Brand New car, to use sealant or not sealant

JeffsRealm

JeffsRealm

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Hi,

So I have been reading the forums and going through the how to's I just got a brand new truck, and of course I want to keep it shiny. It it literally brand new, 2 weeks old 1000 miles. Before I waxed or anything I wanted to make sure I had a good plan.

My plan was for this weekend to

1. Do a really good wash
2. Clay bar
3. Sealant

Being the paint is brand new there are no swirls or anything.

Next weekend

1. Rims and tires
2. Window treatment
3. Do a really good wash
4. Wax

It is my understanding it is ok to wax over the sealant, gives it more of a shine.

My reason for the sealant is because I am in Michigan, winter is on its way. Sooner than you think. I will not be able to wax it in the winter, I don't have a heated garage and even with space heaters pulling the truck all the way into the garage so the door closes leaves my about 2 inches front and rear bumpers. So basically my thought process is use a sealant, then wax over it for extra shine and protection, keep wax on as long as I can. Make it through the winter and repeat.

So I mentioned this to a friend of mine who works at a body shop, he is not a detailer but a manager. He told me not to use a sealant on brand new paint on a new truck. Because you would be buffing it and removing some of the clear coat. Which ok, I understand if I was going to be removing some swirls, but being it is so new there are no swirls or scratches and I really want to seal it and wax it to keep it that way.

So My question is my plan sound? Is it ok to go ahead and use sealant on a brand new car? Or should I do something else?
 
Your buddy at the body shop is in the wrong business, he has no idea what he is talking about telling you not to use a sealant. The paint on any new vehicle is fully cured long before it hits the dealers lot. Look inside the driver side door and you'll see when the vehicle was actaully manufactured. You are fine to use a sealant or a coating for that matter.

It never ceases to amaze me over the years how little so many body shops actually no anything about properly polishing paint. They mostly just go at it with a rotary and install holograms etc.

Your plan sounds fine, but if you want a sealant to last through a Michigan winter you'll need to apply it again in late September or October.

In your case I'd skip the wax and hit it with two coats of sealant a day apart.
 
I agree with custmsprty, and for the love of all things sacred please don't say winters coming it's JULY! Seal / wax now and seal again in the fall, it's highly unlikely what you out on now will make it thru winter
 
Thanks for the reply, I was pretty sure I was correct I could use a sealant. Having read every thing in the how to's and watched all the videos I seen nothing to the contrary.

And thanks I was wondering if the sealant would last from now to March or April when the weather warms up or if I should do it as late as I can. There should be some good warm days yet in October. However, I started hearing Cicadas today. They are a few weeks early. The old farmers tales, which I have found to be pretty accurate. When you first hear Cicada, 6-8 weeks till first frost. I am hoping I was just hearing one insanely early super confused bug.
 
Why not do it now and in October? Whatever you out on now won't make it to March, plus it'll be better heading into winter with a fresh application. Salt,liquid brine can test even the best sealants but so can the summer sun,bugs,road construction etc. You have a brand new vehicle and I'd suggest sealant every 3-4 months along with regular maintanence to keep it looking the best it could for many years
 
Oh I am planning doing it now and October per both your advice. Sorry if that wasn't clear. I will be putting it on this weekend and then again in October whenever a good warm day shows, Just will keep an eye out on the extended forecast. If it looks like things are going to turn bad will do it. Will hold off in October as long as I can so I get through the winter. Actually this last year I probably could have done it around Halloween we had low 60's. Then soon as I get a warm enough day out March or April I will be doing it again.

Being this is July, so maybe do it again in early mid September? Then push as late as I can with the weather like late October maybe early November?
 
I agree the last few fall seasons have been warm and beautiful, enjoy your new ride!
 
Try collinite 476 for durability through winter. Ive read that it holds up really well throughout the season. I use it here in Australia through the summer and I can easily get 3-4 months out of it in the blistering heat we get.

James
 
The only thing I would add to the good advice already given is looking at the use of a light polish after the claying and before the sealant.

When you clay, no matter how gentle you work it and regardless of the tool (clay alternative or actual clay bar) you'll probably lead to some very light marring. Hitting it with a finiching polish on a DA will remove that marring and really amp the shine.

A few weeks ago I detailed my mother-in-laws Genesis G90 which at the time was about two months old with less than 2K miles. I hit the car with a good AIO and the difference in shine just using the mild abrassives in the AIO was quite noticeable despite the car being white.
 
