Opinion On Paint Care

[Corpsvette]

I lurk here often picking up on the tricks of the trade. My 08' is a part time garage queen. Work is only a few miles down the street and I try to drive as much as possible. My car did sit on the dealer lot from Oct 07 until I bought it in May 08. There was evidence of salt and leaf stains. I cleaned it up to showroom condition with claybar and Zainos. I wipe down regularly and wash it when dirty. I do use a Cali duster. WIth that said, I consider myself somewhat anal. I use a leaf blower to dry, test my microfiber on CD's, use a grit gaurd, etc. I know the Cali duster probably creates some of the scratches. Regardless, in the right light I see very minor scratches. It happens, I accept it since I try to drive the car every chance the weather permits. So my question is this: THere is only so much clear coat. Do I regularly try to remove the fine scratches or wait until the surface area has more scratches before cutting down the clear coat. In othe words, get rid of the scratches as they appear or knock them all out with one stone every few years. I have a PC with all the pads and just ordered SIP. I have all the other Zaino products. ZPC, AIO, etc. Also is it bad just to hit the visible areas like the top of the hood and trunk area. Helps that my car is silver.

[JJU]

The following is a lot of my personal opinion and has nothing to do with being a Zaino distributor.

Foremost, it's your choice whether you remove the swirls for not. If it bothers you that they exist, they should be removed. If you plan on keeping the car for life, you need to plan your removal of them carefully. Another option is to have the car painted down the road.

If it was me, I would look for ways to prevent the swirls to begin with.
I have a 2001 and it is most defintely a garage queen with 13,800+ miles on it. No swirls marks yet. I don't care for the cali duster but I understand that it is a quick way to remove surface dust. You may have other techniques that may be causing the swirl marks too. So, there is a trade-off. You can reduce the visible swirls by using Z-5p.

[ZaneO]

I don't think there's anything wrong with polishing to removing light imperfections once or twice a year with SIP and/or ZPC as necessary. With that said, the best option is finding the source of the swirling and doing whatever is practical to prevent it.

[JVM225]

If you polish out the scratches, you remove a small amount of the clear. I don't think that a nice polishing with a random orbital and some quality products every year or so is going to kill your finish.
I see you have a PC, you might want to consider a step up to a Flex.
I have swirls right now in my LeMans Blue paint. IMHO: There is no way to avoid them completely. Some colors show show them more than others, but they all get them sooner or later no matter how careful you are. I have a friend with a white car that swears he has no swirls. I think he either need glasses, or better lighting because I see plenty of them in his finish when I look closely. On the other hand, a legally blind guy can probably pick up a swirl on my LeMans Blue from across the parking lot in the right light. I'm exagerating here to make a point, but owners of black and other dark color cars will probably know what I mean.
You can however slow down swirls considerably.
Proper washing and drying is the first step. I always rinse the car thoroughly before washing, and use the two bucket method with good quality products. I also use a leaf blower for most of the drying.
I too have a California Duster, but only use it on the very light dust that accumulates on the car when it was put away in the garage freshly washed and then sat there for a few days. I might even follow up this regime with a Quick Detailer once in a while if I think it's safe.
Once I drive the car after a wash though, the Duster doesn't go anywhere near it.
I noticed that you said that you "wipe down regularly and wash it when dirty".
I don't wipe my Corvette down unless it is freshly washed. Even then, I usually do it after blowing it dry to get the last few drops of water off of it, and I do it with a good quality Waffle Weave and my favorite Quick Detailer. No towel, no matter how good it is, gets near the paint without a spritz of Quick Detailer on the panel I'm about to wipe down.
I know that some people will use Quick Detailer in between washes, but I think that once my car is driven it's finish shouldn't be touched with anything until it is washed again. I believe that once you drive the car it picks up dirt and particles that will put fine scratches in the finish if you try to use a California Duster or do a Quick Detailer wipe down on it.
Then again, I go to shows all the time where I see guys pull in, dust it down with the California Duster, and give it the once over with Quick Detailer. You can probably get away with that on silver cars, light colors, or neutral colors, but not on darker colors.
If the swirls aren't too bad you can probably use a good quality Glaze to temporarily mask them.
Just keep in mind that this is not paint correction and they will probably re-appear after the next wash.
Ever notice how nice a detailed car looks right after the local car wash place does their $150.00 job on it? Did you ever notice how swirled up it is after the car gets washed once or twice? That's because they use products with lots of fillers in them, and when the products wash away the fillers go with them and the swirls re-appear.

[Killrwheels@Autogeek]

polishing in most cases can remove very little clearcoat and offer many years of enjoyment and the best finish. As with anything start light and move heavier only as needed. Proper washing and drying techniques will reduce marring and swirls thus meaning longer intervals between polishing. If you need help ask ...