How Soon Can You Wax New Car?

[rrbhokies]

How soon before I can wax my '07 CRV? I'd like to do it sooner than later and just bought the Turtle Wax ICe liquid polish. I didn't figure I would need the clay bar since the V is new.

Also, any recommendations on Car Wash products? Is the Turtle Wax ICe car wash any good?

[2RedV's]

You can wax right away. Your new CR-V is probably at least 2 months old since it was first painted anyway. Should be no reason to have to clay it unless you already got nailed bad by bugs, tree sap, etc.

[connermt]

How soon before I can wax my '07 CRV? I'd like to do it sooner than later and just bought the Turtle Wax ICe liquid polish. I didn't figure I would need the clay bar since the V is new.

Also, any recommendations on Car Wash products? Is the Turtle Wax ICe car wash any good?

I try to wax/polish it relatively soon. There is no "rule" about when to wax it. Unfortunately, everyweekend so far has either been raining or too busy to - hopefully this weekend I will be able to get on it. Just remember, don't use any tying abrasive that could remove the clear coat.

[rrbhokies]

You can wax right away.

Thanks. There used to be a rule that said to not wax a car for at least several months, if not as many as six because the paint still had to cure. However, I figured with changes in paint technologies, that rule was probably a bit out of date.

Looks like mine was manufactured in April, so I should be fine.

Appreciate the advice.

[rrbhokies]

I went ahead and waxed my CRV this past weekend. Had some trouble getting all the bugs off the front of the car, especially on the plastic bumper.

I used Turtle Wax ICE liquid polish and was impressed how easy it was to apply and buff off. Much easier than liquid pastes. Plus, you can use it on plastic, headlamps and even rubber. Really shined up the black trim pieces. Seems to have worked good.

Thanks for the advice. Plan on taking care of that beautiful Tango Red CRV. That color is just awesome and shines so nicely!!

[soia76]

i just got ym CR-V about two weeks ago... I took the advice of a few of you guys on here and got some Meguiers products. The car wash gel and the standard car wax with a sponge and applicator for like 10 bucks at autozone...

I have NEVER waxed any car I have owned....any tips for a newbie?

questions

do i wax the plastic moldings on the outside?
how long do i leave the wax on before i wipe it off?
do i do it in sections or all at one?

thanks
jason

[dragonzakura]

questions

do i wax the plastic moldings on the outside?
how long do i leave the wax on before i wipe it off?
do i do it in sections or all at one?


Do not wax the black plastic moldings. It can be extremely hard to remove the wax due to the texture. A protectant like 303 aerospace is great for the plastic pieces. Leave the wax on until it dries. You can do it in sections or all at once.

[sleeksilver]

You can wax your new vehicle immediately.

Autopia - Autopia Home (http://www.autopia.org) for tips and advice. Fantastic website.

Do not use TW Ice, it is one of the least durable waxes that you can use.

[WSZsr]

How soon before I can wax my '07 CRV? I'd like to do it sooner than later and just bought the Turtle Wax ICe liquid polish. I didn't figure I would need the clay bar since the V is new.

Also, any recommendations on Car Wash products? Is the Turtle Wax ICe car wash any good?

You really should wait a couple of months till you wipe that big grin off your face!:D

[08ColoCRV]

I just waxed my '08 this evening using Rejex. I guess it's not really "wax" but the idea's the same!

This is the first time I've ever applied Rejex to a car, but I'm really impressed. I waxed the entire vehicle in less than an hour. This has got to be somewhere between 1/2 and 1/3rd of the time I normally spend waxing a car with my usual carnuba wax--One Grand Blitz Wax (good stuff, btw).

I'm hoping to apply a second coat of Rejex in another week or so. Unfortunately, my -V has to sit outside in a parking lot 3-4 days/nights per week. It's garaged when it's home, but it's amost never home! I'm hoping to keep it looking nice by keeping a good coat of "wax" on it at all times.

Still loving the -V with 3700 miles since 3/5/08!

Rod

[PINODY]

I just got my CR-V about two weeks ago ...

I have NEVER waxed any car I have owned....any tips for a newbie? After you try all the rest - try one of the Best > http://www.crvownersclub.com/forums/t1464/ :cool: You Choose: Zaino Store (http://www.zainostore.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=Z&Category_Code=YOUCHOOSE)

[MotoXmg]

So what should I do? I have a week old V, and am already starting to worry about the finish. Unfortunately I do not have a garage, so the V will be out in the weather 24/7. Here in north central Oregon, we get a variety of weather. How can I protect my investment? :confused:

[aussie_okie]

I was going to try these from Autozone:
MEGUIAR'S Gold Class Car Wash Shampoo & Conditioner
and
MEGUIAR'S Cleaner Wax Liquid

Has anybody used either of these products?
Also, is the Wax safe for clear coat?

