New car coming in , Silver Ice Metallic. what to do first.

[Fallz]

Well I ordered a Camaro Zl1 in Silver . I plan on claying as soon as I get it to get the rail dust off. Then I`m going to debadge the words "Camaro" off the sides since they are chrome and go with nothing else on then car.`


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Cant decide if I should Zaino this car or use OPT products ? (don`t want to use OC on it ) just my preference.`


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Can I polish when I get it or will the paint be to soft ? What about the claying part ?


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`A little bit about the car is Silver and black accents , 6.2L Supercharged , hard top . 580 HP .


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Thanks Guys`


Mike

[fdresq4]

Hi Mike,

Having used both Zaino and Optimum, and we had three silver vehicles, I kinda liked Opti Seal better.


Zaino was good but I noticed the gloss/shine somewhat muted after two rain events. It wasn`t bad but not what I liked.


The OptiSeal seemed to keep its gloss/shine longer.


As far as protection, I did multiple coats of Zaino, upwards of 6 coats and two of Opti Seal.


Are you open for a couple of other suggestions? LOL!

[Accumulator]

Fallguy- I`d ABC it instead of claying.


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The paint will be all cured/as hard as it`s gonna get when you take delivery (baked at high temp during manufacture).


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The "Camaro" script is merely glued on, right?` I`d ascertain that before debadging...

[Lonnie]

I`d inform the dealer NOT to have the car customer-delivery-prepped by the dealer when you pick it up. You may want to take off the protective exterior plastic wrap from` shipping yourself, as well as any interior plastic wrap. I think this needs to be written into your new-car purchase contract, because the GM dealer has to follow new-car delivery protocol established by its GM dealer franchise agreements. If you know the dealer` well enough you may have them do it: it`s up to you.


I know most dealers at least wash the vehicle before it`s shown and delivered to a customer for new-car pick-up.


Since you`ve ordered it and not bought it off the lot or showroom, you should at least take the opportunity to inspect the car at delivery prior to signing off on it at pick-up.


At least save the window sticker with the options and MSRP (Manufacturer`s Suggested Retail Price) for future documentation. It sounds like your car will be one of those desirable collector cars in the future. (Not sure of the silver color though!) If you can get the dealer to put the car up on a hoist at delivery, take digital photos of the under carriage for future reference. The factory markings (IE paint and wax pencil marks) of inspection personnel on parts and panels during assembly are invaluable for restoration documentation reference, not to mention photo documentation for your own insurance purposes. Don`t laugh at this: photo documentation of the entire car can save you a lot of headaches in the event of an auto accident that is not your fault.`It verifies what the car was like and in what condition it was in. You may want to do this on a yearly basis, or after you detail the car yourself (or`after having a professional detail the car). Just my 2-cents worth. Sound like you`ll be keeping the car a while, but like anything, at some point you may want to sell it. Good documentation and proper car-care , both appearance and mechanical, can really add to the resale value of a car.

[LilJayV10]

Lonnie couldn`t have said it better. If you let the dealership`s detail department there`s a very good chance you will end up with DISO, Dealer Installed Swirl Option. A vast majority of dealerships hire teenagers who 1. Don`t know how to properly wash a car 2. Don`t care. 3. Don`t care.


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I`ve seen them do some horrific things to brand new vehicles.`


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To remove rail dust or any other ferrous metal you will need something besides clay as Accumulator stated. Clay only removes the above surface bonded contaminants. Rail dust/brake dust/industrial fall out can be below surface contaminants. You will need something that will open up the pores of the clear coat and remove those things. I know Accumulator likes the ABC wash. Personally I use Iron-X but have always wanted to try the ABC wash.`


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I don`t know about Chevrolet, but I do know Ford Dealerships are suppose to do the ABC wash as part of the Pre Delivery Inspection(PDI). I will leave it at that.`

[Lonnie]

LilJayV10:


Most dealerships have a time-constraint on detailers, so speed takes a priority over quality, and as a result, dealership detailers are required to meet the demands of the detail/car prep department manager. That`s unfortunate, BUT, they are in business to make money. What IS unfortunate is that many companies and businesses do not get or understand that to do that you need repeat/returning`happy customers who PAY for your product or service. A one-time customer who pays for his or her service or product but never comes back will never grow a business, but will tell everyone they know about their bad or so-so experience.


A paying customer`s good or bad word-of-mouth advertising`will determine a company`s/business`s success or failure.


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I know there are professional detailers who are regular contributors to this forum who`s good part of their business is taking care of customers from dealer`s bad experiences. What`s REALLY unfortunate is that many dealers end up paying for this "outsourced" service and it is an overhead expense to their profit margin. So the time (and hence money) they think they save actually cost them in the long run. It`s the penny-wise-and-pound-foolish principle. But I am sure that the professional detailers don`t mind: they benefit financially. It`s the customer who looses out because of their time involved to rectify a dealer-induced problem. I think that`s what this question and subsequent posts are informing any new-car buyer about and how to avoid that.


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That brings up a parallel thought about having a trusted, Autopian approved, professional detailer prep a new car after delivery. I don`t think you could "negotiate" this into the purchase price of a car from a dealer. If you could convince the dealer that he does not have to prep a new car and that you are actually saving them time and money by NOT doing this, could you ask for that savings up front during the negotiations. I KNOW every dealer has a $100-to-$250 "dealer charge" added to the MSRP. This is part of that attempt to cover the overhead for time it takes for dealer prep and filling out required state car title/license/vehicle and sales taxes paperwork. Anyone who buys a new (or used) car and `pays this additional charge is just giving their own hard-earned money away to, what I consider, a greedy dealer. But all dealerships do it this way. I just think is an attempt to gouge the customer. You sometime wonder, though, if that is the car salesperson`s "commission" for their part in the car sale and if they "negotiate" that` away, they loose out on their work income. That may be part of the reason it`s so difficult to "haggle" on cars at dealerships these`days about "dealer-added costs". I don`t think that some people realize it`s being added to purchase price within the state-required dealer contract paperwork!

[Accumulator]

How to create an uncomfortable moment at a Ford dealership- ask if they follow all the directives/TSBs/etc. regarding ABCing new vehicles :P


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Regarding the charge for the unwanted prep, I`ve used it as a means of greasing the wheels with regard to the car not getting touched/damaged, like- "I`ll pay your prep fee even though it`s not being done, but remember that`if the vehicle *does* get washed, or otherwise turns out cosmetically unacceptable to me..."