Hi! All,

This question must have been asked a zillion times... but I could not find the answer anywhere in the forum... Can someone help me with this...

I have a '00 DEP TL. I have been regularly washing and waxing the car. But now the paint has started to look dirty. It looks more closer to black than green. I was wondering what I could do to get it to the original shine. I am guessing I will have to apply clay bar on the car. If this is the case how should I go about? From reading posts on other forums my understanding is :

1. Wash the car thoroughly(I have seen references to a Dawn wash. what is this? does it mean I have to use the dawn dish wash cleaner or can I use my Meguires Gold car cleaner like I always do?)

2. Apply clay bar
3. Wash the car back again
4. clean it dry
5. Apply a good coat of wax
6. Wash it again in a couple of weeks and apply another coat of wax for good protection

What do you all say?
Thaks in advance

 

claybaring is definitely a good idea to get the car looking really clean... but its a lot of work... maybe u cud try using Zymols Cleaner Wax first and see how that works out... i used it on my 97accord and it worked really good... followed by waxing and polishin a week later, it was as smooth as ever

 

people recomend dawn wash (any dish detergent will do, but Dawn is knonw for it's properties) becasue it will remove the oils and filler left by most other detailing products. Some people say it removes old wax too, but not much, and as long as you don't dwan wash too often (read every day) you should be fine to not hurt the finish. gold class wash is okay, but it probably won't get all the oils since it's not designed to do that; anyway, you have soap for your dishes so it's not like you have to buy anything.

feel the surface of your car's paint. if it feels bumpy and rough then you should clay. it will make the surface better, but don't expect it to make a black car white again. put your hand in a plastic baggie and feel the paint, this will give you a beter feel for the surface.

try some paint cleanser if you want since that usually will help to.

so, the procedure would be:
1) dawn wash (no need to dry, since any water spots shouldn't get so hard that your can't get them inthe next wash)
2) clay
3) regualr wash (dry)
4) clean paint
5) wash (dry)
6) carnuba wax (make sure it's applied thin, too much wax just means more swirls and haze)
note: if you plan on layering, you may want to go with zaino, Klasse, Blackfire, so some other polymer wax since they last longer and layer better.

 

use a polish before you wax and after you clay the car.

 

That's a good question. The last question mentioned applying another layer of wax a week or two later. Does anyone do this? I was wondering because after washing, clay bar'ing, washing, Klasse AIO, and a layer of Sealant Glaze, man, that is one hell of a day. I want to put on more layers of the Glaze, but don't know if I should a week after I went through this process.

Any advice???

Thanks!
-RafConTLS

 

Well Sealant Glaze won't bond if there is wax on the surface, you bascially need to stip the whole thing and AIO and SG again (no need to clay and polish unless you really want to). But, if you have no wax on the car, then yeah, you can just layer the SG away. Just wash the car first and then put the SG on, wait atleast an hour for it to dry, then buff off. Wait a day for the SG to "cure" and then repeat as desired.

as far as waxing, well regular wax won't last more then a month at most depending on how the car is cared for and where it is stored. A daily driver that is ourside in hot weather on a blakc car is going to break down really quickly. IMO as soon as the water stopped beading properly, it's time for more wax.

 

If your car is really dirty, I would do the following

Dawn Wash
Clay
Dawn Wash to get rid of the detail spray.
3M Swirl Mark Remover for Dark Cars in your case

Then use whatever polish or wax you want. Personally i prefer products like Klasse, Zaino, etc over Carnauba Waxes which give good results the first few days, but then quickly fade and dont much for protection. The others last months vs weeks a carnauba lasts.

Also if you have a Random Oribtal buffer, I woudl definitely recommend using that.

 

I too have a DEP 2001 car and trust me you can get that car looking brand new and well mine is like a mirror most of the time.

you need to start with a through washing. I still use car wash when I intend to clay bar. the dish washing liquides strip too much from a cars paint and don't lift dirt so it dosent scratch.

first use your hose and flush as much dirt off the car. the water will not scratch your car as much as your brush or sponge. then wash the car fully twice.

Then use a good clay. Zaino's is great mothers is also good, clay magic and mequires avoid as they streak the surface of the car. I use the cheapest detail spray I can find usualy mequires as a clay lubricant. get out of the sun and do one body pannel at a time. spray the pannel and run the clay till perfectly smooth then dry with a towel and buff clean.

once I get done with the clay I use mothers system or meguires systems pre cleaner, then the polish, I use a random orbit buffer on them. I finialy finish with mothers show car polish as it is not abrasive and only feeder oils and good stuff for the paint.

leave that till just starting to dry and buff once more.
the show car polish will make your car look terrible when the first coat of polish is put on and buffed, but don't worry one wash and the mirror comes though and I find it very woth the extra.

now you need a good wax to fisnish. I trust zaino's brothers and will never use anything but it ever again so easy and well the best shine I've ever seen.

if using zanio's use the z-1 then the z-2 let dry for a few hours and then buff off. let sit overnight wash and they apply another coat of z-3 buff clean a few hours later and finish with the detail spray.

your car will look almost black from the extream shine but very clean and green up close. you will love how the car looks after about 4 hrs on saturday and less than 1 hr on sunday.