Brand new car: the simple way to keep paint and wheels in decent shape?

[HYUNDAIFAN0001]

Originally Posted by PimTac
Actually your advice will work but it's not realistic for most people. The best example is right here on BITOG. SLOTown has kept his vehicles immaculate using some of the same recommendations you have stated. He does keep them clean though.

The not washing suggestion is one I disagree with. The answer is to wash your car with quality microfiber products using two buckets with grit guards and good quality car wash products.

 

[HYUNDAIFAN0001]

Despite not being a Suzuki fan at all, we can definitely appreciate yours and admire your interest in keeping it in top condition. That color combination is just "calling out" for doing regular exterior detailing to keep it looking like new.

Sustaining a great exterior starts with habits formed from the get-go when new. Here's a demonstration of practicing this preaching.

The first pics below are quick iPhone snapshots of our 16-month-old Pearl White SUV after proper semi-annual detailing (wash, clay, polish, sealant wax, spray UV wax - mostly Meguiar's products except for the Chemical Guys polish and UV spray wax). The 3rd treatment (every 6 months or so) was just done last weekend. The closer photo misht at least give folks an idea of how the Pearl effect shows off the detail results in particular, since a white finish generally doesn't show off things as much as a darker color. Note: both photos are in the shade.

The second set are quick snapshots of our 2013 Honda Accord (nearly 6 years old now) getting the same semi-annual detailing treatment last weekend. This shows the effects of doing the process regularly since it was new (per the original post), including crystal clear headlight lens and chrome. Note: Both these photos were done in sunlight for some comparison.

Each vehicle takes about 2 1/2 to 3 hours to perform all the detailing steps (I do "save" about 45 minutes during the polishing and sealant steps using a great Dual Action polisher). Basically that's like spending one (1) Saturday afternoon only twice per year to assure protection and great appearance.

Good car care pays for sure when starting from the beginning on a new vehicle.

 

[LeoStrop]

I think a good quality cover it's a very good way on protecting a car that is left on the weather, the bad side is that the car has to be "clean" when you put the cover on. And if you wash the car, remember to run it a couple of miles to take away the humidity. If you can put a shade cover on the driveway, even better.

I have to leave my car on the weather, and i use 2 covers. One for the weather and the other one is to protect from those [censored] cats that keep climbing on the car.

Any night with the cover on, would be a better night for the car. I always have a good feeling when it's pouring and the car is clean and dry under the covers.

 

[HowAboutThis]

Originally Posted by GZRider
Buy a Jaguar or Range Rover, it will be in climate controlled shop most of the time.


This made my day.

 

[theory]

Originally Posted by PimTac
Originally Posted by theory
Lol, I don't blame you guys for thinking that these principals are ridiculous.

The truth is that these harsh weather conditions don't manifest itself as damage until years later. So we tend to see them as harmless. But by having an understanding of what causes the car's paint to break down, it'll help one curate a plan of attack to ward off damage to the paint. The advice that I gave is just what Ive found to work best for me and my situation.





Actually your advice will work but it's not realistic for most people. The best example is right here on BITOG. SLOTown has kept his vehicles immaculate using some of the same recommendations you have stated. He does keep them clean though.

The not washing suggestion is one I disagree with. The answer is to wash your car with quality microfiber products using two buckets with grit guards and good quality car wash products.


Well first, I want to thank you for hearing me out. People usually freak out or get offended when I tell them the conditions they have to adhere if they want to keep their car immaculate.

I want to explain in more detail why I said, "washing causes scratches and why you should wash less". This is to show some merit and that im not just pulling things out of a hat.

Back in my early 20's(im 30 now) I went through a faze of trying to earn money as a detailer. Never made money from it. Never even detailed a customer. I started out doing a lot of research and then progressed into buying detailing equipment. Naturally, my first step was trying to find out what is the best product and what is the best method. It lead me to a company called,"Optimum Polymer Tech". Im sure youve heard of the product called,"Optimum No Rinse". Looking into the company, I ran into the CEO of Optimum, Dr David Ghoudoussi, who happens to also be a chemist. Me wanting to have the best products and methods to protec my car, naturally, I asked him," what makes your product the best?

His answer: When you wash with soap, your more likely to leave marring. Bubbles and foam is a product of soap mixing with air. So the foam isn't an indicator of lubrication.
In turn, it doesn't protect the paint from debri enough when you wipe. Whereas synthetic polymers surround and attach to both debri and paint, providing layers of protection when you wipe.

But to be a bit objective, the guy's first product was a car wash soap, lol.

In my own testing with microfiber towels, I found that a very small speck of dust left a huge marr mark on a brand new cd disk. I concluded that washing/drying, no matter how careful you are, will leave marks. How much marks you want depends on how much you wash. Thats why I try to avoid environmental conditions to where I have to wash my car.

This is just my findings. In all honesty, I don't even know if soap or ONR works better. This is because I don't have a fresh car that has immaculate paint to test one side with soap and one side with onr for one year. That would be the ultimate test to put things to rest.

That is also why I recommend paint protection films, to do away with the headache of marring.