Bit of TLC for my girlfriends new (2nd hand) car exterior. Any advice?

[Lachlan]

Hi all. Im completly new to detailing. I just clean my MPS once a week and give it a sprey-on clear-coat at a manual car wash, with the occasional good hand wax.

Anyway, my girlfriend's new car needs a bit of attention. Needs wax coat (got removed when she cleaned it with detergent last weekend- thats another story), but there are a few chips, heaps of little scratches, and some obvious previous touch-up paint fixes.
We are just giving it a quick wax while we both have heaps of work on, but in a few weeks I would like to see if i can fix it up a little. Really not sure where to start or what to use though.
Any advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks

[ZAS]

Hi Lachlan

Here are a few suggestions for you to start off:

For the little scratches you can try ZAS Car Detailing Products : Meguiar's Ultimate Compound 450ml G17216 applied with ZAS Car Detailing Products : Lake Country Foam Hand Pad Orange. It will take some effort though by hand.

Then after that you might want to consider buying a kit for your paint protection rather than the spray on wax at the DIY car wash. A kit has 3 basic components:

1. Pre-wax paint cleaner/polish - this is a non abrasive polish that will refine the surface and prep it before you wax. Some will also conceal minor imperfections like you mentioned on your girlfriends car. I recommend you take a look at ZAS Car Detailing Products : Prima Amigo Paint Cleaner/Glaze 473ml

2. Your base sealant - for this you use a durable synthetic wax (sealant) rather than a spray wax. We have a number of options for this. Prima Epic is an obvious choice to use with the Amigo and many members on here have had great results with it on their MPS. Or another option is Optimum Opti-Seal. If you don't have much experience with these kinds of products, the Opti-Seal might be a good choice. It has less of a learning curve than the Epic. You just use a very small amount of product, about two compressions of the sprayer for an average sized panel, spread it with the applicator and you will see it start to flash dry. If you notice any high spots that have hazed, a quick wipe with a microfibre cloth removes it and you're done. Move onto the next panel.

3. Your booster sealant - this is a spray wax or wash and wax, that you apply periodically much like a sacrificial layer of protection to boost the endurance of your main protection. If you prefer the spray wax option then Prima Hydro or Optimum Car Wax are both good options. If you went with the Epic, I would go with the Hydro. If you went with the Opti-Seal, I would go with the Optimum Car Wax.

The third option for your booster is ZAS Car Detailing Products : Meguiar's Ultimate Wash and Wax 1.42L G17748. It won't last anywhere near as long as the spray waxes, but is as simple as just washing your car.

All these products can be purchased in a kit on our website. Just click the link for "Create Your Own Kit" and select the products you want.

You might also want to look at dressing the tyres and plastic trim. I would highly recommend it because it will make a massive difference to the overall look of the car when you're finished.

[Caffeine Fiend]

This man knows ^

Joel, I have a light scratch in the clear on one of my doors. I suspect someone's walked past the car and their bag's lightly scuffed against it as they've gone past. The scratch can only be seen from certain angles under certain light (but I know it's there)

Would the Mequiar's compound and Lake Country foam pad you mention above work well for this? Not too abrasive?

Dan

[ZAS]

Hey Dan

The Ultimate Compound is quite abrasive when used with a machine. By hand not so much, but still better than other products. It would be a good choice to try.

[Caffeine Fiend]

Thanks mate

[Lachlan]

Thanks Joel

Lots more info than expected
Once I get some free time from uni work i'll set up an account and grab a few of those things. Both cars go on dirt roads so cleaning tyres and such is pointless, but the rest looks usefull.
There still an MPS club discount?

Cheers

[ZAS]

Still a discount for members. Just let me know when you register and I'll fix it up.

[Lachlan]

Well.....I finaly got the time and conscripted my girlfriend to help detail her car today.

Car came up brilliantly with a clean, (skipped clay-barring), compounding, polish, opti-seal & spray-wax, all from ZAS. Thanks for all your help Joel, great service.

Very impressed with the meguires ultimate compound, it worked wonders even on very badly scratched areas, but was never difficult to use or overly abrasive even when used by complete novices.
I would strongly recoment this product to anyone with any light-moderate scratching (it completly removed the kangaroo-headbut scratches om my MPS too), easy to use, safe, and very effective.

Overall we are both very happy, but have very sore arms from an obsurd amount of cleaning and pollishing today, even without clay-barring.

[rogwick]

Got some pics mate, sounds deserving of an upload! lol sore arms...wait until tomorrow haha

[Lachlan]

might. didn't get any before pics, but looks pretty good for an old-ish car
arms not as sore as when I detailed the MPS on my own. lol