Black Cherry?

MacCool

Thank you. Having had black cars in the past, I knew when I got Black Cherry that it would take a lot more work to keep it looking good. They look beautiful if you get a lot of depth to the finish, but IMHO, swirling and micromarring on those very dark colors just really impairs it's appearance, more so than on lighter colors like white or silver and wax alone just is not going to do it. My wife has a Murano Platinum in Sapphire Black. Same deal, and the reason I upgraded my Porter Cable to a Flex polisher. Wax alone will just not give the depth of finish that a dark color needs to look good. Has to be polished IMHO.

The OP's car is apparently new. Most dealer pre-delivery "detailing" is a joke. There is tons of railroad or road contaminants or acid contaminants on the finish from sitting outside (needs claying) as well as only the most superficial of paint prep. They typically run it through their machine car wash, wipe it down with an old bath towel, throw on a coat of some kind of Walmart paste wax and call it good. When you go to pick it up, they have it in their "delivery area" with carefully arranged lighting. As soon as you get it out into the sunlight, the car doesn't look nearly so good. IMHO that is NOT the recipe for an optimal appearance, especially of a dark color. If the OP bought the car used, then maybe that explains the lack of depth in his photo. IMHO, one shouldn't judge appearance of a dark car until it's been paint-prepped according to optimal paint care standards.

I will say that finish upkeep of a dark color can be laborious, but most people know that and definitely should take it into account before buying that particular color. It takes me a good 6 hours to wash, clay, polish with Porter Cable, apply sealant, glaze, then Americana (hopefully less with the Flex polisher). Fortunately, once polished, you don't need to do it again for awhile if you take good care of the finish (two-bucket wash, blow dry...IOW prevent micromarring). If you can keep the clear coat swirl-free, it's usually just some glaze and Americana every few weeks and the Porter Cable only has to come out twice a year. I do find that machine polishing the nose and front is the best way to get rid of bug damage.