How long to wait before waxing a brand new car?

Tato said:
Nice answer ZimRandy, thank you for that.

Your (Randy) answer also added a lot to my educational plan.

Again, thank you for sharing your thoughts,

Kind Regards.
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No problem. Good luck with education plan. I think that is a great first step with a customer.

I just had this talk over the weekend with a friend who traded in his 2011 Duramax crew cab dually for a 2014. I gave his old truck a quick once over and removed some paint transfer before the trade (where he received compliments and top dollar due to it's condition! :xyxthumbs: ). They actually remembered that he had a 'detail guy' but they still washed the new truck for him. Ugh.

When he bought his 2011, he gave strict orders not to wash it and not to put their sticker on it as it was going to his detailer (me) right away. They still washed it and put the dealership sticker on and when he pointed it out they offered to "buff it off" and remove the sticker.:eek:

He has asked me to seal his new truck and told me it should be nearly perfect and won't need any buffing. After going through the history of the truck and all the hands that may have touched it before he picked it up, he agreed that it probably needs a light buff before it is sealed. The truck was found on another dealer's lot and driven 150 miles to the dealer where he picked it up so the history is unknown from the time of the build.

So guess who gets to polish and Opti Coat a huge 2014 Duramax crew cab dually over Christmas break? Oh yeah, it is black, too. :D

Randy
 
Nice story, Thank you for that.

Good luck on your opti coat, luckily your friend have someone like you. He will be nothing but amazed with the investment. I always like to start correct right from the beginning (if that makes sense in english!).

Kind Regards.
 
I got my car Sept 10th, 2011 and is was driven, by the salesman, 451 miles to the delaership I bought it from. At the time I had Zaino Z-5 pro and VFX and applied 3 coats the next day after a good wash and clay. I feel there is no need to wait, just check the paint and do what you've gotta do and get with it!

Sent from my SPH-M930 using AG Online
 
Why did you use the medium grade Nanoskin Autosrub on a new car? I've always heard to use fine grade on anything other than a highly contaminated older car as the medium has a decent chance of maring. Which on an older car will need to be compounded and polished anyway doing away withany marring.

Thanks for this post. I've seen too often the outdated idea that you have to wait a month after buying a new car to coat/seal.
 
ClayR said:
Why did you use the medium grade Nanoskin Autoscrub on a new car?
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Wanted to make sure 100% I removed EVERYTHING off the surface the first pass around while also doing the procedure as fast as I could.

I machine scrubbed the entire car as I found above surface contaminants on the horizontal panels as well as the vertical panels.

I then machine polished all the panels. The use the paint prep polish and then hand applied the coating. All in all from start to finish it took me 6 hours including doing the wheels, tires and glass which I didn't include in the write-up nor took pictures of either.


ClayR said:
I've always heard to use fine grade on anything other than a highly contaminated older car as the medium has a decent chance of marring. Which on an older car will need to be compounded and polished anyway doing away with any marring.
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Amazing thing... after using the Medium Grade over the car both the owner and I inspected using both the Brinkmann Swirl Finder Light, (fully charged), and the Rupes Swirl Finder Pen Light, and neither of us could see any marring anywhere.

I'm going to credit this to the Ceramiclear finish. I've posted this multiple times on this forum but here it goes again...

I'm a HUGE fan of Ceramiclear paints.



ClayR said:
Thanks for this post. I've seen too often the outdated idea that you have to wait a month after buying a new car to coat/seal.
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Urban legends die hard...


:)
 
There is a way to get your car directly from the factory if you want to pick it up 'factory fresh'. :xyxthumbs:

You can order a Corvette with the option R8C that allows you to pick up the car at the Bowling Green, KY factory / Musuem.

National Corvette Museum - Museum Delivery

We are thrilled to offer the Museum Delivery program to new Corvette Owners. It is an adventure like no other and a memorable addition to your new Corvette purchase. Hundreds of enthusiasts take delivery of their new Corvette at the Museum each year … Let our team be part of your new Corvette purchase.

How It All Starts: NCM Delivery is referred to as OPTION "R8C" and is available through any Chevrolet Dealer at a cost of $990.00. It must be specified at the time the order is finalized and a special Ship Code of "184590" must also be used to identify your Corvette for Museum Delivery.

