About to get a new Prius Prime Advanced, straight from the factory in Japan, just coming to a dealer. I forget if new cars come already waxed? Or should I immediately wax it on picking it up, to protect the paint?
Congrats !!! What color? (If it is sliver then I plan to park in your drive way so you will wax mine by mistake....ha, he, ha, my evil plan can't fail).
Factory paint doesn't need a curing period. Body shop paint does. The factory has ways to bake the paint on the naked car body. New cars are not waxed. You have three types of finishes you can apply: --actual wax which is the shiniest and shortest lived --polymer sealant which is almost as shiny and usually is good for several months --semi-permanent clear coat, also called nano or ceramic or something like that. More expensive and picky to apply. Not quite as shiny, very hydrophobic, very hard (you probably won't get car wash swirls), and can last a few years. In each type which brand is best? That's a topic for an endless discussion. Many are excellent.
Yeah, wax it before winter, not that California has that much of a winter. I'm using this stuff at present, easy to apply and buff off: I like waxing... | PriusChat
I just picked up my new 2018 Prime two Fridays ago (3 days on the lot). Spent 4 hours this past Friday doing the following: 1) Wash (two bucket method). Home Depot 5-gallon buckets are perfect for this. 2) Clay bar (yes, on a brand new car - you'd be surprised the amount of crap the car picks up on the trip over from Japan). 3) Another wash and then drying with my trusty Wooly Mammoth microfiber towel. 4) Klasse All-in-One Polish (not really necessary on a brand new car but it's just something I always do). 5) Klasse High Gloss Paint Sealant (first coat). 6) Klass High Gloss Paint Sealant (second coat after about 8 hours to allow the first coat to set). Second coat is pretty optional BTW. NOTE: Never apply regular wax before the sealant. Wax goes on TOP of the sealant, not under it. The Klasse All-in-One polish is designed to prep the surface for the Klasse sealant. NOTE2: Clay bars will strip your previous wax and sealant job. ONLY clay bar when you know you will be applying sealant/wax in the same job. Microfiber everything - Wash mitts, wax and sealant applicator, drying towel (Wooly Mammoth from Chemical guys rocks IMO), non-scratch edgeless microfiber cloths (Autogeek is where I got mine - cheaper cloths have an edging that can put microscratches on your paint). Needless to say, I only do this about every 4-5 months or so. Wait for 3 day weekends like Labor Day weekend (!) and Memorial day weekend and check out Autogeek and Chemical Guys. I usually wait for 25% minimum discounts on everything. Sometimes you can get a 30% discount. Both those sites sometimes have random sales on any given weekend also. YMMV. Buy everything you need at once to qualify for free shipping.
That is what I have read. I think every brand new vehicle I have ever owned, I have put some type of finish protection on it, ASAP following purchase. With winter approaching I certainly would.
Can it get too involved? Every 4~5 years, I pick up a new bottle of car wax. I wash the car say every couple of months. Once in the spring/fall, after the wash, I put on wax, wait a while, buff it off.
An option I didn't mention above is the easy way. Spray wax lasts a week or two but looks great. I like Turtle Wax ICE spray wax. Wash, dry (some brands say don't dry), spritz on the spray wax, wipe off. Good for a week or two. Easy & cheap. If there actually is a BEST product, nobody can agree what that is. I use the semi-permanent clear coat topped with the spray wax for the super slippery surface to shed winter slop. The choice is yours. Your desire. Your budget. Your time availability. Your energy level.
Thank you for all the responses. I really wasn't wondering about brands of waxes though. With back problems I have, I would not be waxing it myself. My main question is whether it is advisable to immediately wax a new car to protect the paint job. (The color of mine is Blizzard Pearl, by the way.) Secondly, if I bring it somewhere to get waxed, what kind of place would you recommend? How much could I expect to pay for that? Any recommendations on the west side of LA?
Maybe just wait till the first time it's washed, say a month. I don't think it matters: "new" cars are at least a month are two old, by the time they get to dealership lots (ours was 15 months). Maybe that was more important in the past, modern paints are better? I'm waxing a near-new vehicle right now, put the wax on last night, still have to buff it off.
It's a fictional literary construct of George R.R. Martin created to create suspense and drama within the world of Westeros. As in "Winter is Coming".
I think it's advisable.... but not imperative. Does that make any sense? Like I said, I've always put some type of protection on my vehicles ASAP. Did they absolutely need it? Probably not, but if you are EVER going to wax it? Might as well get a coating down, while the paint is new and in good pristine condition. In other words, why wait? I would rather put a sacrificial layer of wax, on a paint and clear coat finish that is in good condition to start with, than be using wax, polish or protectants later to try to reverse or cover up damage. But that's just me.
Any California car wash will wax it for you. About $39-$50 for a basic wax job. A lot of places use Meguire's Wax. Good enough. I've had 3 back surgeries and still do my own. (65 yrs old). You can do it! It's much more satisfying to do it yourself. If your back hurts that much, break it down into sections... just do the hood & roof one day. After the next wash, wax the doors. Easy! Good exercise! But it sounds like you are not doing your own car wash either? Go to any car wash and get the $49 combo wash & wax. Today's waxes are easy on, and easy off! It drys in 5 or 10 minutes... no need to let is sit overnight, like Mendel.
