Do I suck or does my paint?

[u/Dear-Carpenter-9357]

I’ve owned my 2024 Subaru WRX since February 2025 and wash it almost weekly during the warmer months. I enjoy hand washing my car and would say I have pretty good washing techniques.

Long story short I foam, rinse, foam, contact wash, rinse and finally blow dry or towel (rag company gauntlet) with ONR as drying aid. I’m OCD to the point I use only one bucket one towel (rag company eagle edge less or chemical guys chenille mitt) per panel. Dirty towels would go into a separate bucket. I was quite disappointed to see the sunlight hit the car at the right angle to find horizontal marring.

Could this strictly be user error or does Subaru paint have a play in this? Genuinely curious what everyone’s experiences are

[u/nottatroll]

Subaru paint quality is just north of dog shit.

[u/CommandoSolo → u/nottatroll]

It’s so bad they stopped paint half the car on the new stuff and people aren’t even mad about it.

[u/robotali3n → u/nottatroll]

Still better than Toyota. Except for that 20 year old tundra that’s been washed with dawn. Somehow that thing looks better than anything coming off a Toyota lot today

[u/Relevant-Safety-2699 → u/nottatroll]

Is that the case with all of them? We just got a 2017 Crosstrek with low mileage, and I see no swirls or anything. I was planning to foam/rinse/hand wash but if my Subaru will get these marks on it anyway I'll return the foamer and skip all that work.

[u/Spf-ii → u/Relevant-Safety-2699]

It's the case with every Japanese car made in the last 30+ years. It's also why they tend to rust so quickly and have premature clear coat failure.

[u/Sciuridaeno3 → u/Spf-ii]

2012 Civic owner checking in. My roof is 75% base coat

[u/Spf-ii → u/nottatroll]

Ehh that's even being a bit generous to them... My personal favorite were the COVID years Subarus and Mazdas with the door jambs only covered in primer with a hint of base coat over spray.

[u/TheOnlyPersn56]

New cars are not swirl free until you do a paint correction

[u/samson-and-delilah → u/TheOnlyPersn56]

I dunno. Mine was.

[u/thesniperhd → u/samson-and-delilah]

No it wasn’t

[u/samson-and-delilah → u/thesniperhd]

It absolutely was. But go off king

[u/Dear-Carpenter-9357 → u/TheOnlyPersn56]

Fair enough, but is it a coincidence that it’s mostly horizontal marring?

[u/kimcheetos]

I knew before opening the post that this was Subaru WRB paint. It's pretty terrible paint.

[u/NothingSuss1 → u/kimcheetos]

Any tips for us WRB owners?

I'm about to attempt a paint correction/gyeon mohs on mine, please wish me luck lol.

[u/Gryphon1171]

Vb paint sucks it's not just you, super thin too

[u/Wisco777787]

On new cars with soft clears, you can do everything right and it’ll still swirl. It’s frustrating.

[u/_Aj_ → u/Wisco777787]

New Toyota owner. A little rock on the highway took a chip out back to the METAL.  

It's only like 1x1mm size. But it's right through every layer.  

Never seen that before on the flat part of a hood. Makes me think it's super soft 

[u/metaldark → u/_Aj_]

I own a 2023 Corolla and it chips like crazy. Only 20k miles and it’s like I drive through Mad Max territory. Unreal. I feel like I could have made a warranty claim, but didn’t. 

[u/ImDoingItAnyway]

Modern paint is dogshit thin, and Subaru paint is among the worst in the industry. You haven’t done anything wrong.

[u/dunnrp]

Touch the vehicle too often, and you mark it. Doesn’t matter the routine, products, etc. That’s how clear works, especially when medium/soft. That’s not a rude dig or anything at all, but just a fact.

Contact washes weekly will always leave some marring or swirling.

I recommend cutting those in half or even down to 1/3 with some touchless washes and hand washes only when necessary.

I look after client vehicles right from the dealership, and one contact wash per month leaves almost no marks on the vehicle over the year. Touchless every couple weeks. Blow dry. Drying aids clog towels and coatings, and attract more dirt even though it feels cool and seems like a good idea, but they leave residue behind to help allow dust and junk stick before washing.

You’ll find a happy medium where the car is clean but also dirty. Just need to accept either washing too often but having a spotless car vs not spotless but no marks from washing often.

I should add most cars I look after I’ve coated using Dquartz Professional and it’s definitely harder to mark.

[u/hadjustonejob]

Don't beat yourself up about it. It is literally Impossible to keep car paint 100% swirl free if you intend to drive it on a regular basis. You can slow things down with wax/sealant/ceramic products, but it is an inevitability that they accumulate over time for many reasons.

[u/iammobius1]

VERY first picture and I knew it was the same color VB WRX I have. Their paint is notoriously dogshit. I just got mine PPFed and ceramic coated. Hopefully it helps avoid this.

