Since it's summer time here in Toronto, I thought I'd give my car a nice wash and good waxing.

Having never done this before, what kind of wax would you recommend and is is a good idea to get a buffer or would some good elbow grease do the job?

Thanks

One guy over her recommended "Finish First" by Liqui Tech. Really good polish and clear coat protection. The car looks wet all the time. And the more you use the better it looks. After I emptied the can I never ordered it again because it takes a while to ship (usps is checking chemicals). Now I'm using "Wax as you dry" from local auto shop and it does the job without a buffer. Wash & rinse car. Leave wet. Spray sparingly onto vehicle and dry it with clean towel. That's it.

'Wax as you dry' sounds like a good product. Does it leave any residue when you towel off your car?

Nope. Not at all.

sileung wrote:Since it's summer time here in Toronto, I thought I'd give my car a nice wash and good waxing.

Having never done this before, what kind of wax would you recommend and is is a good idea to get a buffer or would some good elbow grease do the job?

Thanks

I'll give my 2 cents here. From years of experience, the best product I've found is called Nu Finish car polish. It comes in an orange bottle and costs less than 10 bucks. I just waxed the Rogue and it looks great, but it really needed a wax.

Nu Finish goes on easy and buffs off easy but I don't really believe in short cuts when it comes to car waxing (sorry Leo). I'm not saying I'm right, it's just my experience there is no substitute for elbow grease or power buffing.

I remember a few years ago (more than a few lol) I bought a brand new Trans Am and first stop was my buddy's body shop for a professional buffing. Then it looked sweet!

Well....I'm not a pro in buffing a car and that's why I'm asking my neighbor to buff off my car once in 3 months. I don't think I need more often than that on a paint that less than 3 years old but everybody have different opinions. I can not buff the car everyday or every week because it takes a lot of time. So I'm saving some time with that product but buffing with wax probably better. I found a nice website so I'm recommending everybody to look at that and it clearly says: "A POWER BUFFER IN UNSKILLED HANDS CAN CUT RIGHT THROUGH YOUR PAINT DOWN TO THE METAL IN SECONDS." They sell stuff probably better than "wax as you dry" but again it doesn't require a buffer. http://www.ibc34.com/VaporWax.html

Acrylic paint conditioner is garbage. Don't buy the sphincter.

NuFinish isn't exactly a great product either, and it doesn't last for a year - ask anyone that's into the real market.

Do you want good results? You have to put some time and energy into it - waxing either monthly or every other month is going to give you the look you want - combine with clay barring and regular washing (and detail spray for weeks not waxing) you get incredible results like this:



My car from last weekend...not bad considering that it's seen over 21k miles in a year...

http://forums.altimas.org/zero...y-too

Sure, the 4 hour ordeal I go through isn't quite necessary...but a wash every week and a wax every month isn't that time consuming. Just get yourself a bottle of good wax (Meguair's Gold Class, Mother's...etc...), apply a coat or two, and then remove with a clean soft cloth, and your car will look great - I promise!

And I agree - orbital buffers in the hands of those unskilled can cause terrible swirl marks and damage the paint...

No comments except this altima is gorgeous on a pic. 5*s. You probably killed a day or at least half a day to get this car look that sharp. Unfortunately I don't have that much free time anymore. Can't even finish redoing my q45 headlights.

marlin29311 wrote:Just get yourself a bottle of good wax (Meguair's Gold Class)...

+1 - its worth the money and the time it takes.

I agree that there are no short cuts to a good wax job, but I think the wax n wash products have their place between quality buffing, but aren't a replacement. I wouldn't get too worried about the details though guys, unless you are in the category of obsessive car nut and you're going to be treating your car as a show car (which is fine), but me I use my car as a dailer driver not as a show car and a good quality wax job 2 times a year is LOTS. I have friends who have NEVER waxed their car and wash it very rarely, and coming up on 10 years the finish looks a little rough but nothing too shocking, a detail shop could probably bring it back to looking pretty good. So, in my opinion you aren't in any danger if you don't religiously wax and polish the crap out of your car, but it definatley helps to keep it looking sweet. In my opinion waxing every month is extreme overkill, but of course it doesn't hurt and if you have the time and don't mind doing it then go for it.

And regarding the dangers of power buffers "cutting through the paint down to bare metal in mere seconds" , is COMPLETE CRAP!! I agree you can cause swirl marks in the clear coat and I guess if you left the buffer in one spot for hours on end you'd do some damage but it would take days for a soft power buffer to actually remove paint down to bare metal, and it definately can't happen in mere seconds!! I use one all the time and although I'm not an expert I still get nice results and would recommend to anyone to try it, I have no noticable clear coat swirl marks - there is nothing to be afraid of here. I think someone in the detailing business is trying to scare you away from DIY projects so they can cash in - this is complete nonesense!

What do you use to buff your car after applying the wax? Just a simple microfiber towel (or something similar), or one of those machine buffers?

A simple microfiber towel does the trick - no need for an orbital buffer, considering they somewhat expensive, and it you've never really used one, you could swirl your paint if you do it wrong.

marlin29311 wrote:Acrylic paint conditioner is garbage. Don't buy the sphincter.

NuFinish isn't exactly a great product either, and it doesn't last for a year - ask anyone that's into the real market.

Do you want good results? You have to put some time and energy into it - waxing either monthly or every other month is going to give you the look you want - combine with clay barring and regular washing (and detail spray for weeks not waxing) you get incredible results like this:



My car from last weekend...not bad considering that it's seen over 21k miles in a year...

http://forums.altimas.org/zero...y-too

Sure, the 4 hour ordeal I go through isn't quite necessary...but a wash every week and a wax every month isn't that time consuming. Just get yourself a bottle of good wax (Meguair's Gold Class, Mother's...etc...), apply a coat or two, and then remove with a clean soft cloth, and your car will look great - I promise!

