New Car Question

T

TwoStroke

New member
Hello, I'm brand-spankin new, and have done some homework, but can't find a clear answer. I'm hoping you all can help me.



I'm taking delivery of a new car on Monday. I have been doing some reading, and have figured out that I need to wash and clay it, but I'm not sure what comes next. I have read about AIO followed by SG, but then some people talk about polish then wax. I'm really not sure what I should be doing. I'm thinking some of what is discussed here is overkill for a brand new car.



I think I'm good to go on what I need to buy, and how to do the work, but what process should I use? Do I polish with a light-abrasive polish after the clay? If so, which polish? Do I Wax after that? If so, which wax? :) I know that answer will be subjective.



Can I just wash, clay, AIO then SG? Can I get a better result doing something different?



One last question... do I need to wash again after I wax. That is one part of the process I'm confused about. Somehow I would think I need to, especially if I'm using soapy water as a lube.



Thanks for the help!
 
You should be good to go with a glaze since it's a new vehicle. If you want, you could go with a light polish as well.
 
TwoStrokd- Welcome to Autopia!



It's pretty incredible how the conditions of brand new cars can vary. Sometimes they've been washed/etc. at the dealership in such a way that they look worse than many 5 year old cars! Hope that doesn't happen to yours, but *that's* the sort of thing that determines whether you need to use an abrasive polish or not. If a car looks like it needs polished, then it does, no matter how new it is.



If it does get marred up, I'd try to correct things now. You'll have plenty of clear to work with and you'll only be correcting presumably minor problems. But fingers crossed that yours will be OK, in which case the wash/clay/Klasse twins will work fine. Thin thin thin on the KSG :D
 
Accumulator said:
TwoStrokd- Welcome to Autopia!



It's pretty incredible how the conditions of brand new cars can vary. Sometimes they've been washed/etc. at the dealership in such a way that they look worse than many 5 year old cars! Hope that doesn't happen to yours, but *that's* the sort of thing that determines whether you need to use an abrasive polish or not. If a car looks like it needs polished, then it does, no matter how new it is.



If it does get marred up, I'd try to correct things now. You'll have plenty of clear to work with and you'll only be correcting presumably minor problems. But fingers crossed that yours will be OK, in which case the wash/clay/Klasse twins will work fine. Thin thin thin on the KSG :D
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Thanks so much! Should I ask the dealer not to wash it, or would that be too paranoid? If I do that, I won't be able to wash it for 5 days and it will probably look like crap, but I'd like to do what is right.



Thanks again for all the advice everyone!
 
If it's been sitting on the lot for any amount of time it has already been "prepped" numerous times, and probably had some swirls installed. The dealer washes that cars are subjected to as they wait to be sold are quite often horrendous. You will have to look at your paint in the sun, and examine for swirls and such and decide if you need to polish. Honestly, by the time you buy the car I wouldn't worry too much about that final dealer prep. People freak about it like the first time the dealer ever subjected it to crappy wash techniques was while they were signing the papers.
 
Tasty said:
If it's been sitting on the lot for any amount of time it has already been "prepped" numerous times, and probably had some swirls installed. The dealer washes that cars are subjected to as they wait to be sold are quite often horrendous. You will have to look at your paint in the sun, and examine for swirls and such and decide if you need to polish. Honestly, by the time you buy the car I wouldn't worry too much about that final dealer prep. People freak about it like the first time the dealer ever subjected it to crappy wash techniques was while they were signing the papers.
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I agree. I would only bother to ask the dealer not to prep the car if it is fresh off the truck. Although, from what I understand removing that white plastic is a PITA.
 
It is actually fresh off the truck. It's coming in on Monday. It's a silver (Tungsten Pearl) Lexus IS 350. Would you say the best recommendation is to have them remove the plastic and not do anything else?



Thanks so much for the advice. I'm pretty paranoid about doing the right thing here. I'm doing my best to read up, but there is a lot to learn in short time. :)
 
Yeah, I would have them remove the plastic and do nothing more. You could be be like Bill D. and spend hours at the dealer even doing that yourself. I wish I knew where that post was. It was over the top, but if you want something done right... Best of luck.
 
