Best way to START maintenance system?
 

My car is still new and I want to care for it properly right from the start. I've done one really thorough wash and dry using IronX to get all of the "rust spots" out of the white paint and have washed it quickly a couple of other times.

I've ordered a polisher and will be buying [likely] the CarPro setup with Essence, Reload, and Eraser.

I have well water and even after a good hand drying, there are a LOT of water spots on the paint. Because it's white, they're hard to see unless you're looking at a certain angle.

I'm looking for suggestions on doing an initial thorough cleaning and polishing that will get the water spots out completely and allow me to then move on to sealing the paint. Will Essence be sufficient at that point, or is there something I should apply BEFORE it?

Is there an overall less costly / less effort system instead of the CarPro products? It's a "weekend car", not a DD. So, I will get a fair amount of time on the calendar from one treatment, but I also want to ensure that washing in between treatments is as quick and simple as possible, especially since my water is prone to leaving deposits and spotting.

Hopefully, at a minimum, @Glen e will come along with a thought or two. :thumbup:

Sure....If you want to start with something first to get rid of those spots I would start with a slightly heavier polish like Meguires M205. One panel at a time, then wipe it down with 50-50 alcohol water. Or eraser.

Is your car garaged or left outside?

With well water you may want to look into a water deionization system. Since you just need a small one Simple Chuck or CR Spotless brand would be good enough.

CarPro is top quality product. Top quality product usually means easier to use. Essence is more of a prep or repair product. Like Glen said start removing water spots with M205 and a white foam or microfiber pad. Wipe it down with Eraser. You can use the essence and a blue foam pad after that to prep for Reload if you want to really do it right.

What kind of polisher did you order?

Get a water system as stated before. If not then I would hose off at coin wash and then Rinseless/waterless wash. I’ve had well water and talk about deposits all over the car and in jams.

Thanks everyone for chiming in.

I ordered the Porter Cable 7424XP as I got it at a very good price. I will need to get a Velcro pad for it and polishing discs/pads - suggestions?

The car is garaged. And I’m not staying in this house long term, so I don’t really know how long I’ll have to deal with well water.

The PC will last forever. It can beat you up a bit if you are using it all day but it works well. There are tons of kits out there for pads. I find that microfiber pads work best on Camaro paint. I like detailedimage.com and autogeek.com for my supplies.

I've always like PC tools but have had few opportunities to own them. My father's circular saw is about 60 years old and has not lost any of its oomph.

I'll have to look for some kits with a velcro insert and pads to see what might make sense. I'm getting the sense that the pads should be considered somewhat disposable and not washed and reused.

No I have foam pads that are 5 years old. You need to wash them or use a clean one after each panel.

Good to know! Thank you.

For my car, that would mean:
- Hood
- Front Left Fender
- Front Right Fender
- Front Bumper
- Driver's door
- Passenger Door
- Right Rear Quarter
- Left Rear Quarter
- Trunk (including the tonneau area which is very small)
- Rear Bumper

That's ten pads, and would be eleven on a coupe. Does that sound right? Am I evaluating that the right way?

If so, then that means the following for the SUV:
- Hood
- Front Left Fender
- Front Right Fender
- Front Bumper
- Driver's Side Front Door
- Driver's Side Rear Door
- Passenger Side Front Door
- Passenger Side Rear Door
- Right Rear Quarter
- Left Rear Quarter
- Liftgate
- Rear Bumper
- Roof

That's thirteen pads. Wow. I would need two dozen pads if I were going to do both cars in one day!

What should I know about polishing around/over vinyl graphics on the fenders? How do I go about getting into tight spaces where the polisher simply can't go?

I do my whole Camaro with three pads.

Since you’re going car pro remember you can use eraser as a window cleaner to. and reload
With the sample size of echo2 and water as a quick detailer. more than 1 use from the products. Just did mine a couple weeks ago

Ok... Now that I have the polisher in hand and may get some time in the very near future to get started, I'm looking for some additional information...

I'd like to know what overall process I should follow "now" along with what to plan for at washes and a Springtime and maybe mid-season 'refresh'.

It seems like I should be starting with the Meguiar's to get the water spots off. Tell me about use of the following products:

- Essence
- Eraser
- Reload
- cQuartz

I started looking at Essence and it 'feels like' there are half dozen different versions of it and I haven't the first idea how to make heads or tails from it. Should I be using this -at all- at this point, or is it really not necessary until possibly somewhere down the road?

Where does Iron-X fit into this regimen? Just use sort of "as needed" if I notice some orange spots in the paint again?

I think I'm going to to the route of the "clay" towel as my clay bars are 4-5 years old at this point (although one has never been used).

Suggestions on handling the wheels, especially to seal them so brake dust comes off more easily? I have a decent brush and will likely pull each wheel for a very thorough cleaning at some point soon since getting behind the spokes is a little tricky.

What about car wash? Any good suggestions there?

Lastly, I don't think I'll ever fully understand the concept of "wiping soap on my car" and not rinsing it off. So, it seems unlikely that I'll ever be able to bring myself to doing a rinseless wash. :)

Oh yeah... any specific suggestions on a kit to convert my polisher over to hook and lip along with particular polishing pads would be useful.