Brand New Car - best things to do to keep it looking new?

[TD]

I had a quick look through the detailing forum and couldn't find a topic specifically for what to do with a brand new car to keep it looking as new as possible for as long as possible.

What do people recommend (or do) when they get a brand new car to get everything looking great after delivery, and to keep it looking good? Both exterior and interior.

Very interested to hear your suggestions and experiences!

----

My new car in particular has a few things I want to sort out:
- Dealer pre-delivery wax marks on my black rubber trim around the windows. What's the best way to clean these up and/or conceal them?
- Adhesive residue from when the car was wrapped/covered for transport from the factory. What's the best way to get this off safely?
- Cloth seats, will using cans of Scotchguard you can buy from Bunnings etc provide sufficient protection for the seats? Also, what's the best thing to use to clean them prior to Scotchguard as I think my passenger seat already has stains (spray tan! grrr) on it.

[Caffeine Fiend]

The first thing I do is a full paint correction....but that's just me

TBH it depends largely on how much you want to do yourself, how much time you have set aside for regular (weekly) maintenance, an how much money you have to invest in a paint protection product

Are you:

a) Someone who is happy to fairly religiously set aside time once a week to wash & maintain the car?
b) Someone who washes their car whenever they can, but it can sometimes be a month between washes
c) Someone who just wants to do the absolute bare minimum possible, but still wants something presentable

[Yeldarb]

d) Someone who would fly a detailing Guru from Melbourne once a year to detail your car (then tell your friends who'll all just rock-up and get thiers done as well )

[LRRH]

+1 Brad's comment ^

[Caffeine Fiend]

Why do I get the feeling that when we catch I'm going to be drugged at some point in the evening, kidnapped, and wake up chained to a wall in a garage somewhere with nothing but rows of cars to detail?





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[TD]

I think I'd be somewhere between A and B, leaning towards B.

I don't mind putting the time in now and early in the cars life, if it will save me some maintenance time down the track.

[Caffeine Fiend]

In which case mate, I would look for someone in Bris who can do a paint correction for you and then you can do the Prima Paint Protection and wax once a month with something easy to apply like Banana Gloss.

Or

Have ceramic polymer paint protection done (like OptiCoat/OptiGuard). Getting that done should also include a paint correction. From there it becomes straight forward to maintain. I'd still be waxing once a month, but it now becomes more about the gloss and wet look a wax will give you (the aesthetic) rather than the protectant properties of the wax protecting your clear coat


Paint correction will take care of any adhesive on the panels.

If you're not wanting to get paint correction done (I'd recommend you do though), you can at the bare minimum, clay the car, which should help remove the adhesive residue

For residue on the rubber and the surrounds, you can use Pre Wow from ZAS

http://www.zas.com.au/product/443/pr...rim_brush.html


I love this stuff. It works miracles on plastics and rubber. There is a sister product called Black Wow, which is a silicon based restorer to be used after you use the Pre Wow, but as your car (and plastics/rubber) is quite new, I doubt you'll need it. Pre Wow should be ample for your needs

Also have a look here

http://www.zas.com.au/detailing_library.php

Joel's done a lot of work to outline detailing techniques, from the basic wash, all the way though to full paint correction etc. Really informative stuff

For interior cloth, I'd be tempted to use this over Scotchguard

http://www.zas.com.au/product/371/fi...ant_946ml.html

Maybe though have a chat to Joel and get his thoughts

Dan


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[TD]

Great reply, thanks Dan!

[Caffeine Fiend]

Anytime mate

Also forgot to mention, if you do the Prima Paint Protection, do the wheels too!

Makes keeping them clean sooo much easier


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[RedDjinn]

Best thing you can do to keep it looking new is keep it in the shed never bring it out

[Cton]

Seriously, I always say that the best thing you can do is wash it once a week weather permitting with a good wash/wax.
As a spraypainter of almost 15yrs i dont believe in all that paint sealant and crap, sorry guys, but if its a new car i see no reason for any paint correcting or anything fancy.
Just look after it. i polish my car maybe every 4 months at best. I had a guy actually ask me the other week how i keep it looking like new. Just clean it often i said. it doesnt give anything the chance to stick to it.
i always hear people saying how hard the brake dust is to get off wheels too, well of course it is if you leave it 6 weeks.]
Doing it once a week keeps the wash time down too. sometimes it looks clean but ill just do it anyway. and itll only take 1/2 hour.

[Reedy]

My dad swears by the enduring properties that only a protective layer of dust can provide.

