Would washing, waxing, and claying be enough?
 

Hi everyone, recently got a BRZ. It's my first nice car and I want to keep it presentable, but I'm not over zealous about every detail.

In terms of the exterior, would washing every 2-3weeks, waxing every 3-4months, and claying 2-3 times a year be enough to keep it in presentable condition?

Also, are these products recommended to use?

car wash: meguiar's gold class wash and shampoo https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00068OU7U...I2PO6YD3KWRAJB

car wax: smartwax pure carnauba based wax and polish https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0028SCLJU...I2P9HL9EAL1OKQ

or collinite liquid insulator wax #845 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000JK2D06...I3J3W7PUELG7WU

car clay: meguiar's smooth surface clay kit https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00063X7KG...5WCTHI5O&psc=1

Another option would be getting a ceramic coating done to your car.
Opticoat Pro or Cquartz Finest are good ceramic coatings. Washing and maintaining your car with a ceramic coating will be so much easier. Water will sheet off your car when washing. You won't have to wax much when your car is ceramic coated.

You could use Optimum Instant Detailer or Car Pro Reload after every wash if you ceramic coat your car. Optimum instant detailer can be used when car is still wet as it aids in drying car. It provides more slick and gloss.

Best $400.00 I spent on my car getting it ceramic coated. :thumbsup:
Just my 2 cents! ;)

I'm ceramic coated. Great process. If I had a black car I especially wouldn't think twice about ceramic.

It's all about how anal you are, about your car. I try to wash weekly, and polish when I get a chance. Same with the products, we all have our favorites. I'm a Zaino guy.

Clay after wax?

Fuck.

I'm doing it wrong.

I think overdone claying!


http://www.carbodydesign.com/media/2...el-355x266.jpg

:laughabove:

needs moar lube

KY Jelly works wonders.

so expensive tho

Like they say, a little bit does a lot!

Too much and the clay slips everywhere.

just spit on it

That's what she said
Again she said
I said

I said
She said.

The good old spit method, tried and true.

Also free!

I do believe you got a good plan! For Florida, I'm thinking just clay it once per year, wash it when you think it looks dirty, and you feel like it, wax it once per year ..... or more often, if it makes YOU feel good.

As far as products, most all name brand products will do just fine ....... after all, it's not you SO's face ...... ;)


humfrz

Poor OP starts a thread about car care .... and you pre-verts turn it into something sexual ....:slap: shame on you all ....... :sigh:

(who posted that.....??)

Bluemoon gets washed once a month with meguires ultimate wash and wax , waxed with meguires quick wax once every 6 months , always use a car cover when it is not used.
It still looks brand new after 4 years.
Because the original factory paint is not top quality , i don't see the point in ceramic clear coats.
I would rather save the money towards a custom shop respray.

Is a "pre-vert" phase just before breaking into a full blown "pervert" phase?

Sounds about right to me ........ :D


humfrz

Ceramic coating is great & has UV protection as well. My car sits 24/7 in the sun which is why I invested in it. Best $400.00 I spent. Cost can reasonable if you get the car ceramic coated right after you buy a brand new car. It's the prepping of the car that is labor intensive and can be costly when paint correction needs to be done. ;) I only had a small swirl on bottom of my hood.

I get compliments all the time how my metallic flakes in the paint stand out and is so shiny after 2 years. ;)

Blending of the paint is a difficult to do especially with metallic colors.
Flakes are different sizes on the panels of our cars. :)

All great products. I've used Meg's Gold class for years and haven't found another product that's convinced me to switch yet (plus it smells good :)).
Just recently tried Collinite 845 for the first time. It's been 2 months since applied and still beading water nicely. You probably don't need to clay that often, but Meg's clay is pretty good (although you could also pick up clay on Amazon or somewhere and use wash solution vs. detail spray and save a few $'s).

Although after seeing ceramic coatings in person (one application of which was 3 years old) I'd also suggest you strongly consider that, especially if you want great protection and easy maintenance. I never really thought they were worth the money either, but will probably invest in it soon (especially since my car always seems to be target #1 for birds... 15 other cars in the lot at work and only mine gets nailed, sometimes 2-3 times a day :mad0259:).

