New car in a few weeks, first steps?

[Sframsden3]

Hi all,

I am new to the forums here and new to car detailing in general. A little about myself first... I've only owned used cars in the past and have neglected them most of the time. I have on order a 2013 Mustang GT that I should be receiving in just a couple weeks. I don't plan on neglecting this one and want to keep it in like new condition from the day I get it. My questions are as follows:

1) What are the first things I should do/use when I bring her home? Clay bar, sealant, wax, etc?

2) What products are suggested to keep my new baby looking new throughout the years?

Again, keep in mine I've never once detailed a car before. Way I am looking to get out of this is to keep my car swirl free and also as shiny as when it comes off the factory line (or shinier). My location is in Buffalo, NY and this will be my daily driver. She will have to weather winters and salty roads.

Thanks in advance!

 

[arack]

Hi all,

I am new to the forums here and new to car detailing in general. A little about myself first... I've only owned used cars in the past and have neglected them most of the time. I have on order a 2013 Mustang GT that I should be receiving in just a couple weeks. I don't plan on neglecting this one and want to keep it in like new condition from the day I get it. My questions are as follows:

1) What are the first things I should do/use when I bring her home? Clay bar, sealant, wax, etc?

2) What products are suggested to keep my new baby looking new throughout the years?

Again, keep in mine I've never once detailed a car before. Way I am looking to get out of this is to keep my car swirl free and also as shiny as when it comes off the factory line (or shinier). My location is in Buffalo, NY and this will be my daily driver. She will have to weather winters and salty roads.

Thanks in advance!

I would wash it, use Iron X to decontaminate the paint, clay it,polish the paint(If needed) and then consider a sealant/wax combo or a coating. You will be shocked at all of the stuff that comes off your car with the Iron X and claying steps.

I put Opti Coat on my new Acura last year and I have been very happy. CQuartz is also a decent option.

Since you have some tough winters up there, you should definitely consider a coating. The coating will add some more microns to your clear coat, which will protect your car.

Others will be be soon with their reccommendations.

 

[Sframsden3]

I haven't heard of or read much about IronX. I have heard many people saying they recommend claying the car early on as there tends to be a lot of rail dust from the train ride. What does IronX do? (I will go read about it some now)

 

[Jaretr1]

I would go to the dealer and ask them to leave ALL the plastic and protective covers on the car, and NOT wash it or detail it when it arrives at the dealership. They are more likely to add the DISO (dealer installed swirl option) if they touch the car. Besides, I used to work for a car rental company, and when new cars were delivered, it was kind of fun to rip all the coverings off the cars, seeing how they arrive straight from the factory.

Claying is recommended and then inspect the paint. Read up on Iron X here on the forum and Autogeeks website. Its a neat product. Depending on the condition of the paint, it will definitely need some sort of protection. Read up, choose a sealant, or a wax, whatever suits your fancy. There are so many awesome products to use. Like Mike Phillips says, find something you like and then use it often (or something like that).

The biggest key to keeping it looking great is proper washing techniques and then maintaining and protecting the various surfaces over the years.

The new Mustang GT is a nice ride for sure.

 

[Jaretr1]

I should add a recommendation for Collinite 845. It has great durability and a nice shine, and while a little finicky to use, is also easy on the wallet.

 

[Sframsden3]

One other thing I should add... I currently live in an apartment which does not have a hookup for a hose, so washing my car by hand may be difficult. I've been thinking of using a product like Optimum No Rinse as I've only read good things about that on here, your thoughts?

 

[cleanmycorolla]

One other thing I should add... I currently live in an apartment which does not have a hookup for a hose, so washing my car by hand may be difficult. I've been thinking of using a product like Optimum No Rinse as I've onl read good things about that on here, your thoughts?

ONR is great, even if you had your own garage, you'd still want to use it it is great!

