Used pinnacle wax a few days ago. When using a detail spray yeserday the microfiber towel seemed to not feel nearly as smooth when wiping off the detail spray(surface almost felt a little rough) the car looks great- like it was just waxed. I do not see any wax residue etc that wasn't buffed out. Any reason why it may not feel as smooth as usual after waxing?

 

What type of paint prep (if any) did you do prior to wax application? Paint prep is the key to a nice smooth finish. Waxing alone doesnt do to much to the feel of the surface. That is accomplished by claying and polishing the surface prior to waxing. That could be your problem.

 

actually surface has always been smooth including prior to wax. Maybe it is not as big of deal as I am making it sound. In fact the car looks the best it has since I took it off the lot, so I don't think there is too big of a problem.

 

Glad to hear car is looking good. Have you tried the baggie test to determine if the finish needs to be clayed?

 

no i haven't . it has always been real smooth when using a mf towel on it. now it doesn't glide as easily. No way could be from dirt since this was only four days ago. The car looks the best it has since I got it eight months ago, so again I doubt it is a big deal. Advantatge of claying? If car was smooth all along didn't think it would make a difference. Doubt the look could get a whole lot better either. I wax with carnauba monthly so plenty of wax protection, although I never strip the old wax which I don't know maybe that is a problem?

 

Advantage to claying? Claying removes the contaminates that are embeded in your clearcoat. They are often not seen but may be easily felt by placing your hand in a plastic sandwhich baggie and rubbing your hand along the paint. If the paint feels gritty and not smooth then you need to clay. Almost all cars at some point in their life are transported by train and therefore there will be rail dust embeded in your clearcoat. That will most likely be what you will feel when you do baggie test. I clayed our TSX the day we got it home and you wouldnt belive the crap that came out of the paint.

Its good to hear that you are waxing often as I too live in Florida and as you know carnuba based waxes dont last very long here. A month tops. There is however, no benifit to layering carnuba waxes as they will begin to turn yellow over time. I would highly recommend switching to a synthetic wax. They offer much more protection and last alot longer.

Dont under estamite claying. It does make a big difference

 

when i wipe off a detail spray or whatever now with a microfiber, the material even from the mf towel seems to be coming off on the car. have that usually with a terry towel but now with it not being as smooth its happening with the microfiber? pain to have to wipe the cloth material off the car.

 

Might wanna invest in better microfiber towels. Ones you pick up at Wal-Mart ain't worth shit, so hopefully you didn't buy some cheapo towels.

 

they have worked well for months but now i agree seems like they aren't worth it. The terry towels seem to be gliding much smoother on my car.

 

terry towels are doing this also- fluffing off on the car - don't know why all the towels are doing it(mf and terry) car looks great but this is weird problem.

 

If you didnt clay it the first time you polished or waxed it then thats your problem. Claying gets all the crap off the paint from the factory, while in transit, etc.

Clay your car, you will notice the difference. Then polish and wax...

 

well i have waxed several times and never had the towels coming off on the car. This is the first time doesn't feel quite as smooth and mf and terry towels are leaving some fluff on the car(which the wind gets rid of). The car looks the best it has since i got it. one other thing that may be contributing is i am washing less because i like the wax look and don't want the soaps to take that away. car looks way better even if a tad dirty with good wax compared to washing often and stripping the wax.

 

You need to polish dude. Wait till you see what a polish can do. Not only does it have the best shine, IMHOa, but it will last a lot longer then wax and will make your car real slick and smooth.

And no matter how much you wax, if you dont clay bar your not going to get the best results.

 

local place i bring it to throuhg a tunnel uses meguiars polish- once they do that i bring it home and wax. as far as the car looking any better i guess its possible, but it looks great now and to see if the shine could get any better would take require even more time. the nighthawk black with a good wax on it stands out among the tsx's.

 

Huh? Do you mean you bring it to a car wash where they spray on polish right after the wash? Or are they actually applying it by hand, letting it dry completely, and then removing it with a buffer?

