Treatment for protection of brand new car parked outside?

Don't for a second think that "their" guy at the dealer will do a better job prepping your car than you will. Are there skilled detailers at dealerships? Yes. However, for the most part "your" car is just one more invthenline of vehicles for them to run through for the day.



Tell them no prep upon delivery and put your vehicle on the "do not wash" list when it's serviced. You'll be happy you did.



Finally you are in luck to be here. There are some incredibly gifted guys on these forums who will do nothing but give you knowledge about proper care. Some of them are already in this thread.
 
opti coat would be my first choice then opti seal and opti car wax once a month or fk1000. i would also use onr for regular washes. for the wheel i would use opti coat or fk1000.



don't what else to tell you as its been pretty well covered already in this thread.
 
Car Cover can be very nice, You must do the research on them. You will end up spending some coin to get a great one. A car cover would be your best bet, but not practicle. I keep one on my mustang that is fitted to the car, Cost me over $400 if i recall, it was worth every penny. It wraps around the bottom then has cable lock the go under the car.



Do not have faith in the car dealership. I would bet the will atleat wash your car, giving it a basic prep. Chances are this will be done with dirty wash mitts and dried with dirty rags. This can cause marring and some swirl marks.
 
Thanks for all the feedback. I'm going to continue researching a bit more since I have several weeks before the car comes in, but I think at this stage I will follow the suggestion of using Opti Coat. I know there was one recommendation for Zaino, which is all I use for garage queens, but I haven't had that much luck with durability -- possibly because I had been casual about using it with catalyst and I've subsequently learned on this forum that it really helps with durability.



I will ask them to do no prep on the car per the suggestions here.



Thanks for the help,

Peter
 
if at all possible getting in writing that they wouldn't do any exterior prep. some go as far as not having them remove the shipping wrap/plastic the factory puts on.
 
Exactly!



To Peter - don't ask them, TELL THEM not to touch the car.



wascallyrabbit said:
if at all possible getting in writing that they wouldn't do any exterior prep. some go as far as not having them remove the shipping wrap/plastic the factory puts on.
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Another vote for Opti-Coat. I actually just coated a brand new M3 last weekend....4th car I've coated for this owner now. The owner had me remove the wheels and coat the inner barrels on them as well.





IMG_1045800x598.jpg




IMG_1074597x800.jpg
 
Brad B. said:
...my current S4 , now pushing six years old, has never had a water spot even from sprinklers or summer showers..
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OOH...I'm envious. The roof and "B" pillars of the A8 got etched something awful from sprinklers (Memphis, TN). Badly enough that my wife told me to *not* take off enough clear to completely fix it.
 
wascallyrabbit said:
if at all possible getting in writing that they wouldn't do any exterior prep. some go as far as not having them remove the shipping wrap/plastic the factory puts on.
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-AND-



tdekany said:
To Peter - don't ask them, TELL THEM not to touch the car.
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Right. Get it in writing on the sales contract. Convince them (and yourself ;) ) that you'll walk away from the deal, after all the special ordering/etc., if they touch it. Be prepared to stick to that.



Yeah, I turned down the first S8 my dealer got me. Took 'em a while to learn; this was after an incident with A6 that they'd touched and I wouldn't take that one until they agreed to...let's say "adequate compensation" for my having to do some (very) minor correction. And yeah#2 I still do business with the same dealer and there were no hard feelings (at least none between me and the people there who matter).
 
Accumulator said:
OOH...I'm envious. The roof and "B" pillars of the A8 got etched something awful from sprinklers (Memphis, TN). Badly enough that my wife told me to *not* take off enough clear to completely fix it.
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Yeah me too, had a bad encounter once with sprinklers a while back and yours truly also wound up getting silver paint overspray on mine a few years back :o



Regarding the new car dealer and the no prep, both the Audi and the Honda dealers I dealt with were okay with not prepping mine. I was always very polite about it and I explained how detailing is my passion.I talked about some of the processes I like to do. I think I gave the impression ,it's actually pretty fun if you get into it. They understood and I don't think it was really a big deal for them. I would just take the time to explain; it's even easier if you're lucky and you get a real car enthusiast sales person, but if not, they'll still likely be receptive to you.
 
I hope you and your family get many trouble free and safe miles out of your Q5 Peter! I have not heard anyone not liking it. They seem to have struck a good balance between status and dynamism.



A lot of good advice has been already given. What has worked for me protection wise in GR (with the 100+ F summers and a lot of sunshine in general) on a VAG group car (VW EOS) sitting outside all the time as well is the following.



FK1000p as LSP topped up with Carnauba waxes once every 4-6 weeks.



