Protecting A Brand New Car

[dm1179]

I am just starting out and don't have any power tools so will be doing this by hand. Right now, I am thinking of just two steps:

1. Wash car with Meguiars Gold Class Wash
2. Wax car with Meguiars Ultimate Wax Paste

*For maintenance, I will use Meguiars Ultimate Quik Wax after every wash and Meguiars Ultimate Quik Detailer as needed.

My questions:

1. As the car is brand new, do I still need to clay it after wash?
2. Do I still need to polish the car before waxing? If yes, do I use Meguiars Ultimate Polish or Meguiars Deep Crystal System Polish (Pure Polish)?
3. How abrasive is Meguiars Ultimate Polish? Will it remove substantial amount of clear coat?

Thanks in advance for the help.

[Scott's 62]

Re: Protecting A Brand New Car

Even new cars need to be clayed. Allot of times they sit at the dealers for a long time so they will have some sort of bonded contaminates. Its easy and it will give a better bond for your wax.
It depends if you feel you need to polish if its a dark colored car and have swirls you can do a polish. its really up to you. as for the aggressiveness of UP its quite mild so you wont be removing much paint.

[Jarhead0754]

Scotty's spot on there. Ill just add that claying should b done at least twice a year, but won't hurt if u like to do it monthly.

As far as ur concerned working by hand the polish and cut in them wouldn't b affected without a da. However ultimate polish is very mild with alot of polishing oils. Polish cut depends on the type of pad, speed of the da, and pressure put on the da. So by hand u have nothing to worry about

With that polish it what gives it shine alto not completely neccesary before wax, meguiars does recommend it for the added gloss factor. It's just boils down to how much time u want to invest.

For me I wash weekly, clay monthly, and wax monthly. In between waxings I use UQW for a booster every week, and UQD for spot checks between washes. U take care of ur car it will look new in 10 years. A car is the 2nd major purchase we make in life, a home being the 1st, and alot of people don't spend the time on keeping the paint in great shape along with the interior. Y not invest just a small amount of time now to keep that blue book value high later when u sell it. For me I spend less time cleaning the car every week, than someone who only washes and vacuums once a year. A mine still looks better than theirs

[dm1179]

Re: Protecting A Brand New Car

Thanks for the info guys.

Would you happen to know where Meguiars Ultimate Polish fits in this chart? Level 1 to 10, with 10 being the heaviest.

http://www.auto-geek.net/charts/wax-chart.pdf

[The Guz]

Re: Protecting A Brand New Car

Scott is right. A new car can have contamination from sitting on the lot and from being transported (for example rail dust).

My questions:
1. As the car is brand new, do I still need to clay it after wash?

My recommendation would be to use the baggie test. This will tell you if you have to clay or not. Search baggie test.

2. Do I still need to polish the car before waxing? If yes, do I use Meguiars Ultimate Polish or Meguiars Deep Crystal System Polish (Pure Polish)?

That depends on how much time you want to spend on the car. Polishing is what gives the car that shine.

3. How abrasive is Meguiars Ultimate Polish? Will it remove substantial amount of clear coat?

Ultimate polish has a small level of cut. Giving it some correction ability. Since you are doing this by hand don't worry about removing clear. By hand it's more of a paint cleaner. Even by DA I would not worry about it removing clear as the cut level is on the low end.

Another alternative is doing a wash, clay and a cleaner wax like white wax or black wax, and then topping with a longer lasting product like ultimate wax.

[Jarhead0754]

I agree with mike "guz" on these things. Especially the last one. White wax or black wax will b an excellent step giving u great shine with correction and leave wax. This is what we call an AIO all in one meaning it combines 3 things to 1 step.

But if u got the time to take care of it then ultimate polish or m205 followed by ultimate wax would b my suggestion. If ur short on time that day then go with an AIO.

But there are many options and combinations u could go with that meguiars sells. That its hard to inform u depending on what route u wanna take, the paint on ur car, and a few others. Alot if people like to add a sealant such as m21 or even ultimate wax and then follow up with a carnauba wax for more depth such as m26 or gold class. Or a blk wax with gold class and so on. Do some reading around on the old threads and find out what interst u and if ur still confused come back and ask away. That's what were all here for to help each other out.

[Hernandez.Art13]

1. Wash car with Meguiars Gold Class Wash
2. Wax car with Meguiars Ultimate Wax Paste

My questions:

1. As the car is brand new, do I still need to clay it after wash?
2. Do I still need to polish the car before waxing? If yes, do I use Meguiars Ultimate Polish or Meguiars Deep Crystal System Polish (Pure Polish)?
3. How abrasive is Meguiars Ultimate Polish? Will it remove substantial amount of clear coat?

