Garaged

The XC90 isn’t getting much road time lately. Like the rest of the world, my wife and I are sheltering at home during the COVID-19 pandemic, hoping to do our part to slow the spread of the virus and also keep ourselves safe. We venture out periodically, mostly for groceries delivered to our car at Walmart, and, while we’re at it, curbside pickup of dinner at Chili’s. And once in a while my wife’s employer calls her back to the office for a day or so, but mostly they’re letting her work from home. And that’s about it.

Boy, are we saving on gas. (When stuck in a story that doesn’t have many silver linings, grasp at any that presents itself.)

We’re also saving on car maintenance, too, or at least postponing it, although I don't feel particularly good about this. Patti’s S80 was due for its 120,000-mile service earlier this month, and we’ve put it off until this health crisis settles down. I feel bad for our local Volvo dealer. Like so many other businesses, I bet they’re taking a beating. Mechanics have to eat, too.

I’m continuing to work as usual—I’ve been working from home for nearly three decades, now—but even I find myself with a little extra time on weekends now that we’re not going anywhere. So I used one recent Sunday afternoon to give the XC90 a little extra attention. Last year, I’d put a Penn State magnet on the rear hatch en route to a football game in State College—something I’d done for years with my previous SUV without incident. In this case, though, when I pulled the magnet back off the hatch at the end of the weekend, it had left a hard residue behind on the paint. I tried to wash it off without success, and in desperation scratched if off with my thumbnail, while the material was still wet. I figured the paint finish was harder than my fingernail, but alas it was not, and in the process I left some surface scratches on the hatch that were unsightly when the light hit them just the right way.

So, last weekend, I got my orbital polisher out, applied some Maguire’s Ultimate Compound to a foam pad, and went to work. Ultimate Compound is not a harsh abrasive; it doesn’t cut into a paint finish as aggressively as some products. But I didn’t want to use a harsh abrasive on my 15-month-old paint. So the job took a little time; maybe 10 to 15 minutes of work. When I was done, the surface scratches were gone. I then applied a fresh coat of wax to that area, and the hatch now looks good as new.

If this COVID-19 crisis goes on a while longer—and clearly, it will—I’ve got other projects to keep me busy in the garage. The XC90 and the S80 are both due for a waxing, as is the Mustang. Now, if I can just turn off Netflix for a while ….

Good as new. Scratches were just to the right of the license plate, but are now gone after a bit of polishing.