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Hello fellow Meguiar's lovers! I apologize for the length of this post, but I feel like the more information I can give the better the answers can be. I recently purchased a new vehicle (my first new car) & have been wanting to get some advice on what to use (& maybe even how) to keep it in the best possible shape. I have been a loyal Meguiar's user (almost exclusively) for the last 15+ years when I have been detailing my vehicles & others. I purchased my new 2012 Chevrolet Equinox 2LT about 3 weeks ago - it has less than 1,000 miles on it so far - and also went & got the Meguiar's New Car Care Kit just to make sure I had a good starting point to keep it clean. I recently moved to Dallas from Nashville and my fiance is still there (along with all of my car care supplies), so I had/have to start from scratch essentially. I was hoping that some people here could help me get the 'Nox looking like a show car. I do all of my stuff by hand. Not that I am opposed to DA or orbitals, just don't have experience with them & hand has worked so far. So if it ain't broke don't fix it sort of thing.
The color of the car is "Summit White". The paint is in new condition obviously. After driving it for one week, I took it out & gave it a thorough wash with Ultimate Wash & Wax, used the Meguiar's Clay Bar kit to remove any contaminants before adding a coat of Ultimate Wax. Then did the tires, wheels, trim, etc. with some Ultimate products. My process goes something like this: Wash - Clay if needed - Polish/Glaze? - Wax - Possibly a 2nd coat of wax - Trim - Glass (with Rain-X glass cleaner & water repellent) - tires - final "buff" with a soft microfiber just to ensure that I hit everything. My question(s):
1. Since it is a new white car, what kind of polish could/should I use to give it a little extra "gloss"? The Ultimate Wax does a good job on its own, but I'm hoping to kick it up a notch. What I was thinking was to use Ultimate Polish or Show Car Glaze #7 followed up by a coat of Ultimate Wax OR Mirror Glaze High Tech Yellow Wax #26. Will the glaze/polish take away any fine swirl marks? Should I use a cleaner wax, then polish, then a carnauba wax? Is it OK to use this system everytime I clean/detail my car? I typically wash & wax my car every 2 weeks on average, sometimes more & sometimes less. The car is kept in a garage overnight, but not during the day. Being in Dallas exposes it to extreme heat, dirty roads with constant grime, and crazy drivers who don't care to ding your beautiful car with their door in the parking lot.
My primary concerns here are to have the best possible shine/gloss and VERY good protection. Water beading is nice, but I want to be confident that whatever wax/sealant I use will keep the paint protected.
2. Do I need to clay the car everytime I apply the polish then wax? I know you should do it when needed, but my thinking was that I wanted to make sure that the base was in the best condition before I started to wax it.
I think that about covers it. Again, sorry for not being brief, I just wanted to cover all of the bases. Any help that anyone could give would be greatly appreciated.
-Adam
The color of the car is "Summit White". The paint is in new condition obviously. After driving it for one week, I took it out & gave it a thorough wash with Ultimate Wash & Wax, used the Meguiar's Clay Bar kit to remove any contaminants before adding a coat of Ultimate Wax. Then did the tires, wheels, trim, etc. with some Ultimate products. My process goes something like this: Wash - Clay if needed - Polish/Glaze? - Wax - Possibly a 2nd coat of wax - Trim - Glass (with Rain-X glass cleaner & water repellent) - tires - final "buff" with a soft microfiber just to ensure that I hit everything. My question(s):
1. Since it is a new white car, what kind of polish could/should I use to give it a little extra "gloss"? The Ultimate Wax does a good job on its own, but I'm hoping to kick it up a notch. What I was thinking was to use Ultimate Polish or Show Car Glaze #7 followed up by a coat of Ultimate Wax OR Mirror Glaze High Tech Yellow Wax #26. Will the glaze/polish take away any fine swirl marks? Should I use a cleaner wax, then polish, then a carnauba wax? Is it OK to use this system everytime I clean/detail my car? I typically wash & wax my car every 2 weeks on average, sometimes more & sometimes less. The car is kept in a garage overnight, but not during the day. Being in Dallas exposes it to extreme heat, dirty roads with constant grime, and crazy drivers who don't care to ding your beautiful car with their door in the parking lot.
My primary concerns here are to have the best possible shine/gloss and VERY good protection. Water beading is nice, but I want to be confident that whatever wax/sealant I use will keep the paint protected.
2. Do I need to clay the car everytime I apply the polish then wax? I know you should do it when needed, but my thinking was that I wanted to make sure that the base was in the best condition before I started to wax it.
I think that about covers it. Again, sorry for not being brief, I just wanted to cover all of the bases. Any help that anyone could give would be greatly appreciated.
-Adam
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