The Communications: After a TARGET PRODUCTION WEEK has been established, the National Corvette Museum will contact the selling dealer and/or the customer and offer a reasonable time frame in which the customer can choose a date for delivery. This contact will normally occur approximately two weeks prior to the TARGET PRODUCTION WEEK allowing ample time for the customer to make travel arrangements. The Museum will confirm the date, agreed upon by customer, in writing and will handle all further communications. If at any time the selling dealer and/or customer should have any questions regarding the delivery, they may contact the Museum at 1-800-205-4248.

The Paperwork: Customers must arrive at the NCM with the following items before a delivery can take place:

A License Plate or Temporary Tag
Proof of Ownership
(Bill of sale, etc.)
Proof of Insurance
Valid Operator's License
Dealer Acknowledgement form

The Delivery: The customer arrives at the NCM with up to three additional guests of age 7 and up, total (4) and is welcomed with signs commemorating the event. They are taken to the Corvette Assembly Plant (located across the street from the NCM) for their own NCM Delivery Team guided VIP tour (when available). Museum Delivery customers will be transported to the Corvette Assembly Plant for a tour in a GM courtesy vehicle. All non-GM vehicles driven by guests wishing to transport themselves is acceptable and has a designated area. View complete plant required guidelines here.

A personal, special VIP guided tour of the NCM is conducted where they will see their Corvette on display. Next, a member of the NCM Delivery Team provides a quality orientation followed by a thorough delivery presentation of their new vehicle. A unique gold decal is placed on the inside of the drivers door jamb to signify the importance of this memorable occasion.

The customer is presented with an individual one year NCM membership*.

*Memberships which come with our R8C Museum Delivery program are upgradable.

What to Wear/What to Bring: Closed toe shoes (no sandals) are a requirement for all visitors to the plant. No cameras, backpacks, purses, fanny packs, or other packages or containers may be brought into the plant except by special request (for medical reasons, etc.). Cameras are welcome at the Museum.

Post Delivery: A commemorative nameplate (with the customer's name, date of delivery and VIN) is ordered for the participant the day of delivery. The nameplate will then be shipped directly to the customer. Exclusive NCM Delivery merchandise may also be ordered by participants.

Lodging: The Museum proudly recommends our business member hotels, motels, campgrounds and bed and breakfasts. Business Members Lodging.


Car rental from Nashville BNA Airport: Enterprise Rent-A-Car has special rates and services for R8C participants arriving at the Nashvile airport. One is a round trip rental and the other is a one way rental where the car can be left at the NCM. Use the links below to make reservations on the Enterprise web site.
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Some of my customers have done this and think it is pretty cool.

Randy
 
custmsprty said:
Congrats on the new ride, it's awesome.

That second picture makes me so thankful I live in Florida. :wow:
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Back atcha...I've been partial to black cars, and I love your Genesis! Yes, road salt is a part of daily life up here in the winter!
 
Hey all, I just detailed my truck the other day, my question is, when is the next time you usually wax your vehicle?
 
preet16 said:
Hey all, I just detailed my truck the other day, my question is,

when is the next time you usually wax your vehicle?
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That's all up to you... There's a saying,

Nothing looks better than a freshly waxed car


If you want your car to have that just waxed look then just wax your car.


But seriously, the next time you would wax your car really depends on how you maintain the car after waxing it balanced against your expectations for how you want your car to look.

I like my truck to look like I just waxed it all the time. Wheels and tires too...


Check out this article...

How to maintain a freshly waxed car


:dblthumb2:
 
There is a grain of truth to the "wait before you wax a new car" myth. It stems from the import quotas on Japanese cars that started around 1984.

The country was in a very deep recession. The domestic manufacturers were getting the stuffing knocked out of them by the Japanese. So, "voluntary" import quotas were imposed. Naturally, the economy turned around fairly abruptly just about the time the import quotas were imposed. If you wanted to buy a Japanese car, you would go to the dealer who would have a grease pencil board with the type of car and its expected arrival date. You would negotiate up from msrp. [yes! really!].

The Japanese practiced "just in time" manufacturing practices. So, a car destined for the U.S. market would roll off the assembly line and then sprayed with a thick, vasoline-like substance for the sea journey. The car would arrive in the U.S., and be cleaned, I suppose at the dealer, where the buyer would pick up the car in a day or two. The proud purchaser would then instantly wax his car. All-in-all, the car might spend three or four days without a coating on its paint. It would not have a full chance to cure. The paint would fade. I know, because I was one of those people.

As so many have pointed out, the wait-before-you-wax thing has no application today.
 
A lot of American manufacturers practice just-in-time as well. My car was built on 11/26 with parts that had arrived at the factory within 24 hours of the start of production. I received it on 12/5. BUT, the paint was baked on at the factory and was applied by a robot in minutes. Out gassing isn't really a concern here.
 