Thanks in advance for the help.

Question 1. Check to see if it will need to be clayed. Probably will and Meguiars has a claying kit available at most local auto parts stores.

2. Probably won't hurt to polish, I'd get some Ultimate Polish and just pick an inconspicuous area on the car and clay, polish and wax that area and see if you like it. (Somewhere where the sun will hit it) Personally, I'd most likely clay it, polish it and wax a brand new vehicle fresh off the lot. That's just me though.

3. You'll be fine, just don't start rubbing away with a ton of pressure on an edge of the paint.

Also if your in the area, swing by Meguiars Headquarters.

[dm1179]

Re: Protecting A Brand New Car

thanks for all the info guys.

anyone knows where Ultimate Polish sits in this chart? not that it matters, just curious..

http://www.auto-geek.net/charts/wax-chart.pdf

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Protecting A Brand New Car

thanks for all the info guys.

anyone knows where Ultimate Polish sits in this chart? not that it matters, just curious..

http://www.auto-geek.net/charts/wax-chart.pdf

I wouldn't pay much attention to that chart. First off, it shows our M95 as having more cut than M105, and M04 being just one notch under M105. That could not be more wrong, but it also doesn't tell the entire story.

M105 goes about it's job in a much different way than M04 does, just as an example. For the sake of argument, let's assume for just a moment that these two actually are this close in terms of cut (yes, I'm asking all of you to use your imaginations here for a moment). Would that mean that you could get the same sort of performance out of the two just by adjusting speed, pressure, etc? Most assuredly NOT! M105 uses the latest in very high tech abrasive technology and it works great both with a rotary buffer, a DA buffer, or by hand. M04 is very much an old school, almost "rocks in a bottle" type of compound that is recommended for rotary use ONLY! You most likely will not like this product if you use it on a DA. It was developed back in the day when every car had single stage lacquer or enamel paint, not the modern, catalyzed clear coats they all have today.

While charts like this one can appear to be handy at first glance, they are really no more useful than comparing automobiles simply by their 0-60 time. You can find a two seater convertible sports car that will run from 0-60mph in 5 seconds flat, but you can also find a pickup truck that will match it. Surely nobody would then state that they're basically the same, would they? So much more goes into compounds, polishes and waxes and the differences between them, that attempting to rank them simply by some almost arbitrary value does you, the end user, a terrible injustice.

Now, within our own lineup we can rank products relative to each other in terms of cut, but that's because we do so under controlled conditions - same paint, same buffer, same pad, same operator, etc. We have never seen anyone take a wide variety of these products and use them all in exactly the same way in a concerted attempt to fully document their behavior. Mostly that's because not all of them are designed to be used the same way. For example: D300 was designed specifically for use on a DA buffer running at 4800 opm with a DMC5 microfiber pad. How would that compare to BrandX being used on a DA buffer at 6800 opm on a foam cutting pad, which was likely it's design brief? As you can see, we are no longer comparing just two liquids, but two different systems.... and that's what you really should be looking at. M105 is shown in our system as being a 12 on our cut scale. But that's with a rotary buffer and a wool pad - it's primary design brief. Is it still a 12 when used on a DA with a polishing pad at low speed? No. What about on a microfiber pad with a DA? Well, which DA are you talking about?

If you think any of that is confusing, let's add in another variable; the biggest variable we all have to contend with. Paint. And that discussion could go on for days.

Back to Ultimate Polish. It is a very light duty cleaner polish derived from M205, but with less cutting ability and more polishing oils than M205. And that chart puts M205 waaaay down on the right side of the scale, meaning it's very light duty in the eyes of whomever developed this chart. But we've seen guys remove sanding marks with M205 on a microfiber pad and a DA buffer. Not too long ago, removing sanding marks was reserved for heavy cutting compounds and rotary buffers. And yet, M205 is an incredible finishing polish when used on soft foam finishing pad at low speeds with light to moderate pressure. With that in mind, we could place M205 under almost any column on that chart if you wanted to encompass it's true capabilities.

[dm1179]

Re: Protecting A Brand New Car

Thanks Mike for finding time to reply. I do agree that there are many variables to consider than just the abrasiveness of the product and it is the manufacturer themselves that can shed light on the correct or optimum way to use their product.

I think I am confident enough to use Ultimate Polish. Again, I am only applying this by hand.

It is a very light duty cleaner polish derived from M205, but with less cutting ability and more polishing oils than M205.

Would it be right to say that Ultimate Polish is between #205 and #7 (Show Car Glaze) i.e. acts more as glaze than cleaner?

[learning curve]

Re: Protecting A Brand New Car

http://www.meguiarsonline.com/forums/showthread.php?61779-Orange-peel-trouble