New to car care

[chainsaw]

My 2007 CRV is my first new car ever. I have never waxed a car before so I am kind of dumb founded. The car is garaged all the time, it has only been in the rain once. Could someone list the steps of cleaning the car and the corresponding product's to use for those steps.

I have heard use a clay bar, but is my car dirty enough to use that. What kind of car wash should I use? Is there anything I should do after I wax it. I have black rims with aluminum trim what is the best product to keep those glossy. The same thing with the tires, cleaner and shiner. Any help would be much appreciated.

I will be posting pictures of my CRV soon it has a unique look to it.

[07CRVOWNR]

I am a big fan of Meguiar's products. Here is there webiste FAQ for reference: www.meguiars.com/faq/index.cfm?faqCat=paint%20care&faqQuestionID=53&section=_53

I use Maguiar's quick detailing spray almost everytime I wash my CRV. This helps removes any water spots that may form since I have no garage to move the CRV into before the water starts to dry after washing the car with the car wash soap. If you want to use a clay bar to remove any sap, tar, etc... use it with the quick detailing spray.

I use the gold glass products listed in the website link provided in this post. The website also has a car car center which could provide the exact information that you are looking for in your post.

There may be other good products that could be used, but I have had really good results with Maguiar's products on all of my new and used cars.

Hope this helps.

[sprig]

My 2007 CRV is my first new car ever. I have never waxed a car before so I am kind of dumb founded. The car is garaged all the time, it has only been in the rain once. Could someone list the steps of cleaning the car and the corresponding product's to use for those steps.

I have heard use a clay bar, but is my car dirty enough to use that. What kind of car wash should I use? Is there anything I should do after I wax it. I have black rims with aluminum trim what is the best product to keep those glossy. The same thing with the tires, cleaner and shiner. Any help would be much appreciated.

I will be posting pictures of my CRV soon it has a unique look to it.

1. Claybar, water, with dawn soap. This will remove all all surface grime, waxes, and anything else that may be on it.

2. Use a good quality clear coat polish, not wax, like Zaino's or the one mentioned above. In fact, check the Zaino site for complete directions (http://www.zainostore.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc). Repeat this polishing step again, or several times, until you get the shine you want.

3. Always use 100% cotton white towels to dry, remove polish, etc. The polish applicator should be all cotton also. Nylon towels will scratch the finish.

4. Apply a thin sealant coat, like Zaino sealant.

5. When you wash it, using a wash product like Zaino's wash will really help get it clean.

Sounds like Meguilar (sp?) has similar products, although I've only used Zaino, so can't compare.

I use the following Zaino products:

1. Z18 clay bar
2. Z7 Wash
3. Z2 Polish with Z-FX
4. Z6 Enhancer
5. Z16 Tire Gloss
6. Z-CS Sealant

Looking at your car ends up like looking into a mirror.

[2RedV's]

On a brand new car - you do not need a clay bar - maybe after 6-12 months.

[sprig]

On a brand new car - you do not need a clay bar - maybe after 6-12 months.


That might be arguable depending on the distance you are from the factory, as new cars can pick up a lot of grime/garbage on the back of a truck or a rail car. That and the dealer may clean/wax it, and, if you use a polish like Zaino's, you want the wax entirely off first, although dawn detergent will do that.

[miko]

Don't use dish detergent. Like Dawn. It's made for greasy dishes. Will remove grease, but not wax. There are specialty products on market to remove wax. Mother's and Meguires and others.

Polish manufactures who recommend Dawn, eg Zaino, only do so because they do not have a product themselves. Yet.

And I agree with 2RedV. New cars don't need to be clayed.

[T Mac]

We can agree to disagree on the new car getting clayed, I suppose, because I'm of the opinion that it's a good idea. Lots of gunk can get on those vehicles during transport and while at the lot and here's another thought... if you're like me, it's nice to know that your new vehicle started off completely clean. If you put wax or polish on it right after purchase, you don't really know what you just went over the top of. True?

On a related note, I was at a dealership recently that had a prep area for new vehicles. They were taking new cars through a drive-through BRUSHED cleaning system. A closer look showed that those brushes had considerable grime on them. I could go on quite a bit about how nuts that seems to me, but I'm a hand wash guy all the way. Take good care of your V and it will take good care of you. ;)

Good discussion guys. Keep it going.