Here's video of a popular ceramic coating, Opti Coat. The water sheeting and beading is pretty phenomenal. Dirt will also pretty much rinse right off:

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUevm1WUzWc"]Opti coat paint protection 2.5 years after application - YouTube[/ame]

You want bird issue? We have bird issues at work. Luckily they seem to like the high ground and have left me alone so far.

I think they are usually attracted to either dark or silvers as both colours look like water from a distance and birds like pooping over water... and who wants to sit on an orange thingy.

:lol: Yuh, my car gets the bombs of hell with my dark color car. Other cars around me get nothing. :iono:

Geese crap everywhere they've no preferences!

Yup, Opticoat or Cquartz Finest ceramic coatings FTW! :thumbsup:

It is inevitable that a very skilled driver , shopping trolley or kangaroo will occupy real estate with our cars.
Does insurance cover the re application of ceramic coat after panel repairs?

Yes, my insurance told me it would cover as long as I have a receipt of documentation that ceramic coating was done.

:mad0260: I had a situation last year with a auto body paint shop that damaged the front bumper of my car. Also my car had overspray of white paint all over my drivers side, the front hood & roof of my car. I didn't go through the paint shop insurance. I had them refund me the cost of the original repair. Also got them to pay the detail shop for the removal of the overspray of white paint & to reapply the ceramic coating to my hood, roof & the entire drivers side of my car.

Now my car is ceramic coated with 3/4 Cquartz Finest & 1/4 Opticoat Pro :lol:
That's why my signature says, Opticoat & Cquartz Finest. The detailer I go to now only uses Cquartz finest now. ;)

@btan219 Washing and waxing is about 90% of all you'll be needing. Claying isn't really necessary to do multiple times a year if you're keeping up with cleaning the car regularly, also claying has POTENTIAL to leave scratches in the paint which leads me to my point.

The thing I want to say is that no, they will not be enough if you've got a car that endures a lot of daily elements or washing / claying procedures that inevitably will put scratches in the paint. For this problem you'll want a good buffing / compound kit for fixing swirls and scratches. I recommend meguiar's g110 and their entire product line, but there are plenty other companies that sell good kits (griots garage and chemical guy's have their own kits).

Here's a demo to get you started:

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhJYFLgIjhE"]Meguiars Microfiber DA Correction System with Mike Phillips - YouTube[/ame]

Canadian I presume...

After washing/drying - if it feels rough then it needs claying prior to polish & protection of your choice.

ceramic coating will give you more time to drive the car than having to wax and polish so often. ;)

I'm applying CQuartz myself this week. Pretty labor intensive with all the prep work but seems pretty easy overall. This is for the consumer version, not Finest, so I'm expecting it to last about a year or two. Was about $50 on Amazon.

I'm hoping it makes washing easier for me during the summer, I'm in a condo complex with some strict rules and generally get by with waterless or rinseless washes.

I'm applying CQuartz myself this week. Pretty labor intensive with all the prep work but seems pretty easy overall. This is for the consumer version, not Finest, so I'm expecting it to last about a year or two. Was about $50 on Amazon.

I'm hoping it makes washing easier for me during the summer, I'm in a condo complex with some strict rules and generally get by with waterless or rinseless washes.

Yup, it's the prepping of the car that is labor intensive. Well worth it though with the ease of maintaining the car after it's done. :thumbsup:

http://i.imgur.com/dQ7pXTb.png

Washing and waxing the car provides my OCD monthly dose of medicine.
I even do the engine bay , door sills and inside the boot.
After four years it has never had a polish or claybar.

Let us know how it works out. That is an interesting idea that I really never considered.

Wait! Who is actually doing it? Now I am confused.

I have a ceramic coat on my WRB, it certainly makes washing easy as dirt just doesn't cling to the paint so a hose pipe rinse is enough to get it looking clean again. Winter grim is a bit more stubborn as it can build up requiring small amount of agitation to dislodge.


If the car is relatively clean and it rains the rain actually washes the dirt away as the dirt particles seem to just sit on the surface of the paint.


General comments from friends and family tend to be about how shiny my car looks.. saying all of the above it'll probably look like shit this weekend as all we've had this week is rain and more rain!