I have painted cars for a hobbie for the past 3 years. My cars always leave with a buff job. For some reason when i painted my X and buffed it it seemed after a month or 2 that hood and fenders would loose there shine and you could start really see swirl marks and tiny sracthes. My thinking is that I shouldnt have to keep buffing the X. I know that waxing is supposed to help but i guess I never know the difference beween waxing and buffing for maintinance purposes. Also should or shouldnt you use a buffer/polisher to apply the wax, or rub it in?

I only buff and wax my vehicles around 3 times a year. I do a full bumper to bumper buffing with a medium buffing compound to take out the minor tree limb pinstriping and a good wax to seal it back. Plus the wax can add a bit of protection for further light scratches.

I've heard that you do not want to wax your vehicle too often because it can actually speed up the aging/fading of your paint. Supposedly those cool beads of rain that you see on a nicely waxed car can actually act like a magnifying glass. That's all hearsay and possibly urban legend though.

After waxing/buffing my Xterra, I don't think I have the time and energy to do it more than 3 times a year. The last time took me almost 9 hours! But I also do it strictly by hand because I'm a poor cheap bastard who won't buy a buffer wheel:mocking:

What color is your X? i worked for a body shop a few months back and depending on the color after you buff it you need to wax about once every month to get rid of the swirl marks. For example if you use compound on a black car and then polish and then you need to wax it and keep waxing it every month or so.

I wax and hand buff the X a couple times a year. That's it.

I never use an electric buffer, but mainly because I don't own one.

My X is silver and I'm overdue for a buff job (interpret that however you wish :mocking:)

When I use the buffing compound, I normally only work on about a 2ftx2ft square at a time and I don't have issues with swirl marks. Thanks in part to my OCD. lol

Alot of the issue with swirl marks depends on the compound and polish you use and how long you spend with it and believe it or not the pattern you move the buffer in. I personally use stuff some body shops use. Its called auto glym, from the products i have used it seems to work the best. Then i always wax by hand. I have recently become a fan of meguiars tech wax. It seems to hold up the best on my silver X. Silver and and lighter colors you wont see the swirl marks in so Drake I guess you and me are lucky...

True. But with all the pinetree pinstriping on mine, swirl marks are the least of my concern. hahaha

I do all of my cleaning by hand though. I don't trust myself to use a power-buffer because I know if I do it by hand I won't burn up the clearcoat. My shoulders hate me for it but when I'm done, I know I'm done when I do it by hand. I tend to hit perfectionist mode when I go into that much detailing.

When i first got my X i took some 1500 grit sandpaper and wetsanded the scratches so i had to use a power buffer and it takes much less time.

I need to do mine where are way to many scratches all over it, its starting to look bad lol

I typically do it twice a year....usually before summer because of the heat will harm the paint and before winter to avoid corrosion/rust from the salt on the roads (if any but better safe than sorry!)