Clearcoat? Wax?>

fmulder21 · December 2, 2007

I had my '08 for a few days and noticed some minor light *white* colored scratches. Anyway to remove them? Do i need to wax my car or what? Any tips welcomed. This Houston weather is nuts, sunny one day rainy the next 2. Supposed to get cold tommorrow...

caddycruiser · December 2, 2007

You either just have excess wax in splotches (not 100% wiped off in prep), or other smudges/scratches.

And, most likely also, probably some light surface marring...in the form of light swirls/spider web marks, etc. Being new, a light polish with the proper kind of polish and then a fresh cover with either a synthetic sealant or real wax wouldn't hurt. Just how it goes with the paint on any car.

Actually, new or not, one of the BEST things to do to remove any contaminants, etc. beforehand is a clay bar made for this purpose. This will remove any excess junk in the surface, often that can't be seen, and then have it fully ready for a proper light polish and seal.

unit731 · December 2, 2007

What's a good polish wax that 's readily available and not too exotic?

Bostonsfavson · December 2, 2007

What's a good polish wax that 's readily available and not too exotic?

I recommend the Turtle Wax Ice line of products. They're synthetic based and really work well. Go on easy, come off easy, and look great. I usually use the paste polish a couple times per year, and then the liquid to fill in the gaps between. Plus you use the Ice products on all exterior surfaces, which really is nice for my black truck.

Nytemare · December 2, 2007

I like McGuire's NXT generation Tech wax.

It leaves an awesome shine and its easy to work with.

Most of the guys here use Zanio though...that is an awesome product. Look it up in the appearance section. You'll be amazed with it.

Here I did it for you.

http://www.gm-trucks.com/forums/index.php?...76&hl=zaino

Lances07Z71 · December 2, 2007

I use Poorboys stuff.Amazing shine and very easy to use.

unit731 · December 2, 2007

It's way too confusing. What of below is good to use on a new vehicle? And please don't say all. I am seeking one product to wax my new vehicle.

Zaino Total Protection Show Car Kit

Zaino ULTIMATE Protection Show Car Kit

Zaino Triplets (Z-AIO, Z-CS, Z-8 & 314) *LIMITED TIME*

Zaino Maintenance Pack (Qty:2 Z-6 & Qty:4 Z-7)

Z-18™ ClayBar

Z-PC™ Fusion Dual Action Paint Cleaner Swirl Remover

Z-AIO All-in-one

ZFX™ Flash Cure Accelerator Additive

Z-CS Clear Seal

Z-2™ PRO Show Car Polish for Clear Coated Car Finishes

Z-3™ Show Car Polish for Regular Paint

Z-5™ PRO Show Car Polish for Swirl Marks and Fine Scratches

Z-6™ Ultra Clean Gloss Enhancer Spray

Z-7™ Show Car Wash

Z-8™ Grand Finale Spray Seal

Z-9™ Leather Soft Spray Cleaner

Z-10™ Leather in a Bottle

Z-12™ Clear-View Glass Polish

Z-14™ Plastic Magic Cleaner & Polish

Z-16™ Perfect Tire Gloss

Zaino Custom Polish Applicator

Zaino Silver Metallic Decal

Zaino White T-shirts (S,M,L,XL,XXL)

Zaino Black T-shirts (S,M,L,XL,XXL)

Zaino White Sweatshirts (S,M,L,XL,XXL)

Zaino Black Sweatshirts (L,XL,XXL)

Zaino Gift Certificates ($25, $50, $100, $150)

Steveman · December 3, 2007

I swear by Meguiars. I have just been so impressed with their line of products, it covers everything you might need and it all works like its advertised. Go to their website meguiars.com and then go to the forum link. They will answer any question you have, and also if you just read through the articles that they have you might find your answer. Also I will recommend the product Scratch-X. Its made by Meguiars and if you work it in enough (like I mean use your pointer and middle finger and press down with force and then move the pad back and forth) with a application pad you should be able to get any scratches out, just dont try it on scratches that you can put you finger nail in. Those are too big for any product. One more thing, I also use meguiars NXT-generation wax and that stuff is great, I would recommend that over any other synthetic wax.

LAGA · December 3, 2007

Start with the triplet package. Reasonable price good products with great results. Be sure to follow instructions. An easier alternative is Eagle One Nanowax. Super easy and fast and can be used on black plastic. Lasts about 3 months.

jason2006 · December 3, 2007

I like duraloss products and meguiars as well.

Nytemare · December 3, 2007

Zaino ULTIMATE Protection Show Car Kit

Thats what I would go with. you should get a bit of everything for inside and out.

but before hand use Z-18™ ClayBar and Z-PC™ Fusion Dual Action Paint Cleaner Swirl Remover.

Thats if you really want your truck to shine.

rogerf · December 3, 2007

What's a good polish wax that 's readily available and not too exotic?

Have used Nu-finish for many years for both my cars and commercial buses with good success. Cheap, easy to apply, and last a reasonable amount of time.

cmoore74 · December 3, 2007

Meguiars Scratch-X for the light clear-coat only scrathes and Meguiars NXT wax.

I actually just did my pre-winter wax with Meguiars 3 step with a little touch-up and Scratch-X before and I replace the 3rd step (standard caranuba) with the NXT wax. What an amazing shine. I'm hoping the wax will hold up until Winter's over.

You can find Meguiars quite easily. I hear Mother's is good too and is also easy to find.

I'm sure Zaino (and some of the other on-line products) is an excellent product, but I wanted something like you that wasn't overly confusing and is readily available. Is Zaino really that much better? Maybe it is, but I like Meguiars.

Kanima · December 3, 2007

Actually on my 08 it looked like the dealer washed it with a d**n brillo pad. I have been using Zanio for years and love the product but it did not remove the swirls it acutally made them MORE noticeable. Tried some Mothers carnuba it did hide them some but carnuba on black paint will not last long it melts at 180 deg.

So after some reading i broke down and got a random orbital buffer and some pads.

Just did the project this weekend.

I should have gotten and mild cut orange pad but was scared to make more scratches on the black so i used a no cut white pad with 3m swirl remover for dark paint. It took 70% of the swirls out if I would have had a mild cut pad I know it would gotten them all. But being this was my first time using a buffer i was seriously scared of making things worse.

So some time this spring i will go back again and have a mild pad and do it right.

But after reading from this site I have changed my outlook on waxing.

http://forums.roadfly.com/forums/detailing/3579628-1.html

I spent 5 hours saturday Of course if rain today

washed the truck in dawn,

used 3m swirl remover twice with a white pad got 70% of the swirls out if i would have had a mild pad they all would be gone.

then applyed 3m glaze

Ps21 polish

then zanio as a sealant.

Now a have a deeper wet looking paint they you can only see swirls at less that 6 inches from the paint at an odd ass sunlight angle. You can see any under UV lights except at wierd angles and up close. I am super happy with way the truck looks now, But I will be going back sometime to get the rest of it out.

What I learned was you have to remove the exsisting wax and oils to get the the clear , fix the swirls in the clear, glaze to fill in what didn't get fixed, polish to seal the glaze and polymer sealant to seal the whole thing.