New car protection

[richy_uk]

First for the first time on nearly ten years, I'm getting a car that is non metallic. In fact it's bright red Am I right in assuming that solid colours are a touch softer than metallics as I always thought there's more clear cost on a metallic and I'm not sure if solid even has a separate clear coat. So bearing this in mind, whats the recommendation for protection ? I'm happy to take the time to give it a proper prep so I'll clay it but I'm a little unsure on what products to apply and in what order. Any advice would be appreciated.

[steelwind101]

Hi!

Congrats on the car and the colour is great, a nice change from the metalics. Most people say solids are softer b/c even when clearcoat came out they did not have clearcoat on them. As far as i know unless you are buying a VXR, the red will most likely be a clearcoated finished.

How hard or soft that is depends on what make of car (as a general rule!).

The first question is how insane do you want to get in to looking after your car? Do you want to drop £200 on a first detail or a get polisher, either would be a great start to your cars life.

If your nor that fussed about swirl marks, some Klasses All In One topped with Zaino Z5 pro (about £40 worth of kit) a few applicators, some microfibre towels etc. will give you a really durable good looking finish.

Do you have TWO wash buckets, a good shampoo and washmitt and a drying towel that isnt made a "chamois" if not, these are really going to be essential in keeping the car looking good.

Let us know what your after and we can throw some links and advice your way! Do you have any products already your using? Maybe some of those can be worked in to your new cars detail.

Geoff

Edited February 20, 2009 by steelwind101

[richy_uk]

Cheers Geoff, I suppose I should have let you know what I currently have / do. Firstly, I'm getting a new Boxster to replace my current one and I've heard that Guards Red is one of the more robust solid colours you can get. However, what got me thinking is that when I last visited the Porsche stealers, they had a red 911 which was about 3 years old and it was swirl marked to buggery and I want to protect against that more than anything.

I do use a two bucket method with a Megs mitt and either AG or Gold Class shampooa dn dry off with a Water Magnet. I also have the Megs clay kit which worked really well on my current Boxster (Arctic Silver). In terms of polishing / waxing, I've got Gold Class, AG UDS and AG EGP. I steered toward AG UDS and EGP on my current car for longevity and topped this up with AG Aqua Wax. Using this cobo has lasted ages and is pretty low maintenance especially through winter. I apply using the Megs foam applicators and have a wide and varied collection of microfibre cloths.

I don't want to go crazy and buy a polisher and would rather try and use what I've got, but if there are one or two products that better suit solid red over what I've got them I'm happy to go out and buy. Thanks again

[ahaydock]

I polished a Guards Red Boxter and it had a clearcoat:

The paint was quite hard, and if working by hand I would suggest you wash, clay, polish with AG SRP working in areas of about a ft sq, work it in well then remove with a MF. Then add 2x layers of EGP on the top (leaving 24hrs between). SRP/EGP works well on alloys to.

More pics of the Boxter are here: Guards Red Porsche Boxter S Full G220 Correction and Supernatural V2 - Detailing World

Edited February 20, 2009 by ahaydock

[JonC]

Wow, there is some depth of shine on that boxster. EGP is pretty awesome stuff.

[steelwind101]

Nice work Ahaydock! As per Ahaydocks advice if you want to use the products you have then thats the way to go.

You can use the UDS as a good base for many other products, it cleans the paintwork and fills in minor swirls. As you have red, i would probably say pick up a nice Nuba wax that will give you a deeper wetter finish and bring out the red more.

Just as an idea of some suggestions:

Victoria Wax Concours (red) about £17, really good wax and lasts about 10 weeks before you need to reapply. You can apply over your current application.

DoDo Supernatural, a really good wax! £15 for a sample, see on ebay. The little pot will give you about 6-8 applications, each application should last for around 10-12 weeks.

Nattys Original, cheap, wet and easy to use £12 for an 8oz tub! Will last around 6-8 weeks super wet, super easy.

