Newbie: 2 different car situations: recommendations

[roguerobot]

Hi all, new to the forum. I am finally going to up my tools and skills in 'cleaning my cars'. I am about to pull the trigger on a DA (still undecided on model), but I want to ask about supplies.

I have two different cars I want to focus on:

Car 1: Car One is a 14 yr old Acura. Its been garage kept, so paint looks good, but it suffers from 14 yrs worth of scratches. This car has become the 'kids car', so is used for daily high school runs. Some of the scratches look like they came from objects placed on the trunk and dragged off (backpacks?) I want to eliminate these scratches and generally restore the paint on this car. However, this car will be taken to college this year, so will be stored outdoors for the first time. I need suggestions on how to best protect the paint, as much as can be done.

For this car, I am going with Meguir's Ultimate Compound, Ultimate Polish, and Ultimate Liquid Wax, mostly because its easily available, looks to be newbie friendly, and can be applied by hand or DA. (I already purchased these products). I applied these to an area by hand, and got rid of about 50% of the scratches, and I hope that adding a DA will improve the results.

Question: after all these products, what can I do to help protect the paint while being stored outside? Is the above enough? If the scratches don't go away with the DA, what should I try?


Car 2: Car Two is a 2011 BMW 325d, with fantastic paint, no visible scratches. Garage kept. Obviously I don't need the UC, and I am not sure about the UP. What is recommended to maintain already good paint? Should I be using the Klasse system, or something gentler than UP + Ultimate Wax?

Thanks folks!

[trekkeruss]

Hi all, new to the forum.

Welcome to AGO.


Car One is a 14 yr old Acura. Its been garage kept, so paint looks good, but it suffers from 14 yrs worth of scratches.

Color?


For this car, I am going with Meguir's Ultimate Compound, Ultimate Polish, and Ultimate Liquid Wax, mostly because its easily available, looks to be newbie friendly, and can be applied by hand or DA. (I already purchased these products). I applied these to an area by hand, and got rid of about 50% of the scratches, and I hope that adding a DA will improve the results.

Question: after all these products, what can I do to help protect the paint while being stored outside? Is the above enough?

The Ultimate products are fine. You can add their Quik Wax to your regimen to boost the shine and extend the protection of the UW. The main thing is to get your kids to not let anything touch the paint ... no more using the hood, roof, and trunk as shelves! That and proper wash technique.


If the scratches don't go away with the DA, what should I try?

Some scratches you may have to live with; they could be too deep to remove without compromising the clear coat.


Car 2: Car Two is a 2011 BMW 325d, with fantastic paint, no visible scratches. Garage kept. Obviously I don't need the UC, and I am not sure about the UP. What is recommended to maintain already good paint? Should I be using the Klasse system, or something gentler than UP + Ultimate Wax?

Most all cars can benefit for a light polishing; again, what color is the car? You'll get a gazillion recommendations on what to use, and none of the recommendations you'll get here on AGO would be wrong. To paraphrase the sensei here, use what you like, and use it often. Personally, I don't have to time, energy, or passion to be trying out every wax on the planet; my Honda Element sits outside 24/7, so I've coated my car with Cquartz UK, and it gets Reload every so often to boost the slickness. But I've used Ultimate Wax in the past, and it's on my sister's car.

[roguerobot]

Thanks!

The Acura is silver (officially Satin Silver Metallic). The BMW is a dark gray metallic (Space Gray Metallic).



The main thing is to get your kids to not let anything touch the paint ... no more using the hood, roof, and trunk as shelves!

You don't have kids, do you? LOL (they have been told, warned, threatened, forced to wash the car, clean the bathroom, etc.) Actually, what worked best was that one of them caused a sizable scratch in the parking lot, causing significant anguish (and long stretches of crying), which I feel has created a new appreciation for the exterior of the car (as well as other car exteriors) Not the cheapest lesson, but it now means I need to learn to repair a sizable paint chip down to the primer...but that's a different thread.

[trekkeruss]

You don't have kids, do you? LOL

No, but I have a dog and I can't tell him anything ... I just have to live with (or clean up after) what he does!

[roguerobot]

The BMW is a CPO, and it was in nearly flawless condition. It looked like it was detailed, and I suspect that it had a glaze of some sort applied, which is fine. As it wears off, small imperfections appeared. Again, I am ok with that, but I would love to know what was used. This car was clean like new.