Scratches under door handles

[turbo flat4]

I know that for scratches, you need to wash the affected area, perhaps clay it, and then finally use a buffer with polish combo, or you can hand buffer it. The place that's affected by scratches are the door handles. How would you effectively remove the scratches with a buffer because the door handles themselves get in the way. It would seem that hand buffering would be the only way to get rid of the scratches but I remember reading somewhere that hand buffering pales in comparison to a random orbital buffer.

This is the first new car that I have ever owned and it's black so that makes taking care of the paint even more difficult. Not to mention my complete and utter lack of detail skill. My previous car that I still have is chock full of paint chips and the right front fender is becoming a rust bucket. So i've never been able to fully appreciate a complete detail.

So far it's not been washed. It sits in the garage. I've got meguire's car wash, clay kit, nxt 2.0 wax, swirl x, and I use the 2 bucket method. Do I need a random orbital buffer or would you guys suggest that I get one? How would you go about tackling this problem?

[Richarde]

working in the paint and body business, i deal with this question a lot. First, if you say new as in 09 you don't need to use a clay bar on it for a while as long as you keep it clean. If you start using clay on it while its brand new out the box, it will wear your factory finish down faster.
Second, a orbital buffer would be awesome. But if you are going to get one, don't get the rinky dink kind you find at advance auto or walmart. You'll need to invest upwards of 200 to 300 bucks to get a good set up. I use a dewalt 7 inch buffer/polisher/ sander, yes sander, that can run from 1k to 3k rpms, it's freggin awesome.
The mcguire's scratch x aint worth ****. The 2.0 PASTE WAX I think is the best on the market for the money. If you can get your hands on it, find a local automotive paint supplier and get the 3m polishing set up. It is a extra cut rubbing compound, a dark polish, and a swirl mark remover. Use these three and a good coat of wax, it'll look like your car just rolled off the showroom floor.
And when it comes to scratches under the door handles, you will want to use RUBBING COMPOUND to get the best cut and then polish it off with the 2.0 wax. Just do it by hand, it'll look fine.
If you are close to an Advance autoparts, they sell a badass microfiber wash mitt that I highly recommend. You are really just wasting your time and water with the two bucket method. I think, as long as you keep your mitt clean you should be fine. And rinse your bucket everytime before and after you use it.
DO NOT USE THE WASH MITT ON YOUR WHEELS THAT YOU USE ON YOUR CAR. I've seen some people mess their shizz up big time doin that. and make sure you rinse the mitt thoroughly any time you drop it or even think it may be dirty. Same thing goes for your shammy. And I DON'T RECOMMEND THE CALIFORNIA WATERBLADE especially on a black vehicle. Just so ya know

[06wrx4me]

The scratches under the handles are usually taken out by hand with some rubbing cpd and the appropriate polishing cpds. You can use meguiars, griots, 3m perfect it...etc. Meguiars scratch X in a tube might get most of them out.

As far as buffers go, I own 3. Two of the industrial type used at body shops (used to do paint work), and one of the crappy random orbit ones. I should throw the random orbit one away, I don't recommend them, they suck. The $150+ industrial angle grinder jobbers are the only way to go.

But I caution you....A buffer should be used as an absolute last resort as you can burn through your clear coat rather fast. With every pass of the buffer, you effectively wear your clear coat thinner. I have seen people take the clear coat right of the edges of the fender/hood in a matter of seconds, then it is too late. My advise is to practice buffing on an old car with a crappy paint job before you attack your perfectly good car.

That being said I would not and do not use my buffer each time I detail. I wax about 3 times a year, and use "wax as you dry" with every wash. The finish is holding up well.

My car is a 2006, black, and I have owned it 3 years. I have touched it with my buffer 1 time to remove some water spots, and take off a mark left by debris.

[turbo flat4]

Thanks for the info but I've been having trouble finding the 3m products. I found this 3M? Perfect-It? 3000 Extra Cut Rubbing Compound, 06060, 1 Quart (US)/946 mL, 6 per case. Is this what you were recommending? And with products, is there a difference between swirl x and scratch x? If I do get a buffer, I have enough common sense to test it first on my old car, however, I don't see myself purchasing a buffer anytime soon.

First, if you say new as in 09 you don't need to use a clay bar on it for a while as long as you keep it clean.

Well it's new but it was kept outside before I got it so it's got some tree sap or something so when i ran my finger along the car, it felt like sandpaper. Of course I haven't washed it yet, so if it still feels like sandpaper after a good wash and dry, should I still clay it?

Yeah i've got another noobie question. What's rubbing compound and dark polish supposed to do? What order do you do the detailing procedure? So far i think it's wash and dry, clay only when necessary, swirl remover with buffer or hand buffer, then wax. Man i'm confused.

[Sasquatch]

Meguiars scratch X in a tube might get most of them out.

This has always done the under the door handle trick for me. I'll be using it over the weekend.

The fact that fingernails can scratch the paint is nauseating ...