Clearkote Moose Wax, the king of wet and depth. £18 for a 16OZ container. Doesnt bead or sheet very well from the start, durability is about 10 weeks. Complimented on your colour by using Yellow Moose before hand.

As you can see for less then £20 you can use your current UDS and get on a really nice product to enhance the looks over what you would get with the EGP or Aqua Wax. In the winter (a long way of i hope!) you can return to the UDS>EGP with AW maintance!

No doubt others will chip in a few other waxes of similar calibre for the price. If you look at post made yesterday by Tarmac Terrorist he is using Supernatural wax on a red car.

Geoff

[Scotty]

I had an Amulet red Audi TT that I regularly SRP'ed and EGP'ed.

I made it look really wet and deep and I was very happy with the Autoglym products.

I then got introduced to Swissol and found that the finish was even better, lasted longer and bugs came off easier.

I still use EGP on my wheels though.

p.s. With a new car coming in a month or so I'm also pondering what to do. I guess I'll tell the dealer "hands off" but I'm not sure what to do from there for the initial protection. The new car will be a pearl mid/dark grey which I've no experience of and I know different colours work better with different products.

[richy_uk]

Thanks guys, great advice. I'd be more than happy with a finish like the red Boxster ahaydock has detailed. Although a little older than the 911 I saw in the OPC, the swirl marks were worse and quote surprising considering the low mileage. Just to clarify something, EGP seems to protect much better than some of the waxes suggested but to get the deep wet look, a good wax is in order. Is there any advantage to applying UDS, EGP then a good quality wax on top to get the depth plus a bit of added protection ? I'mthinking of getting some DoDo SN.

One thing I didn't mention was the amount of brake residue Boxster's generate. I also want to protect against that as it's a real pain to remove once it builds up. It shows up as dark brown staining and collects around the door handles and side air intakes. I've almost given up on the air intakes but can eventually remove it from the door handles with good clay session. This time round, I want to try and prevent the build up of this stuff from day one. I didn't really think about it until I had my current car for a couple of years and by then, it was quite heavy and difficult to remove.

[steelwind101]

Hi Richy

The problem with layering so many products is that often you just end up with alot of product and not much looks. You can do EGP and top with the SN, but EGP probably wont out last the SN anyway so i would skip it.

As for your wheels, same problem with the Auris it kicks up alot of dust on to some really nice wheels. After a while you get dust all over edge of the wheel arches and further down the car. I use the EGP on the wheels with the Wolfgang "finger pockets" about a fiver for 3. It really will make cleaning easier, i just use shampoo and water and the EZ detail brush, a spounge and some of those Swisswax (but the fake plastic ones) brushes.

Geoff

[steelwind101]

p.s. With a new car coming in a month or so I'm also pondering what to do. I guess I'll tell the dealer "hands off" but I'm not sure what to do from there for the initial protection. The new car will be a pearl mid/dark grey which I've no experience of and I know different colours work better with different products.

Good idea to not let the dealer deal with the paintwork. There washing techniques are poor and the wax they apply is crap and the tyre dressing is messy like cooking oil!

Once you have the car, give it a good wash. If you have APC (all purpose cleaner) put 1.5OZ's in a 3.5 gallon (US) of water with your normal car shampoo. This will give your wash some extra cleaning power just to ensure it gets cleaned really well.

Get a bit of cling film and lay it across the paintwork in various places, does it feel smooth or bumpy? If its bumpy then get some clay out and remove the bonded road grime and sap etc. Then apply some Cleaner Fluid and your Swisswax!

As for a different product, personally on that colour Wolfgang Deep Gloss Sealant 3.0 is winner and my choice. Though there are lots of waxes to choose from, Supernatural is going to be good on there.

Geoff

[ahaydock]

Thanks guy for the comments on the Boxter. Just to confirm it was polished via machine using Menzerna Polishes, followed by CG EZ Creme and topped of with 2x layer of Dodo Supernatural V2