 

no it is actually a tunnel car wash- the largest in the southeast i might add. it is not your everday place. they charge 25 bucks for what i get- but i have a half off discount that i use- so it runs around 14 which is still not pennies. they apply the polish in the tunnel. I know its not like when doing it by hand but the cars look awesome and you have to wait for a while even with those prices for a tunnel wash. The car looks amazing then i put some pinnacle wax on it when i get home- the thing is styling.

 

Uh, yea....Thats not "polishing" lol....

But I guess if you happy with it thats all that matters. We havent seen any pics from you. Step up and post your styling TSX for everyone.

 

yeah it is polishing. just a whole lot easier. to put a polish on and then wax is all you need. and we are talking about a 27,000 tsx not a ferrari. These cars look quite good if cared for and if use a good wax like pinnacle, 21s etc.. on top of a polish the car will look great. again i wash much less frequent and keep the wax intact, wax monthly and don't have to do a whole lot more with a 2004 car. sorry no pics. black tsx is in gallery .

 

He's talking about polishing using a orbital buffer and abrasive polish to remove visual defects from your car's paint. There is not spray on product available that provides this feature.

 

I agree with King. You are being misled on this whole "polish in a tunnel" deal. A true polish job is done using a PC (random orbital) and can take hours to achive optimal results. To wash , clay , polish and wax our TSX took me about 4-5 hours. Unless they do all that in the "tunnel", you're not getting your car polished, no matter what they tell you. But, if you're happy with the results, then thats all that really matters.

Remember, waxing once a month doesnt mean anything in Florida. Sure it helps, but proper paint prep is the key for a great looking finish. Without it, all you're doing is sealing in all the contaminants every time you wax.

 

Im not trying to be an ass about this, but for someone who keeps hawking how nice and clean your car is, you dont seem to be following a lot of the suggestions here. All we are saying here is that, yeah, your car may look good to you, but it would look even better if you clayed and did a REAL polish. This line here:

"When using a detail spray yeserday the microfiber towel seemed to not feel nearly as smooth when wiping off the detail spray(surface almost felt a little rough)"

Tells us everything. All your doing is waxing over contaminants. And yea, it may look good now after a wax, but over time that shine will quickly go away.

And what does it matter if its a scion, TSX or Ferrari?? So your saying you shouldnt do it the right way if you dont have a Ferrari? LOL...

 

Geez....I need to start a car wash business. What a great way to take peoples money...

 

doubt the time it takes to do all the recs would be worth it. the car sparkles, people look at it all the time and looks amazing. I am not waxing over a whole lot of things. most car washes are not good, but there are some bigger operations in some cities that do a good job of cleaning the car setting it up for a nice wax. Have yet to see a tsx on the road that compares.

 

Wow, you just dont get it do you...

Quit posting about problems and asking for advice if you dont want to take it. And if your car is so "bling-bling" then sack up, take some pics and let us be the judge.

Here's mine Zaino done with real polishing. And it will stay this way until I sell it.

 

Now its like talking to a wall joerockt. If he doesnt see it, then he probably never will. I thought from the first few post that he had no idea whats happening just from his wording. But, at least he's doing something. It could be worse, he could be washing with Dawn every week and posting about how good it looks afterwards. This forum and others like it are here so people can share and learn new techniques on proper detailing. It all boils down to personal preference at this point. If he's happy using those products and not willing to go the extra mile and have his car look even better, than thats it, we tried to help and some people just dont want it. There are certain subjects that everyone thinks they are an expert on, even though they have maybe tried a handful of products in their life and most of them are from Wal Mart or Target or Auto Zone. The group of people that think they are getting the best money can buy from Wal Mart will probably never realize how nice a car or truck can really look. Heck, I can remember when I thought NuFinish and Collinites was the best thing since sliced bread.

I agree with Joerockt. If youre gonna take the time to write the board and ask for advice, then be willing to at least give it a try before you shoot us down. There are a handful of us here that do this for a living and kinda know what were talking about.

Glad to hear that everyone likes your car. How bout posting some pics so we can like it too.

