Newbie Help

[GordonFev]

Posted this elsewhere on the site with no reply...thought i'd give it a thread to itself in hope of some help.

I am getting a new car...well, actually, i've just got it. However it arrived with paint defect and also external paint damage so the manufacturer is going to fix that. However it made me realise how thin and potentially fragile the paint surface is on this car compared to my previous VW. So my question is....what is the best method to protect the paint from damage? The car is leased so it'll have to go back to them in 2 years...oh and of course, i don't want to spend a fortune as it's not a hi-end sportscar and i'm not minted....i'm in Guildford.

Oh and as i am prone to kerbing wheels any advice on protection for them as well? If folk want to recommend folk to do the work I'd also consider that rather than doing it myself but i may have to do a bit of saving up for professional detailing...


All advice happily received

[acr_nick]

Do you wash your own car or get it washed?
What sort of budget do you have in mind?
Do you have any car care products or tools at the minute?

As paint correction is a difficult skill to learn self taught best thing to do is minimise any damage you do to it whilst washing.

[GordonFev]

I have never treated my cars very well, hand washing occassionally, or the dreaded wheely spinny slasher thing at petrol stations.

I actually have a electric buffing thing that i use for polishing glass i use in victorian photography i do....but i've never used it for it's real purpose...

I guess i'm not concerned about making the thing have a sparkly showroom shine all the time, i just want to do what i can to stop the paint from being damaged and to make it easy to get whatever does get stuck on it, off....Budget is whatever it needs to be. If i can do it for under £100 a day of my time great, if i need to spend a few hundred quid getting a pro in then that's ok, i can budget around that.

thanks for the reply!

[steveo3002]

if its going back in 2 years then no special steps needed to protect it

carefull hand washing , making sure you get bird poop off asap , and a polish /wax every 6 months should keep it ok

[Belle427]

You can do a good enough job with products available from halfords. A decent wash mitt is a must rather than a sponge and some half decent shampoo such as meguiars gold class.
If your not that bothered and want to stay even cheaper then buy some Turtle wax zip wax, i used it on a car a few times when id run out of my normal stuff and to my eyes the finish was better.

[GordonFev]

Thank you folks. That's just the ticket...

Gordon

[acr_nick]

For around £100 you can get everything you need to do a decent job.

Two buckets, wool wash mitt or a microfibre mitt, decent wash and wax shampoo, plenty of microfbre towels for drying, some wax to finish the job.

That would do enough to clean the car, if you wanted to take further steps you can get a pressure washer, snow foam lance, clay bar, various pads for the polisher and some light - high cut polish to work on the swirls and and light scratches in the paint.

Depends on how much you want to do and how many hours you have to do the detail work, as it can take a lot of practice and hours to do the paint correction properly.

[fatjon]

on the kerbing side of things. I have seen some little rings that I think go under the tyre bead that just stick out a few mm to take the hit when you kerb it. They are sacrificial and won't take a big hit but look good for light touches.

this kind of thing https://www.rimbladesusa.com/wp-content/uploads/20...

Never tried them myself.