How "Soft" is the Audi Black Paint?

[hey32g]

Hey guys. Trying to decide on color. I absolutely love black cars, but they're such a pain in the rear. How swirl susceptible is the black paint on the current A4's? I had a black '04 A4 and from what I remember it wasn't too bad. I also had an '07 BMW 335i and the BMW paint was like butter. I swear I'd get swirls marks from driving over 70mph! I hated it, it got to the point I didn't even wash the thing. I know black is the worst, but I've found some are worse than others. Is my memory correct that Audi's isn't too bad?

Thanks.

[inNout]

My car is brilliant black and it is the softest paint i've seen ever. It's an absolute PITA to maintain. I gave up detailing my car and will end up just repainting the entire car in a couple years with better paint. Oh and did I mention orange peel? Ugh...

[hey32g]

My car is brilliant black and it is the softest paint i've seen ever. It's an absolute PITA to maintain. I gave up detailing my car and will end up just repainting the entire car in a couple years with better paint. Oh and did I mention orange peel? Ugh...

Yikes! Not the reply I was hoping for. How 'bout that silver!! :)

[NPuter]

yea, I'm definitely regretting brilliant black. I would definitely go for a grey if I did it again...

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[D2G]

Quartz Gray has been treating me well so far!

[eyrah]

You get what you put into it, you've said you've had black cars before, you should know how to take care of it properly/protect the paint! I'd say the color is worth every hour spent buffing ;)

[AWDLover]

I have quartz gray and it does pretty well. I must say the paint quality of audi's is worse than I thought it would be as I have more than a few chips in the front and on the hood. My wrx held up better, but I guess it comes with driving on colorado roads.

[ryank382]

i only have 9000 miles and theres already a bunch of rock chips all over my hood. Even tho i think black is the nicest color for our cars i would definitely have picked a different color if i knew it would be this hard to maintain. softest paint ever. swirls and chips everywhere its driving my crazy

[UmIsThisThingOn]

All of Audi's colors are the same since they switched to water based paint. I've learned my lesson and will get my next Audi fully wrapped in the front.

[NPuter]

i only have 9000 miles and theres already a bunch of rock chips all over my hood. Even tho i think black is the nicest color for our cars i would definitely have picked a different color if i knew it would be this hard to maintain. softest paint ever. swirls and chips everywhere its driving my crazy

My paint hasn't chipped at all. 16k and I do not have a single paint chip anywhere on the car. Swirl marks are a different story, but they aren't that bad.
I am planning to do a full correction this summer (with a DA). If you don't mind putting in a little extra work, black looks stunning when properly taken care of.
That being said, I would choose a different color if I did it again (like I stated earlier).

[name.goes.here]

Consider monsoon grey if you're having second thoughts about black.

[ryank382]

My paint hasn't chipped at all. 16k and I do not have a single paint chip anywhere on the car. Swirl marks are a different story, but they aren't that bad.
I am planning to do a full correction this summer (with a DA). If you don't mind putting in a little extra work, black looks stunning when properly taken care of.
That being said, I would choose a different color if I did it again (like I stated earlier).

Thats very fortunate for you man everytime i wash my car i see new chips. its prob from the highway driving with all the little pebbles flyin around

[Liquid Smoke]

yea i have a Phantom Black and got some swirl marks from this one car wash i went to, doing only hand washes from now on. i would think all the audi paint would be the same quality, just much more noticeable on the black. but isnt it he clear coat that gets scratched up anyway, all colors would have the same clearcoat, just stands out on the black.

i would probably get the monsoon gray as i liked that color anyway, but i still love the black and cant wait to detail it once summer comes around. a clean black car looks so nice, love that black mirror look.

[NPuter]

Consider monsoon grey if you're having second thoughts about black.

Monsoon is what I would rather have...
Sepang is still my favorite color though...

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[name.goes.here]

Thats very fortunate for you man everytime i wash my car i see new chips. its prob from the highway driving with all the little pebbles flyin around

Yeah - highway driving is the worst when it comes to getting chips.

[name.goes.here]

Monsoon is what I would rather have...
Sepang is still my favorite color though...

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Hopefully it will be a forgiving color as the car ages....

