Fri 25 Aug 2006
I gassed up the Lexus this morning for the first time. It wasn’t as bad as I thought. With slightly less than a quarter tank left, I filled up with Chevron Premium for a total of $41.17. It’s too bad that 3/4 of the tank got me under 300 miles. While waiting for my car to drink up, I took a paper towel around to places that had those little yellow dots of bird poop. With the slippery new clearcoat on the car, those poop chips just fell right off. I didn’t even have to dissolve them. Goal: keep wax job up so it’d always be like that.
Speaking of car wax, my bailiff brought in a Consumer Reports article to let me compare waxes. There are liquid wax (good for restoring high-gloss finishes, but kind of a pain to use), paste wax (decent gloss but not as good for cleaning as liquid wax, but fairly easy to use), and spray wax (new thing in a spray bottle, quick and easy, but shine doesn’t last long and not good for cleaning. Decent for maintenance). Turns out that the 2 best liquids are Black Magic Wet Shine Liquid Wax and Turtle Wax Carnauba Car Wax T-6, each for $7, excellent gloss, durability, cleaning, compatibility w/plastic, good on ease of use, and lack of scratching/hazing (i.e., not so abrasive as to mess up your paint during application/removal). Meguiar’s Gold Class Clear Coat Wax ranked somewhere in the upper middle, mostly because of less durability. Plus it’s $15 a pop. Nu Finish $8 ranked the highest in paste, and Eagle One Wax-As-U-Dry $6 ranked the highest in spray. In terms of overall score, the 2 liquids scored 84/100, the Nu Finish paste scored 71, the Eagle One spray scored 54. Just in case you guys are in the market for car wax. =)
(“Car Wax: Quality Shine for Less”, pg. 47-49, Consumer Reports, July 2006. Or, check http://www.ConsumerReports.org)
Mr. W and I went to CarMax yesterday after work to get an estimate on his truck. I have to say that my [interruption here, Mr. W just called me on the phone, brb] Okay. Now that it’s 2 hours later, I’m back. Anyway, we went to CarMax and my experience there was very impressive. If you want to sell or buy a used car, that’s the way to go! They’re thorough, haggle-free, nice people. None of the stereotypical sleazy car salespeople stuff.
Nooooooooooooooooo do not take a paper towel to your car. Paper is made out of wood fiber and wood is really hard stuff. It will leave micro-scratches all over your car (especially if you have a dark color). A white or silver car you wouldn’t notice it as much though.
Carnauba wax will give you a great shine, but it is a LOT of work to put on and take off, and lasts only a few weeks to a month.
The Meguiars (non carnauba) stuff is synthetic and is pretty decent. (Lasts longer than real carnauba wax).
The best liquid “wax” I’ve used (and I’ve used a lot of them) is Zaino. It is very easy to put on and off, and lasts about 6 months on the car. It’s not a carnauba wax but actually a poly syntehtic. I use it exclusively on any cars I wax now. The only downside is that it is a little more expensive than what you can get at the store. But it’s worth since it lasts so long.
Don’t forget to claybar it once a year.
Even the blue paper towels they give out at the gas station pumps? I dipped it in the solution they have the squeegee soaking in, and touched it to my car wrapped around my index fingertip on the parts that have the bird poop droplets.
Zaino is not mentioned on the Consumer Reports article. It must not be an easy find.
I have to claybar it myself? What, like the whole vehicle?
What’s kinda scary is that the article warns about how the wax’s abrasiveness “can make clear-coated surfaces look hazy or cloudy when the finish is marred by fine scratches, giving the paint a duller look than before waxing.” So if I buy the wrong wax, it’d actually make my car LESS shiny?! “Most wax packaging indicates whether a product is safe for clear-coat finishes.” Gack.
I think those blue paper towels are for the windows and checking your oil.
What the heck is claybar?
Your title is funny! It reminds me of when you first meet someone you really, really dig and all you can do is talk about is them. I say talk away! Can’t wait to see your new set of wheels this weekend! :O)
Thanks for the waxing advice, normally I just have the car wash run it through the liquid wax. I should have them detail wax more often.
Yes the blue paper towels are for your windows. Never use any paper or wood product on the body of your car especially a dark colored one.
Claybar is a special kind of clay that after lubricated can pick up a ton of particles that embed themselves into your paint. This is usualy brake dust from your brakes and tree sap etc. They really get “Stuck” on the car. waxing your car wont help since the wax ends up going on top of the gunk sealing them in.
Claybar will pull this all off. Kind of like sticking a piece of chewing gum on something dirty and pulling it off — a ton of stuff sticks to it. And you can either claybar it yourself, or have some detailer do it for you. I just do it myself.
The carwash liquid wax since it isn’t rubbed in and dried won’t last long. Probably a few days tops. A wax needs to “Cure” to really set (I.e., dry on the paint to a haze). “hot wax” in a carwash never gets that chance to dry so its usefuleness is very limited.
Yea some waxes are hard to get off (especially carnauba based). If you don’t do it right your car CAN look more hazy than when you put it on. I really dont like using the real carnauba anymore.
Don’t forget though that waxing the car isn’t only about making it shiny. It’s to protect the paint and to make it easier to wash / keep clean.