For those keeping their cars out in the sun all the time...
 

what measures do you take to maintain both interior and exterior?

I'm planning on wash, polish, wax every month (with an additional wash in between) for the exterior and using aerospace 303 and leather conditioner for the interior while also using the sunshade.

Is this enough to maintain the car? any additional tips or pointers would be greatly appreciated.

Up here we have a lot of construction, so I get a film of dust even if I leave it in the open for a day. I wash every weekend, then LIGHTLY polish and wax every 2 months during the summer. I also keep a quick detailer and some microfiber clothes in the back just incase bird crap gets on it or something random.

As for the inside, what you have should be enough + sunshade. Again having a small interior detailer with cloths is handy for the random dirt or dust.

Other than that, I think a polish and wax every month is overkill, unless you're getting a lot of rain on the vehicle. Just get a really good polish and wax and you should be golden!

A polish every month is too much. After you polish, use a sealant and finish with a wax. Rewax every 1-2 months and use a wash technique like the ONR regimen or something that has some polymers in it to keep the gloss going while keeping marring to a minimum.

I agree. Sounds like your plan is a bit of overkill. As has been stated, do a good polish, sealant, then wax.

While probalby not the best options out there, I use Meguiar's ultimate polish, meguiar's nxt 2.0 (will switch to ultimate wax when nxt is finished) as my sealant, and then Griot's best of show carnauba wax. Use a quick detailer or spray on wax in between actual waxes.

With the final wax it is important to make sure that it is 100% carnauba. You do NOT want a cleaner wax as that can/will strip the sealant. I'm not a professional so take my feedback with a grain of salt. Perhaps a professional will chime in and either agree with me or call me an idiot.

thanks for the responses.

I was planning on spraying my car, using either the 1 bucket or 2 bucket method, then using meguiar's ultimate polish followed by NXT 2.0.

is there a need to wax w/ carnauba after that?

and if that's the case, i will probably be doing waxing every 2 months :)

Only reason to use carnauba is for the deep shine has. It's a natural product, its give some protection for light.

so you just spray the quick detailer on the bird crap and buff out?

Definitely don't "buff"! You want to lube the crap up with the QD and "lift" it off the paint. I use sort of a wiping motion while almost rolling the microfiber off the paint so that anything that I lifted off won't be wiped across the surface. Then, with a clean side of your microfiber, you can spray the QD on and wipe off to get the remnants off and restore the shine to the spot.

Along with the 303 and sunshade, I had the windows tinted, inc. clear IR/UV film on the windshield. Exterior, wash at least once a week, and Zaino Z-2 once a month. Z-6 as a detailer spray. Bugs and bird droppings get soaked in Z-6 until they are soft, if I can't wash the car. I get bird/bug off as soon as possible, to (hopefully) prevent any staining or etching.

opti-coat for the exterior so i never worry about it.

i have tint on all windows so i don't worry about the interior deteriorating, either.

Spray, wipe with one side to remove crap, then spray and buff with clean side of the cloth. Seems to do the trick. Havent seen any stains from that method yet