New to detailing, need help

[JoeDemers]

Hi guys, I never took care of my cars before because they were old cars, but I just bought a new car last week and I want to know what I need to do to take care of my car. I guess I don't need to polish my car since its a brand new car. Today I bought "Gold class car wash shampoo and conditioner" (Is it a good shampoo?) and "Gold class liquid wax". Both were on sale so I grab a bottle of each. Do I need something else? I want the best shine for my car so is it better to use liquid wax or paste? I don't have a DA btw.

Thanks for your help guys

[The Guz]

Re: New to detailing, need help

First off welcome to MOL. Second you came to right forum to ask on how to maintain your new car.

You would be amazed at what dealers can do to a new car. There are plenty of people who have to repair the defects that the dealer installs. There is a term DISO which stands for Dealer Installed Swirl Option. It is more noticeable on darker paints.

In saying that, I would recommend you evaluate the condition of the paint to determine how it looks before you decide you don't need to polish. Polish is what gives the car that gloss and shine. The first thing is to always wash and clay to remove any surface contaminants. The baggie test is a good way to determine if you need to clay. Search the term and you will find lots of information on how to do that. I would recommend you clay the car. With all of the contaminants from trasportaion of the car to the dealer and the car sitting on the dealer lot, it would be a good idea.

Light colored cars are a little easier because they hide swirls and scratches a little better than say a car that is black. What color is your car?

As far as the products you bought, they work great. There is no difference between the liquid and paste wax. My preference on a daily driver is a synthetic wax like ultimate wax or NXT 2.0 since they tend to last longer than a carnauba like gold class. I would also invest in some ultimate compound and ultimate polish. They are good to have.

If I missed something the other guys will chime in.

These are some good videos on how to wash and just general information to get you informed. Feel free to ask any questions if you are overwhelmed.

http://www.meguiarsonline.com/forums/showthread.php?41790-Meguiar-s-Quik-Tips-Video-Series-Washing

http://www.meguiarsonline.com/forums/showthread.php?42524-Meguiar-s-Quik-Tips-Video-Series-Claying

http://www.meguiarsonline.com/forums/showthread.php?36525-Meguiar-s-Video-Training-Series-Maintain-Your-Finish

http://www.meguiarsonline.com/forums/showthread.php?41373-Meguiar-s-Quik-Tips-Video-The-5-Step-Paint-Care-Cycle

http://www.meguiarsonline.com/forums/showthread.php?43209-Meguiar-s-Quik-Tips-Video-Series-Removing-Swirls

DA polisher versus the DA power system

http://www.meguiarsonline.com/forums/showthread.php?56799-Meguiar-s-Quik-Tips-Video-Series-The-DA-Power-System

http://www.meguiarsonline.com/forums/showthread.php?42806-Meguiar-s-Quik-Tips-Video-Series-Using-the-G110v2-Dual-Action-Polisher

[Murr1525]

Re: New to detailing, need help

For the paint, I'd just stay simple and look at something like:

1. Wash - Gold Class soap is good.
2. Clay - Smooth Surface Clay kit
3. ColorX
4. Wax - Gold Class Wax would be fine

[JoeDemers]

Re: New to detailing, need help

Thanks guys. My car was in an indoor garage at my dealership. The color is hot lava (google scion frs hot lava). I don't see any swirl marks and the car is shiny. I made a mistake trying to remove bird dropping. I use a wet scott towel then a dry one and made a nice mark in the finish. Nothing deep, looks like swirl marks. Should I use scratch x 2.0 or swirl x to correct this? Is it ok to use it on a new car?

Thanks

[goldenlight]

Re: New to detailing, need help

If your doing it by hand, I would go with Ultimate Polish. If that doesn't work I would step it up to Ultimate compound followed by Ultimate Polish. I find the polish works best when you use a foam pad.

Gold Class Car wash will be fine.

Gold Class WAX has a nice appearance. It dries like a traditional wax. Watch the Meguiars Videos it tells you when its time to remove the wax. The only con I see is durability, but your new so it gives you plenty of time to master applying wax and perfecting your polishing skills.
With the proper prep work the carbanuba will make it seem like it glowing.

I love this wax, its just that it burns off to fast in the summer time..

[The Guz]

Re: New to detailing, need help

For the paint, I'd just stay simple and look at something like:

1. Wash - Gold Class soap is good.
2. Clay - Smooth Surface Clay kit
3. ColorX
4. Wax - Gold Class Wax would be fine

Murr always gives some good advice. This will give you a nice finish. Colorx is a nice cleaner wax and makes a nice combo with NXT or any other wax for that matter. If you want a cleaner wax with a little more cleaning power and a little newer technology then I would go with white wax for step 3. This would be able to be done by hand and will give good results. If you use white wax, it is recommended to wait 12 hours or so before applying a coat of something else. I would go with a synthetic so it can last a little longer. That will be up to you.

Thanks guys. My car was in an indoor garage at my dealership. The color is hot lava (google scion frs hot lava). I don't see any swirl marks and the car is shiny. I made a mistake trying to remove bird dropping. I use a wet scott towel then a dry one and made a nice mark in the finish. Nothing deep, looks like swirl marks. Should I use scratch x 2.0 or swirl x to correct this? Is it ok to use it on a new car?

