Confused - what products to use on daily driver?

[botan]

Hi all from Canada,

I'm not familiar enough with Meguiar's products to know what to use on my daily driver. It's a bright red car that I will (try to) drive through winter. I've just bought the car, it's used and was left outside on the dealer lot for 2 months so the surface is rough. It also has a lot of stone chips in front, but anyways...

Basically:
1. Wash with any Meg. product.
2. Clay bar it. Should I use ColorX, ultimate, or a cleaner wax here?
3. Should I polish a DD before winter? If so, what should I use?
4. What wax? Should I use cleaner wax or NXT or both?
5. Winter's coming so I don't think I can use anything here when it's going to freeze.


Btw, for you northeasterners: any of you know if Krown or Corrosion free is better? Does Krown/Corrosion spray free ruin rubber/seals? Does it wreck paint/wax as the stuff drips? Do they overspray into the interior? How do I wash my car in winter w/o a heated garage? Should I wash when it's freezing out?

[greg0303]

Re: Confused - what products to use on daily driver?

Because you'll be doing some correction work you can give your car a pretty long, deep and detailed car wash. Claying will remove bonded contaminants and create smooth paint finish.

Depending on level of correction needed and hardness of your car's paint you could use different approach:
- cleaner wax/ finishing wax - ColorX, M66 Quick Detailer, D151 Paint Reconditioning Cream are all-in-one products, but it's still good to add finishing wax/ sealants for extra protection (Ultimate Wax, NxT Tech Wax 2.0);
- cleaner polish - SwirlX, Ultimate Polish, M205 Ultra Finishing Polish would restore gloss and remove mild to medium defects and you can just add wax/ sealant on top;
- paint cleaner - Ultimate Compound would offer greater correction ability and it very often finishes good enough to just put a coat of wax/ sealant.

I would recommend that you actually apply two coats of wax/ sealant to ensure uniform and even coverage (second coat after 12-24 hour cure time).

Washing your car during winter months is tricky. I usually reach for either waterless or rinseless car wash. Definitely don't do it outside when the temperatures go below 40*F (5*C).

[ethereal45]

Re: Confused - what products to use on daily driver?

Being from Canada, you're going to be in for a pretty rough winter. I wouldn't bother doing an extensive detailing (like buffing out swirls, etc) before winter -- at least personally I am too lazy. I would do a good wash and wax before winter though, as that will help the car stay cleaner more easily during the winter. I would try and do something like this:

1. Wash with any Meguiars Wash (Gold Class is great and easy to find)
2. Clay with the Smooth Surface Clay kit -- this will smooth out the paint and take away that roughness you're experiencing.
3. Use something like Cleaner Wax or ColorX -- these are very fast ways to chemically clean the paint and do a light polishing.
4. Wax. I would suggest Ultimate Wax, as it is Meguiar's longest lasting wax.
5. Throughout the winter, wash whenever the temperature is high enough that you can stand it, or pick up a rinseless or waterless wash product. Meguiar's has a few coming out at the start of the year, or get something like Optimum No Rinse.

[Murr1525]

Re: Confused - what products to use on daily driver?

I look at it this way:

Quick Detail:
1. Wash
2. Clay if needed
3. ColorX
4. Wax - Your choice

Full Detail:
1. Wash
2. Clay
3. Clean/Polish - Mild cleaner like SwirlX, Ult. Polish, #205. Can use a strong cleaner like Ult. Compound for defects.
4. Wax - Your choice of wax, though Nxt 2.0 or Ult Wax would seem most durable.
5. Wax - 2 thin coats is best

The full detail would be more for when you feel like remove swirl marks, etc. Wont get as much correction the quick way.

[Blueline]

Re: Confused - what products to use on daily driver?

[QUOTE=ethereal45;489488]Being from Canada, you're going to be in for a pretty rough winter. /QUOTE]
Living in Kitchener he will probably have a lot better winter than a lot of American cities, Buffalo for example. We have a much worse winter than Kitchener.
botan, As for winter care, I just give my cars a good clay, ColorX and wax as late in the year as possible. I have the car sprayed with Rust check (Krown is junk IMHO)) and that is it for the winter. I don't even wash it again until March (unless we have a January thaw and I can wash it myself at home, an only if I am bored silly)
Rust Check will NOT hurt rubber, does not hurt paint, does no damage whatsoever. There is no over spray into the interior. They do a great job and guarantee no rust. My car looks new underneath and it has been through several winters and a lot of salt and snow. Again, I never wash the car in the winter. It is covered in salt all the time. Salt is not going to hurt the paint, (even if you didn't wax it) and if all oiled up underneath and in the body panels, it is not going to hurt those places either. Washing in the winter is just a waste of time in my case. If I were to wash it, and drive down the road, and it would be full of salt again in a mile/km. If you get Rust Check, it will drip for a day or two, so do not park in your garage. It will get messy. You can park on your asphalt driveway, but it too will get messy but it will not hurt the asphalt. You can even park on the grass, and it will not kill the grass. I just park on the road for a couple of days. The bottom of your doors, trunk, and hood seams, might have some the the stuff ooze out, but you can wash it off or leave it as I do. In the winter, there is no way we can have nice shiny cars like in California. We have to live with it, until the Robins come back. (March 15th) Then is it clean, wax, and shine on until November.