Newbie with brand new car

[rms64]

It's amazing to me how beautiful the car looks, yet after learning just a tiny amount of info (SO FAR!) from here I'm seeing there's a ton of room for improvement.

How cold is too cold to clay? We're renovating the garage and won't have room to do it inside.....

I'm a newb too but it surprises me and makes me lol just a bit because I catch myself looking at other peoples cars and seeing the classic "swirled up mess" and think...sheesh....

Hopefully someone will correct me if I'm wrong here but I'd think "as cold as you can take" (as long as it's warmer than freezing) would be ok to clay - just make sure you have some good microfibers to wipe up the lubricant with.

Enjoy!

[jhodges]

I'm a newb too but it surprises me and makes me lol just a bit because I catch myself looking at other peoples cars and seeing the classic "swirled up mess" and think...sheesh....

[BobbyG]

To Autogeek Online Ned!

After all the replies I read I think a hello and welcome aboard is all the advise I can give!

[Ned250]

It's refreshing to see so many cool customers here. So many forums are littered with trolls and just down right negative people. Big thumbs up to AGO!

I've been studying and trying to come up with a plan and a shopping list. I haven't done this before, so I need just about everything... My wife is going to love this.

As I noted above, I've already inspected the car and found swirls galore. So the next step is to clay the paint. I've seen Iron-x suggested quite a bit here, but there's something that spooks me about using it on the paint. Maybe I'm being overly cautious and y'all can talk me out of my paranoia, but I think I'm going to skip Iron-x and just go straight to claying the car.

When we bought the car I got over zealous and bought this Mother's kit. I wish I had found AGO before buying that, but it is what it is. Is there anything in there that I should stay away from? I hope at least the clay and spray detailer (I think) is good enough to clay with.

I'll start by taping off a small section of the trunk and testing the clay to make sure I know what I'm getting myself into. Will regular masking tape or that blue painter's tape work?

[Andr3wilson]

It's refreshing to see so many cool customers here. So many forums are littered with trolls and just down right negative people. Big thumbs up to AGO!

I've been studying and trying to come up with a plan and a shopping list. I haven't done this before, so I need just about everything... My wife is going to love this.

As I noted above, I've already inspected the car and found swirls galore. So the next step is to clay the paint. I've seen Iron-x suggested quite a bit here, but there's something that spooks me about using it on the paint. Maybe I'm being overly cautious and y'all can talk me out of my paranoia, but I think I'm going to skip Iron-x and just go straight to claying the car.

When we bought the car I got over zealous and bought this Mother's kit. I wish I had found AGO before buying that, but it is what it is. Is there anything in there that I should stay away from? I hope at least the clay and spray detailer (I think) is good enough to clay with.

I'll start by taping off a small section of the trunk and testing the clay to make sure I know what I'm getting myself into. Will regular masking tape or that blue painter's tape work?

IronX is perfectly safe and a very choice in your case a good choice. Quite often new cars during transit can get heavily soiled with contaminants. IronX breaks them down and makes it safer (less of a chance of marring).

As far as your mothers kit, I can promise you the quick detailer as a clay lube, the clay, shampoo are all great and don't feel bad for purchasing it!

I am not too sure about the other products; hopefully someone on here can chime in here!

As far as tape, paints tape is perfectly fine. I use the blue 3M one because it seems to be a little stronger.

Now would you want to machine polish to remove swirls??

For a wax you need to pick one that suits the cars colour for the best affect. Which colour is it?

Btw welcome to AGO!

[sasson]

Wellcome to AG! Great place... ( BEST Place ) for car detailing, Detailers, And Just for fun! =)

[AudiFL]

Hi Ned250,

I am also a newbie too and an owner of a 2013 Black Audi Q5 which is just two week old. With all the ton of info in AG and the help of other members specially I was able get mine done.

Here is the link with some photos and the products used.

2013 Phanton Black Audi Q5

Edgar

[Espyone]

Welcome! You have come to the right place. There are many pros that can give you great advice.

Again welcome to the matrix. It has begin, where you will see car paint in a different view. LOL

[Ned250]

IronX is perfectly safe and a very choice in your case a good choice. Quite often new cars during transit can get heavily soiled with contaminants. IronX breaks them down and makes it safer (less of a chance of marring).

