Advice please

[new boy]

My first posting.... I`m picking up a new car next week, nothing exciting I`m afraid, a Focus for the wife Hoping for some advice on how to start off with the paintwork; it`s non metallic red. Should I wax and seal? Or polish wax and seal? I was looking to use autoglym shampoo, wax and then extra gloss. I read that upto four coats of the extra gloss should be applied and each coat left for a few hours before buffing. Pointers gratefully received.

[Furd]

My advice as a fellow newbie (keep that in mind):



1) spend some time reading the pinned "Helpful Thread for Newbies";



2) the technique of washing your car is more important that you might think - there`s a couple of threads with advice on how to do that (see above)



3) you want to clay the car before you wax/seal



4) you are going to want to use some "pre-wax cleaner" (a mild polish) before you put on any wax/sealant. I don`t think that you want to polish more than that, unless you have some defects in the paint already.



5) I can`t help you that much with respect to the products (I use Zaino). I`ve never heard of Autoglym. 4 coats of anything seems a lot to me, but I don`t know the product. What you use is going to depend in part as to how often your going to maintain the finish. Waxing and sealant might be an overkill.



Hope that helped.

[Mike_Phillips]

We had a new member post a very similar thread on AG last night so I just copied and pasted my reply below as the same information applies to you and your car.







Congratulations on the new car, it`s always a thrill to have something brand new no one else has messed with.





Dealerships are famous for DISO which stands for the Dealer Installed Swirl Option, so maybe the first thing you should do is wash the car so that it`s spotlessly clean and then do to things,



1. With your clean hand, feel the horizontal surfaces to make sure the paint doesn`t need to be clayed. A brand new car shouldn`t need ANYTHING but if it sat on the lot, or on a transport truck or a rail car for any length of time it`s possible it could have some above surface bonded contaminants.



Feeling the paint will tell you because it will either feel smooth and glassy or you`ll feel little bumps.



This thread shows you one way to wash and dry a car and also how to feel the paint and use detailing clay.





2008 Lexus IS 250 - Pinnacle Detail - August 14th, 2009



Usually only the horizontal surfaces need to be clayed because that`s where air-borne contaminants will land and accumulate over time and if not removed within a day or two, at least some contaminants will bond to the surface.









2. Next try to get the car into bright sunlight and then stand in such a way as to get the sun right down on the hood or trunk lid and look for swirls. Cross your fingers it looks clear and swirl-free.



Try to get the car into bright sunlight, directly overhead and then position it and the stand in a way that you can place the sun directly onto a horizontal surface so you can inspect for swirls. This is a black Lincoln project that will be posted tomorrow. We started losing sunlight but you can see what I mean by positioning the car and yourself to see the sun on a horizontal surface. By the way, even though the sun was hiding in the clouds overhead the paint in the center does have a swirl-free finish.









Alas after we did our Test Spot on the trunk-lid the rain clouds moved in as you can see in this photo taken around 4:00pm Eastern Time.











If you car passes the above two test then you`re ready to start maintaining the finish by applying a quality wax or paint sealant.







Also, how are you going to wash the car?



If you really want to keep the paint nice then you can`t take it a car wash and instead must take ownership of the car wash process. This means getting some high quality tools like a Grit Guard for your wash bucket, a quality wash mitt, car wash soap, brushes, etc.





The above Lincoln has straight-line scratches throughout the entire finish running the direction of the length of the car. It was cloudy outside when I took these pictures, (see skyline in picture above), so it was kind of hard to do a great job of capturing the scratches but this will give you an idea of the damage a brush style automatic car wash will inflict.

[Accumulator]

new boy- Welcome to Autopia!



The only AutoGlym stuff I use is their Super Resin Polish. It`s so mild that it`s really just a paint cleaner. So you`ll probably want to look into some mildly abrasive polish to use on any of those dealer installed scratches.



I forget how one uses the Autoglym EGP, but IIRC it layers like some other sealants and if so, then yeah, more layers is better (I use 6 layers of Klasse Sealant Glaze). You might have to wait ~24 hours between coats, that`s the rule with some other sealants. See what the product literature says.

[Accumulator]

.. the technique of washing your car is more important that you might think...

Oh man is *that* the truth :xyxthumbs



I could write a whole book on it...washing without marring the paint is very, very difficult. Hence all the paint-polishing threads at forums like this one.

[canoedad]

I`m a newbie at all this too. I thought I read somewhere on this forum that you should wait to wax/polish/seal a new car. Is this true?



I just purchased a new car too. I`m hoping to turn over a new leaf and take much better care of my cars. Been doing alot of reading on this forum and trying to separate fact from fiction.



Sorry for hijacking but I can`t seem to post my own thread. Just comes up with a blank screen.

[Furd]

I`m a newbie at all this too. I thought I read somewhere on this forum that you should wait to wax/polish/seal a new car. Is this true?

Nope. With a new car, you can wax/polish/seal it the day you get it.



Clay it first though. (See above).

[Accumulator]

canoedad- Welcome to Autopia! As furd said, it`s OK to wax/etc. a new vehicle right away. Factory paint is different (from what bodyshops use) and it`s cured by the time you take delivery.