Confused on how to detail my car?

[rscott22]

Hey guys I used to think I kept my car spotless till I joined here and realized im not even close. Every 3 months I a do what I call a full detail consisting of

Meguiars car wash
Meguiars clay bar
Meguiars carwash again
Meguiars NXT generation tech wax
Full wipedown of car with many microfiber towels

Thats it I do wash my car every week every saturday I fully wash my car and dry then spray Meguiars Ultimate spray wax on the car. But the thing is I am noticing is that even after fully claying and waxing my car I see a few light smirl looking marks and when I go into Walmart parking and park under there lights lot it looks like I have water spots all over the car it looks horrible and makes me feel like why did I even bother. I wish I could take pictures and show you but I dont have a high enough quality camera. If anyone out there knows what I am talking please chime in I want to fix this problem ASAP. I hate my car looking like crap!

Thanks,
Ryan

[loudog2]

To get your car looking great, prep is key. If swirls and water spots are present, you need to polish it. Pick up a DA(dual-action polisher), pads and some polish to make that baby shine.

[rscott22]

Ok what kind od DA should I get and pads I dont know much about that stuff? Where should I get it will the meguiars DA they offer work fine?

[loudog2]

They sell them at autogeek.net. I would go for the PC 7424 or the flex 3401. I would get 3-4 of each colored pad(lake county) orange, white, gray, and blue. Orange is for the heaviest corrections, white is for medium, gray is for light and blue is for jeweling.

Good polishes are menzerna and megs. Common combos are menz SIP/106FA/85RD. Megs is M105/M205. Set from heaviest to lightest.

[rscott22]

ok that helps clear things up a good bit thnk you very much

[03IS300GGP]

For a Beginner, I would go with PC7424xp ... Flex will intend to burn the paint for people who dont know how to polish right.

[jslym777]

get the porter cable but dont buy a kit... just buy what you need

[CrownKote]

The best thing you could do because you are starting out is get your self a Groits Garage DA they are low cost and have great power... I would then get myself either the Wolfgang Twins or the Megs DA Microfiber Correction system (5") the PC is a great machine but honestly I have had both and the GG works better in my opinion... Mask everything you don't want compound/wax on... Then have fun with it! It is extremely hard to burn through with a DA and honestly either machine will be a great starting point for you...

Good luck and Welcome to the Geek!

[slickooz]

Already great advise. Its all about prepping, wash the car with two bucket + Grit Guards. Then clay the car, tape up, polish, LSP. And then all you need is maintenance washes and spray wax, until you want to do another full detail.

I have the Griot's DA and I really like how user friendly it was and great results. I would get 4-6 pads of yellow, orange, white, and black. And get the 5inch backing plate.

[loudog2]

The best thing you could do because you are starting out is get your self a Groits Garage DA they are low cost and have great power... I would then get myself either the Wolfgang Twins or the Megs DA Microfiber Correction system (5") the PC is a great machine but honestly I have had both and the GG works better in my opinion... Mask everything you don't want compound/wax on... Then have fun with it! It is extremely hard to burn through with a DA and honestly either machine will be a great starting point for you...

Good luck and Welcome to the Geek!
I would have recommended those machines and pads too. But this is from 2 years ago and those machines were not around yet, neither was the megs MF system:xyxthumbs:

[CrownKote]

Lol... I didn't even see the date... I need to train myself to look closer at that from now on... The GG was out 2 years ago It has been refined from what I can tell (I had an older one that a client who was in a hurry just after I had finished up on his Ford F450 pulled out of the garage and ran it over while I was in the bathroom... Lesson learned NEVER leave anything lying around at a customers house!)

[slickooz]

Same here... why was this brought back up after two years??? lol

[loudog2]

Same here... why was this brought back up after two years??? lol
It still helps people. A new person can see what needs to be done and what he/she needs to get. It just makes the old post look bad because they didn't recommend something new that wasn't around back then. Da's today are stronger than the older version.

[James K]

Starting out a Griots Garage DA with the Meguiars DA MF kit is the way to go IMO. The Griots offers better power then the PC, and the Megs DAMF kit has a very quick learning curve and gives great results.

Once you have got the finish down, proper maintenance is key. The two bucket wash method is the way to go. You will need two 5 gallon buckets with grit guards. One bucket with soapy water and one with clean. Wash a panel, rinse the mitts in the clean water and then dip in the soap. A good MF towel for drying or a leaf blower to dry the car. Use your spray wax as a drying aid if you like. Lightly mist the panel and then wipe dry with low pressure.

[James K]

Dammit. Lol.