I just want to use products that are easy to buy, are simple to use, & work.
I don't want to have to go to a lot of trouble to clean and protect my car.

Also, how often does everybody wax their car (I wash once a week)?

thanks

[gcturp]

I use Meguiar's and would recommend them. I suspect Zaino's and some of the other brands mentioned in this and other threads are better, but they cost more and are not readily available; I am willing to bet that Meguiar's is the best (or close to the best) of the readily available products.

I would caution you NOT to use the 'Meguiar's Cleaner Wax'. (I may be wrong, but) cleaner wax (any brand) is for an older paint surfaces that have been neglected a bit. The 'cleaner' part is a very fine abrasion to clean the surface. Your car is new (2008) and likely doesn't need the 'cleaner', just the wax.

I would suggest just getting 'Meguiar's Gold Class Wax' instead of the 'Cleaner Wax', either the paste or the liquid (I use the liquid, I think it is easier to work with, but others prefer the paste - a matter of opinion). I also recommend using the little round/yellow sponges that Meguiar's sells for applying the wax, they work nicely. Also, get some high-quality (not 'dollar shop' or cheapest variety) microfiber washclothes (at least 2). The microfiber washclothes are greating for drying the car after washing/rinsing (wring it out periodically, it works like a chamois) and another to remove the dried wax. I also wax the plastic head- (and tail-) light covers (I don't know if this is recommended by others, so far I have had no issues though.)

I would also recommend the 'Mequiar's Natural Shine' protectant product for the tires and black trim. I think it is much better than 'Armor-All' and gives a nice, "non-fake" shine. I use one of the round sponges (mentioned above) to apply the 'Natural Shine'. (Keep one sponge for only applying the 'Natural Shine' and a different sponge for only applying the wax).

As far as how often: I only wax twice a year and I only wash every 4 weeks or as needed (in the winter the roads where I am at are salted so I at least rinse the undercarriage every week). If I had more time, maybe I would do stuff more frequently. Another product you may look into is 'Mequiars Qwik Detailer Mist & Wipe' for a quick, weekly clean.


PS (Just in case you're new to this, or for other newbies who may read this): never use dish soap to clean your car (it is very harsh and will wash away the wax), try to wash/wax in the shade and when it is cool, and never use an automatic car wash that has brushes (or anything that touches your car - to include HIGH pressure water).

[aussie_okie]

I would caution you NOT to use the 'Meguiar's Cleaner Wax'. (I may be wrong, but) cleaner wax (any brand) is for an older paint surfaces that have been neglected a bit. The 'cleaner' part is a very fine abrasion to clean the surface. Your car is new (2008) and likely doesn't need the 'cleaner', just the wax.
I would suggest just getting 'Meguiar's Gold Class Wax' instead of the 'Cleaner Wax', either the paste or the liquid (I use the liquid, I think it is easier to work with, but others prefer the paste - a matter of opinion).


Thanks, I didn't know that. I see Autozone has Gold Class Liquid Wax.


I also recommend using the little round/yellow sponges that Meguiar's sells for applying the wax, they work nicely. Also, get some high-quality (not 'dollar shop' or cheapest variety) microfiber washclothes (at least 2). The microfiber washclothes are greating for drying the car after washing/rinsing (wring it out periodically, it works like a chamois) and another to remove the dried wax.


Those sponges sound like a good idea, I have been using microfiber cloths to wash my windows, I use a microfiber mit to wash to car.
I also keep a microfiber cloth in the console to 'dry' clean the interior (window marks etc) they are good.


I also wax the plastic head- (and tail-) light covers (I don't know if this is recommended by others, so far I have had no issues though.)


What about the black plastic (bumpers?) at the front and back of the vehicle?
Or is that what the 'Mequiar's Natural Shine' is used for?



I would also recommend the 'Mequiar's Natural Shine' protectant product for the tires and black trim. I think it is much better than 'Armor-All' and gives a nice, "non-fake" shine. I use one of the round sponges (mentioned above) to apply the 'Natural Shine'. (Keep one sponge for only applying the 'Natural Shine' and a different sponge for only applying the wax).


Do you mean this:
Rubber and Vinyl Natural Shine Spray Protectant



As far as how often: I only wax twice a year and I only wash every 4 weeks or as needed (in the winter the roads where I am at are salted so I at least rinse the undercarriage every week). If I had more time, maybe I would do stuff more frequently. Another product you may look into is 'Mequiars Qwik Detailer Mist & Wipe' for a quick, weekly clean.


What does the Qwik Detailer do?
Also, is there a treatment you can get to better protect the under carriage from salt, some kind of under-coating?



