you put on two coats, you can usually blow the wheels off with a high pressure air hose and it will literally shoot the brake dust off. If you need to wipe them, all it takes is a microfiber with no elbow grease to get out any stubborn spots. For silver or chrome wheels, I love Eagle One Never Dull. I've been using that stuff for 30 years and I have never found anything better.
