My car is 3 weeks old. How long did you guys wait before waxing your new TL.

 

My car is approaching three months old and I am still holding off waxing. I am from the old school which says to wait for at least three months.

 

Is their a reason for waiting. Does it damage or hurt the life of the paint if you wax early?

 

Modern cars can be waxed immediately and actually should be, best to protect the virgin paint right away. The 30 day method is for body shop paint. New cars have the paint baked on so it is cured when it leaves factory, a body shop spray booth just applies paint and while it dries to the touch quickly the underlying paint and bond takes a few weeks during which the finish is fragile.

 

I wax mine the minute I get it home. You want to stop the carcinogens from getting to the paint. :fingerfawk:

 

My detailing shop sez you can wax as soon as the paint is one month old as it takes about that long for some of the underlying layers to completely cure on a new car.

 

A. Wax it on day one.

B. As a rule of thumb, when the water stops beading is a good time to wax again.

My .02

 

Paint on modern cars are cured before they are in the hands of the consumer. There is no real waiting period. You should be able to wax it now.

 

never knew my car can get cancer.

 

Do it ASAP. No need to wait the paint is cured before it left the factory. Please do not waste time and have some ocntaminents on the pait. Sooner you protect your clear coat, longer it will be in at its best condition.

 

I waited six weeks - just as a compromise between the day oner's and the three monther's. Interestingly, (supposedly) no one has ever asked my dealer this question. Even their body shop couldn't render an opinion.

There are a couple other threads on here on this topic.

And the debate continues ...

<<<<---- Team WD Mascot cleans tires for rides in car

 

WAX OR SEAL NOW. The new waterborne paints are cured when they get to the dealer. I checked this both with Acura and Sal Zaino who is a master painter and vendor of car care products: www.Zainobros.org .

The sooner you seal the clearcoat, the sooner it will be protected from ADDITIONAL contaminants.

The dealer has already waxed/sealed it anyway unless you told them not to. The first thing I did when I got mine how was to strip any wax off it with Dawn detergent. Then, I clay barred it to remove rail dust and overspray. They're always there to some degree or other depending on which level of the rail car your TL rode on. Higher=better. Some premium cars ship their cars in containers to avoid the rail dust which is steel filings kicked up by the steel wheels and track. It is iron oxide (rust). But, they are sharp, metallic particles which can stick in your clear coat.

The dealer gives the car an "acid bath" to get rid of the dust (if needed). It's weak acid like vinegar but it does the trick. The clay bar gets what that misses. I wash again with a good car wash like Meguire's or Zaino.

Then, I seal the paint with a quality polymer sealant. There's a ton of them around. I prefer Zaino Z2. Others like Meguire's NXT. That's very good also. Actually, different sealants and waxes work better on different colors.

A carnauba wax will last about a month. A polymer sealant will last about 6 months. See the separate section which deals with all this stuff on the home page.

XP

 

Thanks guys. Waxing my vehicle on Sunday.

 

I agree with all who said asap. I waxed mine (Zaino actually) the day i got it.

 

Starting to Use the Zaino Tomoloe..
So about 5 months..

 

Clay bar the car as soon as you get it, there is a large amount of rail dust attached to the paint. A light polish will be fine then either a sealer or wax will be ok. The earlier you do this the faster the finish is protected.

 

WAX INSTANTLY to protect the paint. I brought our TSX home with the protective film still on it, and then did the full Zaino process. The TL had the film removed, but had not yet been abused by the dealer's lot boy with the crappy wax job. It also got the full Zaino ASAP.

Unprotected paint can be easily damaged or stained.

Today's laquers dry nearly instantly, even at the body shop.

The "wait to wax" is old school, regarding the old slow-to-cure enamel paints.