Looking for superguard and wax advice

[BellasDriver]

Hello,
This is my first posting to this forum so I apologise if I am asking an obvious/stupid question.
I took delivery of my new Fiat 500 (red with red/white leather interior + alloys) on Christmas Eve last year (in deep snow and blizzard – not a good idea!) and am really looking for advice on how to keep her shiny, bright red and new looking.
I should point out that I had my previous car (1.2 Clio) for 18 years when we parted company and I hope to keep “Bella” for as long. What is the best way to keep her bodywork protected from our sea-air environment, salted roads all winter, and a huge population of seagulls?
I did get the superguard coating done and got the kit that comes with it but I am not convinced that it’s that great (got it cheap as they screwed up on my car order). On reading this forum you talk about waxing. I used to just use turtle wax after every wash on my old car but really want something better and longer lasting. Can I put a further layer of wax on-top of the superguard? If so what wax do you recommend, and how often would it need reapplying?
Also I was very disappointed to see that cleaning the car using the superguard wash and the sponge supplied seems to leave swirl marks on the paint. What implement do you recommend for washing the car regularly, and with what shampoo? Does it have to be the same brand as the wax? Thanks for all the advice in advance J
(I don’t have a power washer and had never even heard of claying before!)

 

[Andysan]

Hey,

Congrats on your purchase and good on you wanting to keep her nice - take a read here as a good starting point.

I'm certainly no expert, however I do know the basics, enough to give you a few pointers. Basically the most important thing (in my opinion) to remember is to never wash/dry your car with anything that has a flat surface. That means sponges and chamois leathers. Why? Well any grit that is sitting on top of the paintwork needs to be absorbed into whatever you are rubbing over the paintwork, in order to keep it as far from the surface of the paint as possible. Sponges (washing) and leathers (drying) do not allow grit to be absorbed into them, hence when you rub these over the surface of your paint (even when it seems clean) you are rubbing grit all over the surface of your paintwork!

Replace your sponge with a sheepskin mitt or microfibre waffle cloth (check eBay or your local auto store) and dry with micro-fibre towels instead of a chamois. Both of these have 'pile' like your carpet, and this absorbs grit and keeps it away from your paint. Also, wash using the two bucket method as per the above link - each time you take the mitt off the car rinse it in a seperate bucket before putting it back in your soap bucket - you'll be amazed how black and gritty the water is in your second bucket when your finished, you'll be glad you kept it seperate from your washer bucket.

May be teaching you to suck eggs, but polish is abrasive and wax is not - they do different things. Polish is used on old/dull paintwork and effectively cuts through the top coat to expose shiny paint underneath - you may want to avoid this on such a new car. Wax adds a sealant to your paint and protects it (so you wont need to polish it so often). Next time your in the car park in the rain look at the bonnets of the cars - the ones that have been waxed will have lots of little rain droplets sitting on the surface of the paint (beading) and the rain will be running off the bonnet. Cars that havent been waxed will not have the same beading effect. I wax my car every few months or so, and use a top-up spray on wax that goes on while the car is wet (before it is dried) as a stop gap. Wax wont give a shine as polish will but it will protect the paint and add a noticeable shine.

As for Superguard, I had this on the last new car I bought - it didnt do any harm, didnt do a lot either it seems. You can put a layer of wax on top of it, I might stray away from polishing it though given that polish is aggressive. I use this wax; Meguiar's NXT Generation Tech Wax 2.0: Amazon.co.uk: Car & Motorbike but it seems particularly suited to darker colours - it will work fine on your white car, but you may wish to try a few other brands. Someone will come along and tell you that there is a better wax, and they are probably right but this is a liquid wax and these are generally easier to apply. Just remember to shake it really vigorously for a good five or six minutes before you use it.

Claying is sort of like polishing - you spray each panel at a time with a lubricant and rub a clay bar against it - this sort of has the same effect as polishing, in that it cleans the paintwork but its not as aggressive - its generally safer as it only removes dirt, not top coat. Do this between a thorough wash and drying. Once done your paint should feel smooth as glass.

Also consider the finishing touches that really set a car off - you can pick up tyre blackener that keeps your tyres looking new and shiny (and protects them a little too) - I like the Simoniz brand. Also invest in some Armorall or similar to keep black plastic trim shiny and Autosol if you have a big shiny chrome tailpipe. Wheel wax or aerosol protectant can be purchased too - personally I dont like to use the agressive wheel cleaners but my wheels are particularly 'sensitive'. Happy motoring!

Any further questions, shout! Oh, and pics please!

 

[Rawb]

Great response!

 

[Andysan]

Cheers Rawb!

 

[BellasDriver]

Hi,
Thanks for all the great advice. I'll off doing some web shopping now to get some wax, a mitt, a second bucket......
Then all I have to do is wait for all this rain to stop so that I can wash and wax. I'll try and remember to post photos once she is shiny again.
Thanks again for the reply.

 

[Andysan]

No probs - one other thing to be aware of is that some of the automotive product marketers market wax as polish and polish as wax oddly (for example, Turtle Wax Ice Polish that is actually a wax if anything) so if unsure shout up. Dont be fooled into buying a super product that polishes and waxes, its probably crap. Get a good wax such as the Meguiars one and wash and wax, and then if still not looking good try clay followed by the wax as clay is less abrasive than polish. If desired after that then look at getting a polish also (remembering to wax after), but you may find that your car looks pretty spanking after claying it and waxing it. If you wanted to go all out you could wash, clay, polish and wax but its probably not necessary.

 

[Lunny 27]

BUY THIS!!! best wax by far bit pricey but well worth it and lasts!!
£26 Amazon

 

[Krysten CTR]

Hi,
Thanks for all the great advice. I'll off doing some web shopping now to get some wax, a mitt, a second bucket......
Then all I have to do is wait for all this rain to stop so that I can wash and wax. I'll try and remember to post photos once she is shiny again.
Thanks again for the reply.

Only thing which you might be missing is a couple of grit guards to go in the bottom of the buckets. (Get two different colours while you're at it)

When I was the car, use one for soap and the other for rinse only. When you rinse the noodle mitt I rub the mitt against the guard at the bottom of the bucket. This releases the tiny bits of grit and they sink to the bottom of the bucket under the guard. If you leave the grit on the mitt then you get those swirl marks you mentioned in the first post.

Squeeze the mitt to get all the water out of it (into the rinse bucket) anfd then put in into the soap bucket. pick up more soapy water and give the next panel a wash.

Then once washed rinse the mitt again, as previously mentioned. If you do this then you'll reduce the number of scratches and hopefully keep the paint looking great for longer.

Plus don't forget to Clay Bar 6 monthly to get rid of the tree sap and road contaminants.

Polish is good for after the clay bar. Wax to keep that polished surface protected.

For some uber geeky solutions have a look at www.detailingworld.com

 

[BellasDriver]

Hello,

Thank you for all your advice. I got the second bucket, the microfibre cloths, the noodle mitt, the AutoGlym wax and finally got round to having time to clean and wax her. What a difference - all sparkly now. Just in time for the winter as I saw the first gritter of the year out last night! I was also pleasantly surprised at how easy the wax was, much easier than the Turtle stuff I had been using on my old car, and the shine is a lot better. I didn't attempt to clay yet. I'll do that in the Spring when the sun come out again.

Thank you!

 

[RobinPJ]

Good job! You need shades to look at it!

 

[Andysan]

Nice work, looking lush!