Since you are lucky enough to be on top of your car since day one, what I would do to protect it (for 4-6 months at least) is for the paint to wash/decontaminate/clay/glaze/seal and for the wheels the same except glaze.



I skip polishing thinking that if the dealership respect your request, you will be lucky not to have any issues from the factory on your paint.



For washing you might want to consider a stripping ratio on your shampoo if applicable.

Decontaminating with either FK, ABC or Iron X, followed perhaps by an IPA wipedown will yield clean paint. On wheels Iron X (or similar product) will be enough I think.

Claying with a mild clay might be preferable.

I propose glazing (even by hand) to create a solid base for your sealant. CG EZ creme would be my choice.

Finally on sealant, many good are out there. For me FK1000 has worked well so far. I am trying optiseal on my soon to come semiannual polishing/protecting session, as it has received so many good reviews and it is so easy to apply. On wheels both FK and OS will be just fine.



Topping up or not with a wax is then entirely up to you. I do it because I think I see an improvement on looks.



Finally (since prevention is better than cure) carry on the car at all times a solution of ONR or similar to attack bird bombs etc asap.



Again have fun with the new toy :)
 
Your plan of two layers of 845 is good plan. Being in the sun all day I'd re-do it about every 3-6 months depending on how much rain you get. of course the initial application you should do a full decontamination and light polishing to get it all perfect.
 
Ch96067 said:
Finally (since prevention is better than cure) carry on the car at all times a solution of ONR or similar to attack bird bombs etc asap.
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Thanks for all the advice -- this suggestion of carrying ONR with you is a great idea. I definitely will be doing this (probably would have avoided some stains on the X5 being replaced if I had done that!)
 
I have one question about claying post decontamination. I always use Mothers clay. I've tried many brands of clay and have found Mothers clay to be effective and idiot-proof. I have always used the Mothers detailer that comes with it and it works great as a lube, but because it's a detailer I suspect it leaves something on the surface to help with shine which probably isn't an ideal surface for applying polish. As I'm prepping for Opti-Coat (or whatever I end up using) I won't want anything on the paint, should I use something different than Mothers detailer for clay lube, or just use something after it for clean-up (or both)?
 
peterp said:
Thanks for all the advice -- this suggestion of carrying ONR with you is a great idea. I definitely will be doing this (probably would have avoided some stains on the X5 being replaced if I had done that!)
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This is a very good idea, I have seen bird bombs etch very soft clear very quick, Like 30-60 min quick. Even a quick detailer will work. Dont forget about 3-4 microfibers. You wont want to reuse a dirty one.
 
peterp said:
.. I have always used the Mothers detailer that comes with it and it works great as a lube, but because it's a detailer I suspect it leaves something on the surface to help with shine which probably isn't an ideal surface for applying polish. As I'm prepping for Opti-Coat (or whatever I end up using) I won't want anything on the paint, should I use something different than Mothers detailer for clay lube, or just use something after it for clean-up (or both)?
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Just use something after the claying; QDs don't leave all that much behind and what they do leave oughta wash off pretty easily. Just use a potent shampoo/APC/whatever mix instead of an aggressive wash technique.
 
[quote name='peterp']I have one question about claying post decontamination. QUOTE]



if your using a true decon you shouldn't need to clay. if you feel you need to clay i would do before or during the decon.
 
wascallyrabbit said:
if your using a true decon you shouldn't need to clay..
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Well, I wouldn't go quite *that* far...two different processes and sometimes the decon just doesn't do things that call for the mechanical shearing of the clay.
 
Thanks for the feedback. I guess I'll do the clay first and then the Iron X, which should definitely remove anything left over from the detailer clay lube. I hadn't heard of decontaminators like Iron X before it was suggested in this thread -- as I read about it it seems like pretty amazing stuff and I'm pretty excited about trying it. I'm getting ready to order the products -- so far Opti-Coat and 500ml of Iron X gel soap (not sure of the difference from the Iron X spray, but seems like the gel soap will be easier to use).



Now I'm thinking of using the Iron X on other cars -- do you know if Iron X removes polishes? I'm thinking of using it on a garage queen with many coats of Zaino -- definitely will use it it leaves the Zaino intact, but probably won't if not.
 
peterp said:
Now I'm thinking of using the Iron X on other cars -- do you know if Iron X removes polishes? I'm thinking of using it on a garage queen with many coats of Zaino -- definitely will use it it leaves the Zaino intact, but probably won't if not.
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I'm not sure why you'd want to use an acidic decontamination product if you don't want it to get through the Zaino to contact the paint :confused:
 
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