As far as your mothers kit, I can promise you the quick detailer as a clay lube, the clay, shampoo are all great and don't feel bad for purchasing it!

I am not too sure about the other products; hopefully someone on here can chime in here!

As far as tape, paints tape is perfectly fine. I use the blue 3M one because it seems to be a little stronger.

Now would you want to machine polish to remove swirls??

For a wax you need to pick one that suits the cars colour for the best affect. Which colour is it?

Btw welcome to AGO!

Thanks for the tips. Glad to hear the Mother's kit is OK. I can be impulsive with stuff like this, so I was regretting not looking into it further.

I worry about not getting the Iron-x completely rinsed from all of the nooks and crannies of the car, namely the edges where the doors or hood meet the car. Can it do damage if it dries to the paint?

I have been jonesin' to get the PC 7424XP for a few days now and will likely pull the trigger on it soon . So yes, I'm 99% sure I'll be attacking this with a DA! I haven't pulled the trigger yet as I'm still studying which pads, polish, etc I need to get with it.

The car is black - no idea what polish I should get or if I need to get it. The Mother's kit came with their 'Reflections Car Wax', 'Spray Wax', and 'Top Coat'. I'd love to save some $ and be able to use these, but willing to scrap them if there are better options out there. I don't want to cut corners because I was trying to save a few bucks.

[Andr3wilson]

Thanks for the tips. Glad to hear the Mother's kit is OK. I can be impulsive with stuff like this, so I was regretting not looking into it further.

I worry about not getting the Iron-x completely rinsed from all of the nooks and crannies of the car, namely the edges where the doors or hood meet the car. Can it do damage if it dries to the paint?

I have been jonesin' to get the PC 7424XP for a few days now and will likely pull the trigger on it soon . So yes, I'm 99% sure I'll be attacking this with a DA! I haven't pulled the trigger yet as I'm still studying which pads, polish, etc I need to get with it.

The car is black - no idea what polish I should get or if I need to get it. The Mother's kit came with their 'Reflections Car Wax', 'Spray Wax', and 'Top Coat'. I'd love to save some $ and be able to use these, but willing to scrap them if there are better options out there. I don't want to cut corners because I was trying to save a few bucks.

Well I ironX cars quite a bit. As long as you give a thorough rinse, it should be ok. I havent had trouble with it yet. But be careful if youre doing it outside, if the sun dries it on the paint, you may be in trouble.

I can tell you right now, get the Griots Garage 3 DA. It has more power than the PC and is overall a nicer machine.

Now your audi has a ceramiclear clear coat. In the production world, there are three different types of clear coats you will come across

Carbon - Rarest and most expensive, only the ZR1 has it to my knowledge. Debatably the hardest, but not in my experience.

Ceramic - Most new cars are switching over: all Mercs, audis, and new fords got it. This is an extremely hard clear coat and takes a lot of muscle to get swirls out

Acrylic - The most common and out of the three the softest clear coats. Cars like Toyotas, dodge, etc. have them.

Now for the ceramic clear coats, I would hands down go with the Menzerna Polishing line. I have seen quite a few people complain that the Megs and Optimum lines dont have enough cut to pull swirls out.

For your car I would:
PF2500 - on a white or an orange pad
followed by
SF4500 - on a gold jeweling or a red finishing pad

If you have super deep swirls, try IS1500 or FG400, followed by SF4500.

SF4500 is not a glaze or a filler, it is a nano polish, and out of all of the polishes on the market, makes the glossiest finish (91 Gloss Units @ 60 degrees).

For waxes, the mothers ones are made for all colours, fairly generic. You will find they might not last as long as other waxes out here and their water repellency is not going to be nearly as good as others.

How much are you willing to spend on a wax? Under $100 for a black car, you should go with CG Black Wax, or Pinnacle Souveran Paste Wax. Over $100, I will be honest with you, skip everything you see on the site here, and go straight with Swissvax Onyx or Shield. Swissvax hands down make the best waxes in the world and its the only premium waxes I will use, if you want more info on them, PM me!

As far as cutting corners, I have tried in the past, it is cheaper to get the best now, and skip buying cheap stuff, and then realizing you need high quality stuff.