Refresh Paint

Hello.... Anyways, we bought my truck used and it appears that it was never really washed/waxed with care. My question is that since it is black and it just looks rough out in the hot Georgia sun, is there anything that I can restore/refresh the paint with? Should I take it to a body or detail shop to get a "super clean" job done? I try to wash it every week and a half or so, but is just looks the same the next day and it makes me feel down when I cruise by a shiny black ram and mine can't get that shine/swirl mark free look. (I try not to add swirl marks - I use micro fiber cloths). I also have hand waxed it, but it still didn't look like I wanted it to. Is there any hope for my truck and me? Thanks for your help!

Brad


P.S. It's an 02 if that matters........

pay someone to professionally detail it.

check out what can be done to a black ram (that was MESSED up!) - check this site.

That black truck after the shine is just dead sexy...wow...

That came out awesome in that link!

if the paint is oxidized (most likely) then you're going to have to remove the oxidation. dont worry, the oxidation is relatively thin. now what you will need is a good quality paint cleaner. something designed to remove oxidation. you can find wome products from aut parts stores, but the majority of good products can be found online. something you might want to try is a light rubbing compound. with that product, you dont want to get too crazy with it because is is fairly abrasive. once you have the paint free of oxidation, and it may take a while to get it off all the paint, you are going to have to address the scratch/swirl marks. now trust me that you can remove shallow scratches but you cannot remove major scratches, you can only make them less noticeable. on a black vehicle, that's pretty hard to do. whatever you do, hit the paint with a clay bar then polish the hell out of the paint. a smart thing would be to polish with a "coarse" grit polish and work yourself down to a fine grit polish. this will get you that mirror look without the need for major fillers. griotsgarage.com has just such a system and i can vouch for their products.. quality stuff. after polishing, use a product called glaze (mothers/meguiars/klasse etc.) that will actually fill in the small scratches adding to the color depth and the glossy look. then finish off with a CARNUBA WAX. a note on the carnuba wax, depending on how you store your truck, this type of wax will typically last about 3-4 weeks if pampered and thats probably stretching it. after the wax layer is gone, your glaze will go and then you're back to having small scratches all over your ride. layering the wax is good because it gives you longer protection and a deeper glossier richer looking finish. you can also go the way of synthetic wax. they last longer, are easier (supposedly) to apply and remove but ive read that you don't get that rich color depth from them. as a side note, you can wax in synthetic for the durability and follow in carnuba for the color depth. anyway glazing and following with a few layers of a wax product will seal in the glaze and prevent the scratch/swirl marks from returning any time soon.

what i have described is a lot of work. it may be a good idea to wash your vehicle the night before you do any of this. that way, you can start at the beginning of the day and get the most hours time in on your paint before it gets too dark. course if you have flood lamps then you can work through the night!!
if you're down for the task, get yourself a quality RANDOM ORBITAL POLISHER. any idiot can use one of these things and not mess up their paint. i do auto detailing as a side job of mine. been thinking of extending my services to the guys here on dodgetalk but as of now, i dont have the time for something like that.
hope the info helped.
good luck!
oh, ive tried a few products so let me know if you have any questions about something. also, the guys over at autopia are awesome on information, you can check out their site too for more info.

http://autopia.org

links for car detailing supplies
http://www.detailcity.com/index.html
http://www.autopia-carcare.com/
http://sonus-usa.com/index.html
http://www.griotsgarage.com
http://www.autogeek.net

following link for orbital polisher
http://www.autogeek.net/poca746varap.html

Exact same truck as mine... I think i gotta do get it detailed haha

Ive gotta clean my keyboard after seeing that detail job. That CLEAN black, has got my buttons all sticky!

I favor Meguiar's products. They have a product for almost every condition.

This is possibly the best detailing forum out there http://www.meguiarsonline.com/ Lots of sensible suggestions. The forum admisnstrator is a "pro".

A random orbital buffer is a must for a black truck.

Tom

Thanks for the suggestions! I will see about getting a good buffer and trying some of the cleaners, waxes, protectors that you all have suggested. Thanks again and I hope I can get my baby looking good again so I can keep it looking good!

Brad