advice

[drradin]

Hello I am new to this forum. So hopefully I am in the correct area. I recently bought a new black Porsche Cayman. I never really thought much above wax/polishes. But I really want to take care of this car. I went to the Murray's auto store and the sales guy recommened Mequiar's cleaner wax, wait a week or so and then use the carnuba wax. I bought both. I was wondering what people thought. Thanks.

[Mike Phillips]

Re: advice

There you go!

The sales guy is kind of right in that what he told you will insure the paint is clean with the first product and with the second product you'll be adding more wax and hopefully bringing up the finish quality a notch.

If this is a brand new Porsche, you shouldn't have to do anything but wash it and apply a quality wax, NXT 2.0 would be our recommendation.

Sadly, all too often a brand new car will have DISO that is

Dealer Installed Swirl Option

Best thing to do is to wash the Porsche, then pull it into the sun and inspect the appearance for swirls. There shouldn't be any, if there are then if you want to remove them we can show you how.

Cobweb Swirls vs Rotary Buffer Swirls

Next, feel the paint with your clean hand, it should feel smooth and glassy, if you fell little bumps this means you need to clay the paint. New cars can get dirty with bonded contaminants, it just depends upon what's in the air around the car.

How often do I need to clay my car's finish?


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Hope this helps...

[Mike Phillips]

Re: advice

If after you inspect the paint and you find it's smooth and glassy feeling and looked very good or even swirl-free in the sun, then you can skip the cleaner/wax and just use the Deep Crystal Carnauba Wax, (is this the Carnauba wax you're referring to?).

You could also use the cleaner/wax as a paint cleaner and rub the paint down with this and then following it with the DCCW, that's not an official Meguiar's procedure it's just how some people use a combination of a cleaner/wax and a pure wax together. The Deep Crystal Carnauba Wax is a non-abrasive or non-cleaning wax and can only be used on paint that is perfectly prepared to accept a coat of wax, that is clean and smooth.

The cleaner/wax is just that, it's part cleaner, part polish and part wax or protection ingredients if you will.

Some people will use the cleaner/wax first to insure the paint is clean and contaminant-free and then follow this with what would be called a "Topper", that is a finishing wax like the Deep Crystal Carnauba Wax.

But if your Porsche is brand new, it shouldn't have dirty paint, it shouldn't need to be clayed or cleaned or polished in any way, thus you could wash and use a 'pure wax'.

A lot of people will actually use ColorX first to clean a car's paint and then top with NXT 2.0

The entire idea being that topping with a product that's more intended for beauty and protection and less with cleaning the end-result will be brought up a notch or so higher than the results achieved solely by the cleaner/wax.

Kind of a two step approach.

Again, a new car of any make or model should only need to be washed and then waxed using a finish wax, not a cleaner/wax.

The above is just one combination ways to clean and protect paint, the way according to the 5 Step Paint Care Cycle would be to use a paint cleaner like ScratchX or Deep Crystal Paint cleaner as your paint cleaner instead of a cleaner/wax, that is use a dedicated product for a dedicated procedure. Then after cleaning the paint, apply your choice of wax.

Make sense?

Hope that helps...

[BlueZero]

Re: advice

Welcome to MOL!

I love the Cayman and black is my favorite color. Feel free to post some photos of your car. I can set one as your avatar then too.

[drradin]

Re: advice

Thanks Mike. So should I go buy the Color X and then the NXT? And not use the Carnuba wax(I bought the step 3, deep Crystal) There are so many choices, I definitely would like to stick to Meguiar's. Some of my friends say they don't like carnuba waxes, they say it ruins the finish? Again I am new to this. I just want the car to look as good as possible. Thanks. Dan

[drradin]

Re: advice

Thanks. I will when I get some.

[Murr1525]

Re: advice

ColorX and the Cleaner/Wax in the maroon bottle are both cleaner/waxes, ColorX is just a bit stronger. ColorX is a very good product, but there is nothing wrong with using your current Cleaner/Wax till it is used up if you want to.

Meguiars also recomends two coats of wax, to ensure even coverage, and thus even looks and protection. Either of the cleaner/waxes would count as prepping the paint, and your first coat of wax.

Then, you would top it with a regular wax to get the recomended 2nd coat. You could use the DC#3, it has been around for years, but it is Meguiars entry level product. (still better than most)

If you wanted to try a higher level product, Gold Class Wax is a carnuba blend like the DC#3, while Nxt Tech Wax 2.0 is a synthetic. Nxt 2.0 is very popular, thats for sure.

Hope that helps, or ask some more.

[Nappers]

Re: advice

Welcome to MOL.