[markyh]

I would vote for no clay bar. His car is new and hasn't even been in the rain more than once. Instead of a clay bar, use Meguiars paint cleaner first. It gets all of the stuff off that a clay bar does and it's a lot easier to use. In fact, the Meguiars system is even marked right on the bottles themselves...
1 Cleaner
2 Polish
3 Wax
It's 1,2,3 and you can't go wrong with that. Now if you're lazy like me most of the time you can get Meguiars cleaner/wax that's all in one bottle. Consumer Reports even rated it number 1 for all auto finishes that's how I got hooked on Meguiars. If my car was new, I'd use the 3 step system for sure.

[SJB]

I am for the clay bar on new vehicles, here's why:

Rail or Truck transport can/does leave small metal particles from the tracks/brakes. Seems insignificant, but I have seen domestic light color vehicles with little tiny rust spots in the paint when these particles are left on the paint and rust when exposed to the elements.

Additionally, you use the clay bar to remove any surface imperfections prior to waxing. This gives you a "clean slate" to wax and will offer the best results.

Nay-sayers say you are removing clear coat (debatable) on a new vehicle and this is not necessary. Again, this is opinion- so you can lean to either side on this argument.

My 07 EX-L with 1,000 miles is getting clay bar-d this weekend weather permitting.

[2RedV's]

I am for the clay bar on new vehicles, here's why:

Rail or Truck transport can/does leave small metal particles from the tracks/brakes. Seems insignificant, but I have seen domestic light color vehicles with little tiny rust spots in the paint when these particles are left on the paint and rust when exposed to the elements.

Additionally, you use the clay bar to remove any surface imperfections prior to waxing. This gives you a "clean slate" to wax and will offer the best results.

Nay-sayers say you are removing clear coat (debatable) on a new vehicle and this is not necessary. Again, this is opinion- so you can lean to either side on this argument.

My 07 EX-L with 1,000 miles is getting clay bar-d this weekend weather permitting.

The cars are covered in the protective white plastic thingy until the dealer gets them. A good washing and applying of a high quality wax (like those mentioned) would be fine on a really new vehicle. A newbie shouldn't make their first clay bar attempt on a new vehicle without some help from an experienced person.
hint: PLENTY of lube needs to be utilized when using a clay bar.

[07CRVOWNR]

I've had my 07 CRV since March and have yet to use the clay bar. I hand wash my CRV pretty much every weekend. Since I am a Meguiar's fan, I use the Gold Glass car wash soap. After every wash, I take a clean soft cloth and use Meguiars Quick Detailer to remove all of the soap spots (I don't have a garage), surface tar and grime that the soap doesn't take car off and need's more elbow grease. This way it helps keep the containments from building up. I have found that this is also good to get all of the dead bugs I hit on the couple of long trips that I have had so far as well. This may be overkill, but I love seeing my CRV shine like it did when I picked it up for the first time.

I will defenitely use the clay before my next wax to make sure that it is on a clean slate before applying the polish and wax.

[1ownerT]

I have used the Meguiars and Mothers clay bars, and IMO the Mothers is far better.
My .02

[PINODY]

I am for the clay bar on new vehicles, here's why:

Rail or Truck transport can/does leave small metal particles from the tracks/brakes. Seems insignificant, but I have seen domestic light color vehicles with little tiny rust spots in the paint when these particles are left on the paint and rust when exposed to the elements.

Additionally, you use the clay bar to remove any surface imperfections prior to waxing. This gives you a "clean slate" to wax and will offer the best results.

Nay-sayers say you are removing clear coat (debatable) on a new vehicle and this is not necessary. Again, this is opinion- so you can lean to either side on this argument.

My 07 EX-L with 1,000 miles is getting clay bar-d this weekend weather permitting.Any New car owner would be quite surprised at how much better/smoother its paint finish can be improved after a simple claying first ... no matter what method of shipping wrapings and protection had been used. ... Z-18 ClayBar: Zaino Store (http://www.zainostore.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=Z-18)