 

Yea, I dont think he's ever going to be convinced. But the posts like "The surface of my car feels rough, why is that?" need to stop if he's not going to take the advice, or like you said, at least TRY it before knocking it.

And before you say it, we knocked the "tunnel polishing" because thats NOT POLISHING by any means. And anyone who actually cares about their car as much as you seem to floridaowner, would actually take the time to do it by hand, IMHO...

 

I wish they sold pinnacle wax products at wal-mart or target. 20 bucks for a detail spray and their wax is amazing. to the contrary I have to spend way less time than most people due to these amazing products. i would get the crystal mist if have a black tsx. it won't streak and makes the car amazing on top of the pinnacle waxes. it also has a carnauba content. www.pinnaclewax.com
you can polish with turtle wax or whatever, but i can assure you my car looks every bit as good. also mine is a lease so what it looks like four or five years from now, don't care. will have a new tsx at that time.

 

lol...denial is so pathetic...

Im done with this...

 

LMAO

I have to agree here ....

"wax on, wax off daniel son" preferable with some powered device or by hand ... but nothing sprayed

 

yeah i use pinnacle wax by hand. enough said. it is a 2004 car. the car looks amazing. to clay,polish and wax frequently on a 2004 that i will be giving back to the dealer on a lease in a few years is not time well spent. a good wax and regular care will keep a car looking great for a few years. in the long run several years down the road, yes all of these other details may help the paint.

 

Glad to hear you wax by hand , thats how its supposed to be done. Its the polishing that we are all talking about. I'm not sure that you see or know the difference. Thats where we are all trying to help you. But you wont seem to listen to what the group has to say. Claying and polishing is not a waste of time and should only be done about every six months or as needed. It is absolutly time well spent. If you are convinced that your finish will last a few years without needing polished or clayed and only monthly waxing, then forget using a PC at that point, youre gonna need a rotary to get those swirl marks out.

Come on, post some pics!!

 

Ok, im not done

Here is my TSX just washed, two and a half months after Zaino polishing. Nothing else was done to it except Z-6 after every wash. And no waxing once a month lol sorry for the big pic.



Oh and "amazingly" the surface still feels silky smooth lol...

 

whao, looks exactly like mine

 

Funny how that happens, isnt it?

 

looks good!!

 

"to clay,polish and wax frequently on a 2004 that i will be giving back to the dealer on a lease in a few years is not time well spent."
Floridaowner, I would disagree with you. Claying will get rid of all the metal contaminates in your paint. If you do not get rid of them, they will rust and thus cause your car to rust at some point. It is worth the $10 claybar and an hour of your time once a year. The polish will not protect but will remove any light scratches and bring out the color of your paint. Wax/sealents (even the best) only last a few months at best so you should do this every few months or so at minimun.
Also, if you keep your car in good condition, your car may be worth more than your lease buyout and you can sell it to the dealer and make the price difference for your pocket.(I did this with my 98 Maxima buyout was $17500 dealer bought it from me for $18000 and I left the dealership with $500 in my pocket.)

 

Nice pic of a great car Joe.

I agree with all of you. Getting rid of those contaminants is key to a perfect finish.

And the #1 WORST thing you can do is let a car wash spray anything on your car - especially any kind of wax. Think of it: This stuff is being sprayed all over your glass and gets on your rubber parts - the last thing you want on either of these parts of your car. If I need to take my car to the car wash (which I avoid like the plague), it only gets their basic wash.

 

doesn't look even close to mine to be honest. I use pinnacle soverign wax along with their crystal mist. The car turns heads nonstop seriously. And this car wash place here in town is rated one of the top in the country. twenty five bucks for a wash with no wax is a serious clean. No reason to be critical. You can spend all the hours you want cleaning your car. I might add I grew up adoring the Toy Store- no not toys'rus but the exotic car store in fort lauderdale. Floridians know how to keep a car nice(esp south floridians.) nothing like a waxed exotic car and not zaino! but something like pinnacle!

 

Take a picture of yours ass master or shut the fuck up.

I dont even think you actually own a TSX. Pathetic...

 

this thread is kind of bizarre