 

[Sframsden3]

I know that AutoGeek has a winter section. Can anyone suggest products that they have used specifically for winter driven cars? If I can coax my girlfriend to park her jeep outside then I can park in our one car garage, otherwise mine will be outside all the time throughout the winter. I'm ost worried about how the salt will affect the products and my car. A lot of my worries come from the fact that my 6 year old car I currently have started rusting at the front lip of the hood. This could have been because I neglected her during ownership but I want to make darn sure that I don't allow my mustang to get rusted.

 

[dad07]

I know that AutoGeek has a winter section. Can anyone suggest products that they have used specifically for winter driven cars? If I can coax my girlfriend to park her jeep outside then I can park in our one car garage, otherwise mine will be outside all the time throughout the winter. I'm ost worried about how the salt will affect the products and my car. A lot of my worries come from the fact that my 6 year old car I currently have started rusting at the front lip of the hood. This could have been because I neglected her during ownership but I want to make darn sure that I don't allow my mustang to get rusted.

you live in the Buffalo area......you have a New GT and she drives a Jeep.......in my mind the jeep stays outside cause that GT is not the most road freindly car in the winters up there!

Look at the Duragloss and Colonite lines for the best protection for the winter months.

Being born and raised in upastate NY I know what the winters can do do to a vehical....

 

[Sframsden3]

you live in the Buffalo area......you have a New GT and she drives a Jeep.......in my mind the jeep stays outside cause that GT is not the most road freindly car in the winters up there!

Look at the Duragloss and Colonite lines for the best protection for the winter months.

Being born and raised in upastate NY I know what the winters can do do to a vehical....

I agree with you 100%. Haven't talked with her about it yet, but I'm sure she would be ok with it as long as I get outside every morning when it snows to clean off her car. If that's the only trade-off then it shouldn't be too bad.

 

[Bradmerritt]

I would keep it very simple. The only thing that will really be needed on your brand new mustang will be a wash and wax. The day you get it of course, go to your local Autozone or Walmart and this is your shopping list.

-Wash mitt

-5 gallon wash bucket

-Good quality car wash soap, preferably Meguiars gold class or Mothers car wash.

-A good quality wax (I would recommend Meguiars Ultimate, Long lasting protection and incredible shine)
-Interior cleaner/ dressing (not Armor All)
- Invisible glass or Windex basic window cleaners
- Quick detailer
- A Package of microfiber towels (for removing wax and for use with your quick detailer)


Keep up your cars finish and interior will a bi weekly wash, interior vacuum, interior wipe down, and probably a once a month wax job if you REALLY want to keep it flawless and prevent from having to correct paint!

This is what id do as routine maintenance on a new vehicle. Best you can get for a guy who just wants to care for his ride and keep it beautiful.
Good luck! Keep that sweet ride looking it's best!

 

[Sframsden3]

Thanks for the great comments so far! A couple more things I have yet to mention:

The mustang is the Deep Impact Blue color.
I have no detailing tools to even begin with. So no buckets, towels, applicators, etc.

 

[tuscarora dave]

I would wash it, use Iron X to decontaminate the paint, clay it,polish the paint(If needed) and then consider a sealant/wax combo or a coating. You will be shocked at all of the stuff that comes off your car with the Iron X and claying steps.

I put Opti Coat on my new Acura last year and I have been very happy. CQuartz is also a decent option.

Since you have some tough winters up there, you should definitely consider a coating. The coating will add some more microns to your clear coat, which will protect your car.

Others will be be soon with their reccommendations.

I would recommend exactly what arack has recommended, in exactly that order. Especially the Iron-X because there is surely rail dust and other fallout on or imbedded in the paint that Iron-X will safely remove, rather than claying it first and potentially marring the new paint. That is if the dealership detailers don't swirl it all up in the dealer prep process.

You should adamantly request that the dealership's detailers not touch the car, learn here at AGO how to handle it yourself the right way so you don't have to live with any repercussions of what a minimum wage dealership detailer might do to the car.

