Brand NEW Car

[ahujadaddy]

Hi everyone, I had some questions mainly about the cleaning agents in some of the products.

I just bought a new car (color is Athens Blue), and have been washing it almost every weekend for 4 weeks now. I was wondering what I need to do in terms of waxing/polishing to help protect it and make it shine. The paint looks great already, but do I still need to wax right now? I don't want to do too much since it's brand new.

I was thinking of doing the following:

- WASH with NXT soap and DRY
- Use some Meguiar's liquid CLEANER WAX (Instead of step 1)?
- Use the step 2 Deep Crystal Polish
- Use the NXT Tech Wax (Let it "cure" for 12+ hours)
- Apply a second coat of the Step 3 Carnuba wax
(Does this Step 3 wax having cleaners in it that would remove the NXT Wax and defeat the purpose? I would definetly like to layer 2 coats of wax.)

Let me kno ppl, thnx!

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Brand NEW Car

Originally posted by ahujadaddy
(Does this Step 3 wax having cleaners in it that would remove the NXT Wax and defeat the purpose?

I would definitely like to layer 2 coats of wax.)

Let me kno ppl, thnx!

Hi ahujadaddy,

The Step 3 Carnauba Wax is what Meguiar's categorizes as a pure wax as in it does not contain any ingredients intended to clean or abrade the finish.

[Murr1525]

Well, give these threads a read over first:

Meguiar's 5-Step Paint Care Cycle

Step 1 Wash

Step 2 Clean

Step 3 Polish

Step 4 Protect

Step 5 Maintain

A Lesson From White Paint

Suggested Products for Taking Care of a New Car

As far as processes, you can at two basic ones like this:

1. Wash
2. Clay
3. Clean - DC#1
4. Polish- DC#2
5. Wax - Nxt. 2 coats of Nxt is fine, or #21 if you like synthetics

Or:

1. Wash
2. Clay
3. Cleaner/Wax or ColorX
4. Wax - Nxt or #21

[ahujadaddy]

sw33t, thnx for the input so far. I read those articles, and spent about 5 hours reading a whole bunch of other articles. This site is great! It seems I have many more questions now, I guess i just need to get out there and DO IT.

Didn't kno u had to clay a new car... ill check it out and do a lil spot treatment.

I guess the cleaner wax can be used every other wash or so? I don't get the need for this product. Seems like i can just use the step 3 wax every month and do the 5 step proccess 2-3 times a year.

[Murr1525]

Well, feel free to ask away...

Even new cars can come with a lot of stuff on the paint, like rail dust, etc. Claying the car is very worth it, helping make sure you start with a clean slate.

Remember you can clay paint-->glass-->trim-->wheels-->exhaust tips-->etc. ALWAYS clay in that order, otherwise you risk dragging metal and other real rough stuff back acoross your paint and glass.

A cleaner wax is going to remove any polish and wax that you put on the paint previously, so it probably isnt worth doing it every wash, unless you live in a real harsh environment.

I use the ColorX topped with #21 every 2 months or so, as I have a daily driver, parked outside. Not as worth it to do a full 5 steps every time. Then I do more of a 5-step detail once or twice a year. And wash inbetween fo course.

But a multi-step product isnt going to give the same results as a a dedicated product for each step. So it is a little trade off in looks vs. time saved.

After furture washings, what you can do is use either a quick detail product or a spray wax to restore some of the fresh waxed look. And a spray wax will add back a little protection as well.

How to Get Great Results Using Meguiar's Spray Waxes

[TH0001]

You will get better results skipping the cleaner wax altogher and instead doubling up on the NXT, IMO.

Polish is meant to be applied to clean paint, and by applying it after the cleaner wax, it is gonna be difficult to get it into the pours of the paint which are sealed because of the cleaner wax.

IMO,

Wash
DC1
DC2
NXTx2
DC3 if you must...

[ahujadaddy]

^^ exactly. After reading more and more, I think i will go and return the Cleaner Wax. The Quick Clay kit comes with with some of that anyway.

I see people saying to double up on the NXT Tech wax, but i have also read in some places that it would be a waste to layer NXT because of its slight cleaning properties. Basically, they say that all the second coat of NXT will do is remove the first coat, with the only benifit being even coverage. This is why they have recomended using a pure carnuba wax as the 2nd layer on top of NXT. Any thoughts? Mike?

Thnx