New car with rally strips

[Petee]

I have a 2016 Camaro SS in Nightfall Gray Metallic, it also has Black Metallic Rally stripes, that I know are vinyl. It, like most, was blessed with the normal amount of dealer installed scratches. In looking around in the forum I saw an excellent post with the below info which seemed appropriate for my car as well. I am planning to buy an MT300 unless you think money might be better spent elsewhere, and what precautions should I take with these stripes? The below I copied from another post and it all seemed to be an excellent process to follow as well? Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!

1. Wash the car using Gold Class (2 bucket system with grit guards, and a microfiber mit)
2. One/two applications of #9. I figured that since the paint is basically brand new and the swirls/scratches are not very bad, this very light polisher/cleaner would be suitable. Otherwise, I would try #80 or #83, I guess? Should I consider ScratchX?
3. One/two applications of #26 liquid wax. Is there any benefit to using the paste over the liquid?
4. Maintain between washes with UQD.

[The Guz]

Re: New car with rally strips

I have a 2016 Camaro SS in Nightfall Gray Metallic, it also has Black Metallic Rally stripes, that I know are vinyl. It, like most, was blessed with the normal amount of dealer installed scratches. In looking around in the forum I saw an excellent post with the below info which seemed appropriate for my car as well. I am planning to buy an MT300 unless you think money might be better spent elsewhere, and what precautions should I take with these stripes? The below I copied from another post and it all seemed to be an excellent process to follow as well? Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!

1. Wash the car using Gold Class (2 bucket system with grit guards, and a microfiber mit)
2. One/two applications of #9. I figured that since the paint is basically brand new and the swirls/scratches are not very bad, this very light polisher/cleaner would be suitable. Otherwise, I would try #80 or #83, I guess? Should I consider ScratchX?
3. One/two applications of #26 liquid wax. Is there any benefit to using the paste over the liquid?
4. Maintain between washes with UQD.

Tape off the edge of the stripes when applying wax. You will avoid wax build up on them by doing that.

I would recommend you consider ultimate polish or M205 over M9. The two recommended polishes use modern abrasives. They are both fine polishes.

There is no benefit of liquid or paste when it comes to M26.

You should also consider adding ultimate quik wax into your maintenance regiment. It is more durable than UQD. Search around using ultimate quik wax as a drying aid.

[Priyaka]

Re: New car with rally strips

Even though the car is new, it probably has contaminants on or below the surface of the paint. As such, you may want to consider using a product like CarPro Iron-X to remove below surface contaminants. Afterwards, if the paint feels rough and/or gritty using the baggy test, you may want to clay the car using a product life Megs C2000 detailing clay or Megs Smooth Surface Clay Kit (which includes the clay lube).

http://www.meguiars.com/en/professional/products/c2000-detailing-clay-(mild)/

http://www.meguiars.com/en/automotive/products/g1016-smooth-surfacereg-clay-kit/

Note: you will not have to decontaminate your car at every wash--just as needed (maybe once every 6 or 12 months).

[Petee]

Re: New car with rally strips

Thanks for the input, should I not wax the stripes at all then or should they be done by hand after the cleaning and waxing of the rest of the car?

[The Guz]

Re: New car with rally strips

Are they gloss or matte black stripes?

[Petee]

Re: New car with rally strips

They are gloss black metallic

[The Guz]

Re: New car with rally strips

You can wax them.

[Petee]

Re: New car with rally strips

Great to know, thank you!