[oldred]

Black is a great color for a car ....for about 1 hour after it is washed. Gray is better...I owned a black car once

[maga4]

Thats very fortunate for you man everytime i wash my car i see new chips. its prob from the highway driving with all the little pebbles flyin around

+1...love the black when it is clean, but will def get a clear bra right away if i ever get another black german car.

[Daze513]

My Quartz Grey is very forgiving in terms of looking dirty. The paint polishes easily with semi aggressive pad/polish combos on both rotary and Dual Action polishers such as the Porter Cable 7424XP. The black is definitely softer. I polished a 2010 Brilliant Black and the paint polished out swirls and RIDs pretty easily with a Lake Country white pad/ Meguiars 205 combo.

Some deeper scratches remained which were past the customers detailing budget. Washing has to religiously be done with a 2 bucket method, and dried using very light pressure. If you hear squeaking from the towel, it's in danger of scratching the clear. That's just how I do it.

[NPuter]

My Quartz Grey is very forgiving in terms of looking dirty. The paint polishes easily with semi aggressive pad/polish combos on both rotary and Dual Action polishers such as the Porter Cable 7424XP. The black is definitely softer. I polished a 2010 Brilliant Black and the paint polished out swirls and RIDs pretty easily with a Lake Country white pad/ Meguiars 205 combo.

Some deeper scratches remained which were past the customers detailing budget. Washing has to religiously be done with a 2 bucket method, and dried using very light pressure. If you hear squeaking from the towel, it's in danger of scratching the clear. That's just how I do it.

Would would the clear be different on the two cars?

[Greg Nelson]

yea i have a Phantom Black and got some swirl marks from this one car wash i went to, doing only hand washes from now on.
i would probably get the monsoon gray as i liked that color anyway, but i still love the black and cant wait to detail it once summer comes around. a clean black car looks so nice, love that black mirror look.

Take my BB to a local car wash for 'hand wash' however I supply the 'ultra' microfiber towels, the 'ultra' wool wash mitt and the Sonax Gloss Shampoo (all from Detailed Image).
Proper product usage will minimize, but never eliminate, swirling IMO during wash cycles

Monsoon is what I would rather have...

Me too, if it had been available in 2009

[poker838]

I have 30,000kms on my White, 30 months old and there's friggin specks of black poking through the bumper -- chunks of paint ripped off on by rocks and such. The paint on my BMW held up better with twice as much kms/years.

[Daze513]

Would would the clear be different on the two cars?

I don't know what exactly at the paint level is different but they definitely are. Mine is an 09, his was a 10. Maybe they made paint formula changes. It's hard to tell. Paint is just one of those things that you can never get identical results. Also why I get to charge so much. Lol.

[Daze513]

Take my BB to a local car wash for 'hand wash' however I supply the 'ultra' microfiber towels, the 'ultra' wool wash mitt and the Sonax Gloss Shampoo (all from Detailed Image).
Proper product usage will minimize, but never eliminate, swirling IMO during wash cycles

Me too, if it had been available in 2009

You are correct. You can never eliminate the possibility, but you can decrease it very much by starting with those steps you mentioned. Also of note, Detailed Image is one of the best I have ever dealt with when supplying my business. They are awesome. The customer service they provide is unparalleled. Not trying to advertise for them, but my experience over the years with them has been nothing short of stellar.

[maga4]

I have 30,000kms on my White, 30 months old and there's friggin specks of black poking through the bumper -- chunks of paint ripped off on by rocks and such. The paint on my BMW held up better with twice as much kms/years.

I think it is strange/stupid that black comes with whitr primer andwhite comes with black primer ha.

[brainpan]

BB here mine looks awful, the winters really kill the car, no clear bra which I regret, but I even have chips on my pillars and mirrors. Every year around this time I do a dr. colour chip then a 3 stage wax and buff, it really helps to bring it back to life

[Crucible35]

Actually, from the research that I did Audi finishes are very hard...or at least harder than say the Japanese manufacturers. If you spend some time over in the detailing forum they make it pretty clear (no pun intended). The hard paint/clear is less forgiving and more prone to chipping than softer finishes. They also lead to "swirls" or marring that are more difficult to polish out. I have meteor grey on my A4 and it's covered in swirls that will take me three steps to correct with my PC....after which it will need to be sealed (Menz Power Lock) followed by two coats of carnauba to protect from the inevitable. As pointed out above, the marring that you see on black is the same with any other color....you just see it more.

