📆 What have you done to your Prelude today?

[El Chorizo45]

The one I use is pretty good. I get some swirling but not too much and the ceramic seems to be holding up. I have all of the cars polished each spring. But I really have no choice because washing a car in the street or driveway is illegal where I live.

Have you heard of the pressurized wax car washes? It's by hand, I use a service here in Austin and it's been amazing. I leave the truck outside and it stays clean longer than traditional car washes, even when I've had professional details done in my driveway.

It might be a cheap set up you can get and do yourself in the driveway and still not violate the rules. It's really big in Brazil.

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They don't use any water, there is no drain there.... here's a picture of my truck getting detailed. I feel like it stayed clean for 3 months even during pollen season here. It was pretty amazing.

 

[rexracer29]

The one I use is pretty good. I get some swirling but not too much and the ceramic seems to be holding up. I have all of the cars polished each spring. But I really have no choice because washing a car in the street or driveway is illegal where I live.

You kind of have to be really careful polishing so often. You can wear down the clear coat.

 

[Alex_Waverley66]

You kind of have to be really careful polishing so often. You can wear down the clear coat.

My guy is pretty good so I'm not too worried.

 

[Jusbs54922]

My guy is pretty good so I'm not too worried.

I've done my own polishing over the past 10 years using the Griots 'Boss' system (Best Of Show System) without any issues...that said, yes, if you use an aggressive cutting compound over and over through the years, you will compromise the clear coat.

I've found that if you take a heavily swirled/microscratched finish, and use Griots 'fast correcting cream', while it is a moderately aggressive polish, I've only had to do that once when restoring a finish.
Once I got those initial swirls out, (and finished the car with stages of less and less aggress polishes topped off with a ceramic coat), I never EVER had to go back to either of the 2 most aggressive polishes over time.
(below are before and after on my 07 LeMans Blue Corvette)

 

[rexracer29]

I've done my own polishing over the past 10 years using the Griots 'Boss' system (Best Of Show System) without any issues...that said, yes, if you use an aggressive cutting compound over and over through the years, you will compromise the clear coat.

I've found that if you take a heavily swirled/microscratched finish, and use Griots 'fast correcting cream', while it is a moderately aggressive polish, I've only had to do that once when restoring a finish.
Once I got those initial swirls out, (and finished the car with stages of less and less aggress polishes topped off with a ceramic coat), I never EVER had to go back to either of the 2 most aggressive polishes over time.
(below are before and after on my 07 LeMans Blue Corvette)

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I mentioned it as a public service announcement to give someone a heads-up not to criticize anyone. Sounds like you are doing it correctly with the correct products and techniques. Trust me you are not the norm. A friend owns 3 body shops. They have seen plenty of self-inflicted cases of paint and clear coat damage.

A paint thickness meter-gauge is really useful.