Newbie need help

[PriusPrime]

Hi,

I have never cared for my cars finish very well, rarely even washed them. I have a can of Mother's California Gold wax sitting my garage a few years I think I used it once.
But now I have a brand new 2017 Prius Prime that is Pearl White so my attitude has changed. From what I have read I should clay it, polish it and then apply wax, sealer or coating.
I thought it was strange that i should have to clay and polish a brand new car, but I did the finger inside the baggie test and it feels quite rough. The car was shipped from Japan to L.A. where I bought it.
I watched some Mike Phillips videos and that was really helpful. The thing I am having the most trouble with is the wax / sealant / coating. There are so many products I don't know what to go with. Since I don't want to spend a lot of time and effort, something that is easy to apply and more foolproof is better than something that is tedious and I might screw up, but I don't want to be waxing it every 8 weeks. Since I am not sure I want to take this on myself because lack of time and I would have to buy a buffer, I spoke with a detailer that i had used before. He told me that he would not recommend a sealant on a white car especially if it is parked in the sun and said he would just use wax. He quoted me $150 to clay, polish and wax and $400 for sealant, $800 for coating. the latter two prices seem rather ridiculous to me. He also kept using the term Teflon when referring to sealant / coating which I do not see when looking at these products. I think nano ceramic is mostly what I remember. Here are some products I have read about:

Optimum Gloss Coat
Opti-seal
Blackfire Wet Diamond All Finish Paint Protection
Chemical Guys JetSeal
McKee's 37 Hydro Blue SiO2 Coating

Thanks for any advise

[aztec1987]

Here is a link by Mike, hope this helps

https://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/how-articles/54451-how-detail-your-brand-new-car-mike-phillips.html

[rlmccarty2000]

Let him clay and polish for $150, that's reasonable. Buy one of the many sealants sold here and do it yourself. Read up on wash techniques and reapply the sealant in 6 months. Stay on this forum for 6 more months and you will have a polisher and a severe case of OCD.

[aztec1987]

Let him clay and polish for $150, that's reasonable. Buy one of the many sealants sold here and do it yourself. Read up on wash techniques and reapply the sealant in 6 months. Stay on this forum for 6 more months and you will have a polisher and a severe case of OCD.

Tell me about it I started with 2 products now I have about 6 different waxes , 2 polishing machines, 4 soaps, and a crap load of glazes.

[PriusPrime]

Let him clay and polish for $150, that's reasonable. Buy one of the many sealants sold here and do it yourself. Read up on wash techniques and reapply the sealant in 6 months. Stay on this forum for 6 more months and you will have a polisher and a severe case of OCD.

That is my current plan. He is going to use Opti-Seal I think. Down the road I plan to apply the sealant myself, if I had to pick today it would be Blackfire Wet Diamond.
I don't doubt that I will get a polisher, but I wonder why I would need it if I am applying the sealant by hand? I guess at some point it will need polishing again and I would need decide between doing it myself or paying a detailer.

Thanks for the input.

[custmsprty]

Personally, I'd be very wary of a detailer that told me to go with a wax over a sealant because I had a white car. I have three white cars. I use sealant on all of them.

There are levels of detailing and it depends on how much you want to dive in. Their would be no real issues if you just wanted to skip all the claying, polishing, etc and just put a selant on it. I did the same thing for years and none of my vehicles ever had paint failure and I'm in the sunshine state where paint gets abused by the relentless Florida sun. I also never had any issue with a product properly adhering because I didn't clay or decontaminate the paint. If you clay you lead yourslef down the road to needing to polish as clay can mar the paint.

This is a great sealant and on Mike Phillips recommneded list, I'm currently using it on my white fleet :props:

Sonax Polymer Net Shield, sonax polymer netshield, sonax profiline polymer netshield (http://www.autogeek.net/sonax-polymer-net-shield.html)

http://i1075.photobucket.com/albums/w421/custmsprty/20170304_143553_zpsujve3dyj.jpg (http://s1075.photobucket.com/user/custmsprty/media/20170304_143553_zpsujve3dyj.jpg.html)

http://i1075.photobucket.com/albums/w421/custmsprty/SonaxShampoo2_zpsmb7hzy8i.jpg (http://s1075.photobucket.com/user/custmsprty/media/SonaxShampoo2_zpsmb7hzy8i.jpg.html)

None of these white car in my fleet have ever been clayed or chemically decontaminated with.

Can you tell this finish hasn't been clayed or deconed. Yes it's been lightly polished but only once in 2 years.

http://i1075.photobucket.com/albums/w421/custmsprty/20170304_143841_zpstdcnf4ne.jpg (http://s1075.photobucket.com/user/custmsprty/media/20170304_143841_zpstdcnf4ne.jpg.html)


http://i1075.photobucket.com/albums/w421/custmsprty/20170304_143645_zpsterygood.jpg (http://s1075.photobucket.com/user/custmsprty/media/20170304_143645_zpsterygood.jpg.html)


http://i1075.photobucket.com/albums/w421/custmsprty/SonaxShampoo1_zpswrnhsl02.jpg (http://s1075.photobucket.com/user/custmsprty/media/SonaxShampoo1_zpswrnhsl02.jpg.html)

Check out this link on a show and shine I did a year or so ago, again never clayed etc. and the paint is pretty much as glossy and flawless as it gets. I don't sweat the small stuff, it's a daliy driver :props:

https://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/product-reviews/97678-polish-angel-esclate-viking-coat.html

http://i1075.photobucket.com/albums/w421/custmsprty/EscalateViking2_zpspomlrwra.jpg (http://s1075.photobucket.com/user/custmsprty/media/EscalateViking2_zpspomlrwra.jpg.html)

http://i1075.photobucket.com/albums/w421/custmsprty/PAVK1_zpsuglkywsu.jpg (http://s1075.photobucket.com/user/custmsprty/media/PAVK1_zpsuglkywsu.jpg.html)

[Bill1234]

That detailer is what you call a hack. Any white car can be sealed when done properly

[PriusPrime]

Thanks for pictures, those white cars look great. Since my paint feels rough I would feel better having the clay done. But I don't understand how clay can mar the paint, especially fine clay. Someone else told this as well, not that I don't believe it I just don't have experience with it. I will going with a different detailer, not the one who said not to use sealant on white paint.

[Rsurfer]

Thanks for pictures, those white cars look great. Since my paint feels rough I would feel better having the clay done. But I don't understand how clay can mar the paint, especially fine clay. Someone else told this as well, not that I don't believe it I just don't have experience with it. I will going with a different detailer, not the one who said not to use sealant on white paint.

The clay doesn't necessarily mar the paint, but it's the grit that the clay picks up that does the marring.

[PriusPrime]

The clay doesn't necessarily mar the paint, but it's the grit that the clay picks up that does the marring.

OK now I am starting to get it. Why not just skip the clay and just polish it?
Will the buffer pick up the grit that the clay would have removed and mar the paint as well?

[MattPersman]

You could do the optimum set up ONR with big red sponge and their wax and clay towel all in one step pretty much. If you search on you tube you can find that method by Yvan

Easy to do that yourself


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Rsurfer]

OK now I am starting to get it. Why not just skip the clay and just polish it?
Will the buffer pick up the grit that the clay would have removed and mar the paint as well?

You got it!:xyxthumbs: