I was perusing the Internet and other parts of this blog. As I understand it, you can seal or wax a new vehicle right away since they heat harden the paint unlike if you had a repair at a body shop where they would recommend waiting 30 days before waxing.
So, is it OK to seal or wax a new vehicle right away? What to use?
A hand wax should not be a problem at all. Like you mentioned they harden the paint at the factory. Also, there is some time between when it leaves the factory and when you actually receive it which helps cure it. I have read that running it through car washes is actually worse as the paint is getting beat up a bit more but who knows. Now that spring is here, im just hand washing anyway. Im a fan of Canuba wax, Mothers, Xymol
This may be dated info but I was told to avoid liquid wax as it has a softening agent that may,ultimately, soften the finish on the vehicle. Please correct me if I am wrong here but it makes sense to me.
this is a sealant that includes caranuba wax, which is the best for black paint.
why do i use poorboys? simple... there are competing products that exhibit the same shine... but NONE are close to how easy this product is to apply. if you wax your car twice or more per year you know how much an easy off wax matters. can't explain how much better life is with the ex....
make sure to claybar the car before waxing/sealing. I noticed these cars have a LOT of raildust on them. You don't want to seal that in as it will eventually rust and diminish the depth of the paint - on white cars you can actually see the brown rust stains over time. I usually combine a wash and claybar at the same time, rather than washing, drying, claybarring, and then washing again - just do a panel at a time. I prefer Zaino or Meguiars NXT after I've addressed any swirls with my buffer and 3M compound (orange foam pad).
Mine was actually waxed by the dealer with 3miles on the odo, its fine.
+1 for zaino. Wash with Dawn to get rid of the dealers wax, wash with zaino car wash, polish with 2 coats of Z2 with ZFX additive, spray Z7 in between coats, buff. So easy a cave man could do it.
The dealer actually waxed the windows too, there were deep streaks under the wax that took some elbow grease to get to.
Claybar can be very tricky and if you don't use enough lube you can stratch the paint. If you do it right it's awesome, but too risky for me and it's a ton of work.
So I prefer to use a pre-wax cleaner. I use Mother's pre-wax cleaner. Then you can seal/polish (I use nufinish) and then wax (I use Black Magic liquid wax).
I have no idea. Just listened to my neighborhood detailer who does a good job. He mentioned that he would do something for my new vehicle to protect the new paint. Didn't charge me a lot and the guy always makes my vehicles look great at a nominal price.
I guess I can't say I'm too worried about it. Plus, I already have some scratches and rock marks that aren't going to be buffed out. It's a JEEP! :thumbsup:
clay bar is only something you do if you can feel debris on the vehicle paint after a wash. (e.g., run the old fingernail across the paint and see if it's totally smooth or feels choppy) it is not something you do for the sake of doing, IMO. i would be very surprised if a little rail rust would not wash right off the vechile. the paint is brand new so unless your vehicle got really screwed up on the rail car claying is not necessary. by all means though do it if it needs to be done...
Claybar isn't as difficult as some make it out to be and the results are stunning if you have never done it. A simple swipe of your hand over a clayed section will be all you need to understand it's value. Doing it as part of washing is the easiest but you still need to make sure you use a quality lubricant, I use Wolfgang products from www.autogeek.net, they have a great kit that makes it much easier to do the job right the first time.
I have also been a Zanno bigot for well over a decade but have recently found that the newer products like NXT and Turtle Wax ICE are damn near as good, have a longer shelf life and in general provide a great level of protection and shine for the effort and price. In fact, ICE has proven to work better on my black vehicles than Zanno in both application and performance. IMHO Zanno has it's place but it's overkill for a daily driver. I still use it on my Porsche (simple because it is slightly better and I "show" that car more often) but have switched to ICE for my daily drivers.
To the original point, by the time you get the truck the paint is completely cured and any urban legends about waiting any longer, not going through car washes, etc. are just that, urban legends. Remember, body shops perform a final cut polish and seal as the last step in a finish / re-finish, why would you think a production paint job would require more care?
I've never used a sealer....nor have I ever waxed a vehicle myself (I think maybe once to an old vehicle when I was 17 maybe). Lame I know. But I now live in a condo building so the do it yourself isn't really an option (the trade off is I am on the beach). I like the sealant advice which I will do at some detailer place...there are a ton here in South Florida. For $20+tip for an SUV there is a place up the street that does a great hand carwash and inside cleaning....can't beat that...they do a lot of more expensive cars there all the time...mostly BMW, MB, Bentley, some RR's, and sports cars so I hope they know what they are doing when it comes to sealant and wax...will quizz them. Thanks...
I also have found Meguiars NXT and Turtle Wax Ice to be the 2 easiest waxes to use on my cars. Just used the Turtle Wax Ice on my one month old Overland and it looks fabulous. Easy on and off with no white residue as long as you use a good microfiber towel to buff.