Maintaining Detail and Paint After East Coast Winter
 

Now that winter is over, I'd like to get some input on what needs to be done to maintain the appearance of my car. Some background info. Obsidian Black, car is garaged, and driven roughly 3 times a week.

November 2014: Performed paint correction (compound/polish), applied sealant and wax. All done with a Porter Cable
Dec 2014 to March 2015: ONR Wash using Garry Dean method approx every 2 weeks or sooner as needed (ie. after snowstorm). Apply ONR Spray wax after every wash.

Looking for advice on what I need to do to prepare the car for Spring/Summer.

Do you all think polishing is necessary? Or should I just clay, wax, and seal? (CORRECTION: clay, seal, wax) Still seeing water beads on the car. Was still seeing beads of water on my car in the garage after 1.5 days of it being in the rain.

Thanks in advance.

You shouldn't need polish at this time since you have done a heavy polishing (2 steps) not too long ago. This is assuming your paint is still in good condition right now and that you have maintained it properly during the winter.

If i were in your shoe, I would do 2 bucket wash, and then seal and continue doing 2 bucket wash every 1-2 weeks. Or if you really want to do some decon, IronX is all you need.

I don't advice claying because it will create minor marring. I regretted claying mine without polishing so I will only clay when I polish next.

You know what they say... black is not a color, it is a full time job.

Kudos for taking the time to do a proper correction on your paint. Now that you've got it in good shape, you shouldn't ever need to break out the compound again except for potential spot correction of heavier scratches on occasion.

In general, routine maintenance from here on out consists of regular washing, applying protection (sealant, wax, or both), decontaminating, and polishing only as needed. I usually recommend washing at least once every two weeks. Feel free to top with a spray wax afterwards if you'd like.

General rule of thumb is to reapply a sealant every 4-6 months, or reapply a wax every 4-6 weeks... this will vary depending on your environment and how often you drive the car.

I emphasize that you should only polish as needed because when you're polishing you are actually removing a fine layer of paint... you never want to remove paint unless you need to. Since obsidian is quite delicate, it would likely require some light polishing annually to remove typical wash induced marring and light swirls, but any more frequently is probably too much... unless perhaps you don't intend on keeping the car for more than a few years. Before polishing, it is always a good idea to completely decontaminate (clay) as well.

Let me know if you've got any other questions.

-Zach

Yes, black has become a full time job indeed. I miss my Xterra, which I could care less about... Girlfriend, friends, and family are calling me anal/crazy. :D God, am I turning into one of "those" Lexus a*hole owners now? Oh well haha

I believe the paint is still in pretty good condition and I'd like to think I maintained it properly haha :uh:. I still get a mirror finish when I wash and wax with ONR. I couldn't stand to have the covered in salt/sand, even rain spots, for more than a day.

I think it is definitely due for a coat of sealant and a coat of non spray wax.

So to confirm, no need to clay before apply sealant and wax? Just simply do 2 bucket wash and use the porter cable to apply sealant, followed by wax?

As always, thank you so much again for the advice and info.

Really no need to clay as of now since it is not that contaminated. Plus claying without polishing will leave you minor marring which will make you angry like it did to me!!! I think your paint is pretty good based on what you said so wash and seal and keep up the good work.

Welcome to the Lexus ***** club haahahahah. Be proud of it :D

The paint only needs to be decontaminated as needed... if the paint is rough, then yeah... you'll need to clay it. Just know that (as FSPORTIS mentioned) claying may cause marring and scratches... especially on delicate obsidian black paint. So, you may want to follow up the claying process with a very light polish to remove any marring if you do end up marring the paint while claying.

And I will guarantee 99% marring no matter how much lubricant you use or how ultra fine the clay is on a dark color if you clay!

I have tested with ONR with various dilution such as 1:32, 1:16, 1:1, and undiluted with the Pinnacle ULTRA FINE clay bar on various sections of the car. Unfortunately, I still have marring everywhere equally on the dark blue Lexus which I will polish this weekend lol. That combo did not have problem on the white Lexus however.

I really love the dark blue color but really hate it at the same time. It can show all kinds of defects no matter how minor it is. Why don't they use an ultra hard paint on dark color, damn it.

Having owned cars in white all my life and suddenly have a dark blue car. I start to appreciate how easy to maintain the white color!

BMW Sapphire Black is rock hard... trust me, it is not any more fun to work on. I guess regular maintenance would be less of a challenge, but correcting that paint is a real battle!

Isn't that rotary polisher and wet sanding come in handy for rock hard paint correction?

Not on OEM clear... I don't advise wet sanding on any OEM paint unless it is absolutely necessary since clear is so thin these days. It just takes a heavy cutting compound and some patience with a DA to knock it out... luckily my Rupes LHR21 saves me a lot of time in these instances compared to a smaller machine.

Tell me about it. As much as I love it when it's clean, it's too much. Washed yesterday, already dirty. smh

OP get Cquartz finest applied.