New car - does it need to be polished or just clayed and waxed?

[chris328]

I have a new car, it was shipped on a boat from europe and when I got it from the dealer it looked like all they did was maybe wash it, cause there were some tar spots and surface contaminants etc. However other than that the paint looks alright, there arent really any swirls or scratches. Should it just be clayed/glaze/waxed or should it be lightly polished first to "wake up" the paint? Would it make a difference? I have a light polish (menzerna p085rd - dont get me wrong i also have some meguiars but not as light of a cut) and was wondering if this is a bad idea since the paint is pretty new (car was built less than 2 months ago).

[mis3]

Re: New car - does it need to be polished or just clayed and waxed?

Glaze is a polish.
The clay will clean up your car nicely but it will also remove the wax and polish on your car as well. It is a good idea to re-apply the polish to bring out the shine.

[chris328]

Re: New car - does it need to be polished or just clayed and waxed?

what do you mean "remove the polish", the paint was polished at the factory, and as far as I know most polishes do not leave anything behind, they round out the surface of the clear coat making it more reflective, so maybe im missing something but not sure how claying would remove a polish.

i guess my question is, i normally would only polish if i saw scratches/swirls, and im weary about using any kind of agressive cut on new paint, and since the paint has none, would applying a glaze and sealant suffice, or is it likely that the paint has been marred from shipping enough that polishing would make a huge difference.

[wifpd4]

Re: New car - does it need to be polished or just clayed and waxed?

We're probably getting into differences in definitions of language between Menzerna and Meguiar's. While a factory may polish a car, they may not have used a polish. Meguiar's will speak of cleaners, which remove defects and polishes, which will shine or "polish". A polish may leave an oil. So when you wash and clay your car, that process may remove any oil left by a polish.

Getting back to your new car, you indicated it had tar and surface contaminates. Which to me would indicate it would need to be clayed and you kind of hinted you might clay the car, I would. After traveling on a ship, possibly the train and likely a transport truck, it may have bonded contaminates. Claying removes bonded contaminates and leaves a smooth surface. That smooth surface is what helps give clarity and definition to the reflections of all the work that follows. Swirls and other defects maybe present, especially if the dealership machine washed your car or even if they hand washed your car. So using the Menzerna is not a bad idea and could be a good one to help minimize any possible defects. Meguiar's considers the use of polish (M03, M05, M07 or A21. Perhaps the most famous and/or most common being M07 Show Car Glaze.) to be an optional step.

So perhaps best practices on a new car might be wash, clay, correct, polish (optional), then wax and wax. Two coats of wax to insure complete coverage not necessarily to "layer" it.

Everyone will agree with you to be weary of aggressive cut. It's usually recommended to work on a test spot with the least aggressive product before proceeding.

[chris328]

Re: New car - does it need to be polished or just clayed and waxed?

thanks for the detailed response. typically i dont use polishes with any kinds of fillers, and i even am in the habit of wiping down with a 50/50 ipa solution in between polishes to ensure the surface is free of oils. that said, i have this CG ez creme glaze that is supposed to have mild cleaners in it. sorry about bringing up non meguiars products but i dont have any meguirs glaze. now this ez creme glaze i know also has fillers in it as well. i am considering using this instead of the polish since the paint is newer.

you apply a glze the same way you apply a polish right? when i polish i usually do 1-2 passes at speed 5+ on my g110, then go down to speed 4 for a couple more passes to burnish it. with the ez creme glaze should i just do the same, or does 1-2 passes at speed 5 suffice since it is a glze and not a polish.

[wifpd4]

Re: New car - does it need to be polished or just clayed and waxed?

You mention CG ez creme glaze has mild cleaners. Meguiar's Ultimate Polish is a readily available multi-use (my word not Meguiar's) polish that with a Meguiar's yellow pad and firm pressure and good speed will remove minor defects. Use a black bad and a little less pressure does an excellent job of shining (polishing) the finish prior to waxing. I think you will find it "wakes up" your paint.

I'll find a good reference for the use of M07 Show Car Glaze and post it, but it takes less work than you describe.

[wifpd4]

Re: New car - does it need to be polished or just clayed and waxed?

This is the most comprehensive description I've run across.

http://www.meguiarsonline.com/forums/showthread.php?6346-Deep-Crystal-Polish-vs.-Show-Car-Glaze&p=49028&viewfull=1#post49028

Although many folks buff it on and wipe it off.


You may find this of use too.

http://www.meguiarsonline.com/forums/photopost/data/1348/medium/product_pad_speed1.gif

[Michael Stoops]

Re: New car - does it need to be polished or just clayed and waxed?

