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Thread: to wax or not to wax?

  1. #1
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    Default to wax or not to wax?

    Hi guys, my daughter is about to sell her car and I want to give it a good clean. The car has got paint protection. I know it is a nono to polish the car as this would remove the protection but is it okay to wax it?
    Thanks for any info.

  2. #2
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    Quote Originally Posted by AlanC View Post
    Hi guys, my daughter is about to sell her car and I want to give it a good clean. The car has got paint protection. I know it is a nono to polish the car as this would remove the protection but is it okay to wax it?
    Thanks for any info.
    if you use something like prima hydro, or another sealant wax, you should be fine
    how long has the paint protection been on there? and does it get cleaned regularly?
    if it's been on for a year, and it's hasnt been looked after very well in that time, i would give it a full on polish
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  3. #3
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    Hi Alan,

    As Sam says, if the paint protection is more than 12 months and hasn't been regularly 'topped up' using a sealant of some description, it's probably not providing much protection anymore.

    What you do will depend on how much time, effort, and money you want to expend on the car.

    A wash and polish would be on the lower end of the time/effort/money scale. If there are a lot of micro scratches or swirls in the clear, a simple polish won't do a lot to remove or cover these up (it may to a very small degree). This process would only take a few hours to do.

    In the middle of the scale, you can do as above, but prior to polishing, you can use a swirl removal product to remove/minimise swirls, micro scratches and holograms in the clear coat. One of the products I use is Meguires Ultimate Compound (there are lots out there though). It can require a fair bit of effort by hand though. You can get these products from Joel at ZAS (among other places, but ZAS will look after you very well). Something like this on a medium car can take up to a day to do.

    On the 3/4 end of the far scale, you can do all of the above, but prior to any scratch/swirl removal, you can use a clay bar. All cars over a period of time have small amounts of debris that sticks to the clear coat, making the paint feel rough when you run your hands over it. Exhaust gases, tree sap, road tar, and even dirt within rain if left long enough will leave the paint feeling like fine sandpaper even after a good wash. A clay bar and clay lubricant will remove this debris from the surface and restore the clear coat to a glassy feel. This process, when added to the above steps, will easily take a full day in total to complete. Sometimes a bit longer.

    On the far end, you start to talk about all of the above, but with machine polishing in place of hand polishing and also reapplication of paint protection. Machine polishing should really only be done by detailing professionals as it can be detrimental to paintwork if not done correctly or if the right tools aren't used. It's generally done where scratches in the clear are at a point where removal by hand will be too laborious or time consuming. It can be a great time saver, but it can also be costly due to the tools involved and the potential damage to the clear coat can be substantial if not used correctly (Premhk's Gen I is a good example of that. A car dealer tried to machine polish it and it cause all sorts of nasty holograms in the clear that will take some effort to remove). Re-applying paint protection would also only really be applicable if you were planning on keeping the car.

    As you're looking to get rid of the car, unless the clear is in dire condition, I'd say the middle of the scale would be a good balance between time/effort expended and finished result. All that effort can then be given a modicum of protection by using a a spray sealant/quick detailers such as Hydro as Sam mentions above.

    Hope this helps (and didn't flood you with too much info )

    Dan


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  4. #4
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    Thanks guys for your very informative replies.

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    Alan, I paid Mazda to apply paint protection. It was worth $hit after 6 months.

    I got serious and lined up Zas and Redline Care Car to put some serious stuff on. In the process they took off what was left of the Mazda effort.


    Good stuff polishing the car before a sale. More than most people will do.

    Best of luck mate.

  6. #6

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    Hi Alan

    The sealants sold by dealerships aren't any better than the DIY sealants we supply. 6 months in perfect conditions is the best you'll see. The easiest way to know if the sealant is still there is see if the water beads or sheets off. If it just lays flat and struggles to run off the bonnet then I am afraid it is no longer there.

    Unless you had a coating like Yeldarb got through our protection dealers and in that case a non abrasive polish/paint cleaner won't harm the protection. It will actually be good for it as it removes any contaminants from the surface and revives the coating.

    Since you are selling, my suggestion is to clean it up as best as possible with the least amount of effort or money.

    You could go with a number of option but I think the best would be an "All In One" polish with sealant like this Finish Kare 215. It is a non abrasive polish, so if you do have a true paint protection coating it won't harm it. Works well with hand application, will conceal some of the swirl marks making it appear better for the sale and it will leave a synthetic sealant on the surface at the same time.

    EDIT: I should also add - clean windows and dressed tyres make a huge difference to the overall look too.
    Last edited by ZAS; 23-01-2011 at 05:16 PM.

  7. #7
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    Thanks for that Joel.

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