Tasty said:
If it's been sitting on the lot for any amount of time it has already been "prepped" numerous times, and probably had some swirls installed. The dealer washes that cars are subjected to as they wait to be sold are quite often horrendous. You will have to look at your paint in the sun, and examine for swirls and such and decide if you need to polish.
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exactly. whenever i get my oil change at the dealership, i walk around and look at the brand new cars on the lot and looking at the dark colored cars on a sunny day is absolutely horrifying! swirls, scratches, etc... you name it, and it's enough for me to not want to buy a car from them again! looks like they were washing them with sandpaper... :nervous2:
 
imacarnut said:
exactly. whenever i get my oil change at the dealership, i walk around and look at the brand new cars on the lot and looking at the dark colored cars on a sunny day is absolutely horrifying! swirls, scratches, etc... you name it, and it's enough for me to not want to buy a car from them again! looks like they were washing them with sandpaper... :nervous2:
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I know what you mean. That is why they prep them with a wax with a lot of fillers. After you wash your new cars the wax comes off you realize what they did. I was a porter at a car dealear when I was in High School and my job when it rained or snowed was to wash as quickly as possible all the cars on the lot. The number of swirls that I introduced was staggaring.
 
Great car you're getting!! The new IS350 is quick! And it seems to be 95% of a 330i for 85% of the price! And it looks good, too!



I agree with everything that's been said so far. The less prep the dealer does, and the more you do, to better!



Post pics after first detail!!!:bigups
 
funny, i've seen numerous guys at dealerships washing the cars and they were all wearing a type of high pressure wash/soap/de-ionized water backpack.. they never touched the cars on the lot.. now when they wash before delivery..thats when the "magic" happens and you get that free swirl option...

when i bought my 05 sierra it was on a semi-dirt lot in the back.. i could tell that it had gotten off the truck, removed the plastic and not been washed.. so i opted to take a FILTHY black truck home..after the first wash (very carefully i might add) i was pleased to see 0 swirls.. i was happy.. new black truck..
 
Thanks for all the help everyone, I really appreciate it. I'll be sure to post pictures, though I'm a major noob. :think:



One last question. If I were to go with a light polish, what can you recommend? I'm sure several brands come to mind, and that's fine.
 
If you let them take the plastic off I sure hope they don't mess anything up. The last time I let a dealer do that (foolish of me, I knew better :o ) they put in some seriously deep scratches, the kind you can't safely remove.



With it coming in on Monday there isn't really any time to get a full set of new car prep products from somebody like AutoInt.



Mild polishes that come to mind include stuff from 1Z and Meguiar's #80. The stuff I use (and used to recommend) is 3M PI-III MG (05937) but that's getting hard to find as it's been discontinued. Other good products like Menzerna work best by machine.
 
Welcome and Im happy for you on the new car purchase. A polish for a new Silver Lexus??? There will be many opinions on this but my choices would be 1Z Mettallic Polish (1Z MP) or The trusty AIO and SG, or AIO and 4 Star's Ultimate Paint Protection(UPP)... So many choices can get a little mind boggling !!
 
That's outstanding. Thanks again for the great advice. Seems like AIO is polish - I didnt realize that. :)



I think what I'm going to do, since I'm inexperienced and out of time, is run to an auto parts and get a couple of wash mits, two buckets, Meg Soap, AIO, SG and some MF towels to get the car clean until my order comes in.



This forum has been really valuable to me. Thanks for saving my new car from swirls and scratches!
 
I just took delivery of my IS350 last week and told the dealers not to wash the car. All they did was take off the plastic. Btw, I have the Smoky Granite Mica color. Congrats on your IS!
 
TwoStrokd said:
I think what I'm going to do, since I'm inexperienced and out of time, is run to an auto parts and get a couple of wash mits, two buckets, Meg Soap, AIO, SG and some MF towels to get the car clean until my order comes in.
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Good luck finding Klasse at an auto parts store, I haven't seen it in one yet. You may have to bite-the-bullet and order it online and pay a bit more for a fast shipping option.
 
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