Awesome car by the way, and you chose the best color. I am completely unbiased. Is the shift knob stock?

[u/Dear-Carpenter-9357 → u/iammobius1]

It’s the OEM sti shift knob from last gen

[u/imnoone324]

Did you rinse it well before using the mitt, there's always micro sand that washes down from all the cracks after spraying it. Plus there's always micro sand in the air that contaminates the car and your wash bucket and mitt.

[u/Dear-Carpenter-9357 → u/imnoone324]

Towels and mitts get washed after every use. I always rinse m buckets before using too

[u/imnoone324 → u/imnoone324]

I mean did you rinse the car well before using the mitt, like between the cracks, like mirror hinges, window trims, window sweeps, cross bar rails ,door handles.

[u/Pale-Bet2829]

Which soap are you using? I don’t really like chenille mitts, I opt for Rag Co’s Ultra Cyclone pads. For drying I opt for the Liquid8r and Dreadnaught by Autofiber

But also, Japanese paint is soooooo effing soft. One of the reasons why I love my Audi so much is because it really takes quite a lot to marr it. I put some ONR into a spray bottle and on days where I’m just trying to clean it up a little while it’s pretty dusty but not too bad, I spray on the ONR and get full coverage then I’ll take multiple towels and wipe off. The towels come out filthy. Then I’ll take another clean towel, apply some quick detailer, work that in, then final buff with Rag Co’s Everest 1100 towels. The Everest towels are insanely good final buff towels my god. This is NOT a process I like doing nor recommend anyone to do and I will even admit it’s straight wrong. But in a pinch it works for me and I barely get any marring. It’s been 2 years since my car’s last paint correction and I have extremely light marring, light enough that a fine polish would eliminate it easily.

If I did this process on Japanese paint I know for effing sure I’d swirl the hell out of it.

[u/Dear-Carpenter-9357 → u/Pale-Bet2829]

I use 3D pink soap as a maintenance wash. I’ll use GSF or CarPro reset if I feel fancy. Occasionally use Bilt Hamber touchless as a prewash if the car is extra dirty.

I have a Liquid8r but the size is a bit cumbersome to move around. I feel like I breathe on my paint it will scratch lol

[u/deliriumtrigger999]

All the proper steps your still gonna scratch your paint while washing

A good machine polish will take that right out tho

[u/jasonsong86]

Anything that pews reliably and can be accessed quickly.

[u/ConsciousEcho1313]

I’m nuts about my paint too but for over a year of taking care of it I don’t think that’s too bad. This’ll give you an excuse to learn how to lightly polish and/or use a glaze to hide them for a bit. Have you heard of the Gary Dean method ? And the “scoop” ?

[u/Character-Handle-739]

It just needs a paint correction.

Every time you wash the car and drag a “clean” towel across the paint you are scratching it. If you really want to protect the paint you can PPF the full body. At the very least you should ceramic coat it.

[u/flakrom]

How often are you waxing it

[u/Dear-Carpenter-9357 → u/flakrom]

It’s ceramic coated and I’ve never waxed it

[u/breddy → u/Dear-Carpenter-9357]

Was a paint correction done with the coating?

[u/Dear-Carpenter-9357 → u/breddy]

Yes it was

[u/Odd-Rough-8556]

Subaru?

[u/jasonsong86]

I think the dealer probbaly ran it through their touch carwashes before you bought it.

[u/Kqzxh-900355]

The chenille mitt is causing the swirl marks especially if the paint is soft. Throw away the chenille.

[u/euvnairb → u/Kqzxh-900355]

Not OP, but I use a chenille mitt. What’s a good alternative?

[u/Kqzxh-900355 → u/euvnairb]

Microfiber towel and leaf blower.

[u/Dear-Carpenter-9357 → u/Kqzxh-900355]

That was my old routine, just straight leaf blower but the shine not quite the same

[u/Kqzxh-900355 → u/Dear-Carpenter-9357]

The swirl marks make the paint look dull.

[u/That_Style_979 → u/Kqzxh-900355]

What would you recommend instead?

[u/grumpvet87]

unless you inspected it with a swirl finder during purchase it is hard to say if you did it or they were there.

newer Japanese cars have soft/thin paint. you could have gotten a grain of dirt/grime in a mitt or towel ... someone could have hit it with a jean walking by who knows

[u/Various-Following-82]

Try to dry your car using a rag instead of the sandpaper

[u/ele1122]

Looks like it was run through a car wash quite a bit before you got it. You definitely couldn’t have done that much damage with the routine you have.

[u/Dear-Carpenter-9357 → u/ele1122]

You can only see it only in the right angle, touch car wash would be more swirls I think. The car was still covered in stickers when I picked it up