durability

[mopar]

just wanted to say that all i use is meguiars ,but i was on a consumer site and they rated car waxes they said that yuor 3 rd step carnuba wax wasnt durable ? have you guys found this in any of yuor tests? would it be better to use gold class as the thirs step.or just use scratch x and gold class as a two step system? confused need help

[Tom MacDonald]

You ask a very good question about durabilty. There are many different variables that come into play when we talk about durabilty. Meguiar's recommends that wax be applied no longer then every 3 months. Any company that states their product will protect longer then that is PURE speculation. It would be interesting to find out how the testing was done and what they are basing the protection level on. Example: if they were basing the wax protection purely on "Beading" action of the water. I would question the reliability of such a review on both great performers and poor.

If you think about when you pruchase a new car from the lot, there is probably NO wax on this surface, yet when it rains or after you wash it, the beading action is increadible.

I could go on and on on this topic, but I won't. What is more important in paint care if the preparation of the surface prior to waxing and polishing. Proper surface preparation will have a huge impact on how well a wax will protect the finish and for what lenght of time.

Scratch X or Deep Crystal Step 1 are very good products to prepare the surface for Polish and or Wax. The benefit of G/C Wax is that it does contain polish, so it will be doing two steps with one product. If you have a dark colored car doing a polish and wax step are going to give you improved results you can see. If you have a very light colored car you will not see some of the benefits that a polish brings to the depth and gloss of paint finish. If you were to tell me you had a white car I would probably just recommend the D/C Carnuba Wax after using either D/C Step 1 or Scratch X to clean the paint.

I hope this helps.

Regards,
Tom

[Rockpick]

Great explanation Tom.... I couldn't agree with you more...

Also, awesome avitar!

RP :D

[Tom MacDonald]

Hey RP.. That car is for sale!!! It is a friend of mine that owns it. He just bought another one and only has room for one in his garage.

[mopar]

my colour is bright silver metalic,, but i want the best finish possible so i would be ok useing all 3 steps even though i might not see the results it will be a better finish anyway right.

[Tom MacDonald]

Yes, using 3 steps will give you a better result. You do not have to do all 3 steps each time you do your car. Try doing the 3 steps a couple times a year, in between just using the wax step. If you find that the finish is not looking as good doing this every 3 months just decrease the time between applications.

Regards,
Tom

[mopar]

thanks for the information and advice

[Mike Phillips]

Just to add on to what Tom has posted,

Before working on your car, but after washing and drying your car, feel the horizontal surfaces with the palm of your clean hand.

Check to see if you have any bonded contaminants. If you do, before using any cleaners, polishes, or waxes, go over the entire finish with a clay bar and a quick detailer such as Meguiar's Quik Clay Detailing System (http://www.meguiars.com/store_meguiars/product_detail.cfm?sku=G-11).

This will insure a smooth-as-glass surface which will greatly increase the gloss and shine level of your finish.


Mike :cool: