What wax/wax method do you use for your Fit? For all of my cars in the past I've used good quality liquid waxes rubbed on/buffed off with cotton terry cloth towels. But I've read some threads on how the Fit paint doesn't stand up well to brush type automatic car washes- leaving visible scratches in the paint.. If the paint is that crappy- I'd be kind of concerned rubbing anything on it.

Since my new fit is our second car, it's been relegated to street parking, and as such is coming due for it's first waxing pretty quickly. Not to mention will need waxes more often than the our garage queen.

 

i use caraunuba wax (any brand will do) and lots of microfiber towels. I use one towel to apply the wax on and the others to buffer (as one towel gets too soaked of wax, I switch to a new one).

The secret is to use as little wax as possible and to buffer as lightly as possible. Applying lots of pressure will only make the wax harder to get out when time to rewax 6 months later.

 

Clay Bar

Meguiars Ultimate Compound applied with the DA G110v2 with a yellow pad removed immediately after applying it

Meguiars Deep Crystal Polish with the DA G110v2 with a black pad and also removing it quickly

NXT 2.0 Tech Wax applied SUUUUUPPPEERRRR lightly with the DA... about 2-3oz for the entire car. leave it on the car for like an hour. it should come off very easily with a microfiber cloth.

andd you should have an amazing finish


[I went to the meguiars HQ here in irvine, ca today and took a class]

 

Klasse All-in-One
Klasse ALL-IN-ONE Auto Polish, Klasse All In One, klasse aio, Acrylic polish

I would hope you don't need to clay bar just yet.

 

Meguiars is the only thing I use and I show my Fit in local import classes. I won a trophy for Best Paint for my 2007 Fit and the above products get it to look really nice for the judges. How was the class? I saw on the forum for Meguiars that they were having one.

Cat :x

 

f-cking awesome, dream and I went to the class, also in attendance from fitfreak was taison with his amg.

 

I wash the car clean with Meguiars gold class
Pull it into garage or non-plant based shade
Wipe dry with microfiber cloth
Klasse AIO
Klasse high gloss sealant - 2 coats spaced 4 hours apart
Meguiars Ultimate detailer spray

The paint feels cold and wet. With my Fit, it was hard to look at in direct sunlight after a treatment like that.

 

Go to a good electrical supply house and get electrical insulator wax. Tough to put on... need good elbows, shines like mirrors and lasts 10 times the length. Well worth it.

 

Brush type car washes will leave scratches in any paint. That's why most brush washes are steadily being replaced by brushless. Brushless washes do a decent job. But there are times it needs a quick hand wash to remove that slight leftover film. I try and do brushless washes often enough that the film doesn't have a chance to accumulate.

I'd stay away from brush washes completely... regardless of the paint.

 

Clay bar should be your priority on a new car. Clay bar first then wax.

Auto detailing clay, detail clay bar, clay lubricant, Pinnacle Poly Clay, Wolfgang, auto detail clay, meguiar's detailing clay, auto clay bar

Car Wax & Paint Sealant Application Techniques, how to apply wax & paint sealant by hand or polisher, how to apply wax, how to wax a car

Carnauba Car Wax vs. Paint Sealants, carnauba wax reviews, paint sealant reviews

Most people will disagree, but any product that can be bought in a store is crap. I would never any of those products on my customers cars. Order online to get quality products for a better price. See my sig.

 

Really? Clay bar on a brand new car? I wouldn't think new paint, straight from the dealer, would need a clay bar. Not doubting you, just never thought...

Interesting.

 

Absolutely. Think about the journey your car went through from Japan to the US. Lots of contaminants bond to the paint during that. Also all the weeks that your car sat outside of the dealership. All that time the rain gathers on it and its left to dry leaving waterspots on your car. Then the sun baking those waterspots on the paint. All the pollen that may collect on it. Clay baring should be done once a year if garage kept, or every 6 months if your car sits outside. Lots of things that cant be removed by washing. Let alone those dipshit of technicians that work at the Honda dealerships that wouldnt know how to properly wash a car if you beat them with a grit guard.

BTW... swirls are ALWAYS due to improper washing techniques and NOT the quality of the paint.

 

the guy at meguiars mentioned a website called Auto Detailing Solutions -- Meguiar's Car Wax, Auto Polish & Detailing Supplies Store and also Auto Detailing Supplies, Meguiar's, 3M, Mothers, Chemical Guys, Car Wax, Car Polish, Car Buffers - Your Car Care Superstore

take a look through those and you can find some pretty good products for cheap

 

Hey DreaMv, thanks for the advice on waxing. I bought the mother's clay bar, meg's ultimate compound and meg's crystal polish from detailing.com (already had the NXT wax). All of it was about $30 shipped.

When applying each stage, can I just use microfiber pads or should I use the yellow "spongey" pads?

 

when i took that class, the guy at meguiars used the yellow foam pads to apply both the ultimate compound and the crystal polish.

the ultimate compound can be put on like 2 or 3 times but put some elbow grease into it if you really have deep swirls or deformation of the paint. remove it as soon as you finish putting it on

the polish is an optional step, but not as much pressure is put on it. put it on like you would wax, in a light manner just working it onto the paint.

