jptonks

Hello all,

My 2008 C6 convertible comes out of winter storage tomorrow, but my question concerns my wife's red 2009 Nissan Altima.

I should know better, but I removed some debris on the car's hood with 0000 steel wool and then I could not polish out the minor scratches left by the steel wool. In the past, I have had no trouble polishing out steel wool scratches with rubbing compounds and car polishes.

Everything that I have tried has not worked. The scratched area is about 10 inches by 6 inches. Outside in the sun, the scratches are invisible. Inside my garage, I see them when looking at the hood from an angle.

Do I need a professional's touch here, one with a machine and experience? What should something like this cost? The car is three weeks old and I want it to like right.

Thanks for your help.

John T.

0Detailed Image

Sorry to hear about that problem. Nissan's are known for having softer paints so that may have been part of the reason you're noticing different results this time. To help assess what you need to do next please let us know more about what steps you have already taken. Please list out as many specifics as you can about the polishes and how they were applied (hand vs. buffer). Additionally if you did use a buffer, which one and with what pads? Again the more specifics the better we can probably help you. This should be something you can do on your own and one way or another we can help you fix this.

Greg @ Detailed Image

gmblack3

Please don't use steel wool on your paint. Not the best thing for it, even if it has "worked in the past."

Onyasix

0Killrwheels@Autogeek

Youve gotten some great advice here, Nissan paint is typically soft and can see light hand polishing with ok results. Steel Wool, no matter how fine is more abrasive than using wetsanding for defects so moving forward a better choice. Now to remove the scratching you are going to need a buffer, and some polishes. Not sure you want to go to the expense and might wanna see a professional, although for the price of repair you could get a fine buffer and pads.

I would use Menzerna IP and FP polishes with the buffer of your choice. It will take several passes with IP and an abrasive pad, then moving to medium, and finally a light pad and the Finishing Polish.