Welcome to the site and read on to learn what to do.

 

[bimmer325!]

all are great tips......and for me..ONR is really great to maintain after the initial LONG process of getting things as perfect as you can. It really does seem to build a "barrier" with continued use as an extra layer of protection as you wash it.

 

[Bradmerritt]

Just bring that shopping list and do what i said for protection right off the bat. Try not to drive it in snow or rain very much and try to keep it in a garage over winter if that's possible all those things ruin your vehicle overtime


Brad Merritt

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

I haven't heard of or read much about IronX. I have heard many people saying they recommend claying the car early on as there tends to be a lot of rail dust from the train ride. What does IronX do? (I will go read about it some now)

You start by washing and drying the car and then you evaluate the condition of the paint by your sense of feel and visually. The results from your inspection will tell you want to do.

If you feel contaminants then you clay the car if you don't then you can skip this step. I'm in the camp that if you clay a car you should also be prepared to at a minimum do some machine polishing to remove any micro-marring or use a hand applied paint cleaner to refine the surface before applying a wax or paint sealant.

Check this article out here,

Gloss starts first with a smooth surface...

The Baggie Test - How to inspect for above surface bonded contaminants


After you inspect the paint with your sense of touch then you want to inspect the paint for things like swirls and scratches. Even though the car is brand new if you read forums like this enough you'll see "Horror Stories" posted all the time which is my term for someone who purchase a new vehicle only to find out the Dealership's Detailer buffed it out only to fill the paint with swirls and scratches. Or they simply washed it and also filled the paint with swirls and scratches.



Let there be light...
(when inspecting the condition of your car's paint)


In this short video you can see how I use the sun to inspect for swirls and scratches.

Before
This is my friend Hink Hinkley's 1965 Mustang Fastback with a true candy raspberry paint job with gold metallic flake in the paint. The paint looks amazing but is in need of some light polishing to remove years of wax build-up as well as swirls and scratches.

[video=youtube_share;7j2Lokh5ooQ&hd=1"]1965 Candy Raspberry Mustang Fastback Show Car...[/video]​

Taken from this thread,

Video & Pictures: 1965 Fastback Mustang - Gtechniq EXO Show Car Makeover!

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

I would recommend exactly what arack has recommended, in exactly that order. Especially the Iron-X because there is surely rail dust and other fallout on or imbedded in the paint that Iron-X will safely remove, rather than claying it first and potentially marring the new paint. That is if the dealership detailers don't swirl it all up in the dealer prep process.

I agree, and here's a portion of an article that shows and explains this process...

1994 Porsche 964 Turbo 3.6 - Modeled by Janna and Amy


Starting at post #19

First thing this morning I washed the car thoroughly but gently as the paint is still overall in pretty good shape. In my e-book there's a section on the two different ways to wash a car (using a normal car wash), and this is the gentle approach.


Before I washed it here's what polish residue looks like after it's dried into fuzzy gaskets like used around the sunroof.

First up... wash the wheels and tires... soft Boar's Hair Brush, lug nut brush and Wolfgang Tire and Wheel Cleaner

The Lug nut brush works really well for cleaning the barrels

Bristles are flexible to get into intricate areas and agitate cleaner with roadgrime and brake dust

Daytona Speedmaster Wheel Brush for getting behind the wheel and into tight areas...

First wheel cleaned and rinsed...

Sprayed on Iron X and let dwell, as you can see the wheels were actually pretty free of any iron contamination... that's a good thing although I know everyone wants to see a lot of color running off the rim... (that would mean the wheel was in fact embedded with iron filings.

After agitating I rinsed...

Perfectly clean and contamination free... I repeated the same procedure to the other three wheels and tires...

Next, wash the body panels starting at the top and working down, I also continually rinsed the wheels and tires as I worked around the car so any lingering resides were rinsed off..