PS (Just in case you're new to this, or for other newbies who may read this): never use dish soap to clean your car (it is very harsh and will wash away the wax), try to wash/wax in the shade and when it is cool, and never use an automatic car wash that has brushes (or anything that touches your car - to include HIGH pressure water).

I always wash mine in the shade, we have hard water so by doing this it never has time to dry and spot.

Did you mean don't use high water pressure as in a pressure spayer like a Kartcher(?) ?

What about decent window cleaner, Windex is not really that great.

thanks for your advice.

Paul

[Kazoo2U]

Have had our V for 2 months now & finally got around to do the wash & wax routine. Used Meguiar's Gold Class Wax paste. Took my time & only did the body, none of the light covers or black trim moulding. Worked like a charm!
Wife had to take the V before I could use Meguiar's clear plastic polish on light covers. Am tempted to use Rain-X on the covers as I will be using Rain-X on the windows. Any opinions about these products are greatly appreciated.

Have bought Turtle Wax Wet'n Black Ultra Wet Tire Shine. Label says it's good for all black rubber trim. Will let you know how things work out at a later date.

Thanks.

[Mach1]

Hi: We have had our 08 Cr-v for three months now, and I used GLARE Professsional polish on it yesterday (been rainy here a lot). Wow, what a shine! Little pricey, but goes on and off easily. This is a protectant , not a wax. I haven't had any luck over the years with waxes, they just do not last long at all. For what it is worth, check out Glare Autopolish (http://www.glare.com) I have nothing to do with the company, I just used this product 3 years ago on a previous black car, and, was very pleased with the results then. Hope this helps Mac

[BunnyBombs]

This seems like an old thread but I figured since I'm new and browsing all of them I'd add to this.
I just washed my 08 Tango Red Pearl with Meguiars Gold Class Car wash. It was about $9 at Advanced Auto. I also purchased a lambs wool wash mit. The mit was perfect and it took me less than 10 minutes to lather up my baby. After the rinse I dried with micro fiber towels then I did a wax job with Meguiars Gold Class Liquid. That was around $11 and it comes with an applicator. I'm not exactly into physical labor so it took me a while but it was def worth it because she shines more now then she did when I brought her home from the dealership.
I just wanted to say thanks to all those that share their favorite products. It's helpful to us newbies. ;)

[JeffsFirstCRV]

I just wanted to say thanks to all those that share their favorite products. It's helpful to us newbies. ;)
OK, I'm a newbie, too. When I bought my CR-V about 6 weeks ago, I went for the dealer-added body and fabric treatment. No, it's not the first time I bought a new vehicle from a dealer, but it is the first time I let myself get talked into one of the extras.

But here's the thing. When the salesman told me about the benefits of having the Teflon treatment added, he said something about almost never having to wax the vehicle. So I thought, "Yeah, right," and quickly dismissed his pitch. But when I sat down with the woman who did all the financing paperwork, she brought up the treatment. She said she had it done on her vehicle, and she hasn't needed to wax her vehicle since she got it over a year ago.

So I went for it, since I absolutely detest waxing. Supposedly, all I have to do is an occasional wash to bring back the original showroom shine. The particular product is called TST 5000.

The link is http://www.tst5k.com/tst_5000.html

Since this is dealer applied, this particular brand of paint protection may be more of a local thing for dealers in my vicinity. But I imagine there are lots of other very similar products applied by other dealers elsewhere.

Do any of you other readers have a similar treatment? Have I been duped? The TST site does in fact mention no waxing for 5 years. The kit that was given to me contained nothing more than a bottle of car wash and a bottle of cleaner for bugs, asphalt, etc. No wax.

[gandblah]

I would caution you NOT to use the 'Meguiar's Cleaner Wax'. (I may be wrong, but) cleaner wax (any brand) is for an older paint surfaces that have been neglected a bit. The 'cleaner' part is a very fine abrasion to clean the surface. Your car is new (2008) and likely doesn't need the 'cleaner', just the wax.


Just to clarify - Meguairs Cleaner Wax is non abrasive - chemicals do the job, not fine abrasives...

From the meguiars website:

Meguiar's Cleaner Wax – This is Meguiar's best all purpose cleaner wax. A12 as it's known by it's part name, was introduced in 1973. While most waxes come and go… this wax has been around for over 30 years and will be around as long as were driving cars. Meguiar's Cleaner Wax is a combination of non-abrasive chemical cleaners, rich conditioning oils and synthetic polymers, silicones and waxes all ingredients for long lasting paint protection. Because this Cleaner/Wax is non-abrasive it can be used on finishes in good to excellent condition with excellent results. The chemical cleaners in Meguiar's cleaner wax will clean and remove light oxidation, pore-imbedding stains, built-up road grime, and air-borne contaminants. The trade secret conditioning oils will rejuvenate your paint, restoring the paint's original oils lost over time, resulting in a darker, more clear finish. The synthetic polymers, waxes and silicones will seal the paint, locking in the rich conditioning oils and protect the finish against corrosion, oxidation, chemical attack, and the detrimental effect caused by day-in, day-out driving and exposure to the environment.

