......even if you had your paint job done 2 days before? How long should we wait for?

 

well.. I'd say yes.. for 2 days .. I mean the paint probably didn't even had time to dry yet if the humidity in your area is high. I'd bet u can press a fingernail in it and it'll mark. give it a little while. underwaxing a car is safer than overwaxing I think (especially true if you dont' have a garage).. I've learned that over the course of two different cars.

 

Miwa, explain yourself. How is underwaxing a car better than overwaxing when you don't have a garage(I don't have one)...?

 

you have to let the paint cure for a couple of weeks/months.

if you wax before it has time to settle, you risk ruining the paint.

waxing early provides no benefit.

 

well.. neither is good of course .because then a bird dropping will eat into the clearcoat directly, but if I had a choice, I'd prefer to underwax. .. of course I dont' mean like once a year type underwaxing.

unless you're like these guys who put a lot of dedication to detailing their car with five different type of zaino polish/waxes, I don't think you would want to overdo waxing. I think overdoing is once a week and 'definitely' 2 days after a fresh coat of paint :P .. but I'm even hesitating on the once a month bit now. I mean most documents suggest 2-4 times a year. that seems good to me. but then a lot of places mention, it all depends on what type of wax you use, etc.

in the past, maybe due to a combination of cheap wax and/or cheap paint, I managed to cause water spots, wax marks, fading, etc. I did wax every month and yes, I did it in the shade and no, I did not drive around with it on.

what I think happens is when you keep on waxing, you build up layers and layers of this stuff on the paint. When the sun beats down upon it, it gets especially hot. Then you get those light showers and your car gets all spotty from the dust that sticks to it and then you dont get time to wash it and you leave it in the sun and the next thing you know .. permanent spots!! they happen in the wax or the paint .. or both .. who knows.. all I know is they dont come off anymore

as for wax marks, maybe I was using too much cleaner wax or something, but after a while, suddenly applying wax didn't seem so easy anymore and the wax started sticking in the swirls that I applied it in. This ESPECIALLY happened with repainted panels that some cheapo company redid after an accident. The glossy clear coat is gone (maybe stripped away.. who knows) and now I'm getting fading with stuck wax. aww crap..

in general, I think what happened in the past for me was an excessive buildup of wax that just burned away the clearcoat or something while sitting in the sun. so from now on, I think I'll err on the side of less wax.

 

definitely dont wax the car especially after getting it repainted... my dads car had come back from the autobody shop and i was gonna wax and polish it for him but the autobody shop had told him not to do any waxing or polishing for at least 6months so all im doing is giving that car a good car washing

 

You should not wax a newly painted car for at least a month. The paint solvent take some time to completely evaporate off the new paint. Waxing = sealing the new paint will prevent the above from happening, and this means that the paint will never be able to cure properly.

 

my friend who owns a body shop recomends waiting at least 60 to 90 days

 

talk to the place that painted your car because all paints vary. I just had some painting done and have to wait 3 months before I can wax again. Also you shouldn't use a car cover for this period of time either!

 

take some pics of the freshly painted TL!!

 

With a factory paint job (brand new off the lot) you can usually wax right away as the paint is baked on the car at the outset of production. With an aftermarket paint job (body shop), the recommend wait time for waxing is 60-90 days, as NsX Pilot stated. The reason is aftermarket paint needs to cure and (more importantly) outgas. Some of the chemical solvents will evaporate as the paint cures. If you wax over it, this evaporation can't happen and the gasses end up getting trapped under the wax. What happens is the paint will look dull because the *back side* of the wax is hazed up with chemicals. Luckily, it's not a permanent discoloration, provided you strip all the wax off, let it cure properly, and then rewax after.

 

Since we are on the topic of waxing I got a quick question. I use Meguires Gold Class Wax w/ applicator and cotton towels to remove the wax. How should I wash these two things. Just use water or run them through a washing machine? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

hand wash them with warm to hot water in dawn,,,then a double rinse to make sure u get all the detergent out

 

thanks

 

hello all...does anyone know what is involved in repainting a TL (e.g., doe they remove all the glass)...is a repaint worth the hassle if it is not necessary? thanks