Protecting Clear coat. Wax too often bad?

[darkage]

Greetings from Australia. Hope this isn't too long, I've been researching this board for sometime and its confusing where to start off from for mywashing regime.

My friend says not to wax the car once a month coz even the wax contains very very very mild abrasives that eat at the clear coat. Not sure if this is an issue if you wax too many times? But he gets to park his car in a garage, where I dont

My baby is outdoors 365. Im kind of paranoid about protecting my clear coat.

I've already got Softwash and Scratch-X (2 get rid of water run marks, took 3 applications per mark) and the detailer spray

The Australia Meguiars sites prescription pretty much sticks to the below for just about all the scenarios. Feels like no matter what I enter in, the same thing always come out?

Soft Wash
Scratch-X
Deep Crystal Wetlook
Detailer Spray

The american site prescripes a more wider range of products, rather than the Aussie site

I want to protect the clear coat as much as possible. Shine, well it looks already pretty good with just a simple wash, maybe its the metallic color. The paint has light spider webbs (I dont mind) and feels bumpy (this probably will come out in just soft wash since it feels smooth when wet just after going over the area)

I feel Scratch-X is probably too strong, but I probably should use a paint cleaner to get rid of surface contaminants before I seal them in with wax, etc? (Makes sense) But I dont like the idea of taking away a little bit of the clear coat since thats what cleaners do.

So what System do ppl recommend I should use? Not sure if I should go for the basic 1-2-3 deep crystal with sealant? but NXT wax sounds like its got good protection, or a more traditional wax & sealant on top. hmmm I got all the time in the world to wash my car as long as its well protected (:

Here the weather is wet for 1/3 of the year and probably have 1 month of days over or close to 30 degrees.

[2000]

can I assume your doing this by hand?
if so to start out, I would suggest
1) clay (quick clay here in the states) this will remove any contaminates from the surface of your vehicle.
2)deep cystal cleaner or mppc to clean your paint
3)deep cystal polish or #7 showcar glaze or #81 hand polish to put oils back into your paint and to give it more depth and shine.
4)nxt wax....great stuff.


I will look for the posting that explains why you don't have to worry about waxing too much........in a nut shell ,the amount of clear you remove is similar to the amount you remove by washing. It's the friction of rubbing the paint that causes the lost and it is a miniscue amount in comparasion to allowing the elements to eat at your paint. look at it this way, no matter what you do, your losing clear coat daily, by doing it on your terms (waxx, washing,polishing) your doing it at a much slower rate than egnoring your paint.
hope that helps.

[darkage]

wow thanxs for the reply (: Yup Im doing everything by hand, dont really believe in power tools unless it needs major work, and also I just got the car so its a great way to know your car up close and personal to find all the nicks / small imperfections on the body.

I figured its a losing game anyway, clear coat wears down no matter what when its always parked outside, its better to have wax protection rather than bird poo burn right through. like on my old car, straight through to the bare metal

Yup I knew I should of used Clay but its kind of hard to find here, I did find one store that stocked it after I used scratch-x. I've only seen it bundled with detailers spray which I already got. The overspray clay in the professional range would be the same.

ahhh just looked at a picture of the NXT tech wax, dont think it would be released here yet, as its only been 2 or so months in the US. I swore I saw something in the Auto Store that had the NXT on the label but in a white or cream bottle?

So whats the next best thing if I cant get access to NXT wax?

I think the meguiars australian site outlines the product range only available in this country which are - (for the waxes/etc)

Wetlook Polymer Sealant
Cleaner Wax Paste
Gold Class Wax
Deep Crystal Polish & Wax

I think the sealant would be the toughest one but not sure if its worth it if I go for the deep crystal wax. and the gold class I have a feeling thats more for shine than protection. I'll be up all night and day researching the forums (:

Cant wait to buy all the products on the weekend (: and give my car a loving rub down (:

[jfelbab]

darkage

Sounds like your ride is in pretty good shape. I'd basically agree with 2000.

1. Wash with #G71 Gold Class Wash or #G126 NXT Wash if it is available.

2. Clay. This will get rid of any bumps you feel on the surface and if you car lives outside 365 you will have a lot of bonded contaminants.

3. Clean with #97 Medallion Premium Paint Cleaner or the non-abrasive #A30 Deep Crystal Cleaner. This will remove any old wax and oxidation.

4. Polish with#7 Show Car Glaze, #81 Body Shop Professional Hand Polish or #A21 Deep Crystal Polish. This will renew the loss of oils from your paint and give a wet-look gloss.

5. Wax with #G127 NXT Tech Wax if you like a polymer or #16 Professional Paste Wax if you like carnauba. You might even want to try #26 High Tech Yellow Wax which is breathtaking on darker color paint.

6. Maintain with #G128 NXT Booster Wax if you used NXT Tech Wax. Choose #A33 Quik Detaiker or #34 Final Inspection if you used #16 or #26

IMHO, #16 is one of the most durable of all Meguiar's wax products. This would be my choice for an outdoor vehicle.

Waxing your vehicle monthly will not cause any damage to your clear coat. On the contrary, it will extend the life of your vehicle by keeping the finish free from dirt and protected from the elements.

[darkage]

Yep just got my ride 3 weeks ago. Its been garaged for its whole life, so only starting with outdoors life until I can get my garage cleared out. (will take months )

I might try this

Soft car wash (already have it)
Clay
#A30 Deep Crystal Cleaner (since this is the mildest, can always work my way up if I need more power)

Polish - Have to see what the product blurp says for each one and do a little bit of research. not sure what the difference from a glaze and polish is. Glaze has abrasive material in it?
#81 Hand Polish might be a winner but have to find out about the glaze thing first

Wax - #16 Professional Paste Wax not sure if I can get this, but I've seen #26 High Tech Yellow wax (:

then last Quick detailer when needed (:

polymer waxes, wont turn out anything like evil nufinish in regards to removing the product? or that just a silicone thing

Basically from my understanding the Deep Crystal 1-2-3 process is just your basic foundation system, where the first step is good for something super gentle but better results are giving by other products in steps 2-3. and its best to stay clear from products that do 2 steps at the same time. That really narrows it down.

Here in Australia the Meguiar products aint cheap, its about twice more expensive or sometimes 3 times more expensive than the US online store prices. oh well but its worth it (:

Thanks a million guys!