New car purchase

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Kenlbr

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Please help !!!!

Haven't gotten a new car in twenty years, will purchase on in the net 30 days.
Want to start off right and protect finish/paint at the beginning.

What do I need to do first before I start driving? Wash ?Wax ? Sealant? Polish ? Leave it alone for a period of time?
I would assume hand wax?
Want to give it that first protection that will be best for the life of the car.

Body and wheels.

Buick Lacrosse, not sure if it will be 2011 or 2012.

Little overwhelmed by choices here.

Wax- finishing or cleaning.

Wash- soap to use.

Polish?

Sealant ? Not really sure what this means and does?

Also leather seats ? Any suggestions to do here from the start?


Guess what I am really asking is...
What to do first to give it the best protection that will be best for the life of the car.

Costs is not a consideration in decision, just want to do best for initial foundation for permanent protection.

Thanks,
 
Do you have any products at this time?

What I would do personally is fully correct the paint so there are no swirl marks and the paint is at its highest potential and use a nano coating such as Opti-Coat or Cquartz to seal it from the elements.
 
From what I've been reading around here, it's not uncommon for cars to come from the dealer already full of swirls (even if they hid it with a glaze). For me at least, if I was buying a new car I'd first tell the dealer not to do any prep on it (i.e. instill or hide swirls) then I'd do the following.....

  • start off with a good car wash soap + Dawn to strip off anything that is helping cover up problems
  • Clay (who knows how long it sat in the shipping lot before it got to the dealer or you)
  • Figure out if it has any swirls/scratches already and polish as necessary to fix
  • Seal
  • wax if desired
  • use a good leather cleaner & conditioner on the seats regularly
 
What he said.^^^^^^ :iagree:
Nice car. Good luck with it.
 
I would strongly consider Opti Coat 2.0 for a new car. You will not be disappointed.
 
Let me get this straight:
After claying, then polish, the Opti Coat(is that the sealant, when you speak of seal?), then wax ?

After that jsut wax periodically ?


flyinion said:
From what I've been reading around here, it's not uncommon for cars to come from the dealer already full of swirls (even if they hid it with a glaze). For me at least, if I was buying a new car I'd first tell the dealer not to do any prep on it (i.e. instill or hide swirls) then I'd do the following.....

  • start off with a good car wash soap + Dawn to strip off anything that is helping cover up problems
  • Clay (who knows how long it sat in the shipping lot before it got to the dealer or you)
  • Figure out if it has any swirls/scratches already and polish as necessary to fix
  • Seal
  • wax if desired
  • use a good leather cleaner & conditioner on the seats regularly
Click to expand...
 
Opti-Coat is a polymer coating that supposedly will seal and protect your paint for the life of the car. CQuartz is another option marketed to last roughly 2 yrs. I have used CQuartz and it has done wonders for maintaining my wife's black Nissan Maxima that has a very soft clear coat. I think either product would be a good option to get you headed in the right direction.
 
Kenlbr said:
Please help !!!!

Haven't gotten a new car in twenty years, will purchase on in the net 30 days.
Want to start off right and protect finish/paint at the beginning.

What do I need to do first before I start driving? Wash ?Wax ? Sealant? Polish ? Leave it alone for a period of time?
I would assume hand wax?
Want to give it that first protection that will be best for the life of the car.

Body and wheels.

Buick Lacrosse, not sure if it will be 2011 or 2012.

Little overwhelmed by choices here.

Wax- finishing or cleaning.

Wash- soap to use.

Polish?

Sealant ? Not really sure what this means and does?

Also leather seats ? Any suggestions to do here from the start?


Guess what I am really asking is...
What to do first to give it the best protection that will be best for the life of the car.

Costs is not a consideration in decision, just want to do best for initial foundation for permanent protection.

Thanks,
Click to expand...

What color?
 
Congratulations on the new car! :dblthumb2:

If you like detailing and want to attend to the finish on more of a regular basis then I suggest a sealant then a wax.

If you're looking for some requiring less maintenance then go with a product like Optimum Opti-Coat 2.0

Wash
Clay
Polish with something like Menzerna Super Finish PO106FA
Wash thoroughly
Dry
Optimum Opti-Coat 2.0
 
My wife just got a lacrosse as well. She had a Pontiac GP GTP before that was black. It was tough to maintain. I have always washed, clay barred and used a cleaner wax. Never used a sealant or polish?
 
sserdlihc said:
My wife just got a lacrosse as well. She had a Pontiac GP GTP before that was black. It was tough to maintain. I have always washed, clay barred and used a cleaner wax. Never used a sealant or polish?
Click to expand...

Polishes remove minor blemishes making the finish glossy.

Sealants are a synthetic or man made wax that is applied to the paint to give it some added protection.

Paints today are very durable however to maintain them auto manufactures recommend that you wash them regularly and apply a protective product. Some folks are under the impression that factory paints, especially clears, do not require maintenance and that's a public misconception....
 
Congrats on the upcoming purchase of your new vehicle. Here is what I would suggest...

Assuming you have picked up some information looking around the forum and on AG, and have picked up some good products on AG (of course), when you have it home, prepare yourself for the work:

Inspect the car...get to know the lines and curves of your car. Check to make sure that all of the pre-delivery plastic wrapping has been removed, expecially in door jams, bumpers, and under the side mirrors. If there are some left and you can not remove it yourself, I highly suggest some scraperight razor blades used with a quick detailer.

Wash your vehicle using a nice ph balanced shampoo and a high quality wash mitt. I use DoDo Juice Born To Be Mild married with the DoDo Juice Wookies Fist Wash Mitt. I am also thinking of picking up the Carpro Wash mitt that Cee Dog reviewd here: http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/product-reviews/38573-review-carpro-wool-wash-mitt.html

I highly recommend washing the wheels and tires first, WITHOUT pre-rinsing the vehicle, so as to not let any water sit on the paint. Empty out your wash buckets and then fill with fresh water and water and soap mix, assuming you're using a two bucket wash method-which you can get 5 gallon buckets from lowes for a few bucks...but get you some grit guard inserts from AG-they fit nicely in those buckets.

Dry with a high quality MF towel, but after you have layed down a nice polish/wax layer I highly recommend getting a dedicated leaf blower. Yes...I promise your neighbors will give you the wtf face, but atleast you're minimizing the appearance of swirls.

After you have washed and fully dried your car, clay your car. Eventhough its brand new, you still do not want to take the chance of any air born contaminants being "sealed" into the paint.

After claying, I would recommend a one step cleaner/polish/sealant such as the Optimum Poli seal with an tangerine LC hydro tech pad. After you have done this, remove the polishing oils with an IPA wipedown or other method of removing the polishing oils such as Griots Garage Paint Prep. Then...bring your hard work full circle with a good carnuba wax.
 
Kenlbr said:
Let me get this straight:
After claying, then polish, the Opti Coat(is that the sealant, when you speak of seal?), then wax ?

After that jsut wax periodically ?
Click to expand...

You've got it. one thing to make sure of if you use one of the newer, more durable sealers (Opticoat, Cquartz) is to make sure the paint is as perfect as you want it to be from polishing before you apply the sealant, because once you do that you won't want to go backwards to the correction step.

So make sure it's clayed, cleaned, and then look at it in the sunlight (the powerful halogen lights in parking lots at night are also sometimes useful to point out flaws) to make sure you're happy with the paint finish...then seal away!

:dblthumb2:
 
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