While this brand new car may not have any seriously noticeable defects in it, we generally find that even brand new cars don't have quite as nice a finish as they really can. Without seeing your new ride it's a bit difficult to say for sure what it really needs, but to be completely honest we wouldn't hesitate for a moment to clay it and then use the Menzerna 85rd you have on hand. That is a very nice finishing polish (very much along the lines of our M205 Ultra Finishing Polish) and with a soft finishing pad it can only enhance the clarity of the paint and increase the gloss prior to applying a coat of your favorite wax or sealant. Yes, even on such a new car.

[sproulman]

Re: New car - does it need to be polished or just clayed and waxed?

no expert,just person that takes care of my truck.
i would just WASH it first and see how it looks.
then i would put on polish or glaze if finish looked fine after washing.
then nxt wax.

that is what i do. i use 3m glaze i have had for 6 years and it does make finish shine deep.NXT wax is very good next.

[chris328]

Re: New car - does it need to be polished or just clayed and waxed?

While this brand new car may not have any seriously noticeable defects in it, we generally find that even brand new cars don't have quite as nice a finish as they really can. Without seeing your new ride it's a bit difficult to say for sure what it really needs, but to be completely honest we wouldn't hesitate for a moment to clay it and then use the Menzerna 85rd you have on hand. That is a very nice finishing polish (very much along the lines of our M205 Ultra Finishing Polish) and with a soft finishing pad it can only enhance the clarity of the paint and increase the gloss prior to applying a coat of your favorite wax or sealant. Yes, even on such a new car.

cool. yeah that is what i ended up doing, and i definitely noticed the difference. what i realized yesterday is that i think i might be using too much pressure with my g110, cause i read someone else saying you should see the backing plate rotate every 2 seconds or so, and the pressure i typically would use would make the backing plate rotate a lot slower than that. but ive also found that the g110 doesnt really produce results however unless you apply a LOT of pressure. apparently it is heat that breaks down the abrasives and it seems to me the g110 will only produce this heat sufficiently if you press down real hard. does that sound right to you? normally i'll spread with speed 3-4 then do a couple passes at a little over 5, then a couple more passes at 4. ive found that areas where i applied the most pressure actually ended up looking the most polished, and this is before i started paying attention to how fast the backing plate was rotating.

if i ease up enough to let the backing plate rotate as much as Ive read it should, it doesnt seem like enough pressure to break down the abrasives well or do a good polishing job. so im not sure exactly what the sweet spot is, i mean i know it's different for different paint jobs, so i guess my question is, when you are using the g110, do you usually press down real hard (but still allowing the backing plate to rotate slowly) or only hard enough so that the backing plate rotates quicker (once every couple seconds)?

[Joe Dragon]

Re: New car - does it need to be polished or just clayed and waxed?

...ive found that areas where i applied the most pressure actually ended up looking the most polished, and this is before i started paying attention to how fast the backing plate was rotating...[/QUOTE]

IMO if those areas look the most polished then that's the correct pressure. Don't overthink the process, you'll drive yourself nuts.

[chris328]

Re: New car - does it need to be polished or just clayed and waxed?

well after going back over it i noticed that i didn't quite do as good of a polish job as I could have. I didn't polish the top or the pillars, and if you compare the reflection of something in that, compared to an area that I did polish, the reflections are much sharper.

the areas that I did polish look OK, but the reflections arent as sharp, they have more of a ragged, jagged, orange-peelish look. I used the menzerna p085rd with a black meguiar's finishing pad. what did I do wrong?? should I have used a yellow meguiar's pad instead?

please help!!

[Murr1525]

Re: New car - does it need to be polished or just clayed and waxed?

If it looks like orange peel, it may be because you cars paint has a lot of orange peel? Most factory paint jobs do.

[sproulman]

Re: New car - does it need to be polished or just clayed and waxed?

i think murr has good suggestion on new car finish.one that i like.
buy the meguiars cleaner/wax in red can at wal-mart for 5 dollars,then put on the nxt 2.0 or ultimate wax.
amazon is offering some nice packages on MEGUIARS products.i got 46 dollar kit for 25 dollars tyd.you have wait until they have sale .

[chris328]

Re: New car - does it need to be polished or just clayed and waxed?

Thanks for the replies guys. The paint does have orange peel, but here's the thing. I polished the left and right sides, hood, and back. I did not polish the roof or the front bumper. The roof however, where it connects to the pillars, is the same sheet of metal. On the rear pillars, I polished up to where the roof starts. When you look at this area, if you look at the reflection of something on the pillar (a part i polished) compared to when the roof starts (a part i did not polish), the reflections are all blocky and distorted. This leads me to believe that I did something wrong in the polishing process. But I dont know what.

I used menzerna p085rd with a black meguiars finishing pad. Maybe the black pad wasn't harsh enough and I only barely cut into the clearcoat, so instead of being nice and rounded off the surface of the clear coat is all jagged now which is causing these visual artifacts?