Also OP I know you said there no swirls and such in your paint because it's new, but have you truly looked? Also once you clay, you'll mar so you'll want to polish. But yeah all cars even new ones have swirls. I suggest really check. I know you think it's perfect paint, it's just not.
 
custmsprty said:
Your buddy at the body shop is in the wrong business, he has no idea what he is talking about telling you not to use a sealant. The paint on any new vehicle is fully cured long before it hits the dealers lot. Look inside the driver side door and you'll see when the vehicle was actaully manufactured. You are fine to use a sealant or a coating for that matter.

It never ceases to amaze me over the years how little so many body shops actually no anything about properly polishing paint. They mostly just go at it with a rotary and install holograms etc.

Your plan sounds fine, but if you want a sealant to last through a Michigan winter you'll need to apply it again in late September or October.

In your case I'd skip the wax and hit it with two coats of sealant a day apart.
Click to expand...

Customsporty has it right. No need for wax.
 
cleanmycorolla said:
Also OP I know you said there no swirls and such in your paint because it's new, but have you truly looked? Also once you clay, you'll mar so you'll want to polish. But yeah all cars even new ones have swirls. I suggest really check. I know you think it's perfect paint, it's just not.
Click to expand...

That's right. As soon as it leaves the factory everyone that touches the car is doing it wrong and adding swirls to the paint. If the dealer washed or "detailed" your car they added a bunch more. You just gotta look under the right lighting and they'll show up. I thought my car was great because I didn't let the dealer wash it but I guess once it came out of the truck and got unwrapped it was washed so under the dirt I found swirls. Not a lot of them but they were there for sure.
 
Thanks all will give it a good polish as well, I have looked in sunlight and didn't see any, but this was just spot checking the fenders and doors. I will do a deeper look and see.
 
What color is it?

My buddy just took delivery of a new 2018 Audi A5 Sportback. As you've seen on the highway when they are delivering their cars they have covers on them. His still had light swirls on it. It's dark gray so easier to see. It sill has swirls on it LOL. But that's another story.

A light polish as noted would do wonders to bring out the shine in the paint.
 
custmsprty said:
What color is it?

My buddy just took delivery of a new 2018 Audi A5 Sportback. As you've seen on the highway when they are delivering their cars they have covers on them. His still had light swirls on it. It's dark gray so easier to see. It sill has swirls on it LOL. But that's another story.

A light polish as noted would do wonders to bring out the shine in the paint.
Click to expand...

That's crazy considering Audis come pretty much completely wrapped and stay that way until delivery. Perhaps just having that cover move a little is enough to start adding those damn swirls marks.
 
JeffsRealm said:
So I mentioned this to a friend of mine who works at a body shop, he is not a detailer but a manager. He told me not to use a sealant on brand new paint on a new truck.

Because you would be buffing it and removing some of the clear coat.

Which ok, I understand if I was going to be removing some swirls, but being it is so new there are no swirls or scratches and I really want to seal it and wax it to keep it that way.

So My question is my plan sound? Is it ok to go ahead and use sealant on a brand new car? Or should I do something else?
Click to expand...


I'm sure your friend means well and there are some sealants that have abrasives, but as long as you use a non-cleaning or non-abrading sealant there will be no paint removed.


Just real quick,

There are cleaner/waxes and non-cleaning waxes. These are two very traditional categories of "waxes".


Then sometime after "car waxes" were invented science stepped in and made car protection pastes and liquids in the laboratory, that didn't not use any traditional natural wax ingredients like Carnauba that we generically call

synthetic paint sealants


In the synthetic paint sealant category there are,

cleaner/synthetic paint sealants and non-cleaning synthetic paint sealants.


See how there are simply type products in the two different categories?


I'm sure your buddy meant well as he was trying to protect you from making a mistake but as long as you stick with a non-cleaning synthetic paint sealant you won't remove any paint. And that's important and here's an article that shows why...


Clearcoats are thin by Mike Phillips



:)
 
My current car I had ordered from the manufacturer. It was built on 04/14/2014 and in my possession by the end of May.

I know nobody worries about new cars and paint but still mine was prettt fresh. I still treated the paint like it was a regular car though.
 
BSoares said:
That's crazy considering Audis come pretty much completely wrapped and stay that way until delivery. Perhaps just having that cover move a little is enough to start adding those damn swirls marks.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I thougt so too and it's a brand new model 4 door version of the A5/S5.
A5 Sportback, it had just arrived. They may have done it during the delivery detail prep stage.

sweet ride:

https://www.audiusa.com/models/audi-a5-sportback
 
There's always minor swirls, a lot of it is because the person who sanded and buffed the paint at the factory is on a time constraint. Your car may look fine but assuming that the dealership got their grubby paws on it, it just might all be glazed over.
Second thing, if body shops knew all about paint care, there wouldn't be people who paid their mortgages by fixing the body shop mistakes.
 
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