Actually, I had to wait for the right moment, while it was overcast, and I had to get the right angle to even get it in the pics to illustrate for you guys.

If you don't know what to look for, You'd never notice it. Everyone who sees the car is like, where'* that bad paint you were talking about? My one friend saw it last night, and he said the paint is flawed under the clearcoat, and I couldn't do anything about it unless I took the clearcoat off. He said he can feel it, and it'* as smooth as a perfect paintjob. I beg to differ, as I can feel those little scratches when I try to feel it..

I'd hate to take it to a collision shop, and get quoted more than the job is worth.

I think I'm going to try to buff it, or hand rub it out first. I also think I'd have better luck having my doors and trunk lid painted, than finding used ones in great shape. I got the car cheap because of the paint, and it'* not too noticable, but it bothers me.

Any more help would be very much appreciated , if anyone has any more ideas. If anyone lives even remotely close to me,and know more about this, and would like to look at it for me, I'm willing to drive to them for help.

Thanks again guys..

How time consuming would it be to do this by hand? Figure 2 doors, and a trunk lid. Using "3M™ Perfect-It™ III Extra Cut Rubbing Compound " as you suggested.

Thanks again for your advice.

You are probably looking at 8 to 10 hours by hand. With a ROB 3 to 4 hours.

The damage seems to be to the clear coat as I cannot see any primer or a very dull grey over a wide spread area. A distant shot may help, one from 3 to 4 feet away.

When working with abrasive materials always start with the least abrasive compound you have and work up to a more abrasive compound if the swirl marks remain.

Also I do not mind being corrected. It looks like the last owner used a brillo pad to wash the car.

On my old 95 Bonneville the clear coat was wearing thin on the spoiler when I sold it. The car was 9 years old and garage kept. However I did travel around the DC beltway every day for four of those years and that will take a wear and tear on your car. Freeway driving is really bad just think of it as your car is constantly being sand blasted with road debris.

I do plenty of highway driving myself, and usually the front grill and front of the hood shows it. After the bugs get washed off, we see more an more chips over time. It has helped to make it a habit not to follow too many trucks, too closely.

Tomorrow I will get some pics for you.

Thanks again.

Try a polisher, or scratch remover first.

Some show called "Trucks" was on today, and I saw a meguire'* polisher. It was a small head design, like the high speed buff, but it was orbital. I think I'll set my goal at something like that, and then select some decent com[pound as listed in this thread.

I'll tell ya, the more I look at those scratches, i am becoming more and more convinced something got on the car at one time, and someone actually did use an abrassive to clean the finish. I was hesitant to believe this before, but I guess the original owner was a real dumb-a$$

To me it looks like a good buff job with some 3M compund could go a long way with that and a good wax and polish.

Yeah, You guys have given me the input I needed so bad, and therefore...the confidence I needed to believe this can be fixed. Money is a bit short, so, this won't happen for the next month or so. I have a couple other things to work out first.

Sam

The polish would run you about 5 bux a bottle. If you do it by hand on a small area you can test the effectiveness before you plop down on a ROB. Although a decent Wax-Master 9 or 10" shouldn't be that bad.