Polish and Wax a New Car?

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cancov

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Just got a '11 Corolla yesterday. Very pleased with the car. Running the top of my finger across the paint, it feels as if it needs a coat of polish and then a wax. If I were to do it, it would be Meguiar's 2nd step polish and then Meguiar's 3rd step carnauba wax both applied and removed by hand.

Is there any reason NOT to put a coat on a new car? It has been a while since my family has had a new vehicle so we don't run into this often. I remember one time someone mentioning that "new" paint needs time for the clear coat to "seal." This doesn't make a lot of sense to me.
 
Paint classically takes months to completely cure. This is the concept behind not waxing a repainted car.

I'm not sure how it applies today or with a new car vs one that has been repainted.

When I had the hood repainted on my truck two years ago, I was told not to wax it for at least 3 months and to park it in the sun when possible.
 
Our Accord was in an accident, and I took it to a high end bodyshop that did fantastic work. I asked them what sort of glaze they used (they did the whole car) and he saw that look in my eye and told me not to mess with the paint for four weeks.
 
The factory paint is baked on, do whatever you want to it as soon as you want. I machine polish my new cars the day I get them home. Fresh out of a repaint? That's a different animal altogether.

After hand washing you should clay the paint prior to any other treatment. You'll be amazed what comes off of a new "clean" car. That Meguiars wax will last six weeks at the very most even if your car lives in the garage full time. Consider a good sealant or a long term wax like the Collinite family of waxes.
 
I generally let it cure a few months first. New paint isn't really clean, so I'd clean it without polish, clay as needed, then seal/wax/etc.
 
You should allow the paint to cure for a couple of months. Then you can apply a wax or sealant for extra protection.
 
A personal friend, who was in charge of installing the painting systems for PPG before retirement was asked this question. Keep in mind that paint of today's technogy is no longer applied with voc's as the carriers. All paint lines today apply water borne paints. Some are even so advanced that they only require one bake. Therefor, once applied and baked, the painted surface no longer continues to 'outgas' as it once did. When the vehicle leaves the factory, the paint is ready for wax. Do not use 'polish' as most contain even very fine abrasives. A coat of Carnuba wax is all that is necessary. FWIW-Oldtommy
 
Quote:
Do not use 'polish' as most contain even very fine abrasives. A coat of Carnuba wax is all that is necessary. FWIW-Oldtommy


Tommy,

I'm sorry but that is just totally incorrect information. The vast majority of the time a machine polish is necessary and absolutely required. The dealership chimps mar the paint horribly when getting most cars ready for delivery. I made quite a decent living correcting those problems on cars that were brand spanking new......with a machine polish. Providing you know what you are doing this causes no problems or negatives whatsoever. It enhances the finish. That includes all of my own cars starting in 1996. With the exception of Collinite a carnauba wax is the poorest form of protection available for any paint. Well, not quite....the poorest form would be nothing at all.
 
So I see the majority of opinions is leaning towards clay barring first, sealing and then a carnauba wax.

1)I've never used a clay bar before. Does the "run of the mill' clay bar at Wal-Mart (Meguiars, I think) perform well?

2)Does the machine polish "seal"? The only experience I've had with a machine polish is one made by 3M called "Finess-It"? Will this do the "sealing"?

3)Is there consensus that a synthetic carnuaba wax is longer lasting than the traditional? What is a quality, reasonable synthetic carnuaba wax? I'm assuming Collinite 845 is a quality traditional wax? Is $15.29 for a 16oz bottle pretty reasonable (Advanced Auto)?

The search engine is terrible on this forum.
 
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Meguiars or Mothers (my Wal-Mart stocks Mothers) both market excellent clay bars. I believe the Mothers kit comes with 2 clay bars. Whatever you get, have a spare in case you drop one on the ground (throw it away if you do).

The machine polish is designed to get rid of the scratches put on by the dealership during the prep process. It doesn't add to the paint, it takes off clear coat to smooth it. You probably don't need it at this point if you haven't noticed scratches.

I personally use Zaino, so I can't comment on the other sealants or waxes out there.
 
Originally Posted By: cchase


I'm not sure how it applies today or with a new car vs one that has been repainted.



With a factory paint job, it's baked at a much higher temperature so it's pretty much ready to be waxed right away (and most certainly by the time it reaches it's first owner, a few more weeks have passed too)

With a repaint, it cannot be baked as high, so it's best to wait about two months before doing anything with the paint. The front end of my Corvette was repainted over the winter, and I waited exactly two months before I polished it (there were fine scratches in it, even right after I picked it up for the first time) and then put a few coats of Zaino on it.
 
Originally Posted By: cancov
Just got a '11 Corolla yesterday. Very pleased with the car. Running the top of my finger across the paint, it feels as if it needs a coat of polish and then a wax. If I were to do it, it would be Meguiar's 2nd step polish and then Meguiar's 3rd step carnauba wax both applied and removed by hand.

Is there any reason NOT to put a coat on a new car? It has been a while since my family has had a new vehicle so we don't run into this often. I remember one time someone mentioning that "new" paint needs time for the clear coat to "seal." This doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

Just sent ya a PM.

Steve
Sent
 
First you should wash your car thoroughly in the shade. Once dry you can move on to the clay bar step.

For the clay bar process I used Mother's clay bar kit. Follow the provided instructions and you will be fine.

As for a sealer, I actually meant a polish. So once you have clay bar'ed the whole vehicle, you will want to polish it. I used AutoGlym's Super Resin Polish.

The final step is to wax the vehicle. I used Meguiar's Gold Class Liquid Wax.

It's a ton of work, but will keep the paint job on your new vehicle in showroom condition for a very longtime. Good luck!
 
I'd clay it, and put a sealant on it. You could polish it (if it has swirls), but remember, "whenever you polish, you are removing some clear".
 
I'm a Zaino fan and their process for a new car is pretty labor intensive. But if I were not going to do a Zaino process I would first inspect the car extremely carefully looking for flaws, chips, dents etc. If satisfied, give it a good wash with blue Dawn dishwashing soap. This will completely strip any wax that the dealer may have applied on the lot. Then, clay bar the surface. Wash with Dawn again to make sure any clay residue is gone. Then, apply a quality wax of choice and you'll be good for a while. Don't use the Dawn again and you probably won't need to clay bar and/or use a glaze for a long time unless you live in harsh conditions.
 
Been looking around for the past few days, I think I may strip down any dealer wax with Dawn or Dial, rinse thouroughly, dry, clay bar with Meguiar's clay kit(15.94, Wal-Mart), wash again with Dawn or Dial and rinse with a cheap car wash, dry, apply Mequiar's Nxt Generation Tech Wax 2.0(15.44, Wal-Mart), and add a layer of Meguiar's carnauba on top of that I've got hanging around. It's going on a Corolla so, it shouldn't take a huge amount of wax and too much effort with me and my brother knocking it out.
 
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