Need help

[Samuel]

I have a client that has a white SUV and this SUV,has not been wash or wax in two years.i wipe my hand on this SUV and the white paint.came off on my hand.and she don’t want to get a expensive paint job.can you guy help me bring this vehicle back!and what process or step should I take to try and bring this unforgoten vehicle 

[shane@detailedreflections]

Stay away. Don’t take money for the job. You could get stuck with causing the damage. If the paint is not salvageable in your assessment, no money is worth taking the job. 

 

She doesn’t want to pay for paint, and you can’t fix it. That’s the reality of the situation. 

 

Make a smart business decision, save your reputation and move on to other clients. 

[falcaineer]

100000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000%

Edited April 13, 2018 by falcaineer
Added a few more 0s!

[Rich]

Run, don't walk.   

[pirahnah3]

I would agree, its too dangerous to attempt to correct imminent failure and then end up being on the hook for a complete paint job. 

[shane@detailedreflections]

I’ve had some PM’s with Samuel about this vehicle. It seems that it’s not paint failure, or even clear coat failure. After talking more (I’d still like to see photos) it sounds like it’s heavily oxidized paint. Coarse, white and chalky in nature. 

 

Going on that assumption, how do we deal with it?  

 

I’m going to preface this by saying we wouldn’t use some of the pad/compound combos without measuring the paint first. The paint sounds neglected and like the clear may be pretty thin. As a rule, we don’t want to strip more than 1/3 of the clear coat away before we start losing some of the UV protection the clear coat offers. Not to mention some of the combos will aggressively correct and remove clear coat. 

 

On to the rest of it...for oxidized paint, we know it’s going to be tough, and it’s going to take aggressive action. You always want to start with a test area, which is standard practice. For truly oxidized paint, correcting polish may be a little light. To make the quickest work of it, we would use a wool pad with a compound. This will help pull the ocidation off, but will also strip clear coat in a hurry. Speed/pressure settings will vary based on what pad and compound you choose to use. This step may leave the paint looking a little flat. 

 

Oh, and we’d measure between steps. 

 

The wool pad/compound combo has the potential to leave the paint looking flat and having some polishing marks in it. This is normal. You can’t just compound and walk away. To ensure we got all the oxidation, we would compound again with a foam pad to refine the finish a bit. Again, we’d measure between every step. 

 

From there it’s straight correcting and polishing practices until you achieve the results you’re after or you run out of clear coat. 

 

It’s important to set expectations with your client. It may not be perfect. It’s already damaged goods. We also would charge by the hour for this kind of work. It’s not a standard polish or correction. It may take multiple repeated steps to get where you want to be. 

 

I know I keep bringing up measurements, but it’s really your only defense as someone who’s taking money for services to help protect yourself from making a costly mistake. Not to mention it’s good practice for a professional. I also understand that it’s a luxury not everyone has...so if you proceed without one, do so with caution and at your own risk. 

 

Hopefully this will get you headed in the right direction. 

 

 

[Appleman]

Don't jeopardize your reputation because of things like this... If she can't  pay for good quality  paint then move on to the next client

[falcaineer]

Sounds like @shane@detailedreflections has you covered. Sorry for making any bad assumptions. But given what he explained and my level of skill/experience, my "right direction" is still right out the door!  Best of luck if you do decide to tackle this, though. And if so, take some pics and post them here. Would love to see the results.

Edited April 14, 2018 by falcaineer

[shane@detailedreflections]

4 minutes ago, falcaineer said:

Sounds like @shane@detailedreflections has you covered. Sorry for making any bad assumptions. But given what he explained and my level of skill/experience, my "right direction" is still right out the door!  Best of luck if you do decide to tackle this, though. And if so, take some pics and post them here. Would love to see the results.

 

I’m with you, and without pictures it’s difficult to say what’s truly going on or how bad it is.  We can do quite a bit to improve things.  This job sounds like it’s going to be a considerable time investment to get significant results done the right way.  This wouldn’t be one of those jobs we were excited to take, and it would be priced accordingly knowing what it’s going to entail.  My guess is that if the client doesn’t want to pay for paint, they aren’t going to want to pay the price that this job would require.

 

At the very least you have significant hours polishing/compounding (at least three to four steps)...possibly even wet sanding in areas.  It won’t be the pass of the polisher counting as a step that works for some vehicles.  It’s going to be polish, and polish again.  Not to mention that oxidation is harder on pads so you’re most likely going to burn some of those up.  You’ll want the right polishers to get into everywhere to make sure you don’t leave oxidation behind since it’ll be more noticeable when you have oxidation next to an area that’s had it removed and been polished.  

 

Let’s also consider that the vehicle belongs to someone who let it get this bad.  Unless they bought it this way?  But then they’d buy it knowing they’d have to put some dollars into it.

 

My opinion is still the same.  About the job, and the client.  Unless you’re doing this job as a favor or as a personal challenge and are tolerant of the many risks, I’d walk away.  

[Rich]

About the only thing I could add is that if you DO decide to attempt it, have the owner sign a waiver explaining what could happen and  that they understand what MAY happen and will not hold you responsible.  Something that will stand up in court if she sues you.  

[Chris@Adams]

21 hours ago, Samuel said:

I have a client that has a white SUV and this SUV,has not been wash or wax in two years.i wipe my hand on this SUV and the white paint.came off on my hand.and she don’t want to get a expensive paint job.can you guy help me bring this vehicle back!and what process or step should I take to try and bring this unforgoten vehicle 

What year is it? If it's newer it should have clear, if not it should be able to be brought back pretty easy.

I would do a test 2x2 spot to see what you are working with, start with the least aggressive pad & polish first.