I will be picking up my Prius on Tuesday, as the CT registry closed early today. I know from the Info here to not rush in to the dealer's extended warranty. But should I consider paying a big $595 to Simoniz the car before picking up? I am told that the paints today are not as sturdy as my old car and things like my vast amount of tree pollen will cause the paint to etch soon. Advice needed.
Don't do it. Went thru the same sales pitch about bird droppings et al. The factory finish is fine - but should be maintained regularly with a quality wax/polish. Another big profit center for the dealers - they have sold you a car and now they want to scare you into thinking they have sold you a car that will not withstand the elements. If anything, today's paints and finishes are much better than the olden days.
$595 will buy some high quality carnauba wax, a dual-action polisher and plenty of extra accessories to apply and remove the wax -- with some change leftover. As a matter-of-fact there are probably plenty of reputable places that will do a bang-up detail (inc. wax) for less than $200. I do my own -- every six months. My 18-year old T-bird looks as good today (except a few garage dings) as it did the day I backed it out of the Ford dealer's showroom. Save your money for something nice!
I applied two coats of NU FINISH and the car shines like no other. It should be good for a year before the next application. Great stuff! Save your money for accessories
the prius finish IS NOT FINE. the prius paint job is the least durable paint job i have ever had. i am not telling you to get the simoniz, what i am telling you to do specifically is to spend about $700 and go to your average window tint place, and get that 3m invisible film installed. this will prevent a lot of paint chipping on the hood. when the car is brand new and you want to wax it, i would reccomend using something not really abrasive, like some cheap spray on quick wax, and after a 6 months maybe of using that and allowing the paint to cure, then you can use black magic or nu finish or whatever you favorite brand is. wax can be abrasive too, and black magic is good and not very abrasive
Buy yourself a Porter Cable Random Orbital Polisher, 100 bucks, some Zaino, Meguires, or other top quality polish and car care products and do it yourself! I did and my baby shines like a nice RED Barcelona Cherry!!! The secret is the Porter Cable Polisher!!! Easy, dependable, and takes 90% of the work ut of keeping your ride looking good! 73 de Pat KK6PD
yeah whatever you want, thats fine, but geez give the paint a couple months to cure first before you attack it.
I gave it 6 months, and VERY little red came off on any of my pads!! Or maybe I just got a god paint job!! It did bake in SoCal Sun!!!! 73 de Pat KK6PD
Paint on modern cars is long cured by the time you take delivery. Its hard cured at the factory. No need to wait on anything. Please don't use NuFinish though. You can do a LOT better. For all things detailing Autopia - Autopia Home
yeah its really durable then how come its so easy to scratch/chip prius paint jobs. we can argue back and forth about which wax is good, but the bottom line is if you have a toyota prius, $700 for a 3m invisible bra installation is really worth it it only costs $200 more then what the dealer wanted to add on for thier simoniz job, and its probably going to last 5 years
I hope you are joking? If you got ANY paint color on your pad, you've burned through the clearcoat and into the paint. I trust you were kidding. ... Brad
It doesn't sound very safe to use a rotary. It sure is difficult to polish a car and not make a mistake.
orbital polishers are pretty safe as long as you dont let the pad become damaged, infected with debris, dirty, etc. i have found that orbial polishers do a much better job laying the wax then down by hand, and a lot cheaper too. people tend to waste wax and use a lot more by hand vs an orbital polisher orbital polishers for taking wax off seems to take longer,ill try using different or multiple pads next time within a couple months of buying my prius i had two to bare metal paint chips. my friend steve's house you have to open the gate and drive on a gravel road to get to his house, i said forget it, and i dropped him at the gate and drove off back in 1995 the paint chips wouldn't of been a big deal, my toyota dealer would just sublet me to a body shop and they wouldn't charge me, but that warranty is no longer in effect you can eliminate all the swirl marks, paint chips, scratches, by going for that invisible film installation. its better to scratch the film, then the clear coat or paint layers.
Yes, notice I used CAPS!!! I tend to be sometimes subtly humorous at times!! Besides it was a pink pad to begin with ......course I did not mention that!! But none the less VERY GOOD POINT!!! Pat KK6PD
Do not confuse Rotary polishers with Random Orbital polishers .... Apples and Oranges!!!! the PC is a random orbital, VERY VERY MINIMAL BURN potential. In fact if you press too hard, the pad will stop turning!! For more info on this unit go to this URL, and buy this DVD...VERY Informative!! Show Car Detailing PCDVD How-To DVD at Tools Plus It sold me, and my results look spectacular!!! 73 de Pat KK6PD
It's probably different paint now but my 13 year old Toyota Pickup has spent it's entire life outside and has been washed 3 times and waxed once...the paint is still very nice and shiney and nobody can believe it's that old.
Don't waist your money on a dealer paint protectant. Wax the car yourself and spend some of that money on a clear-bra film applied to at least the hood. The Prius hood is quite blunt and vulnerable at it's leading edge.
