[SSJ455]

I am getting a new car this week, it was built a few weeks ago. How long should I wait before waxing it?

Thank!

[WhiteMale]

That's a zombie from like 30 years ago with single stage paint about waiting to wax it. It's not been a thing for decades. If I were you though, I would tell your the dealer to not even wash it, treat it, etc etc make sure that they don't fool around with it that you're not aware of. I had mine do the PDI but not to touch the paint in any form or fashion. Just how I wanted my new car treated.

[22SS1LE]

its fully baked in the factory. there is no cure time once it rolls off the line like you would get from a body shop where they can not heat it to the same temps and have a little bit of a curing time

[cdb95z28]

Wax? What is that? lol
Ceramic is the way. Even using something simple like Adam's graphene spray coating is far more durable.

[SSJ455]

Thanks!
I have used ceramic coating on the bumpers and wheels in the past. I do like it, but I also still enjoy polishing and waxing. It is therapeutic.

[cdb95z28]

Originally Posted by SSJ455

Thanks!
I have used ceramic coating on the bumpers and wheels in the past. I do like it, but I also still enjoy polishing and waxing. It is therapeutic.

Haha, fair enough

[dpevans]

I would suggest doing a two step correction then PPF the front end and rockers. Then a DYI ceramic. If you like the pleasure of waxing then use a topper after washing, I use Griots ceramic shine that's just as satisfying as waxing and you don't have to clean up every crack and crevasse of wax reside.

[Gen6cyl]

My Camaro was built 4 years ago.I got a techniq 9 year ceramic coat put on 3 months ago for $ 1500. Nothing I did made it look as good as it does now.

[arpad_m]

Originally Posted by Gen6cyl

My Camaro was built 4 years ago.I got a techniq 9 year ceramic coat put on 3 months ago for $ 1500. Nothing I did made it look as good as it does now.

I had the same done a few weeks ago. Full paint correction, 9-year Gtechniq Crystal Serum Ultra on the entire car, and the (6 1/2-year old) paint now looks practically brand new. Water beads up perfectly into circular bubbles and nothing sticks to the paint. I had a chance to properly test it during a Helene downpour a few days ago, it went absolutely fine.

Overall I'd strongly recommend ceramic (over PPF if possible). We'll see about the 9 years, it's too good to believe, but honestly I'll be happy if it retains this level of hydrophobc quality even for half of that.

[DaveC113]

Adams spray ceramic is very easy to use and I think the owner said it's his preference over the small glass bottles. You can still apply whatever you want over it which will help the coating last longer. Ceramic is somewhat more resistant to small scratches and swirls but the effect is overstated by marketing, and the hardness scale confused. The scale used is actually a comparison to pencil lead, not absolute hardness.


PPF is mandatory for me living in CO. One trip down I70 in the winter can sandblast your front end. If you track your car it's also worth it. OTOH, it's very expensive and not an easy DIY, so depending on where and how your car is used you may not find it worthwhile. While not easy, DIY can save you thousands and it's not rocket science, but it is a craft. There's tons of info on YT. For example a full hood is generally $750 or so, I can DIY it for $130 using Avery or Hexis X film from metrorestyling.com, but Xpel and 3M are hard to find deals on and often double the cost. Still much cheaper than a pro install.

[Gen6cyl]

I used many ceramic products for over 3 years no this car. It looks way better when a pro put Gtechniq serum ultra on it . I'm happy with the results.

[arpad_m]

Let me make one final post here about ceramic coating (as mentioned above, my car has the same Gtechniq Crystal Serum Ultra as Gen6cyl's).

I washed the car today, and this is what it looked like afterwards---best of all, I did not touch the paint at all for this wash, so it's guaranteed to have suffered zero swirls. The photos don't do the paint justice with no direct sunlight, it looks amazingly wet and deep.

As to what I did, I washed the wheels first, then soaked the paint in suds 2x using a foam cannon, then rinsed the foam off, and finally spent 2-3 minutes drying the paint with a leafblower, but just to accelerate the process a bit, it would've dried on its own with no spots (I use a water softener + DI system). 40-45 minutes in total, including applying tire dressing, and the car looks showroom ready.


This post wouldn't be complete without mentioning my absolute nemesis, cleaning the glass. It's frikken impossible to achieve a spotless job, although some of the "peppery stuff" that never seems to come off is probably micro-pitting. Replacing the windshield doesn't make me feel warm and fuzzy, though, it's expensive on one hand, plus I'm paranoid about bad installers...

[Gen6cyl]

I don't have a foam cannon. I hand wash with unfiltered well water, so I have to get the car dry. Have been using a 30 year old Stihl blower,takes a while to get dry. Got this a few weeks ago for $70, have not used yet.

[DaveC113]

Originally Posted by arpad_m

Let me make one final post here about ceramic coating (as mentioned above, my car has the same Gtechniq Crystal Serum Ultra as Gen6cyl's).

I washed the car today, and this is what it looked like afterwards---best of all, I did not touch the paint at all for this wash, so it's guaranteed to have suffered zero swirls. The photos don't do the paint justice with no direct sunlight, it looks amazingly wet and deep.

As to what I did, I washed the wheels first, then soaked the paint in suds 2x using a foam cannon, then rinsed the foam off, and finally spent 2-3 minutes drying the paint with a leafblower, but just to accelerate the process a bit, it would've dried on its own with no spots (I use a water softener + DI system). 40-45 minutes in total, including applying tire dressing, and the car looks showroom ready.


This post wouldn't be complete without mentioning my absolute nemesis, cleaning the glass. It's frikken impossible to achieve a spotless job, although some of the "peppery stuff" that never seems to come off is probably micro-pitting. Replacing the windshield doesn't make me feel warm and fuzzy, though, it's expensive on one hand, plus I'm paranoid about bad installers...

Looks great! Those pics looks like you have a lot less orange peel than normal. Did you aggressively polish or wet-sand?