Thanks

I searched and that color is nice. Take it out on the sun and see if you have swirls. That will be the best light to see if you have any. This is where I would take out ultimate polish and see if that can remove those marks. If not then I would go with ultimate compound and follow up with ultimate polish. White wax may be able to get them out as well.

If your doing it by hand, I would go with Ultimate Polish. If that doesn't work I would step it up to Ultimate compound followed by Ultimate Polish. I find the polish works best when you use a foam pad.

Gold Class Car wash will be fine.

Gold Class WAX has a nice appearance. It dries like a traditional wax. Watch the Meguiars Videos it tells you when its time to remove the wax. The only con I see is durability, but your new so it gives you plenty of time to master applying wax and perfecting your polishing skills.
With the proper prep work the carbanuba will make it seem like it glowing.

I love this wax, its just that it burns off to fast in the summer time..

I agree with all of this. Although I would use foam pads with ultimate compound and ultimate polish.

[JoeDemers]

Re: New to detailing, need help

Thanks guys. So to remove the scratch I made I have to start with ultimate polish which I guess is less abrasive than UC? After removing the scratch I have to wax it to protect the paint right?

Question about compound. Is it safe for the clear coat? I mean, If I use a compound every 2 month or so, is there any chances that in 4-5 years I will have burn all the clear coat, because compound removes a thin layer of clear coat each time....

[Murr1525]

Re: New to detailing, need help

So to remove the scratch I made I have to start with ultimate polish which I guess is less abrasive than UC? After removing the scratch I have to wax it to protect the paint right?

The idea is that you dont want to jump to something stronger than needed, and risk damaging paint. Hence the idea of working in some Ult. Polish first and see, than go stronger if needed. But there's always caveats to things...

UC would be fine to try, but you would want to start off applying it gently, and then build up a little more passion, and little more, etc. Might want to look up a few videos. And using something like a smooth foam applicator, so no extra scratches caused from that.

Yes, those products would remove wax.

You could just UC the one spot, then do Ult. Polish or ColorX over the whole car, then wax... or whatever process you chose.

Question about compound. Is it safe for the clear coat? I mean, If I use a compound every 2 month or so, is there any chances that in 4-5 years I will have burn all the clear coat, because compound removes a thin layer of clear coat each time...

"Clear Coat Safe" simply means that the product wont leave visible marks in the paint, like sandpaper would for instance.

So, yes it is safe... but like anything else, or any other product, if used wrong it can damage the paint. You dont want to focus a lot on one small spot.. you want even pressure over a little bit of area.

If you have to compound every two months though, you are doing something really wrong, as far as causing damage to the paint. UC, esp by hand, would be once a year at most to clear up a few trouble spots... You would want the Ult. Polish to be your regular mild cleaner/polish product, or one of the cleaner/waxes, etc.

[JoeDemers]

Re: New to detailing, need help

Ok thanks, but for now I have to focus on the small spot I've scratched. The car is already waxed so is it ok to polish the spot I scratch then apply wax only on this spot or it will be noticable (more shiny) than the wholecar? As for UC, I will not do it every 2 months, I'm new so I don't know the frequency on washing, claying, polishing, washing etc. Can you help me with this?

thanks and sorry for all the questions

[Murr1525]

Re: New to detailing, need help

Well, even if the mark is the size of your finger tip, try to hold the pad and work under your palm at least.

Unless the UC/UP removed extra dirt/defects, it would look the same.

Saying you were to do some sort of a complete detail, (wash/clay/clean/polish/wax/wax... or whichever steps were needed), then you would likely wash every couple weeks after. When you just washed, you would want to use something like Ult. Quick Wax with the final drying wipe. Doing that should get a couple months at least out of your detail... then you'll see the water start to not rinse off as well when washing, or maybe a little rougher surface feel... and then just when you feel like doing a detail again.

Claying might only be done twice a year... the other steps then you felt like it needed it again.

[JoeDemers]

Re: New to detailing, need help

Thanks. So for now I will just focus on washing and waxing my car since its brand new and see after a couple months what I need to do. Is there any reason why nobody has recommended scratch x 2.0 or swirl x to remove my marks?

[jezz12]

Re: New to detailing, need help

Yup. That will do. As for Scratch X 2.0 and Swirls X I have no comment as I've never use them before. GC wax is one of the easiest wax to begin with anyway. Happy detailing with your new car

[Murr1525]

Re: New to detailing, need help

There is a lot of overlap... basically applying UC gently equals SwirlX.

But SwirlX can't get as strong as UC.

And ScratchX is kind of in the middle and costs more....

[JoeDemers]

Re: New to detailing, need help

There is a lot of overlap... basically applying UC gently equals SwirlX.

But SwirlX can't get as strong as UC.

And ScratchX is kind of in the middle and costs more....

Ok so instead of buying swirl x, scratch x and UC I should just buy UC and depending on how hard I rub it, it will equals to swirl x and scratch x without having to buy those 3 products.

So right now I have a soap and a wax. next thing I should buy is ultimate polish and UC and I'm good to go...

[The Guz]

Re: New to detailing, need help

This is should help you out on where the products fall into place. Ultimate polish would be at the far right next to M205.
http://www.meguiarsonline.com/forums...t-surprise-you!

So right now I have a soap and a wax. next thing I should buy is ultimate polish and UC and I'm good to go...

Yup.