Please help this girl!

[ronniejay]

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... :-/

A picture is worth a thousand words. Hopefully you have a decent digital camera, or can borrow one. Learn how to upload pics and show what you are seeing.

Do not let the dealer do any paint work until someone herre can see your problem.

[CieraSL]

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?

There are basically 3 different types of LSP's (LSP = Last Step Product): sealants, carnauba waxes, and cleaner waxes. NXT 2.0 and #21 are sealants - sealants are manmade paint protectants that are comprised of synthetic polymers. They are more durable, and tend to be more reflective. Gold Class and #26 are carnauba waxes, natural waxes made with carnauba wax and solvents to make the wax workable. Carnauba waxes tend to give a warmer look, but they are less durable than sealants. For more info on the differences between sealants and carnauba waxes check out this article:

Carnauba Car Wax vs. Paint Sealants

Now, you can use either a paint sealant by itself or a carnauba wax by itself. Some people like to put down a paint sealant first and then top it with a carnauba to get both the warm look of a 'nuba and the durability of a sealant. The reason I suggested using #26 is because in my personal opinion, you get the most out of that color from the warmth of a carnauba. So, the LSP you use is really dependent on whether you are looking for durability (in which case you should go with #21 or NXT 2.0) or warmth (in which case you should go with #26 or Gold Class). Or you can do sealant and then wax, just be sure to wait 12 hours after applying your sealant before applying the wax, that way your sealant has enough time to cure.

[HealthyCivic]

Re: Please help this girl!

heaveninheels,

It's good to learn, but honestly, don't get all caught up in waxes right now. Instead, focus on the washing procedure, products and techniques in that video I showed you. Get the wax down later.

As Mike Phillips, the detailing great always says: Wax is a personal preference. I remember him talking about how the top 3 ways to get into a debate online are to discuss Politics, religion, or car wax. I told you to try NXT 2.0 because I want you to eventually put a wax on the car AND I personally have had success with that wax on my black Honda Civic AND my friend's black Ford Focus. You could choose Gold Class, you could choose #21, it doesn't really matter. What matters is that you're putting wax on the car after you've washed it every so often.

I wouldn't get caught up with layering right now if I were you. Why? You're brand new. You have too much to learn to be layering and mixing multiple products. You don't want to get burned out. I mean, I could go past some of the above advice and tell you to Wash, clay, buff, polish, wax, and then QD your car. However, I'm not telling you to do this because I know you're new and part of learning as humans, unless you have absolutely nothing else to do in life, takes time.

So once again, learn the washing techniques in that video and practice them well. Feel free to ask any questions here. To be honest with you, you won't even have to do much else if you know how to wash the car properly. I've owned my Honda Civic for over 2 years and I still don't have many swirls. I've never needed to buff the entire car out with a compound, I've only had to buff out a few sections. Just get the basics in for now and don't get overwhelmed, then you can start toying around more.

[Murr1525]

Re: Please help this girl!

Lets, lets start simplifying some...

1. Wash - Gold Class or Nxt soap, 2 buckets, Grit Guards if possible, quality towels, sponges.
2. Clay - Smooth Surface Clay kit
3. Clean - Assuming no swirls/scratches to fix, I'd use ColorX.
4. Wax - Nxt 2.0 would be my choice, but just pick one of the ones mentioned.
5. Maintain - Ultimate Quick Wax is nice for after future washes.

Before washing the car, you can do the wheels with something like the Aluminum Wheel Wash, and soft brushes. And of course any glass cleaner, tire shine, interior products you may want.

[jaymz]

Re: Please help this girl!

For the rock chips (prevention), order some of this stuff on the internet, then take it to a body shop you trust and have them spray it on the front bumper, front portion of hood and side view mirrors. Works great!



Jim

[dvtldav]

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... -/

I wouldn't have them try to fix it if it was on my car because it will probably look worse than before, not because they don't know what they are doing, but because it is just a touch-up and it will stand out. We all want a show car finish on our cars, but if it is a daily driver we have to resign ourselves to the fact that there will be stone chips and door dings that we cannot help but get and we have to live with those. The swirls and light scratches we can control and take care of so that is where the majority of the work goes. Just my 2 cents.

Dave

[SVT Lightning]

Re: Please help this girl!

Lets, lets start simplifying some...

1. Wash - Gold Class or Nxt soap, 2 buckets, Grit Guards if possible, quality towels, sponges.
2. Clay - Smooth Surface Clay kit
3. Clean - Assuming no swirls/scratches to fix, I'd use ColorX.
4. Wax - Nxt 2.0 would be my choice, but just pick one of the ones mentioned.
5. Maintain - Ultimate Quick Wax is nice for after future washes.

Before washing the car, you can do the wheels with something like the Aluminum Wheel Wash, and soft brushes. And of course any glass cleaner, tire shine, interior products you may want.

Murr is right....simplify. If you try to keep track of all the info everyone is giving you, your brain is going to get overwhelmed and confused. Start with the basics and after you get comfortable with the 5-step process he outlined, then move up to other products and steps.....with getting a DA polisher a goal in the future. And read, read, read......great forum here with friendly folks!

[heaveninheels]

Re: Please help this girl!

Okay, here are some pics of the little imperfections...I know I shouldn't be bummed because it was bound to happen, but it's a NEW car, and I just didn't expect to notice anything like that so soon... I'm sure though that I bought it that way. And thanks everyone for the help! I really appreciate it... And yes, I was becoming a little overwhelmed, but I'm going to try the steps you gave me and hopefully I'll do well.

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Please help this girl!

Just so you know, we edited your last post to properly embed the images in it.

But, ah, you've got some nasty looking little impact chips there which is unfortunate, but not unexpected.

We all want our cars to look their best, and we'd love for them to remain perfect forever, but that just is not realistic. While regular maintenance can do wonders for keeping the overall look of any car at an extremely high level, the odd little chip here or there is going to happen. Unless you store your car in a hermetically sealed bubble and never actually get out and enjoy it. Rather than stress too heavily over these little things, work on developing your skills with paint cleaners, polishes and waxes to keep the overall appearance at a very high level. As you develop these skills and become more confident you can start looking into the best way to use touch up paint to correct these. But don't just start throwing blobs of touch up all over the car - we've seen people do this and, honestly, the paint chips themselves are less offensive!! Seriously!

If you start allowing every little thing to over stress you (and you certainly wouldn't be the first, that's for darn sure!) it will drive you to madness in short order.

[dvtldav]

Re: Please help this girl!

You might be surprised at what a little scratch-x might do to those little chips. The one in the first picture looks like it might be down to the primer so there might not be much hope for it, but the one in the second picture might polish out and look prety good.

Dave

[Murr1525]

Re: Please help this girl!

That first one can likely be touched up very neatly, with no one ever noticing.

A little touch up paint and a toothpick, and a couple very thin coats.