[electric V]

Turtle Wax Ice works very well on bringing out the plastics shine just be careful if you do it to running boards because they will become very slippery I fell off of my moms suburban because the stupid car wash plae waxed the running boards.

I use the Ice Bar about once a month than I wash my V about once evr or every other week. and I use the detaling spray after I wash my car inbetween months.

[Lizzie's friend]

As an experiment on my previous CR-V some weeks before I planned to upgrade I gave it a thorough clean and dry with a 'natural' eco-friendly washing up liquid. I then tried a variety of wax/polishes that I already had on the shelf but have always disliked due to the buff off time needed to get it all off.

I found that I could reduce the time taken for the waxing/polishing process on a basically clean car down to less than 10 minutes by using a high beeswax/silicon furniture polish spray can and immediately polishing off with a dry microfibre mitt. Over time the mitt accumulated wax that helped with the process.

I could find time to do this at least once a week and had a finish that as well as being always shiny and smooth to touch, repelled rain as the water balled and took any residual dust with it. Result was that the car was sold on with an immaculate looking paint finish.

Now have one of the paint protective coatings on the new CR-V that works well. So far have never needed to use any kind of soapy wash on it and am careful not to scrub too much at anything that won't wash off easily with plain water.

Are there any other effective spray wax applications easily available?

[electric V]

is the furniture pollish safe to use on the paint and the plastic? I wouldn't do this to my car because the paint is as old as the car (10yrs) the car has been in my family forever because we are the only owners but with the old paint it might not work so well and I will stick to my turtle wax Ice for the time being.

does the mothers powerball work good enough to get wax off I only ask this because with the heat in CA sometimes the wax bar heats up and gets really thick on the rag when i put the wax on and in turn I put thick wax coats on my car so hopefully the powerball would help alliviate the work so I have more time to do something lazy.

[tcturner]

As an experiment on my previous CR-V some weeks before I planned to upgrade I gave it a thorough clean and dry with a 'natural' eco-friendly washing up liquid. I then tried a variety of wax/polishes that I already had on the shelf but have always disliked due to the buff off time needed to get it all off.

I found that I could reduce the time taken for the waxing/polishing process on a basically clean car down to less than 10 minutes by using a high beeswax/silicon furniture polish spray can and immediately polishing off with a dry microfibre mitt. Over time the mitt accumulated wax that helped with the process.

I could find time to do this at least once a week and had a finish that as well as being always shiny and smooth to touch, repelled rain as the water balled and took any residual dust with it. Result was that the car was sold on with an immaculate looking paint finish.

Now have one of the paint protective coatings on the new CR-V that works well. So far have never needed to use any kind of soapy wash on it and am careful not to scrub too much at anything that won't wash off easily with plain water.

Are there any other effective spray wax applications easily available?

When it rained did you put a coaster under the V or over it?Carnuba paste wax is the best ( the spray DOES NOT contain the same amount of Carnuba)in test after test for protecting your V.I also use Turtle Wax Liquid ICE but only as an in between dress up,it is a polish not a wax and washes off after only 3 hand washes and does not provide the same protection or shine as pure Carnuba wax.It takes me 20 minutes to put on and wipe off the Liquid Ice and almost 2 hours to Carnuba wax it.Sometimes you only get out what you put in.Wax on,Wax off.

[Serj22]

I don't know about using furniture polish on a car. The stuff i use to varnish and coat wood is a lot thicker than a car's section of clear coats. That and I've never gotten furniture polish to work well, I just re-finish stuff. That's why I got the car painted- sick of trying to clean it, and now i'm waiting to wax it. I have to wait 60 days, they implied a coat of something like wax after they painted it, and it will keep it safe till it can be waxed.

[denzCRV]

I normally wash and wax my cars on the 2nd day I get them brand new from the dealer, even if the production date was just the previous month lol.. :p

I've never also used a clay bar. Only used it now because I got the V as a 2nd hand and the previous owner parked it somewhere where there was painting going on so there was a lot of overspray around the car ...

Other than that, never have used anything except soap, and wax... And a vacuum cleaner too :D hehe


Some people begin to ask me (towards the 97 Odyssey and sometimes on my V).. "Did you guys just get it repainted? It looks really clean and shiny"...

Nope! Just a little TLC for the last 10-12 years :)

[Serj22]

As a general rule, it's safe to wax a car as long as you don't still smell paint fumes on it.