outside black prius.. car washing & paint damage.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Christina @ Aug 29 2007, 11:17 PM) [snapback]504189[/snapback]</div>

Interesting priorities. How could you afford to buy the Prius in the first place?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Christina @ Aug 30 2007, 01:17 AM) [snapback]504189[/snapback]</div>

You learn to detail your own car.

You're lucky. You're very close to Meguiar's headquarters. They have a free Saturday class in how to wash your car every Saturday. Go to meguiar's.com and sign up for free. Then look for a Saturday class you can register for. Even the ones for the car clubs usually have an opening for someone else. Mike is very knowledgeable. You'll even get some free stuff. They also provide a free pizza lunch. And if you have a little money to invest in some quality products, they have a great discount if you order while at the session.

That's where I learned to do my car, also black. I invested in a dual action polisher and glad I did. I'll be detailing my car this weekend for start of school.

1. Wash the car. Use two buckets; one for shampoo and one to rinse. Do the wheels LAST. Do not use old towels or anything that has dirt or grit in it. Use something different for the wheels and never use what you do the wheels with on your paint.

2. Dry the car with The ABSORBER. It's amazing.

3. Claybar following directions. Use ScratchX if you need to.

4. Polish.

5. Wax.

6. DO THE WHEELS LAST. You can use a protectorant to make them look nice.

7. Don't forget the glass. Try Meguiar's NXT glass cleaner. It smells fabulous and does a better job than Windex.

8. Don't forget the interior. DO NOT USE ARMORALL.

9. Get good quality microfiber towels and wash them separately. You do not want to wash microfiber with anything else, so do them together by themselves.

Some things that will help. Get the mudguards. Even though it doesn't rain in So. Cal someone is always watering and there is runoff in the gutters you drive through and get mud on your car. You'll also need something to protect the hood from chipping. Regular bra, clear bra or hood deflector. In between you can use a detailer for touchups but don't use it on a dirty car. Since your car is outside all of the time a detailer isn't going to do you much good. You will need it to clay the car and after you use ScratchX.

 

I wash with warm water and car Repo or Turtle wax car wash.
wash a 1/4 or the car at a time before I rinse that quarter with clean water. On the last quarter rinse the whole car
Chamois the car off every time.
Wax when needed, I never polish.
Polishing a car strips off the top of the paint, do that often enough and you will wear through the paint. Wash and wax to avoid needing polish.
Don't park under trees or near the sea if you can avoid it.
Machine washing scratches paint.
my 2c