xyster

Don't dish out $250!!!! Trust me!!!

My last car had a metallic paint job... was going on 6 years when I traded her in for my mustang. The dealership/salesman told me "How old is your car again? WHAT?! How did you keep the finish looking so brand new and shiny?" Those are about close to his actual words as I can remember... To add to the whole story, the couple that purchased my used car persuaded the salesman to fill them in on a little more of who's car it was. They found me at my place of work, praised how well I had kept up the car, how good everything looked and how clean it was, shook my hand and a quick hug then left. It was one of the weirdest but coolest moments I have had lmao.

All I used to do every 6 months was simply this:

Prep: Wash the car twice to get most of the gunk off the surface, claybar the WHOLE car (except plastic/vinyl/chromed plastic since it would ruin if you did that), wash the car off once more to make sure any contaminents left over from the clay'ing would be off. I would also clay the windows as well (tint was on the inside so nothing to worry about).

Then: If it really needed it, I could polish it, but usually didn't bother. I went straight over to using a bottle of Paint Sealant (professional grade, says so on the bottle lmao). I did one panel of my car at a time just like with the clay bar to make sure I covered every square inch. I let that sit for around half an hour (usually let it sit in my garage out of the blistering 100+ degree heat of the day). After I waited long enough, I came back with a microfiber towel and cleaned it all off to reveal the most smooth candy like surface that you just wanted to lick cuz it looked soo damn good :P. Only cost me about 20$ total: Applicator pads, microfiber towels I had already, and an 8 oz bottle of pro-grade paint sealant.
It WAAYyyyy longer than any wax I had ever used, looked 5x more smooth and glossy, gave me arm muscles of steel when I was done. I had to use my own two hands with an applicator pad. Not because I wanted to but because I didn't have anything else at the time.

I also did the same to my chrome rims (chrome cleaner/polish and sealant). It lasted for about 5 months or so before I actually could notice that it was that time again. I would check about every two-three weeks when I would wash my car.

I used different paint sealants throughout the span of my car :P The one's I can remember working well were the Master Formula series gloss sealer and polish which I used mostly for my rims since I found it worked better on my chrome rims. I used Perfect Auto Finish Ultimate Paint Sealant for my car paint. I also used the paint cleaner from the brand also. It's actually made by a pro-detailer.

Surely there are other Sealants out there that probably work just as well (or better). Anyone you get, I recommend you use a claybar and some cleaner along side it to make it really shine.

300GT

here is the super-duper wax with Teflonyou are likely to get from the dealer for $250:
http://www.autobarn.net/dupont-teflon-protectant.html

as mentioned a million times before - don't do it.

miloman

http://www.xzilon.com/

This is what the dealer offered me when I bought my car. And yes, I fell into their little booby-trap and paid for it. I regret it now.Stuff seamed to work the first year or so, water beaded and ran off imediately, was easy to clean the car. Now after almost two years, and the HORRIFYING hard water issue I'm having with my paint and windows, the stuff SUCKS.

BTW, I bought the Meguiars Clay kit like everybody here said to do, but I just haven't had a chance to get at it. Need to clean the garage first, then clean the car. However, I don't like 20-40* temperatures.

xtremesaleen

i had a bubble that appeared on the drivers side door/roof area and it was completely covered, and it was detailed for free at the same time