What should I expect?

[Stevelsd]

I am new to the detailing arena. As I purchase a few necessary startup products I am wondering what should I expect. I have a new black KIA Optima. It is buffed out and shines like a nice new car.

With the new wash\clay\polish\wax products, should I expect to just retain the factory sparkle or should I expect more from the detail investment that will give me a superior noticeable deep wet shine for my new Optima?

rops:

Thanks ahead of time
Stevelsd

 

[custmsprty]

Pics?

 

[Stevelsd]

I probably didn't word this correctly. My apologies.

I am asking if when one performs a good polish-wax task, will the car be better looking than when a car that first comes from the dealership that has been buffed.

Thanks
Stevelsd

 

[ken tuep]

It depends on the cleanliness and condition of the vehicle prior to polishing and waxing. In most cases, there is a significant difference in shine, and most of all, the feel of your ride. You'll also notice how much cleaner it stays between washes, and how much easier it is to maintain.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I777 using AG Online

 

[Chicago Tommy]

I probably didn't word this correctly. My apologies.

I am asking if when one performs a good polish-wax task, will the car be better looking than when a car that first comes from the dealership that has been buffed.

Thanks
Stevelsd

Yes. You can usually make a new car look better than showroom new. Most dealers don't buff new cars. If they did buff it, inspect it in full sun for buffing holograms. Are you looking to work with power tools? A good Dual Action Polisher would help you immensely.

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

I probably didn't word this correctly. My apologies.

I am asking if when one performs a good polish-wax task, will the car be better looking than when a car that first comes from the dealership that has been buffed.

Thanks
Stevelsd

Definitely YES!


Here's the deal.... it's hard to take something that's already really nice, (a brand new car with brand new paint), and wash, polish and wax it and create a DRAMATIC before and after difference.

That said you can take something that's very nice and and then take the paint to it's maximum potential. The last few cars I've detailed have been primarily all brand new.

They looked GREAT before I started. But each car needed to be decontaminated, that is if I took my hand and felt the paint with a sandwich baggie I could feel little bumps all over the paint. These little bumps are contaminants.

Try it to your car's paint on a variety of panels.

After mechanically decontaminating the paint it's likely you'll do some light marring, no big deal because the next step is a light polishing and this removes any marring and perfects the paint. Then seal with your choice of a quality LSP and when you're done it should look BETTER than new.


Note the year of these first two cars and also note that when I include a blue clickable link that means if you click the link it will take you to the FULL WRITE-UP for the project.



2014 Black Mercedes-Benz E350 detailed by Mike Phillips


Here's the first paragraph from my write-up...

This is a brand new Mercedes-Benz E350 with 200 mile on it. Paint felt contaminated using the baggie test and it had areas of light scratches, random directions plus a few RIDS or Random Isolated Deeper Scratches on the hood and trunk lid.

End results...

How long to wait before waxing a brand new car?



2014 Mercedes-Benz E350 detailed by Mike Phillips

End results...

Here's a project that was 2 years old...


Black Label Diamond Paint Coating on a 2012 Mercedes-Benz E350



End results...

The key is to,

Evaluate the condition of the finish
Use quality product and good technique
Take your time and do the job right.


Check out my article here, it will walk you through every step you want to do to you brand new car.


How To Detail Your Brand New Car by Mike Phillips

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Here's kind of an example of taking a car that's already in great condition and taking the paint to it's maximum potential EXCEPT the paint on this car was actually completely swirled out it's just it's harder to capture the swirls and scratches on light colored metallic finishes and the day this car arrived it was cloudy outside, so I couldn't take the "Sun Shots" outside using the sun to reveal the true condition.

That said, the AVERAGE person would look at the paint on this car in this picture and THINK the paint was in excellent condition.

This show was taken AFTER washing, after chemically decontaminating, (Iron X on the paint), and after towel drying.

If you look closely at the paint it looks very glossy and it was but it was glossy scratched paint.

Here's the same car after mechanically decontaminating and then putting the paint through a multiple step paint polishing process.


The Little Yeller Feller - 2000 Lotus Esprit V8

I've been doing this type of work all my life and I know for a fact that the "average" person, that would have looked at the car in the first picture with zero wax, just bare naked paint, would have thought the car looked perfect.

The average person doesn't know a swirl from a squirrel and the average person doesn't know how to inspect paint.


:xyxthumbs: