hey,i have owned my cobalt for 17 months now and the paint job looks like a car i have owned for 5 years,imo or worse.Now,aside from the el cheapo don't even look at it funny paint job",i would at least like to get control of these little white specs that seem inherent to getting all over the car.Tiny little white dots....everywhere.Throw in spiderwebbing as well,particularly the hood and trunk are worst..

I clay barred the car less than 6 months ago!!How are these little white specs adhering to car all over the place?I can scatch most of them off with my fingernail,but thy don't even like to brush off afterwards.

I have never experienced this problem before,and don't know what is causing it.I noticed the same issue prior to claybar the last time and even then these suckers don't like to come off!!Car looks great from 5 feet away,but any closer than that is just depressing.I appreciate anyone with some helpful input.

 

I honestly don't know man. I've had mine almost three years now, and I have no issue with white specks on my car. A good waxing will help with the spider webs in the paint. maybe it's just a tc thing...

 

My paint on my black balt looked pretty crappy after a year or two also,alot of swirls (never buffed it) and also get those white specs you are talking about. Also the paint on my door handles came off after about 1 year,the roof is starting to chip for no reason,the car looks its best in the rain or the dark lol.

 

the paint on my door handles came off to, never had white specks, i also put a tone of wax on my car

 

What do you wash your car with SOS pads. I have a black 08 Cobalt and have no problems with the paint. I always wash and wax it and it looks great

 

had gm replace my doorhandles b/c paint peeled and i have ther same white specs around my car

 

Ive had mine for five years and it still looks awesome although the front bumper needs to be repainted tho but besides that

 

Yeah man I always make sure to use some steel wool and sos pads every friday when i wash my car,also I try to make sure there plenty of sand and mud on it when i wash it so it scratches my paint all up.

 

ive never had problems with white specs. that probablly has something to do in your area. ive seen white specs before but what it ended up being from was local concrete work dust getting on the car and then the rain hitting the dust and it hardening.(not hard to get off). ive also seen that from white or light grey primer overspray after a cars been in a body shop.

honestly the best way to keep your car looking good is to clay bar it down(with clean clay each time), run a good polish on it and use a good sealent. if you wanna go a step further then after 24 hours of cure time on the sealent layer some wax as sealent tends to give a brighter look rather then a deep glossy look.

using quality chamois, drying towels, microfibers will also play a huge part in this. cheap microfibers you get from walmart are what they call loose loop and usually arent all that paint friendly but will work great for interiors and what not. quality microfibers such as cobra would be a good attribute to add to your garage for waxing. also i mean if you drop your was mit on the ground depending on your driveway or wherever you was your car chances are its garbage. you might wash it a few times but i guarentee theres still crap in it.

 

I also have webs in the paint ... damn winter

What I use is a good soap, and a drying blade is best to avoid the web effets

I also use Klasse polish and scealant which are the best on the market ... the web effet doesn't completely go away .. but the shine is fantastic

Never had the white sopts though .. i'll keep my eyes open

 

I think you just got screwed. I have a 05 on origional paint, and it looks great. Wax it ever so often, and it shines. Only problems is normal wear and tear ona 5 year old car, aka my faults.

 

mine's an '07. only prob i have with paint is someone keyed (or something, not sure what) the fender into the front bumper which my dad and i are fixing now. other than that, my black looks sexaaayyyy, especially after a nice wash/wax

 

The key with black is that you get out of it only as much as you put into it. Be judicious about washing it. Don't wash it with a dirty rag (microfiber or lambs wool wash mits are the best). A good cleaner wax should take care of most spider webbing. Are the white dots you're referring to rock chips? The primer on our cars is a light color so rock chips show up very starkly against the black.

Same for my '06.

My paint is still in great condition even after 4 years.

 

yea my paint is good too and I wax a few times every summer and before and after winter. I'd say take it somewhere and get it buffed and waxed. If you claybar it then remember to put cleaner wax on it before your regular wax because it will prevent the nasty debris and tar from adhering to your car.

 

In the summer the cobalt gets hand washed and detailed about once every 2 weeks. Mostly because of the damn brake dust.

