New Car Product Advice

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Heya guys, my name is Shane, I live in San Francisco. I'm a hobbyist, sometimes obsessive

I just traded in my 5 year old black C-Class for a little white SUV, the Mercedes GLK. Put a few hundred miles on her before having this past weekend to myself to really get her in shape. Some thoughts:

1. Nice getting away from the black car, which looks amazing when perfect but takes a ton of work to get perfect.
   
2. OMFG my wife had to pick White? A whole new set of problems vs black.

Ok, so a few questions, feel free to offer any guidance to which ever ones interest you:

Any tips for dealing with the pepper specks that get kicked-up from the tires that are visible on the white paint?
I use the safe sponge: Safe Scrub Bug & Tar Pad can be used on glass, chrome, vinyl, fiberglass, paint and clearcoats—100% safe when used with soapy water. after washing, but there was still a couple dozen specks over the the car. Bad enough that I definitely knew I needed to clay the car before waxing it -- on a brand new car with 300 miles on the odo.

Any tips for dressing the trim on a new car?
I bought the C-Class as a 2 year old CPO. This is my first NEW car. I had been using the Griots Vinyl and Rubber dressing on the C. Obviously on this new car, the trim is all very black. So far I've just been washing and drying it normally. What should I do? Apply the dressing? Just wipe with some 303 protectant? Similarly: what about the tires?

I had a clear-bra installed on Friday. Any tips for care?
I chose to just do the front bumper, headlights and LED strip and mirrors. ($495) I declined to do the fenders and hood, because it would've been another $800. I am considering spending $300 on the rear bumper mostly to protect from a*holes who rub you when they parallel park (I live in the SF Bay Area. While I ALWAYS try to park a full days walk from my destination to avoid door dings, sometimes parking in the city is unavoidable and this is the most densely populated peninsula in the country.)

The installer gave me some guidance, and this weekend I just applied the sealant and wax right over the film as if it wasn't there (Aside from his guidance never to clay the film). But any other tips?

Finally, any general tips to my product line-up? I'm placing an order later.

I ran out of shampoo, so i def need to place an order today. I'd love any suggestions of product or critiques of what I'm currently using. Here goes:

• P21S Shampoo. Been using it for a couple years and love it but if anybody has left it for another shampoo, I'd love to know about it.
• Megs #20 Poly Seal. Did a double coat of this. In some places I re-applied more product before buffing off the first coat, any thoughts on that? It's a technique I picked up around here I think.
• Poorboys Natty Blue Liquid Wax - Did a single coat on top of the Poly Seal.
• Stoner Invisible Glass - Is there anything better to deal with the occassional tough water spot?
• Griots Tire Dressing - Same as the other vinyl and rubber, I haven't used this yet on the car, but I have it.
• DP Clay Bar and Lube. This is a fine clay that doesn't marr the surface and it's the only clay I've ever used. Ever. So if there's something better out there..?
• Dodo Juice QD -- I recently read about the new QD from Menzerna, and another, V7 Hybrid caught my eye.
• Griots Interior Cleaner - Got this at AutoZone. I was stunned. Way to go AZ for carrying better products. They have several Megs commercial products as well.
• 303 Aerospace Protectant

 

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I'll try to answer you as much as i can.

For tar problem, try claying first. If it wont come off, try TarX by Carpro. AG sells it. It dissolves tar, asphalt, road film quickly. Like this
View attachment 16708

For clear bra installation, i have to skip because i have no experience

For trim, i casually use 303 aerospace. You should be okay. Or turtle wax trim restorer. Underrated products but hey if it works, it works.

Shampoo, i honestly LOVE meguiars gold class shampoo. The smell is just fantastic. Your current shampoo has great reputation though. Chemical Guys has tons of different shampoos.

Other than that, your inventory looks good. Might wanna try speedy surface prep towel or clay towel because you have an SUV. It covers huge area than a claybar.

Hope it helps!

 

[swanicyouth]

Goo Gone works excellent on tar. Like most of these products, it will remove your wax. As for soaps, can't go wrong with anything from Chemical Guys. For a trim dressing, I'd recommend a polymer product like Prima Infinity.

 

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Thanks guys!

I've never heard of the "surface prep towel" before. Interesting option.

I bought my first bottle of ONR in my order yesterday, in addition to another bottle of P21S shampoo. (I love the smell of the P21S, and actually I love the smell of the Megs Gold Class as well, you're totally right.)

Oh and hey, I got gifted 2 1-litre jugs of Armor All Car Wash a couple years ago and I just about finished with the first jug using it on the old car only to clean tires and wheel wells in my tire bucket. I go through a lot of water and top-off the bucket a few times during the course of the wash so the cheaper soap is good. Is this an awful idea for some reason? Especially if I plan on applying some Megs #20 sealant on my tires? I'd be happy to switch to a jug of the megs shampoo for this use case if anybody thiks the armor all is causing me hidden pain.