jcieutat

I just upgraded to my 2010 GT to a 2012 GT. The sticker shows that the car was manufactured mid January. It feels smooth as can be but I am wanting to go ahead and put a good coat of wax on it. I already coated the glass with rain-x. Am I ok at this point to wax it?

urio2122

Yes you can

REDBOSS1

I think I heard something like don't wax it for the first 30 days after the factory paint is applied or something along those lines. I waxed mine the week I bought it, that was something like August 10th and the car was built June 17th so I would tell you to fire away. Congrats on the new car.

YerBuddy

The paint and clear on today's cars are fine to wax. There is no need to wait. Here's what I do with every new car (every six months after also):

1. Good hand wash and dry (I only use true micro fiber towels and wash mits etc). Be gentle and make sure there are no contaminants on the wash mit or towel. Rinse often and make sure whatever you rub on the paint is clean to begin with. For instance, don't wash the wheel well and then use the same spounge/mitt to instantly wash the paint. Minimizing contaminant transfer is the key. For this reason I use the two bucket method and separate spounges/mitts for paint, wheels, bumpers, etc.
2. Using a high quality claybar is a must. This will get rid of all the contaminants that you can't see. A new car sits in lots, takes a train or truck ride (or both), and has every pollutant known to man on it when it arrives. Washing it will not remove these pollutants. You may think it's smooth as glass, and it probably is, but there are still microscopic poopies all over the car. Take a plastic baggie and put your hand in it and lightly rub the surface. The roughness will be pronounced. After you clay do it again and you will be pleasantly surprised.

Here's an example. The day after I got my sweetie home I gave her a good clay session. I made this short video to show how much crap comes off a new car. Keep in mind that this is a new car, freshly washed, and I'm only doing the hood scoop (2 or 3 passes with the clay). Watch it in HD if you can and you can really see how much crud comes off the hood scoop alone:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=101AeceFojA

3. After the clay session I use a good quality sealant. At the moment I'm using Wolfgang's 3.0 sealant and it's wonderful (but there are many good polymer products on the market. You will not find them on the shelf at your local walmart however). I use a rotary, but it can be done by hand easily...it just takes more time and elbow grease. One light coat is all you need and buff off with a clean micro fiber. I then let it cure for 12 hours in a dry garage. This step is important with sealants because water/moisture will cause it to not adhear to the clear as well. After the 12 hour cure time I usually go over it again with a quality carnauba wax to give it that wet-pop-shine. Although, the sealant will work just as well depending on the condition of the paint, the color and so forth.

I do this every 6 months. In between sessions all I do is wash, dry, and use a quick detail spray to bring back the shine. Trust me, if you do this your car's paint will be protected and you'll notice it immediately the first time it rains and your car gets wet. This also makes it easier for me to wash the car because the paint stays glass smooth for much longer than an ordinary wax job.

Here's what mine looked like on the first rainy day. This is 2 months after I clayed and sealed the car:



Check out this site for quality products and many videos and teaching aids:

http://www.autogeek.net/

Good luck!

jcieutat

Thanks for the reply! I actually ordered all of my products from autogeek a few months ago when we bought my wife's new Cadillac SRX. I used the Klassee sealer but put it on a little too thick with the porter cable buffer. It took me over an hour to get it off by hand. I then used Pinnacle wax it and boy does it look good.

The car was manufactured a little over a month ago and it felt smooth as can be before I waxed it.

YerBuddy

I used a Porter Cable for a long time and now own a Flex. Great machines and really save me time. One of the reasons I recommend Wolfgang's sealants is because it really comes off easily. Naturally, if you cake it on any wax/sealant will be hard to get off. I also learned that lesson...once. lol

If you use a claybar you'll also see how easily the sealants will go on and off. It helps the rotary glide for me as well. Show us some pics when you get your stuff done. I'd love to see it.

jcieutat

This is actually just before I washed it.



Getting ceramic tint put on in the morning. I just ordered a couple of appearance mods that I was too lazy to take off of my 2010 GT before the trade. That was a $800 mistake

YerBuddy

Man that Kona looks awesome.