Road trip prep

[rajon]

New guy here - please excuse my newbness.

I have a new car. It is a 2104 Chevrolet Cruze in Black Granite Metallic. It sat on the dealer lot for nearly sixty days and has the obvious witness marks from a automated car wash. I washed it twice with meg's gold whatever. The water did not bead at all so I suspect there is no coating to speak of.

I do not have time to do a full detail of the exterior before I depart on a 1000 mile trip.

Would I benefit from throwing on a single step wax just to protect against further damage from 1000 highway miles or is it a waste of time if I plan to do a full 5 step wash on Monday? (took the day off to detail the car)

Thanks in advance.

[hollerstiltner]

I'd probably at least spray wax it because it'd make it easier to clean the road grime off later.

[irvsmith]

If I was in that situation I would do a 2 bucket wash and put on a sealant of some sort. I prefer AMMO skin because it is easy to apply. This would help mitigate the contaminants which would come from a road trip.

[AZ Mike]

A wax after washing would be better than no protection.

[swanicyouth]

Don't mess with it. Do it right when you get back. A few days of no LSP won't cause anymore "damage" and you are likely to put towel marks / love marks in the paint if your rushed and don't Iron X / decon before waxing it.

Paint can mar anytime you touch it. Don't touch it unless you have time to do it correctly.

I believe in doing stuff once and doing it right.

[geekdout]

The only thing I would worry about are the dead bugs on the front of the car on your road trip. While your on your road trip I would clean the bugs off daily with at least a waterless wash and some microfibers.
Bird poo is also another thing that can cause serious damage to paint so clean it as you see it.

Other then those two things just wait until you have the time to do it right.

So pretty much what swanic said.

[rajon]

You guys are awesome. Thanks for the honest answers. I too believe in doing it right so my panic is what is right? I was definitely annoyed that I brought home a ten mile old car with scratches all over the hood. The information on this site is amazing and has given me the hope that I can actually polish and protect the finish on my car. Thanks again.

[rajon]

While your on your road trip I would clean the bugs off daily with at least a waterless wash and some microfibers.
Bird poo is also another thing that can cause serious damage to paint so clean it as you see it.

We're going to be lucky to see temperatures above freezing. We are headed to Mackinaw City, MI for a couple days. It is cheap and I like to see the straits when they are frozen. The first ship is due through the Soo Locks in a couple of days so we are kind of hoping we can catch a freighter in the locks. There is a coin operated hand wash near where we stay so I will have the opportunity to pressure wash the salt and road debris off. The areas we will be in are not salted due to the proximity to the lake. Sorry if I am over-sharing but these are the details I that I obsess over.

I might just have a late night tomorrow and bucket wash it in the driveway and the wax in the garage. The plastic bag trick yielded nothing suspicious in terms if embedded debris. There are the kiss marks from the carwash on hood and roof but it is a small car with a moon roof so there is very little painted surface compared to the truck I traded in.

Sorry for the babble and thanks for the advice.

[rajon]

Thanks to this site I did two test spots on my rear deck lid last night. So 1/3 spray on wax, 1/3 control (untreated) and 1/3 with Meg's ultimate polish and wax. Nature did me a favor this morning and it is raining hard currently.

The spray wax is not appreciably different from the untreated portion of the lid where as the ultimate wax is beading water like a duck.

So I am convinced that I will let it go till I get back. Thanks!