New vehicle, help me protect it!

R

redthorne

New member
Greetings! I have been surfing these forums for a few months as a 'guest', and now I am finally ready to pose my question to the group.



I just picked up a Subaru WRX Sportwagon, brand spankin new. Steel grey metallic color. Now I know Subaru paint is supposed to be thin, yada yada, but that isn't my concern. I would like to use some products to help protect the longevity of the paint against UV, Bird poo, and acid rain. "Deep shine" is actually not my utmost concern.



On my other vehicle, a 1995 GrandAM, I have been using Liquid Glass to much sucess over the past few years. Because I wanted to immediately protect my new ride, I washed her up nice, and put a coat of LG on, just to get me by for a few weeks. (Pollen season and bird poo season is here). Some people say LG contains cleaners, some say it doesn't. <shrug>



I know there are many people on this forum that don't really like the LG product. I'm game to try a different combo, and I am pretty interested in the Klasse products. Based on a forum search, it seems to be commonly accepted that the Klasse glaze will not bond to Liquid Glass.



What I am concerned with in terms of the All-in-one is the fact that it is a mild polish? I do NOT want to use any abrasive products on my new paint. Remember, the 'shine' is the least of my concerns. I will also not be claying the car.



What combo of products would you recommend that will leave a nice hard acrylic layer on the vehicle, that will help protect the paint against New England nasties? If you suggest the Klasse all-in-one followed by the glaze, could you tell me whether or not the aio is abrasive? Perhaps a non-abrasive product that the glaze will adhere to?
 
redthorne said:
Greetings! I have been surfing these forums for a few months as a 'guest', and now I am finally ready to pose my question to the group.



I just picked up a Subaru WRX Sportwagon, brand spankin new. Steel grey metallic color. Now I know Subaru paint is supposed to be thin, yada yada, but that isn't my concern. I would like to use some products to help protect the longevity of the paint against UV, Bird poo, and acid rain. "Deep shine" is actually not my utmost concern.



On my other vehicle, a 1995 GrandAM, I have been using Liquid Glass to much sucess over the past few years. Because I wanted to immediately protect my new ride, I washed her up nice, and put a coat of LG on, just to get me by for a few weeks. (Pollen season and bird poo season is here). Some people say LG contains cleaners, some say it doesn't. <shrug>



I know there are many people on this forum that don't really like the LG product. I'm game to try a different combo, and I am pretty interested in the Klasse products. Based on a forum search, it seems to be commonly accepted that the Klasse glaze will not bond to Liquid Glass.



What I am concerned with in terms of the All-in-one is the fact that it is a mild polish? I do NOT want to use any abrasive products on my new paint. Remember, the 'shine' is the least of my concerns. I will also not be claying the car.



What combo of products would you recommend that will leave a nice hard acrylic layer on the vehicle, that will help protect the paint against New England nasties? If you suggest the Klasse all-in-one followed by the glaze, could you tell me whether or not the aio is abrasive? Perhaps a non-abrasive product that the glaze will adhere to?
Click to expand...

Klasse AIO is a completely non abrasive polish...polish on brother
 
Based on your statments, Klasse AIO and SG seem to fit the bill for you perfectly. AIO contains no mechanical abrasives, its cleaning power is purely chemical. It will eat away at nasty things imbedded in paint such sap, tar, etc in small amounts. Large tar spots and sap are better delt with by clay or some other means, but that is a different topic. AIO merely chemically cleans your car's surface.



SG is what it says it is, a sealant. Many members use it and love it. The key how ever is make it THIN. basically, if you can tell you are putting it on, you're putting it on too thick. For the level of protection it sounds like you desire it would probably be beneficial to layer the SG. For example, put one layer on, wait the recommended time period (says somewhere on the packaging I believe) do another layer and so on. Do not, however use AIO between each coat as it will remove any SG you just put on. Anywho, hope this helped, hopefully some of the more experienced SG users will chime in.
 
I used Liquid Glass on a 3 month old red Miata and ended up with a lot of red residue on the cloth. A friend tried the same bottle on his black Miata - same result. He returned the Liquid Glass to me and I threw it in the trash. And Liquig Glass is SUPPOSED to be non abrasive?????? :down
 
I use LG on an '04 DeVille and 2000 Tahoe. Both blue. I've never come up with any blue residue.



I had an old ('65) Cadillac that was also blue. I would occassionally get a small amount of blue residue from it but it did not have a clear coat.
 
Blaster05 said:
I used Liquid Glass on a 3 month old red Miata and ended up with a lot of red residue on the cloth. A friend tried the same bottle on his black Miata - same result. He returned the Liquid Glass to me and I threw it in the trash. And Liquig Glass is SUPPOSED to be non abrasive?????? :down
Click to expand...



I believe Miata's still have single stage paint. I know a friend of mine has an 02 that still is SS, so what you may be seeing is some slight oxidation or SS paint coming off as you are applying the product.
 
I just got a new car a month and a half ago. Based on what I've read here, I plan to do Klasse AIO, but use FMJ to seal. The FMJ is more expensive than the Klasse Sealant Glaze, but it sounds like it is a lot easier to work with. Now that I have two kids, I don't have all day to wax my car, even if it is only twice a year. The FMJ was rated by one website as the best sealant for harsh winters.



Like you, I'm not as worried about shine. But I understand this combination will give me more than enough shine, anyway. I did a test panel of Klasse AIO a couple of weeks ago, and I was impressed. I can't wait to see what the car looks like once I've applied AIO to the whole thing, followed by the FMJ.
 
redthorne- Welcome to Autopia!



I had a WRX and another Subie before that.



I used the Klasse twins on the WRX and they worked great. I even used them on the black plastic trim, which was a lot less messy (and a lot longer lasting) than using dressings on those surfaces.



The AIO is *very mildly* abrasive, as is (IIRC) the LG, but they're not abrasive enough to matter; you gotta have perspective on this stuff. Pulling a little paint from single stage doesn't mean much, and you shouldn't extrapolate too much with regard to basecoat/clear. IIRC the AIO's abrasives are described as being in the "one micron" range, which is so mild as to be basically functionally nonabrasive on the Subaru clear. FWIW I used some pretty decent abrasives on mine with no problems, so there's no need to be *really* worried about abrading it, just don't do it until you have some scratches/etc. that you want to remove. You could probably polish with AIO every month without taking off an appreciable amount of clear and that's no exaggeration.



Oh, almost forgot- there are areas on WRXs that are not well-painted, not even clearcoated. Like under the hood. Don't worry if you get some paint transfer- go ahead and polish these areas so they're smoother and protect them with the Klasse SG. This way they won't harbor dirt and hence moisture the way they will if you leave them rough.
 
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