Re: Diamond Black Crystal - Any Regrets?

[Diamondback]

Nice optional change out you did there!

I had a Malibu that was black and loved it .. but since I do not have 24 hrs in any given weekend to spend detailing, I stayed away from that color. I knew the truck would get dinged here, slapped there, etc. My Durango R/T I got in white and hardly ever wash the darn thing and people are like How Do You Keep It So Clean .. I am like, what? Walk up to it and slide my hand across it and see all the dirt -- then i Have to go wash it LOL

I saw the note about Meguirs Ceramic .. thank you. My vehicle is in status code "D" and should be starting to get "born" next week. I want to make sure I can 'seal the pain' once the timeframe is up on letting the 'paint settle' ..

 

[Jcalton]

Can someone help explain what "paint correction" is? Is this something that the dealer's body shop has to do, or is this also done by a detailer before they apply the ceramic coating?

Paint correction simply means fixing the paint for defects. The dealers body shop can attempt this, but in many peoples experience, including mine recently, they will not do a good job and most likely will do more harm than good.

A good detailer will always suggest or include paint correction in their ceramic coating packages but it's not exclusive to doing coatings.

Paint correction is the general term for removing scratches, swirls, haze, oxidation or any other blemishes in the paint.

Important to note that depending on the vehicle, how thick the clear coat is and how bad the scratches are a paint correction will not remove ALL defects, but a good correction can remove 90% of them.

Picture is an example and the first hit on a Google search for before and after oaint correction.

Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

 

[Jtr]

Short explanation of steps is 1. Clean and wash the vehicle, 2. Strip all contaminants on the surface (including any previous wax products) done by various techniques, 3. Polish by a rotary or DA polisher to remove swirls, micro marring or light scratches, 3. Apply your choice sealant or wax. That is the short and basic explanation and there are some very good videos on youtube if you want to see all the various techniques employed. I do my own correction and protection. I use a griot's garage dual action (DA) polisher. I've been using Meguiar's polishes and waxes and car pro's sealants. Each individual has different preferences on products.

 

[hammer722]

Yeah...picked my black diamond Rebel up on a cloudy day. Did notice a few bad scratches before I purchased it. They did buff those out but wow....did I miss a lot. Swirls marks were terrible....Took it to a high end detail shop by me and they quote 10+ hrs for full paint correction..... Didn't want to cough up the money for the correction and ceramic just yet so I bought the buffers and griots 3 step process and got after it. Took me 7 hrs but it looks MUCH better. I can actually see the sparkles in the paint now. Haha. Still not perfect but it will get me by for a few months.

 

[Jtr]

Yeah...picked my black diamond Rebel up on a cloudy day. Did notice a few bad scratches before I purchased it. They did buff those out but wow....did I miss a lot. Swirls marks were terrible....Took it to a high end detail shop by me and they quote 10+ hrs for full paint correction..... Didn't want to cough up the money for the correction and ceramic just yet so I bought the buffers and griots 3 step process and got after it. Took me 7 hrs but it looks MUCH better. I can actually see the sparkles in the paint now. Haha. Still not perfect but it will get me by for a few months.

I probably have the same Griot's polisher as you. There is definitely a sense of pride in doing it yourself, plus the cost savings is astronimical. Nothing like seeing that mirror finish after a 3-step. I still have yet to get the polisher on my truck. It came in pretty good condition when I bought it.

 

[hammer722]

I probably have the same Griot's polisher as you. There is definitely a sense of pride in doing it yourself, plus the cost savings is astronimical. Nothing like seeing that mirror finish after a 3-step. I still have yet to get the polisher on my truck. It came in pretty good condition when I bought it.

Agree but man was it a pain in the ***! Haha. The Griots 3 step got pretty good reviews so I went with that. Only complaint is the Complete Compound (Step 1) didn't cut very fast. Had to do some swirls 3 to 4 times to get it out... but on the flip side I'd rather it take a little longer than cutting to fast and burning the paint. Can't go back from that mistake. haha

 

[Jtr]

Agree but man was it a pain the the ***! Haha. The Griots 3 step got pretty good reviews so I went with that. Only complaint is the Complete Compound (Step 1) didn't cut very fast. Had to do some swirls 3 to 4 times to get it out... but on the flip side I'd rather it take a little longer than cutting to fast and burning the paint. Can't go back from that mistake. haha

So true. I have been using the Meguiars 105 and 205 for years. I have never tried Griot's line of polishers. And yes, it is a workout and a PIA!

 

[Neurobit]

Can someone help explain what "paint correction" is? Is this something that the dealer's body shop has to do, or is this also done by a detailer before they apply the ceramic coating?

Paint correction is basically polishing the paint to get rid of swirl marks, scratches. As the name implies, you are correcting the paint of imperfections. All vehicles will at some point have these to a degree. Darker, non-metallic colors are the least forgiving, as they show every little imperfection.

If you use automatic car washes or have the dealer wash your car, it is guaranteed that your truck will be marred enough eventually to get the paint corrected. The trick, and any good detailer knows this, is to use the least aggressive method to get the job done, as the clear coat has a finite thickness and being too aggressive can eat through it fast and ruin the paint.

I hand wash all my vehicles paying close attention to debris, etc, to ensure minimize scratching the paint when washing. A lot of the swirls are owner induced (love marks), by overzealous paint wiping with dirty towels, shammys, water blades, etc. Lubrication is key when washing and drying your vehicle.

Check out Youtube. Hundreds of videos on the subject.

Cheers,

 

[bigbob66]

I was supposed to take delivery of my new 2019 Ram Limited in Diamond Black Crystal today. When I first saw it on Friday it was late and the truck was nasty, They told me they were going to detail it and come get it today. When I showed up it looked like crap. Swirls, scratches, scuffs, etc everywhere. I did not take delivery and they are supposed to be sending it out to a shop for a full paint correction tomorrow and I will try again. I can still walk away at this point.

Does anyone regret going with the black? I want to give them the benefit of the doubt, but my biggest concern is they just band-aid fix it and after a couple washes all the scratches come back.

Thanks for any feedback....

No issues with Diamond Black Crystal, it looks someone took it for a joy ride thru the woods! I would back away from this deal, it would be only be a cosmetic fix! Find another Ram with the Diamond Black Crystal paint, I love mine!