Please help this girl!

[heaveninheels]

Hello!

I just bought a new Scion TC, in the color flint mica (dark charcoal)... and I seriously need some help. This is my first new car and I want to always have it looking really polished and exceptional. However, the problem with that is that I don't know anything about paint or cars and I don't even know anyone that could help me out. I was wondering if all you experts could help a girl out. I'd really appreciate it! My main questions are how do I keep my paint protected (I am surrounded by cotton wood trees so I'm really afraid of sap - though, I've been trying to avoid parking near them) and I'm also worried about it being chipped from every day driving. I don't know what to wash it with and am scared to wash it for fear of scratching it. Do the high pressure sprayers hurt the paint at all? I've thought about taking it to one of those car washing places where someone else does it for you, but I really don't trust those 16 year old kids to do a better job than myself... As far as waxing, should I be doing that, and how often? Is it okay to use drive thru washers? My car dealer offered me Xzilon, but I don't trust it... How do I make the wheels stay shiny and the chrome shiny as well?

Please help me. I really appreciate it!

[smack]

Re: Please help this girl!

First off, welcome to MOL and congrats on the new car purchase. There are a whole lot of different approaches you can take to maintain your new car. It all depends on how discriminating your eye is and how bigg your budget is. You can always start out with a small product collection to maintain the finish and expand your collection and your budget as time passes and your eye becomes more descriminating.
Your are on the right track to maintaining your vehicle as you are parking away from trees. Another thing you can do is not park next to other vehicles to avoid door dings. As for rock chips, stay farther behind other vehicles on the highway.
With that out of the way you can start by just a simple wash and wax routine. Using fine quality products such as Meguiars Ultimate wash and wax for soap and NXT tech wax 2.0 for wax. You can wax as often as once a month to keep the paint protected.
You can find all the products you need at a local retailer or online through a distributer.

[CieraSL]

Re: Please help this girl!

to MOL!


First check out Meguiar's 5-Step Paint Care Cycle.

Here's some other videos to watch:


Interior protectants


Wheel cleaner



There is also tons of great info in these links:

Hot Topics
How To Articles
List 'O Links 2.0

That should be plenty to get you started. Also, don't take your car through a drive through wash, and don't let the dealer wash it. Only a true professional will care about your car the way it needs to be cared for - some guy making $8 an hour doesn't care if he's scratching and swirling up the paint - he just wants to get your car out and the next one in. Trust me on this one. Also, dealer sealants are a joke. DON'T BE TAKEN IN! There is no "miracle sealant" as they would like you to believe. This is merely a money maker for the dealership.

All Meguiar's products you need can be purchased locally, or at one of these two websites:

http://www.meguiarsdirect.com/index.asp

http://www.autodetailingsolutions.net/

Best of luck, and don't be afraid to ask questions! You'll find MOL'ers more than happy to help.

[CieraSL]

Re: Please help this girl!

Also, where are you located? There may be an MOL member near you willing to help you out.

[ca2kjet]

Re: Please help this girl!

Also, where are you located? There may be an MOL member near you willing to help you out.

Related to the location... what kind of climate is your car being subjected to? Keeping the vehicle looking really good in the snow belt is a real pain.

The climate / environment will make a huge difference to how long wax will last, how easy the car's surface can be maintained, and most importantly, how often you'll be able to clean it... cleaning cars in freezing temps is NOT fun

[the other pc]

Re: Please help this girl!

... I've been trying to avoid ...

You've already got one of the most important principles down, it's always better to avoid problems than to have to fix them.

... I'm also worried about it being chipped from every day driving....

This can be tough. A car that's driven is going to have some level of exposure to hazards.

There are things you can do to improve your odds, like avoiding gravel roads and keeping your distance behind trucks as much as possible.

You can also have protective film installed (a.k.a. a "clear bra"). It doesn't look as good as clean, shiny paint but it does a great job of preventing rock chips.

.... I don't know what to wash it with and am scared to wash it for fear of scratching it....

The techniques you'll learn here make it easy to wash safely.

.... Do the high pressure sprayers hurt the paint at all? ...

As long as you stand back a bit and don't concentrate all the pressure at a small spot or at delicate features, the spraying shouldn't hurt. But some commercial car washes use very strong chemicals that can somewhat harsh.

.... I really don't trust those 16 year old kids to do a better job than myself...

I know teenagers who do great work. (Of course, they're car nuts that hang around here, not minimum wage laborers down at the local scratch-o-rama.)

You know that when you're doing the work it'll be done with care.

....As far as waxing, should I be doing that, and how often? ...

Yes. How often depends on the environment your car lives in. After a little while, you'll get a feel for what your car needs and when. Most folks do it somewhere between a few weeks and a few months, depending on what the car lives through.

.... My car dealer offered me Xzilon, but I don't trust it...

Pretty and smart. You'll go far.

These treatments are mainly a way to ratchet up the dealers' profit margins. They cost the dealer almost nothing and they charge the customer plenty.