At the moment I wash my car about once a month and wax it maybe every 3. I am much more pedantic about getting it serviced than I am about keeping it clean.

[TD]

I did the "not look after the car" thing with the Mazda. Was OK for the first three years but it really started to look tired in the fourth year.

Figured that with my second pop at owning a new car I'd attempt to look after this one a little better, but not to the point it lives in a climate controlled bubble where I'm afraid of getting a leaf on it.

[blackbetty]

I agree with Cton (cant comment about the paint correction etc etc ).

But I have a black car that still looks pretty good and I do wash it and wax it regularly. Wether you have a black car or not I think regular maintenance of it inside and outside is important to keep it looking good.

[Caffeine Fiend]

New car schmew car

Sorry Seaton, new cars can sometimes need just as much paint correction as cars that have been on the road for over 12 months.

New cars can sometimes sit outside in factory lots for several weeks at a time being exposed to all types of industrial contaminants

Then they get loaded onto a boat, spending weeks exposed to salt air and more industrial contaminants

They'll then sit on a lot again, waiting to be transported to various dealerships.

The ones traveling by rail are the best.... They get metal oxides from rail dust caught (melted) into the paintwork also (Scott from Superior Shine in NSW put up some pretty interesting pics on Detail Paradise of a dozen or so Range Rover Evoque's suffering this problem whilst they were trained to NSW for a road show prior to the Evoque's release in Aus).

But all this is nothing compared to what they're exposed to once they hit the dealerships. That's where the most damage is normally done either by daily washes with crappy sponges, grit encrusted chamois drying them off, over zealous, inexperienced, or just pushed-for-time detailers leaving buffer trails from machine polishing all over the car pre-delivery

I've seen every example of the above, and, more disturbingly, quite often.

I say all of this with absolutely no disrespect intended to you or your abilities, as I know you're a hell of a spray painter and have helped me out in the past. I do not however believe that just because a car is new it doesn't need paint correction. Pre-delivery is often where some of the worst damage is done. I've seen it first-hand

Paint protection is again, one of those things we will have to agree to disagree on. I've spoken about it more than a few times here and why I believe it has been given a bad wrap.... generally due to application or curing error. I've seen its benefits on my own car and how little swirl removal I have had to do in the time it has been on. Yes I look after my car, but even the most fastidious owner who washes his/her car once a week with all the right products and methods yada yada will still see swirls appear. It's inevitable..... until someone invents a method of washing cars thoroughly without actually coming into contact with the surface. Since using paint protection (and renewing it every six months), zero swirls, and believe me, I look, every time

A weekly wash though and a good layer of wax once a month or so is something I also subscribe to an recommend to those who ask. I will however also advocate some sort of paint protection in addition to that, of only to give that little bit more protection.

Cheers mate

Dan


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[slixx]

Dan. Ever since u paint corrected my car, paint protection and gave me large shopping list from ZAS, I have cleaning my car religiously weekly.

I can say every week the car just gets better and better. I just washed it tonight a I must say its gleaming as the day u paint corrected it

I get compliments weekly about clean and wonderful my car is and how it looks brand new. Only I know where the flaws are but every week I get more and more satisfaction.

Small price to pay for the paint correction, paint protection, good quality products from ZAS and 2.5 hours a week

Can't tell u how much I appreciate it and thanks again



Peter "SLIXX"

[PerthMPS]

Best thing you can do to keep it looking new is keep it in the shed never bring it out

Thats what i do with mine lol

[Cton]

Haha.
Fair enough. No disrespect to you guys ment.
I think alot of it is just common sense.
Clean your sponges etc.
I can honestly say I don't get swirls on my car. But then it's not black.

---------- Post added at 09:54 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:53 PM ----------

Slixx, your car looks good!

[Caffeine Fiend]

No disrespect taken mate

And you're right. Common sense makes a difference too

And thanks Pete. damned sexy car you've got there . Looks like you're doing a great job maintaining it too!



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[slixx]

Dan the car looks this way coz of all of the above. I cannot recommend the treatment u supply highly enough

-Weekly I wash with Prima Mystique, Tyre Gel the wheels, clean the outside windows, and gloss Rims
-Give a spray with Prima Hydro spray monthly
-Wax with Prima Banana gloss monthly

I'll be back to Dan for a paint correction and protection next year coz I see the results.

Having a Black is tough, but after owing a silver car (which never looked dirty) the hard work pays off when it's clean

Also the paint protection, Hydro and wax makes it a breeze to clean on a weekly basis!

Gleamin' 'n' smiling' all the way.



Peter "SLIXX"