New guy lost

[Yellowfever]

A little background first. I have always been the drive through 5$car wash guy and have always had older not very nice cars in not very nice weather. Well I bought a brand new 2015 RAV4 and started researching the proper way to take care of it. Today I went out and bought a bunch of meguiars products to accomplish this. I picked up ultimate wash and wax, ultimate quick detail, ultimate quick wax, a clay bar kit, and done other supplies. I decided to practice on my 15 year old jeep today and I was happy with the results but I have a ton of questions. I guess I'll just ask them.

1. Is using the wash and wax on trim and glass ok or will wax build up?
2. By using the clay bar after this, am I stripping off the wax from the wax and wash and wasting my time and product?
3. After clay baring the car, is the ultimate quick wax sufficient for protecting or do I need to use a more substantial wax?
4. When using the ultimate quick detailer is it better to before or after the quick wax?
5. For a brand new car, would you recommend claying and polishing?

My plan is to wash with the was and wax, clay the car, go over car with ultimate quick detailer, then quick wax.

Any input would be greatly appreciated

[ffboy]

Re: New guy lost

A little background first. I have always been the drive through 5$car wash guy and have always had older not very nice cars in not very nice weather. Well I bought a brand new 2015 RAV4 and started researching the proper way to take care of it. Today I went out and bought a bunch of meguiars products to accomplish this. I picked up ultimate wash and wax, ultimate quick detail, ultimate quick wax, a clay bar kit, and done other supplies. I decided to practice on my 15 year old jeep today and I was happy with the results but I have a ton of questions. I guess I'll just ask them.

1. Is using the wash and wax on trim and glass ok or will wax build up?
2. By using the clay bar after this, am I stripping off the wax from the wax and wash and wasting my time and product?
3. After clay baring the car, is the ultimate quick wax sufficient for protecting or do I need to use a more substantial wax?
4. When using the ultimate quick detailer is it better to before or after the quick wax?
5. For a brand new car, would you recommend claying and polishing?

My plan is to wash with the was and wax, clay the car, go over car with ultimate quick detailer, then quick wax.

Any input would be greatly appreciated

For no. 1, no problem with wash and wax on glass or trim. It is basically a carwash with a bit of wax and polymers to boost existing wax. I would focus on rinsing real well and using good quality microfiber drying towels and drying techniques to minimize scratching and preventing smears on glass.

No. 2, yes, clay will remove wax, after claying, uqw will protect but I would prefer a wax for optimum protection (Gold Class Carnauba, NXT2, Ultimate).

UQD before UQW is better, UQD removes dust and preps the surface before applying UQW.

For a brand new car, yes, I would clay. As for polishing, it depends on how much spiderwebbing or scratches there is on your car.

[ffboy]

Re: New guy lost

What I'd do:

1. Wash with Gold Class Car wash
2. Clay
3. Cleaner Wax (The original in the maroon bottle or paste, or ColorX, White or Black Wax)
4. Wax (NXT 2.0 or Ultimate Wax)
5. Maintain with UQD, use to remove light dust
6. UQW when UQD becomes harder to remove.

[Yellowfever]

Re: New guy lost

Thank you so much for the reply. So if it where you, you wouldnt use the wash and wax? What is a cleaner wax? Is that a polish?

[simiglen]

If you live in so cal I would suggest going to one of the free classes once a month at their Irvine headquarters. They can give you the low down on all the products they offer. Well worth a Saturday.

[The Guz]

Re: New guy lost

Thank you so much for the reply. So if it where you, you wouldnt use the wash and wax? What is a cleaner wax? Is that a polish?

Cleaner waxes are all in one products. They clean, polish and protect. They are often topped with a longer lasting product. They are good for those quick details. They won't correct as much as a product that is dedicated for a specific task such as compound or polish.

You will be fine with ultimate wash & wax. Any of the Meguiar's soaps are fine. It will not build up wax on any surface as the effects of the wax are not that long lasting. It's not meant to be durable. It's meant to give you that freshly waxed look.

Google the baggie test. That will let you know if you need to clay or not. Claying will remove wax so it's recommended to follow up claying with some sort of protection. Also ultimate quik detailer should not be used for claying as it's polymers are to slick that cause the clay bar to not remove the surface contaminants.

Ultimate quik wax is fine but it's not meant to be as durable as a sealant like NXT or Ultimate Wax. It's meant to be a maintenance product to give your wax a little boost.

Save UQD for removing light dust and use UQW after washing the car.

In regards to what you should do with your new car, I would do this as well

1. Wash with Gold Class Car wash
2. Clay
3. Cleaner Wax (The original in the maroon bottle or paste, or ColorX, White or Black Wax)
4. Wax (NXT 2.0 or Ultimate Wax)
5. Maintain with UQD, use to remove light dust
6. UQW when UQD becomes harder to remove.

If you have time you can go into a more in depth process

1. wash
2. clay
3. test spot - use the least aggressive combo (ie ultimate polish). If you need more correction then go to step 4. If you are happy with the finish after using the polish then proceed to step 6.
4. compound - depends on what the test spot tells you
5. polish - will add the gloss to the pain
6. protect - use your favorite wax or sealant
7. maintain - use UQW and UQD to maintain the finish until you are ready to reapply your layer of protection

[Yellowfever]

Re: New guy lost

Thanks everyone, I'm in Ohio with harsh winters. It just dawned on me, what should I do in the winter time? There is no way I'm washing my car in the drive way with -20 windchills.

[Yellowfever]

Re: New guy lost

So I went out and got the products you all recommended. My next question is I have a non metal fin and from I can tell roof racks. How should I tree these? Wax don't wax quick wax? Thanks again! I'm going to go at it today.

[Yellowfever]

Re: New guy lost

It wouldn't let me edit my post but I should have included non metal chrome such as trim and emblems and also plastic bumpers?

[Murr1525]

Re: New guy lost

Yeah, you can wax those.

[The Guz]

Re: New guy lost

Is this a black plastic bumper?

[Yellowfever]

Re: New guy lost

No, it painted the same color as the car. I was mostly concerned about the fake plastic chrome. I just decided to skip those this time until I find out. I took your advice and the car is beautiful and butter smooth to the touch. Thanks a bunch! Is there a better way to mask? It took me almost an entire roll of painters tape and over an hour just to mask.

[The Guz]

Re: New guy lost

Then you treat that bumper like a painted surface. The plastic chrome as well. You can give it a light polish and seal or just a cleaner wax.

There is no real shortcut to masking. It does save you in the end.

[Yellowfever]

Re: New guy lost

I did notice after the cleaner wax (original red can) my car was more shiny than after I added the ultimate wax on top. Is this normal?

[Murr1525]

Re: New guy lost

Yeah, the Ult. Wax is a higher quality, so can look a little better.