We do hear lots of horror stories of dealers' "installers" (i.e. lowest wage laborers) scratching the heck out of cars when applying the stuff.

....How do I make the wheels stay shiny and the chrome shiny as well? ...

There are lots of good products you can use (and you'll be learning about them right here) but the most important thing is to keep up regular maintenance.

Never let it go too far and you'll never have too far to bring it back.




pc.

[heaveninheels]

Re: Please help this girl!

Wow, thanks for all the help everyone!

And, I live in Kansas so we're gearing up for a very cold winter. That's one of my concerns... They treat our roads here with sand and salt, so I'm extremely worried about that...I mean, we're talking about snow sludge, ice, sometimes sleet... Also, how do I wash it in such cold weather??? Really NOT looking forward to that in the slightest...

And, I have a keen eye for detail. I was messing around with it today and found two small imperfections in the paint, so I'm going to ask the dealer to do something about it when I take it in to have my spoiler put on.

Right now, I'm more looking for a car washing product to get it clean, and then since it's new, I'm wanting to protect it as much as I can from any future harm, especially the winter season, in addition to wanting it to look super shiny (what can I say, I'm a girl - I love shiny things!)... Because I'm just starting out with maintaining my car and learning I need a simple regime for those purposes. I saw a certain product called Clay Wax or something, should I be using that??

[HealthyCivic]

Re: Please help this girl!

This is what you wanna do:

Watch this video and follow its instructions. Trust me, thanks to this method, I've had my car for over 2 years and don't have significant swirls. Get some Meguiars Gold Class Car wash and get the car washing part down first.

THEN, get some NXT 2.0 Tech Wax and apply that.

Just realize this will take a bit of time and work but it'll pay off and as you'll see by the video, this can be done pretty quickly when you're used to it. I taught my mom how to do this and she's in her 60s.

[Sean Conrad]

Re: Please help this girl!

This is what you wanna do:

Watch this video and follow its instructions. Trust me, thanks to this method, I've had my car for over 2 years and don't have significant swirls. Get some Meguiars Gold Class Car wash and get the car washing part down first.

THEN, get some NXT 2.0 Tech Wax and apply that.

Just realize this will take a bit of time and work but it'll pay off and as you'll see by the video, this can be done pretty quickly when you're used to it. I taught my mom how to do this and she's in her 60s.

Great video to learn how to wash a car the right way. I agree on the Gold Class Car Wash, it can be picked up at Wal-Mart or most auto shops.
As for the was, I think NXT 2.0 is a great product, but I think that for her dark color car and for better shine and wet look she should go with the Gold Class Plus, IMO it is better than NXT for shine.

[HealthyCivic]

Re: Please help this girl!

Great video to learn how to wash a car the right way. I agree on the Gold Class Car Wash, it can be picked up at Wal-Mart or most auto shops.
As for the was, I think NXT 2.0 is a great product, but I think that for her dark color car and for better shine and wet look she should go with the Gold Class Plus, IMO it is better than NXT for shine.

Really? I've been using NXT 2.0 on my black Civic and I've gotten customers just by driving past them. Well, either way, wax is a personal preference, so, heavininheels, go ahead and try out the Gold Class Wax sometime too and see which you like best.

[CieraSL]

Re: Please help this girl!

Is your car this color?



If so, I think I would use #26 on it. I have the "misfortune" of washing cars at a Honda dealer, and I have a small bin full of Meguiar's products I take with me to work. Funny, right? Tons better than the **** the dealer has for products. So trust me when I say don't let the dealer touch your car. Oh the horror stories I could tell. Anyway, I've used #26 on several polished metal metallic Hondas



and it looks awesome. If you're looking for something more durable, try #21 2.0. Looks great and it's got fairly decent durability.


BTW, both photos were had from off the internet. Neither are mine.

[Sean Conrad]

Re: Please help this girl!

Really? I've been using NXT 2.0 on my black Civic and I've gotten customers just by driving past them. Well, either way, wax is a personal preference, so, heavininheels, go ahead and try out the Gold Class Wax sometime too and see which you like best.

I like the product and sometimes use it as a base then top with Gold Class. But in my opinion I think the Gold class ads the most depth and reflections.

[heaveninheels]

Re: Please help this girl!

Is your car this color?

Yes, sir! That is my car.

What's the difference in the waxes?

[heaveninheels]

Re: Please help this girl!

Wait, so CierraSL... do I use both products or just one? If just one, what do I use first? Are these classified as waxes? And, would I use the NXT 2.0 or Gold Class wax with those products? Or am I supposed to be picking just one?

[heaveninheels]

Re: Please help this girl!

And, are you saying I shouldn't ask them to touch up the paint? I'm pretty sure they are defects in my brand new car... They are in odd places (one in front of the tire and the other on the bumper)... One looks like the paint peeled a little bit and the other looks like the paint is ... rippled? If you were to imagine wet paint, and then a toothpick ran through it... :-/