And I agree - orbital buffers in the hands of those unskilled can cause terrible swirl marks and damage the paint...

Well, I'm not here to argue or put anyone else's ideas down but my vehicles look just as good as that one you have posted and all I use is NuFinish every 6 months (spring-Fall)

I have a 2004 VW Passat I bought new and it looks just like new and all I use is NuFinish. My 2005 Explorer was a mechanical pile of junk, but it looked like brand new when I traded it in.

My advice is to try products until you find something that works for you and keep and open mind.

NuFinish is a great product.

I'm a fan of the synthetic sealants (Zaino, Ultima, etc) though I haven't tried any of them on the Rogue yet.

RogueGuy45 wrote:
Well, I'm not here to argue or put anyone else's ideas down but my vehicles look just as good as that one you have posted and all I use is NuFinish every 6 months (spring-Fall)

I have a 2004 VW Passat I bought new and it looks just like new and all I use is NuFinish. My 2005 Explorer was a mechanical pile of junk, but it looked like brand new when I traded it in.

My advice is to try products until you find something that works for you and keep and open mind.

NuFinish is a great product.

$5 says it doesn't. My grandpa used that stuff on his Altima for a while....he thought it looked great. Then I did to his car what I do to mine, and he couldn't believe how much better it looked - lemme dig around their computer, I'll find the before and after's...

My experience with NuFinish is the film.

That layer that's left behind and cannot be removed. Car's look great for awhile, I don't doubt this.

I think it all comes down to how much effort you want to put into it. Its not that Meguir's Gold takes any longer, not like a fresher waxed car (waxed with NuFinsih or Meguir's) looks any different. They both look hot. How long does the finish maintain its freshly waxed looked. My cars finished with Meguir's will look the same for 3 months, like they did the day I waxed them.

Other brands, maybe 3-4 weeks.

I have used Nu Finish for years and it lasts a long time before re-waxing plus it's very quick to apply and buff.recently I tried Mothers FX syn wax, also Turtle Ice liquid (no white residue)All these products are very good.If you don't want to spend a lot of time use the Turtle ice $19.95 (most expensive)2nd, I would rate the Nu Finish under $10. but you get the white powder3rd, Mothers FX $13. harder to buff (remove) than the other two and have not used it long enough to see how long it lasts.I only use synthetic seallers/wax in spring and late fall

Turtle wax ICE. Clay bar kit and the liquid polish. Nuff said.

I tend to be a bit of a traditionalist when it comes to exterior car care. When waxing the car I use nothing but Mothers pure carnuba wax. No cleaners or other junk. Just wax! The smell is absolutely intoxicating. Makes you want to eat it!!! Of course, there is the other two steps of the process, which is the cleaner (compound: gets rid of old wax and other impurities on the paint) and the sealer/glaze (polish: smoothes out the minute irregularities on the paint surface). Do that twice a year and and a couple more layers of wax throughout the year and you're golden.

Just my 2 cents...... I used Meguiars NXT Tech Wax 2.0 Paste and am very happy with it. Goes on easy, comes off easy. No residue or "dust". I used many wax products over the years and have settled on this product.

Black Magic Wet Shine Liquid Wax and Turtle Wax Carnauba Car Wax T-6 tied with “Excellent” overall scores by Consumer Reports. They know their stuff when it comes to product testing. Also, for what it's worth, EVERYONE is going to have a different opinion on which wax works best for them. A lot of factors come into play when settling on a wax: how old the car is, condition of the paint, color of the car, etc.

The best way to detail your car is to start by washing it, then gently going over the paint with a claybar (make sure you read the instructions and use the recommended lubricant), then use a polishing compound like Mother's Scratch Remover or Quixx Scratch Remover for deep scratches, then finish up with a quality wax. If your car is a dark color, you'll need to do this more often than if your car is white, silver or light gray.

My best advise, grab a portable radio and listen to music while you're doing this. It makes the time go by a LOT faster.

How many of you have lost the paint on the side of your car before the top? I am old and I have found that waxing ( any product) thetop is the most important paint maintainenceroutine, hands down. Wax the top surfacesevery season, the sides once a year, and your paint will "age gracefully".

Signed: an old guy

Leo2005 wrote:Well....I'm not a pro in buffing a car and that's why I'm asking my neighbor to buff off my car once in 3 months. I don't think I need more often than that on a paint that less than 3 years old but everybody have different opinions. I can not buff the car everyday or every week because it takes a lot of time. So I'm saving some time with that product but buffing with wax probably better. I found a nice website so I'm recommending everybody to look at that and it clearly says: "A POWER BUFFER IN UNSKILLED HANDS CAN CUT RIGHT THROUGH YOUR PAINT DOWN TO THE METAL IN SECONDS." They sell stuff probably better than "wax as you dry" but again it doesn't require a buffer. http://www.ibc34.com/VaporWax.html

I agree 100% If you put a buffer on the edge or corner of a painted surface you can cut it to the metal in seconds.And as for acrylic paint conditioners. Best thing I ever put on my car. All shine no mess. no swirls none of the work involved in waxing or buffing a car.

ntwrkd wrote:Just my 2 cents...... I used Meguiars NXT Tech Wax 2.0 Paste and am very happy with it. Goes on easy, comes off easy. No residue or "dust". I used many wax products over the years and have settled on this product.

Agreed. My brother uses it on his black Mazda 6 so I gave it a try and my car looks awesome. His car is his baby and he shows it, so I figured the stuff was amazing. I first used it to minimize a scratch on my car and was very happy that it made the scratch virtually disappear. Here are some pictures after my wash and wax today.












Modified by laurene at 12:53 AM 8/4/2009