[Daze513]

Actually, from the research that I did Audi finishes are very hard...or at least harder than say the Japanese manufacturers. If you spend some time over in the detailing forum they make it pretty clear (no pun intended). The hard paint/clear is less forgiving and more prone to chipping than softer finishes. They also lead to "swirls" or marring that are more difficult to polish out. I have meteor grey on my A4 and it's covered in swirls that will take me three steps to correct with my PC....after which it will need to be sealed (Menz Power Lock) followed by two coats of carnauba to protect from the inevitable. As pointed out above, the marring that you see on black is the same with any other color....you just see it more.

Harder than the Japanese is almost any other paint from any other manufacturer. So it's not a very good comparison by which to say Audi is very hard. Hard paint is Corvette paint, Mercedes Benz Paint, Lamborghini paint, to name a few. Obviously there are a few exceptions and variance depending on color, but generally these are much harder than the Audi/VW paint. I'm not implying our paint is soft but rather on a scale of 10, Audi paint that I have dealt with is maybe a 5-7 hardness. YMMV

Japanese paints are easier to polish because the clear is softer, but also much more prone to holograms and micro marring if the polisher operator isn't experienced or doesn't use enough steps to finish down the paint properly. Because the paint is softer, it's also less prone to chips like you mention. It has... Flexibility... for lack of a better word.

Also, Menzerna Power Lock is my absolute go to sealant. I love it. I apply it via a Blue LC pad on my PC and it's so great to use. I can imagine it looks great on Meteor.

[easyMFe]

I've got the Brilliant Black finish, and yes, swirl marks are a'plenty. Just trying to block it out of my head. It does seem as though the paint doesn't have the same hardness as my old '03 Merc C230. Anyone had any good experiences with Zaino on the black finish of our cars?

[dyeingst]

just finished washing my car and wanted to see if anyone else had the swirl problem with black. only noticeable when in direct sunlight, which make me feel like my car isn't clean after spending hours washing it..

[Limey]

Yup I have the same problem with my BB Audi but it is getting a clay bar this week though so hoping that helps a little

[Greg Nelson]

I've got the Brilliant Black finish, and yes, swirl marks are a'plenty. Anyone had any good experiences with Zaino on the black finish of our cars?

Zaino: see my post in "paint correction' thread earlier. Experience was excellent.
Cheers

[jfo]

Yup I have the same problem with my BB Audi but it is getting a clay bar this week though so hoping that helps a little

The clay treatment will be a good first step to clean the finish but it will do nothing for swirl or scratch marks I'm afraid. You will need to take the next steps in correcting the finish if you wish to get back to the finish you fondly remember!

My Ice Silver is more forgiving of course, but after 18 mths it is swirl and scratch free, even under close examination with auxiliary lamps. I'm convinced this is due to using the techniques I picked up from some of the detailing sites....good auto shampoo with lots of sud's, microfiber wash mitt's, two bucket system with a grit guard in the rinse bucket. I only have 1 small chip on my hood, just past the clear bra. The rest of the finish looks like new.
I have a PC orbital I use on my kid's cars, but I only use it to apply wax/sealant on mine.

[nigelengr]

Consider monsoon grey if you're having second thoughts about black.

+1. No complaints on Monsoon...barely noticible swirling, though I do have two chips recently from my commute (on highway portion). Dr. Colorchip helped with that.

[MSteele]

I love it when my car is freshly waxed and looking good but every time I wash it I get so pissed because I find new chips and other markings. Mine is Ibis white and the fact there is black primer drives me nuts, you can see all of the chips. Regret big time not getting the clear bra.

[dyeingst]

The clay treatment will be a good first step to clean the finish but it will do nothing for swirl or scratch marks I'm afraid. You will need to take the next steps in correcting the finish if you wish to get back to the finish you fondly remember!

My Ice Silver is more forgiving of course, but after 18 mths it is swirl and scratch free, even under close examination with auxiliary lamps. I'm convinced this is due to using the techniques I picked up from some of the detailing sites....good auto shampoo with lots of sud's, microfiber wash mitt's, two bucket system with a grit guard in the rinse bucket. I only have 1 small chip on my hood, just past the clear bra. The rest of the finish looks like new.
I have a PC orbital I use on my kid's cars, but I only use it to apply wax/sealant on mine.

I use the same system but recently I've noticed the swirls. Definitely works if you have all the right products!