Detailing removes some scratches. A cut and polish removes scratches and swirls sitting within the clearcoat, which covers most light marks. Anything that has gone through the clearcoat to the paint underneath cannot be polished out, and no detailer can honestly tell you otherwise. The clearcoat is roughly as thick as a fingernail and can only be cut back so many times, so we measure its thickness before deciding how far to take a car.