Note the labels on the buckets, simple idea but helpful because as you work around the car even though one bucket is the soap solution and the other is rinse water, they both end up with suds floating on top. The labels make it easy to quickly identify which bucket is which...

Next up... decontaminate the body panels using Iron X

After allowing the product to dwell for a few minutes I gently re-washed the paint and then rinsed all the residue off...

Ready to dry, for this I used Guzzler Microfiber Waffle Weave Drying Towels...

Then Yancy moved the car into full sun so I could capture some before shots... as you can see the paint isn't in to bad of condition. Light swirls and scratches as well as some water imprint spots...

I do all the work... Yancy has all the fun...

Even in this shot with the sun shining down onto the curve of the fender you can see there's not a lot of swirls but there are some scratches around the door handle.

In order to inspect for swirls outside you need bright overhead sunlight...

Yancy positions the Porsche for the buff-out...

Then we opened her up to wipe down the door jambs...

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

As an option, you can dry any excess water from washed panels before spraying on the Iron-X and that way you won't have costly Iron-X being diluted with the standing water and thus get more cleaning action from the product and thus more bang for your detailing bucks....


Like I show in this article,


How to wash your car KISS style!


I start with the wheels and tires first...

I coated these wheels with Meguiar's Hot Rims Brake Dust Barrier back in January and it seems to be doing a good job of preventing brake dust and road grime from accumulating on the wheel.

These are the factory clear coated rims, likely very rare and hard to find. For this reason I'm going to use a 8" Boars Hair Wheel Brush to ensure I don't scratch the clear coat finish. The green tire brush is for the tires and the wheel wells.

Wheels and tires are agitated after spraying with the Detailer's Wheel Cleaner, which is non-acid and safe for both wheels and tires. After agitating the rims and tires, rinse well with water.

Tip from BobbyG
A while back there was a discussion on the best way to use Iron X there were three camps...

Camp 1 - Spray Iron X directly onto dry, dirty wheel.
Camp 2 - Wash wheel and tire, then rinse then spray Iron X onto clean, rinsed wheel.
Camp 3 - Wash wheel and tire, then rinse, then DRY off water and then spray on Iron X
​

I was in Camp 2 because I believed that by removing the road grime, (an oily coating), and the brake dust first, you enable the Iron X to do it's job more effectively to get the most bang for your buck.

The people in Camp 1 thought the Iron X was too costly to allow to possibly drip off the wheel with the excess water after washing and rinsing first.

Camp 3
BobbyG's technique was to simply wash the wheel and tire first, thus removing the oily road grime and brake dust but then pat the wheel dry using a clean utility towel so there would be no excess water to flush the freshly sprayed-on Iron X off the wheel and onto the ground where it's not doing anything for you.

I agree with BobbyG and wanted to share his tip and give him credit for an incredibly easy tweak to my technique so I can get the best performance out of Iron X and get the most bang for your Iron X bucks...

Now spray the Iron X onto the wheel to remove any Iron Particles (if any).

Everyone wants to see the red bleeding effect from the Iron particles being dissolved and in the process turning the water red. Actually, seeing no red water bleeding off the wheel is a good sign because it means your wheels are not contaminated.

If the wheels are contaminated and they have a clear layer of paint on them, this would mean iron particles had embedded onto and into the clear layer of paint causing corrosion to some degree.

No color, no corrosion = longer lasting finish on the wheel.

Continue washing and rinsing the wheels and tires until all four wheels and tires are washed clean and rinsed free from any residual chemicals and dirt.

:xyxthumbs:

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

So...

Wash using technique showed above in the KISS style, that is wheels and tires first then top down.
Iron-X
Rinse and dry
Inspect with sense of touch and visually with good light
Move to next step according to the results from your inspections


Congrats on the new car, the good news is once you get the finish to where you know it's perfectly cleaned and polished, then if you just do a few simple things once in a while you can keep it show room new all the time.

 

[darkangelism]

You may want to get a clear bra for the hood, help protect against rock chips.