phillimt

So I've searched the forums about exterior care to a vehicle, including the "When to wax a new car" thread, but I couldn't find any recent/major discussion on this..

What products do you use on your cars for exterior work? I have a SFP IS, I've never waxed it... I use zaino products on my leather, but that's all the major stuff I do to it every ~3 months (Z-9, Z-10, plus a leather protection cream applied afterwards from Leatherworld...) I feel like I should be waxing it every 3 months with something as well..

Also, are clear glass polishes worth it? Seems like I can do a pretty good job with a commercial cleaner?

o7iS250

iTrader: (1)

http://croftgateusa.com/croftgateusa-value-pack

best exterior cleaning products I've ever used, no more crappy water washes! And it doesn't scratch the paint or anything, it's all me and my friends use now(high end bimmers/audi's)

CarbonDtls

iTrader: (4)

Never heard of ^ this guys stuff.
Stoners foaming glass cleaner is one of the best on the market and you can get it at walmart.

When it comes to soap you have alot of options, the cheap ones at walmart or higher end stuff like Einszett. Optimum, Prima, Swissvax and etc... If you make sure you have a clean wash mitt and you should purchase a Grit Guard (like $10) all these soaps will do similar things. You want the surface to be slick and you want to make sure to wash from top to bottom in that order.


You can wax the car the first day if you want to as the paint has already cured.

Since your cars new you should have little imperfections so I would go straight to a wax or sealant. Bang for the buck sealant is Menzerna Powerlock. Will last months and I think goes for about $20-$30 online and one bottle will last a long time.

Sealant vs wax? Wax looks better but sealant lasts longer.

FSportIS

iTrader: (13)

I highly recommend Meguiar's products. Particularly for wax/sealant, i highly recommend this "Meguiar's NXT Generation Tech Wax 2.0" which can be purchased through Amazon
I have spent over hundreds of dollar for exterior care products on this brand new Lexus IS250 2012 also in SFP color.

Here is my general guide for exterior care:
For EXTERIOR PAINT:
1. Proper wash every week. this is the UTMOST important step to PREVENT swirl mark/spiderwebs. I highly recommend you watch this a. Rinse
b. Pre-wash with a foam gun and wait 2-5 mins
c. Rinse 2nd time
d. 2 water bucket system
NOTE:
1. ALWAYS use CAR SHAMPOO or other soup probably will wash away all wax/sealant.
2. NEVER put your car through those machine car wash.
3. NEVER wash under direct sun light.

2. Clay bar at least once a year. I do it every 6 months. This is to get rid of the outer layer of contaminants. You can actually feel them when you slide your hands on the paint. Existence of contaminants will make the paint feel rough but after clay bar, it should feel smooth as glass.

3. Polish preferably using appropriate polisher. Many polishers have different abrasive levels. If you have a lot of swirl-mark, use a strong one. If the swirl mark is mild, use less abrasive polisher like glaze. basically they run from the scale of Glaze >>> Compound (pretty strong). Polishing also get rid of inner layer of contaminants as this step takes away some layer of clear coat.
DO THIS with EXTREME CARE, you should not polish too often as this will eat away the clear coat.

4. Protect with wax/sealant. Genearlly, wax has more shine while sealant has longer duration of protection. I recommend put a wax and finish it off with sealant on top of the wax.

For GLASS:
1. Use "invisible glass cleaner" on a regular basis.
2. Use "Aquapel glass treatment" every 6 months to protect your glass from forming water spot.

For INTERIOR Care:
1. Meguiar's interior detailer for regular cleaning.
2. 303 protectant to protect it from the sun.

For WHEEL:
1. General wheel cleaner every time washing car.

For TIRE:
1. Any tire dressing will do but the gel type seems to last the longest.

For EXHAUST TIPs:
1. Chrome polisher

For CLEARBRA:
1. General car wash
2. Apply Clear Bra sealant (NOT Regular wax/sealant) once every month!

For all EXTERIOR surface:
I add an extra Meguiar's Ultimate Quik Wax. I do this once a month.

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To all who are into detailing world, the key to keep your car brand new is PREVENTION--Proper wash + regular wax/sealant. Otherwise, you will end up with tons of swirl mark, you can keep buffing it out with polisher but that will eat away all your clear coat eventually. Black color is a bit** to take care lol if you know what i mean.
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Disclaimer: This is my personal way of taking care of my brand new Lexus IS250 2012 SFP. I'm not a professional detailer but detailing is my 2nd full time job . The above guide is pretty general, I can go into much much much more details if you asks more.

