Daily Driver

[jerry@robs]

Hi, I`ve been a long time reader of Autopia and it`s really informative and helpful...



But if there`s one thing that bothers me it is the fact that a lot of your cars are nice, expensive garage queens... and even daily drivers are not exposed to environments that I face daily here in Manila, Philippines... That`s why I`m wondering how I can apply your tips and tricks in our environment.



I`ve lived in the Northeast for 4 years, and compare US roads to the roads here, it`s like night and day. I remembered when I was still in New Hampshire, we can get by not washing the car for a week after waxing. It`ll still look great.



Just to give you guys an overview...



1) After washing our cars, leave it for less than 10 minutes, dust will be all over the place. Even when driving from point A to B (less than 5 miles) will make your car really dusty.

2) Diesel smog and fallout is around the area 24/7... As in thick fumes, dust, smog.

3) Acid rain comes almost daily, but in short spurts, then sun will come out again, causing spots galore.

4) Hard, hard water. Lack of water pressure off the tap as well.

5) HOT and HUMID weather... Average of 80-90 degrees F, 60-80% humidity.

6) Road tar, road paint, gravel is everywhere.



Even after a full three step paint prep/detail, the smoothness, gloss and shine will be dramatically reduced after a week or two.



Just take my car for example, I just removed all the tar 3 weeks ago, and last weekend, it had at least 50 or more tar spots around the car, all the way to the roof.



I wash my car 4-5x a week with mild soap, QD every wash, wax 2x a month, but it`s just so hard to do...



Are there any Autopians who lives in such environment in the US?



Can anybody give any tips?



Also, we only have Meguiar`s, Mothers (kinda hard to find), Eagle One and 3M in the "good brands" category... Turtle Wax, Polyglaze, Armor All, Simoniz, Blue Coral are available as well.



No Zaino, Klasse, Pinnacle, etc...



Thanks and more power!!! :)

[frankandjeri@bellsouth.net]

You guys have to help us! I live in the same area and I have the same problems...



To add what theveed just mentioned, it`s hot and humid all year round in this place... :(

[jerry@robs]

hehe... didn`t expect you to post here... :)



Autopians... What are your suggestions?



Common questions here are:



1) How do I clean the car safely in less than 10 mins? While on the road (like in the office, etc)



2) It rains everyday, how can I prevent waterspots from occuring?



Things like that... :wavey



BTW, CWB and CCD aren`t available here, the only MF towels available here are 3M Scotch Brite, some generic brand and Meguiars, which costs about $15 EACH locally.



Thanks

[ultrajim49]

Verry welcome to the forum





No, you are not the only ones with daily drivers ,

No,you are not the only ones with bad weather , industrial fallout , dust , pollen , bird crap , way too much salt in the winter , ...



That`s why Autopia is here , to learn to preserve your car , as you will understand , there `s a lot of work additional to "garage queens" , but it can be done:

http://www.viper-lifestyle.de/Pics/Photos/Vancv.jpg



This is allso a daily driver.



I realy do suggest that you try to get a polymer sealant to protect your car , like Klasse , Blackfire and Zaino (I use Z:xyxthumbs ).That will protect your car at max.



"I wash my car 4-5x a week with mild soap, QD every wash, wax 2x a month, but it`s just so hard to do... "



with that amount of wash , I suspect your wax gone after a week or so.



1) How do I clean the car safely in less than 10 mins? While on the road (like in the office, etc)



That`s an Utopia for a daily driver , only on dry sunny days you could remove LIGHT dust (with QD)at the office , but as it is like here in Belgium (more than 250 rainydays a year) forget QD .

As a member stated : prefer a dusty - dirty swirlfree car over a clean swirled one.



2) It rains everyday, how can I prevent waterspots from occuring?



when well protected (in my case Zaino)you will have little or no watersopts from rain , because water "refuses"to stay on the car , and other Zaino users will agree that if your car is clean and you drive through rain , it will come out of the rain like just washed...



4) Hard, hard water. Lack of water pressure off the tap as well.



therefore I bought a watersoftner , with salt to regenerate , the best system by far (a bit pricy : 1000USDollar) , but you`ll allso notice a big improvement in household equipment like washingmachine , coffeemachine , showerhead,and so on.



If I missed something let me know,



hope I could help



Greetings ,

Christiaan

[jerry@robs]

Originally posted by cvcaelen





I realy do suggest that you try to get a polymer sealant to protect your car , like Klasse , Blackfire and Zaino (I use Z:xyxthumbs ).That will protect your car at max.





We don`t have any of those here, I guess #20 (Meguiar`s) is the only option...








"I wash my car 4-5x a week with mild soap, QD every wash, wax 2x a month, but it`s just so hard to do... "



with that amount of wash , I suspect your wax gone after a week or so.





Yup, that`s why I have to rewax every two weeks. No choice, its either I do that or leave the car all muddy and splattered. It`s just not possible for us here in Manila NOT to wash the car more than 3x a week. It`ll just pile up... on average, if you don`t wash your car for more than 5 days, it`ll look like it has been through a rallye race... honest.



The softener is kinda out of the question... This is still a real 3rd world country in terms of the viability of clean water and the like...



Good point about the dust, I don`t bother QDing the car either, only after I wash...



I also do the following for quite some time now, it helps a lot but I was just wondering if you guys (who have had more experience) have another way to clean car off-site.



I bring along three spray bottles in the car, 2 with clean distilled water, one with a 1:10 mixture of car shampoo and water.



When the car gets dirty (like sudden, short rainfall) I clean it in the car park (covered). I mist the hood/trunk/roof for the most part, with the distilled water, then mist with the soap solution, then i wipe it off with a terry/MF then remist with clean h20 2x... then QD (if time permits)...



Works fine for me, takes out light dust, splatters, etc. Not enough to clean the whole car, but the horizontal areas are taken care of.



I just wash the car when I get home.



Thanks again for your reply... :)

[ultrajim49]

Hi,



Look at me , Belgium is in the middle of nowhere and yet I can order Z(other produkts too if I want).



If you look a bit around it should be possible to order.

Where are you from?

Maybe members in your area can give you better advice where t acces products.



Succes







:bounce

[jerry@robs]

Zaino is available only though Singapore and the prices are really high, a bottle of Z1 or Z5 with shipping costs and exchange rate more than what a professional detailer charges for a full three-step paint detail, interior detail and engine detail... That`s why I`ve yet to order from them... Maybe when my officemates have a trip to the USA, I`ll ask them to get some from Zaino...



In addition, postal system here sucks, I`ll probably receive my Zaino half drained and all hehe...



Any suggestions with Meguiar`s, Eagle One and 3M?



Thanks bro