Great advise from those above to keep that car shiny

Aaron

[Derrick]

Re: advice

Welcome to MOL, just follow the advice given above and you are good to go

[J. A. Michaels]

Re: advice

Welcome to mol.

[yalerd]

Re: advice

Hi and welcome to Meguiar's Online!

[Mike Phillips]

Re: advice

Thanks Mike. So should I go buy the Color X and then the NXT? And not use the Carnauba wax(I bought the step 3, deep Crystal) There are so many choices, I definitely would like to stick to Meguiar's.

Actually, the point we tried to share was that because your Porsche is BRAND NEW it shouldn't need a cleaner/wax and it shouldn't need a paint cleaner, it shouldn't even need to be clayed.

But you should check to see what the paint needs by evaluating the condition of the paint. You do this by washing the car to get it clean and then looking at it with you eyes in good light like sunlight and feeling the horizontal surfaces with your clean hands.

• You shouldn't see any swirls because it's brand new
• You shouldn't feel any little bumps indicating above surface bonded contaminants because its brand new

But because there are more horror stories about the condition of paint on brand new cars bought from dealerships than there are glowing praises on this forum and all auto discussion forums, you should first check these for things by evaluating the condition of the paint and let the results of your surface evaluation be you guide for choosing which product to use.

If you find your car's paint is in perfect condition, no swirls no bonded contaminants then take the cleaner/wax and the DCCW back to the store and upgrade to a higher quality product like NXT Tech Wax or Gold Class or in our Professional Line M26 or M21

Then maintain this brand new car with a high quality car wash like Gold Class. If you want to keep the black paint looking good then you're going to have to take ownership of the car washing procedure, you can't take this black Porsche to a car wash and expect it to remain swirl free.

Again, sorry to have to say that you have to inspect the paint on a brand new car to make sure it's in new condition because all to often the paint is hacked up at a dealership, so there's no way for us to tell you what to use to get great result until AFTER you inspect the paint like we've written twice now. (Have you done this yet)

Here's the system for a show car shine

1. Wash the car - (You can't evaluate the condition of the paint unless it's clean)
2. Evaluate the condition of the paint - (This will tell you which products you need)
3. Choose the right products and use good technique - (just makes good sense)

Your trying to do the third thing on the list without having done the first 2 things on the list.

We understand why, it's easy to assume that a brand new car will be in brand new condition and we hope it is, but just for fun and because it's black, do yourself a favor and before applying anything to the paint first wash or wipe the paint clean using a quick detailer and then inspect the paint, evaluate the TRUE condition of the paint.

Then let us know what you find out and the you can choose a product and start applying it.

Some of my friends say they don't like Carnauba waxes, they say it ruins the finish? Again I am new to this. I just want the car to look as good as possible. Thanks. Dan

Your friends are wrong. Carnauba doesn't ruin anything it protects and adds beauty and it's been doing this on all kinds of surfaces for longer than your friends have been alive. If Carnauba wax ruined paint there would be discussion forums devoted to just that topic and headlines in newspapers and in auto magazines about this and you just don't find this in the real world.

Beside that Meguiar's doesn't make a straight Carnauba wax, we make "Blended Waxes", that is we blend multiple ingredients into a car wax formula which is a benefit to you. Not going to go into this as we've typed this up in other places on the forum, do a search using the words blended wax or just blended. Read the back label of the Deep Crystal Carnauba wax and see what it says about what's inside of the bottle.


Hope that helps....






p.s.

For what it's worth, if this were my Porsche I would wash it gently, (is is brand new), I would then inspect the paint in bright sunlight for swirls, I would feel the paint for bonded contaminants and if the paint looked GREAT in the sun and felt SMOOTH and GLASSY to the touch, I would apply NXT 2.0 for my choice of wax. That's just my personal choice.

The guy behind the counter sold you a cleaner/wax and if your car is brand new it shouldn't need a cleaner/wax. The Deep Crystal Carnauba Wax is a great wax, but NXT 2.0 is a better wax IMHO and the wax I use on my cars and any cars I work on for customers.

[drradin]

Re: advice

Thanks guys? So I should use the cleaner wax first? Even if it is a new car? Is there any truth that too much wax is "bad" for your car. Is NXT a superior product to the Deep Crystal Carnuba wax?
Thanks.

[drradin]

Re: advice

Thank you very much Mike. I really appreciate that excellent advice.

Dan

[drradin]

Re: advice

Thanks Mike. I had another question. I washed my car, it looks really good, little swirl. There are a few fine scratches, some look "white" what would you recommend to get rid of this, the color X? And can you just use this as a "spot" treatment? And then follow up with the NXT wax. Do you like the liquid or paste?