Detailing Steps for a brand new car.

[bridger71]

Hi everyone,

First post for me on here but not new to Mequiar's. My question is the following. I have a brand new '05 Maxima I purchased last month. So far I have washed her and applied #26 once. The finish is obviously in good shape being brand new so my question is do I need to polish before waxing and if so what polish should I use?

Thanks in advance.

[Lt1Corvette]

Just out of curiosity, what color is the Maxima?

Not seeing the finish some of these steps might not be needed, but if you don't mind spending a little time I would give it a good cleaning. Though your car is only a month old, there is a good chance it was sitting on the lot for a while. I would recommend you give the car a claying first. You would be surprised what I have pulled off of cars that are days old with forty miles on them. Then I would go with a paint cleaner like Deep crystal paint cleaner. Then for polish you could go with #81 or Deep Crystal Polish or #7 (would avoid just because it is more difficult to remove than the other's on a clear coat finish). Then you are set up for you coat of #26.
Those these extra steps will take some time, you will be dealing with a super clean and high gloss finish when you are done. It is worth the extra effort.

[bridger71]

The color is "Smoke" which is basically a dark grey metallic. I was tempted to get the black but didn't want the frustrations sooo many black car owners have regarding detailing.

As for how old she is, her production date was late November so I got her about 1 1/2 months after she was built. I had considered claying, I've done that in the past with my previous Maxima (Gold 1997) and it did make a world of difference. However, running my hand over my new car's finish didn't seem like she needed it.

I did expect for someone to recommend a polish but isn't #80/#83 made more to remove scratches and swirls and #7 is for newer finishes? I am only basing this comment on other threads I read within this forum.