New Car - How to treat paint

[jvaughan]

I pick my new car up on the weekend, and was wondering what is generally considdered the best treatment for "new" paint to keep it looking as good as possible?

I know the car will have been cleaned at the dealers before they hand the car over, but generally what is considdered the most appropriate way to care for new paint ?

I was thinking of a few coats of autoglym, left to harden off and then polished to a high glodd shine.

I dont want to go down the Zymol route (that is reserved for the TVR)

Anyone offer any advice ?

[Pure Detail]

well having seen what happens when a dealer prep's the car for delivery/pick up i would suggest to tell them not to wash it, unless you have required it to be professionally detailed/valeted. I have seen a so called prep'd car with swirls in the paint after they clean it.

As for after you receive the car, i would treat it to;
wash down with wool mash mitt using the two bucket method
dry using Microfibre drying towel
no need for clay
add glaze to the cleaned paint
sealant
and finally 2-3 layers of wax.
All can be done by hand.

if you would like to know what products to use etc, send me an email and will advise you further.



Thanks

Jonathan
(Pure Detail)

Edited by Pure Detail on Thursday 25th January 13:13

[Neil_Sc]

I have found in the past that many brand new cars have required claying, however I prepped a brand new Golf GTI last week and it didn't need claying all over, just the odd spot.

If you want to use Autoglym, in addition to washing and possibly claying, Autoglym Super Resin Polish would be a great idea, it'll clean the paint and leave behind a surface ready for sealant/wax.

You could follow this up with Autoglym Extra Gloss Protection, although I would suggest a good durable wax such as Collinite 915 Marque D'Elegance would be ideal to top the Autoglym SRP.

You should get many months of protection with this combination.

[Pure Detail]

If you do need to clay (any rough to the touch area's) use a green clay. This won't mar or scratch the paint as its a very fine clay.

[hutchingsp]

Most of it is in the prep and application more than it is in the products IMHO.

As others have said it's worth trying to get a handle on how good or bad the dealers prep people are as if they hand over a car that's swirled you immediately have a problem to fix rather than perfect paint where you're concentrating on prevention.

I'd spend a few quid on the following:

A couple of buckets with Grit Guards.
A lambs wool wash mitt or a shmitt.
Shampoo - just something that makes the water nice and slick, personally I like the Einszett stuff.
Some Microfiber Drying Towels.
Some Paint Cleaner i.e. Car-Lack 68 (about £10)
Some Wax i.e Collinite (about £15)
Some applicators and some Microfiber towels to apply and buff the wax/paint cleaner.

That lot won't cost a lot. IMHO wash and dry the car properly and it won't get swirled to start with.

[jvaughan]

Cheers Guys. Here's hoping for fine weather on the weekend!