Umm...

I think this is trick question. The answer is NEVER !!!


Coat it, get the best protection possible to start with...

 
TroyScherer said:

Umm...

I think this is trick question. The answer is NEVER !!!


Coat it, get the best protection possible to start with...
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Mike generally writes his articles for a broad audience, such as an audience that might google something like "When can I wax my new car". For some, wax is as far as they know anything about. Even Meguiars markets their consumer grade paint sealant as a wax.

And, some of us still like a sealant/wax combo :)
 
Romans5.8 said:
Mike generally writes his articles for a broad audience, such as an audience that might google something like "When can I wax my new car". For some, wax is as far as they know anything about. Even Meguiars markets their consumer grade paint sealant as a wax.

And, some of us still like a sealant/wax combo :)
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<FacePalm>

 
Romans5.8 said:
Mike generally writes his articles for a broad audience, such as an audience that might Google something like

"When can I wax my new car".
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Correct. AGO attracts a very diverse audience from total beginners to seasoned pros and everyone in-between.


Romans5.8 said:
For some, wax is as far as they know anything about. Even Meguiars markets their consumer grade paint sealant as a wax.
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Correct. They know the attention span of "Joe Consumer" is short and they only have seconds to capture the retail store sale. So instead of calling NXT Tech Wax something like NXT Teach Sealant, or fill-in-the-blank, they kept it very simple and used the word WAX.

We here in the forum world all know it's a synthetic paint sealant but in the real world you have about 3-5 seconds to get the attention of the average person looking to purchase a car wax and if the bottle doesn't say "wax" like Turtle Wax you risk losing the sale to the bottle that does say wax.

I'm actually a big fan of keeping names short and accurate but understand the marketing side too...



Romans5.8 said:
And, some of us still like a sealant/wax combo :)
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I like using a finishing wax on most of the hot rods and classics that we work on here at Autogeek because it's fairly easy for the owners to then do the follow-up care because it's very simple and straight forward.


:)
 
BTW, did your niece ever allow you to perform a full detail? How does she feel about detailing now? I know I've learn a lot since I bought a new 2013 3 years ago when I said to myself I will take care of this one and learned how. Just wondering....
 
So I have a brand new F150 that is a little over a week old that I ordered. The dealer did wash it once and it appears they did not induce alot of scratches. I had some paint protection film installed and it looks good they did decontaminate before installing the film on the areas where it was installed. Now I want to protect the rest of the truck. I plan on getting a DA Flex but and really never done much machine polishing a little on my old Tundra and it turned out pretty good . My question is if I don't really see any scratches in the new paint and clay every thing first and don't feel any obvious defects should I still polish anything prior to a sealant and wax ? Seems like doing so would just be accelerating paint wear. The hard part for me is selecting the right products so any recommendations would be welcome. Or any criticisms as well.
 
Brand new car off the assembly line 1 week ago(prep work?)

Hello everyone,i am new to this site and using optimum sealant gloss syringe.
I ordered the opti gloss and opti prep for removing dealer wax,2017 honda cr-v white in color.
I did order proper micro fiber towels and such applicators too.
when looking at the car with great lighting inch by inch i cannot see any swirls or marks of any kind at all.
My question is should i just (1 )wash with no rinse was and shine (2)use opti prep,and (3) use opti seal.
i didn't know if i need any other prep if it looks perfect hard to believe but true.car was built 9 days ago.do i need to polish if it looks great.
I am new to site and sealants,thank you very much ahead of time!!
 
eyebanger welcome to the forum! Even with a brand new car I would still use Iron-X and clay before coating my car. Even if it looks perfect there may be contamination you can't see. Try the baggie test (put your hand in a plastic baggie and rub it on the paint) if it feels perfectly smooth you may be alright to prep and coat. I still would decon my paint to be sure it was clean before coating. Again, welcome!
 
Hey rimccarty, if I use the baggie test and it's smooth, but feel tiny bumps under the baggie, I imagine a clay bar is in order? The car is only 3 months old, well 3 months since delivery, and I waxed it once. You had posted on one of my threads about Xpel. I'm looking to get it done the end of the month. Would a polishing with a DA polisher fix that? If so, I'll have my installer do it, as I don't own one yet. Didn't think I'd need to Iron-X a brand new car, but maybe yes? Maybe have him decon the areas to be Xpeled?
Wish I knew about this forum before I took delivery, and not 2 months after. Enough info to make your head spin!
 
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