 

WHOA WHOA WHOA

I highly highly recommend AGAINST using ultimate compound by hand. Rubbing ultimate compound, in circles, with tons of pressure would absolutely DEMOLISH your paint.

Also polish is not applied like wax.

Ultimate compound is very very very abrasive and should only be used for cars that have SEVERE swirls, oxidation, or scratches. Honda paint is very soft, I never use anything stronger than a finishing polish on a Honda, especially a new one.

I never recommend polishing by hand, you WILL cause finger marring. You cannot provide enough heat/friction that is needed to fully break down the compound or polish. Remember, all polish is, is liquid sandpaper. When you remove swirls, you are removing a microscopic layer of clear coat. And doing this by hand will cause the surface to be uneven, or not remove any swirls because your not as powerful as an orbital. Also most people end up causing more swirls like this.

I can guarantee, than not one Honda Fit on this website, is damaged severely enough to require a compound. The only couple times ive ever used a compound was on an old faded VW which have really strong clear coats compared to Honda. Especially a silver car that does not show swirls, I would only use a finish polishing or glaze.

Also when you apply a compound there will be tons of marring because it is waaay too rough. If you use a compound you absolutely must follow with 2 more finer polishes, such as a medium polish and a finishing polish. Otherwise your car will have no gloss.

Hand polishing may work for people that have tons of experience on it, but 95% of the times people do more damage.

This is what happens when you attempt to apply ultimate compound by hand.

http://www.meguiarsonline.com/forums...ad.php?t=30356

When DreaMV listed the products he mentioned that a DA was used, or a dual action orbital. This is the only way a compound should be applied, but never to a brand new car.



To give you an example of a car with "moderate" damage, look at this 2007 NHBP Fit I detailed.

https://www.fitfreak.net/forums/fit-...black-gd3.html

On this car I used a medium polish, and a finishing polish. Both polishes were applied with a porter cable. Unless your car is worse than the car in that thread, you do not need a compound.

Also swirls are completely preventable. I highly recommend reading these articles on the proper way to wash your car. Remember swirls are caused by improper wash techniques, not the quality of the paint.

http://autogeek.net/exterior.html

Clay should be used every 6 months in my opinion.

http://autogeek.net/detailing-clay-bar.html

Also read this on the proper way to wax your car.

http://autogeek.net/car-wax-detailing.html

If you guys are really serious about keeping your cars paint in great shape check out the forums on www.autopia.org

Some good sites to purchase detailing supplies:

www.detailedimage.com
www.autogeek.net
www.detailersdomain.com
www.autodetailingsolutions.com

 

that picture of the kid that used the compound by hand was his first time... i was told that some people call into megs asking the most stupid things. like this one guy wetsanded and used a rotary buffer on the trunk of a brand new 5 series because it had a tiny scratch.

when youre trying out new things, always test it on a small area. like so:


on my car i use SwirlX, megs polish and nxt 2.0 wax.

with megs: the aggressiveness in the consumer line is
1)ultimate compound
2)scratch X 2.0
3)swirl X

they arent necessary, but if you have serious swirls (like my car...ill post some pics when it stops raining in socal 5 days of forcasted rain) you wont really need it. just a clay/polish/wax and maintain the paint nice by always taking off the dust and contaminants.


Im just stating exactly what the teacher at megs did. we did a demo on the hood of a black SRT-4. he compared working by hand and working by DA. both looked 10x better then the original.

HONDA FITS HAVE SOFT PAINT! soo over doing it with a compound is very bad! work not as aggressive to try and fix any swirls/scratches.

according to the guy at megs, "The way you apply a pure polish is akin to applying a skin lotion to your skin. That is you apply the polish to a small section at a time, work the product in thoroughly."

 

Right, but 99% of the people here are beginners when it comes to detailing and applying polish or compound. Polish needs to be broken down just as much as compound. So it needs ample pressure, not as much as a compound. You do not work in polish, you break it down until it is gone. Polish needs to be broken down and diminished to properly work.

SwirlX is a better product to work with by hand, and would work great with a Honda. I do not recommend meguiars NXT 2.0 It has horrible durability and doesnt look all that great. Also NXT 2.0 is not a wax, it a polymer based synthetic sealant.
When you apply wax is when you would use that saying.

All Hondas have soft paint, not just Fits. This is why I stated that I would never use a compound on a Honda. Remember, most people here drive a Honda Fit, so be careful with your recommendations.

I am also not a big fan of meguiars, aside from a few products. There are MUCH better products, and cheaper at that. Meguiars just gets all the hype because they are the best brand you can get at walmart. If chemical guys, swissvax, menzerna, or optimum were to sell at walmart, meguiars would go out of business.

 

In the flow chart you posted, what's a good example of a prewax cleansing polish and a glaze?

 

BTW thanks for the heads up on the compound.