But during the winter it gets 3 or 4 touchless car washes to get the salt and grime off.

 

yea i'm the same way, i'm a freak about keeping the car clean an pristine. I was directing the previous post towards those who were having problems with their paint. Black is definitely a pain in the a$$ but its worth it when the sun is shining and she has had a fresh wax an wash..

 

I appreciate all the input,really.I basically want to start fresh and wipe out any previous layers of wax,etc.One good point brought up also indeed i have never applied a cleaner wax.The car,when purchased,was teflon coated,by me,then a hardwax applied.Even then,i was slightly dismayed that the paint still looked"dirty"in some areas,not like brand new paint.

I am thinking something like this>

A moderatly brutal start with:

>dishwash soap(under shade protection environment at all time thru this)

>then claybar?

>distilled water wipedown

>cleaner wax

>?a product something like meguiars swirl-x(place where?)

>polish

>a hardwax(something like nu-finish)

>a soft wax

End goal:Paint job looks clean and solid from all angles and up close,as a car this age should..

I must admit,i have never been one to use this many steps,and i'm sure i have this order-thinking messed up nine ways to sunday too.Could someone fix this up for me in a nice orderly fashion and with knowing the cars present state.It sounds like i may be the exception to some rule in general the issues and maybe it was just a bad union day for someone,who knows.I only can claim what i see happening with my exact vehicle,and make no attempt at an across the board slander of gm paint jobs.

I really do feel ,regardless of this,maybe i did get screwed on the paint job.Based on scuffs and various marks thruout,there is just way too little of what should be a durable paint job here.I have plenty of previous cars for that comparison in my mind.Nonetheless,that is water under some bridge somehwere as i know it's not to the point i could make a warantee case of it.On to the best solution, i would prefer trying myself first before professional help.Thanks-

 

i have a 05 and the paint on the roof is faded bad, big white spot on the roof and the rest of the cars paint is holding its own . when wax its as black as the night sky . Im a poet now.

 

op you might try a mild acid wash to get try and get rid of the specs. another thing you should try and avoid with a black car is not to park under tree's. they are black's worst enemy. and ya regular washing and waxing will do wonders for a black car.

 

1)Wash
2)Clay Bar
3)Wash
4)Megs #9 Swirl Remover (or similar)
5)NXT 2.0

There are many changes that you can make in there such as changing to a different brands, adding in a polish after swirl remover, adding a wax on top of a sealant, wax instead of sealant...How much are you looking to spend? This would be a fairly cheap method...

Your not going to remove all the swirls by hand but NXT has some fillers in it as well so it will help hide the rest of them...

 

mines pretty shitty, never buying another black car

 

Thanks again for this input.I have re-read and examined the products mentioned as well.

@outtamymind,i will closely examine how the paint looks after prepping it.If that does'nt do it,i will go wtih your suggest.

@Quickshift,sounds a good plan right there.The finish of NXT 2.0 seems in line with that of zaino.

@jpower102,all i can say is wowza.If the pics i found are remotely close to klasse as a hand applied polish,i am actually excited to combine that layer and NXT and see how goes.I even looked at dodo juice,but that's too steep for me pricewise.Can it be bought anywhere locally?T-storms may kill my plans but i want to get on this asap.

 

I would say from the sound of it you need your paint corrected.
If you dont know how to buff then just find a detailing shop that can do the job for you.
If you know how to buff then:
Hand wash (Turbowax car shampoo)(use 2 buckets)
Clay bar
Hand wash
Compound (Meguiars 105)
Polish (Meguiars 205)
Mirror glaze (Meguiars 7)
Wax ( I like to do 2 coats of Zymbol or Turbowax)

These are just produts that I use and get great results with.

 

ya bandit the acid wash is something you put on, leave for a like 30seconds to 1 minute and then rinse right away and then wash again. so it would go rinse, wash, acid wash, wash and then wax and sealant and all that good stuff.

this is my car after 3 years and only 1 buff and polish and a fresh wax job.

 

hey i use a leaf blower to dry my balt it gets every drop of water from every water dam and crevis