How Soon Can I wax a new car?

[bigA]

Just bought a new Ram 1500 sport Black, how soon can I wax it? It says it was assembled on 4/14 so it will be 60 days old next weekend. I picked up some Meguires NXT 2.0 yesterday, but not sure if I should wait or not.

[Michael Stoops]

Re: How Soon Can I wax a new car?

Factory paint is baked on at high temp for a fairly long period of time - more importantly, the paint is formulated such that this baking process is sufficient to fully cure it. Therefore, you can safely wax your new truck tonight if you wish! Heck, you can even clay it, compound and polish it if need be. In other words - Go For It!!

[Murr1525]

Three.. Maybe four o'clock...

[bigA]

Re: How Soon Can I wax a new car?

Factory paint is baked on at high temp for a fairly long period of time - more importantly, the paint is formulated such that this baking process is sufficient to fully cure it. Therefore, you can safely wax your new truck tonight if you wish! Heck, you can even clay it, compound and polish it if need be. In other words - Go For It!!

I'm guessing the metal parts but what about the plastic front bumper, door handles and mirrors? I don't' thing they put those in an oven.

[Sleper]

Re: How Soon Can I wax a new car?

They have all has sufficent time to cure. Newer paints cure quicker. The old rule of thumb was 3 months but thats is just a old rule. Go for it.

[Michael Stoops]

Re: How Soon Can I wax a new car?

I'm guessing the metal parts but what about the plastic front bumper, door handles and mirrors? I don't' thing they put those in an oven.

Those are supplied by a third party vendor and are part of later assembly of the vehicle. Even though they are not painted with the rest of the body in the main factory, they are just as cured as the rest of the vehicle by the time it gets into your hands.

The only time "fresh paint" poses any sort of special needs is when it's an aftermarket respray (ie, body shop paint) as the chemistry is completely different from that used by the OEMs and as such takes more time to cure. OEM paint must have a high heat, long duration oven in order to cure, but aftermarket paint relies on a more natural outgassing. Yes, some body shops do have a drying room, often referred to as an oven, but it's nowhere near the heat level of the OEM facility. And again, the chemistry of OEM paint versus aftermarket paint is totally different.

Bottom line: new car, from the factory, you are totally safe waxing it the day you bring it home if you so desire. Aftermarket paint, we recommend 60 to 90 days, but if your painter says different then go with his recommendation.

[Video]

Re: How Soon Can I wax a new car?

On top of what Michael said I can tell you from working at a dealership that these cars come in dirty. They ride along on a trailer for god knows how many miles and then sit in a lot where pollen and other contaminants just sit on the car. The detailers at my dealership i used to work at did about the quickest detail imagineable on it before delivering it. By the time they even come in they need to be clay barred, seriously! I would immediatly clay bar and wax that bad boy!

[Nappers]

Re: How Soon Can I wax a new car?

Go fur it!

Clay first, you won't believe what is on that paint!

Like your comment Murr.....

[Corbon91]

Re: How Soon Can I wax a new car?

Great info! Was wondering about this as I am going to pick up a Dodge Challenger soon. As soon as I get it, clay, polish, then wax!

[ClearlyCoated]

Re: How Soon Can I wax a new car?

You can usually find the build date for your car on the door jamb sticker. By the time people take possession of new vehicles, most cars are already 3-6 months old, so in addition to the paint being baked at the factory, it's also had plenty of time to cure. Definitely clay it first, your factory paint likely picked up a lot of airborne contaminants on it's way from the factory to your driveway.

[ffboy]

Re: How Soon Can I wax a new car?

Just bought a new Ram 1500 sport Black, how soon can I wax it? It says it was assembled on 4/14 so it will be 60 days old next weekend. I picked up some Meguires NXT 2.0 yesterday, but not sure if I should wait or not.

Go for it, now if possible. Clay first, then Ultimate Polish (it will add depth and its mild cleaners may just remove some very light scratches/spiderwebbing), then finish it off with your NXT 2.0, maintain by weekly car wash (or as needed, use gold class car was), Ultimate Quik Detailer for light dust removal and Ultimate quik wax maybe every other car wash.

[SwedishCanadian]

Re: How Soon Can I wax a new car?

Those are supplied by a third party vendor and are part of later assembly of the vehicle. Even though they are not painted with the rest of the body in the main factory, they are just as cured as the rest of the vehicle by the time it gets into your hands.

The only time "fresh paint" poses any sort of special needs is when it's an aftermarket respray (ie, body shop paint) as the chemistry is completely different from that used by the OEMs and as such takes more time to cure. OEM paint must have a high heat, long duration oven in order to cure, but aftermarket paint relies on a more natural outgassing. Yes, some body shops do have a drying room, often referred to as an oven, but it's nowhere near the heat level of the OEM facility. And again, the chemistry of OEM paint versus aftermarket paint is totally different.

Bottom line: new car, from the factory, you are totally safe waxing it the day you bring it home if you so desire. Aftermarket paint, we recommend 60 to 90 days, but if your painter says different then go with his recommendation.

60-90? I've been told 30 days by other sources including when I called and asked your callcenter. The company doing the paint job didn't mention anything though.

[The Guz]

Re: How Soon Can I wax a new car?

Typically it's 30 days. Here's Mike Phillips' article.

http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/hot-topics-frequently-asked-questions/26967-don-t-wax-your-car-least-30-days.html

I myself and my brother waited 90 days prior to doing anything with a repaint event though the painter said a coat of wax can be applied right away. It varies by painter. I would side with Mr. Stoops on his recommendation over the call center as I believe has has more personal experience.

[mikeLW]

Re: How Soon Can I wax a new car?

On top of what Michael said I can tell you from working at a dealership that these cars come in dirty. They ride along on a trailer for god knows how many miles and then sit in a lot where pollen and other contaminants just sit on the car. The detailers at my dealership i used to work at did about the quickest detail imagineable on it before delivering it. By the time they even come in they need to be clay barred, seriously! I would immediatly clay bar and wax that bad boy!

True enough! I work in the Automotive Refinishing OEM/Aftermarket on the distribution side. When new cars are purged from the factories they get sent to Auto Warehouse facilities, usually located near a waterport or main Railway Hub Station. So these places are contracted by the OEM's to process, repair and replace damaged parts. I see a lot of bumpers and fenders being resprayed post manufacture because of the logistics involved to get vehicles to market, damage to them does occur. Or they will change trim levels there too, sometimes they change engines out and tires, wheels etc. I know at Toyota logistics they do a lot of upfitting to equipment on certain vehicles after they come off the ship. I always take a look at the paint, and for the most part it looks like a reallly good OEM job, I mean these vehicles have less than a mile on the odometer. I am not sure if the factories apply paint protection or not. I know Hyundai is using a version of 3M clear bra on bumpers and plastic parts like the mirror assemblies. It would definately be cool to clay bar a new car that hasn't been driven on the road yet just to see what bonded contamination you will find. Rail dust for sure!