which products do you guys use to get rid of clear coat scratches? i tried meguiars ultimate compound that i had laying around but that didn't get rid of them. maybe scratch x?
This is from a Meguiars discussion group (an old post but still applies to your question):
"Ultimate Compound is exactly that- a compound. Compounds have traditionally been products that were nick-named things such as "rocks in a bottle" because they were very coarse, rough, and gritty...good for removing heavy sanding marks or DEEP scratches, but not known for leaving good looking finishes. They themselves left behind a hazy, scratched surface.
Ultimate Compound however is a change for the better as it utilizes NEW, patented, and exclusive technology to Meguiar's known as S.M.A.T, or Super Micro Abrasive Technology. This new technology allows more aggressive defect removal
WITHOUT the nasty left-over haze or scratches. In the majority of cases users can go straight from Ultimate Compound to their wax of choice. Occasionally, on soft or unique paints you may need to follow up with something more gentle like ScratchX 2.0 or SwirlX.
ScratchX 2.0 also uses the new SMAT technology, but a very different formulation as it is intended to be a lighter defect removal tool, NOT a heavy compound. It is very unlikely that ScratchX 2.0 will ever need to be followed up with a different product due to it leaving anything undesirable behind. If it does, it almost certainly is due to an outside problem (technique, application medium, contamination, etc).
So, to sum them up, both are intended to remove defects on the surface of the paint, but UC is more aggressive than ScratchX 2.0.
As always, Meguiar's recommends using the least aggressive method possible that still gets the job done- so start with ScratchX 2.0 and then move to Ultimate Compound if it doesn't get the job done."