FSportIS

iTrader: (13)

For brand new car, make sure you wait at least 1 month for the paint to cure before you apply any wax/sealant. Otherwise, you will end up with bubbling effect on the paint.

I actually call Lexus dealership to find out the manufacturing date of my car before I wax it. Wash your car and then apply Wax/sealant is all you need for a brand new car.

Joeb427

iTrader: (1)

Not true with today's auto manufacturer applied urethane paints.
No gassing off like older paints.
Paint dries fast and good to wax by the time it reaches port.

phillimt

The car isn't new, purchased it used, so no worries about the paint curing! Thanks for all the tips though, looks like I need to start investing in all of these items... clay bars and such.

These writeups are awesome though, thanks... excellent information!

FSportIS

iTrader: (13)

I partially agree with you. Old or new paint still needs curing time to dry. However, the new paint would probably better than the old one. However, TO BE SAFE and take ABSOLUTELY NO CHANCE, i would take cautions.

Also, I found out that my car is manufactured in i think in September of 2011 and so there are like couple months before the customer took the delivery.

FSportIS

iTrader: (13)

It tooks me months to research the detailing topics. I have searched through tons of detailing forums to learn. Making the baby Lex look good can be more than a full time job haha. Good luck on taking care of her. By the way, good choice on color!

07Lex350

You just have to realize that today's cars, the OEM paint is thinner and stronger because its baked with its bare metal body and sprayed efficiently by robots. Compared to aftermarket paint where it thicker and softer. Also, most Japanese automakers have a reputation of having softer paint compared to European automakers such as Mercedes Benz, where they're paint jobs are stronger to prevent chips. Here are my recommendations...

Car Soap: Chemical Guys Citruswash+gloss. Use it as a daily wash or when it comes time to strip old wax for a weekend detail job. Use a sheepskin wash mitt and dry with a waffleweave MF towel to dry.

Sealant: Menzerna Powerlock or BlackFire Wet Diamond. Personally I've only used Wet Diamond and I have no complaints. This stuff is good, the bonding properties makes it last a 4 months+. I can't get this stuff off my applicator pad compared to Meg's NXT or Ultimate wax when I dunk it in a bucket of warm water and dawn.

Just my .02

slimjimtel

Tips for preventing swirls.

Use ONLY Microfiber towels and Wash mits!!!! Get the softest microfiber towels you can find.

NEVER use a household terry towel. Terry cloth scratches...swirls paint.

Use a 2 bucket wash system, soapy wash in one bucket, clean water in the second to rinse was mit.

Use Prima Hydro at EVERY washing. Spritz a panel and wipe dry with your micro. Your dry towels will become slick and glide over your paint while adding a layer of protection. Prima Hydro may be the most AMAZING product ever. Espesially for dark cars. It quickly removes and cleans water spots that start forming as you car starts to dry.

I highly reccomend Prima products!

A new car today needs protection, WAX IT! It's not going to hurt it.

phillimt

Yeah I love the colour.. the white is the best colour on these cars... love it. It's nice that it's not a regular white, I'm not normally a fan of whites, but I love SFP...

Sounds great, I'll give these a try too... get a couple microfibre cloths and go to town on her...

FSportIS

iTrader: (13)

@07Lex350, Yeah, and in addition to your saying, some paint today is water-based to be more green for the environment but the paint becomes softer as well.

@slimjimtel +1, you covered the detail I left out earlier.

@phillimt lol, what a coincident. i don't like white either but when I go to see my car, only 2 colors stand out: Black or White. Looking closer, the white has such a nice sparkling effect and very different from other white car. This uniqueness leads me to chose the SFP . However, I wanted the Ultra Sonic Blue but they didn't have it on lot at that time.

pinoyIS250

iTrader: (3)

I recommend Wolfgang Deep Gloss Paint Sealant 3.0.

edgeucated

iTrader: (4)

There is an detailing section on this forum, that's why there are few threads on exterior care in the 2IS section.

But to answer your question, I tend to use collinate 845 insulator wax for the exterior. I use to use those other fancy-brand-wax containing carnauba, which could run $100+ but I soon realized that they only last about 3 months. My car looked amazing though. Any wax containing a high amount of carnauba will make your car shine like no other.

However as a student, I have severe time restraints (and am extremely lazy haha) so I started to look for products that would last longer. I found collinate 845 to give the longest protection (up to 6 months); the only downside is that it isn't quite that shiny.

The other suggestions in this thread are all pretty good, but depending on your need, you should decide if you want a wax with carnauba or a wax that protects for a long time.