To Wax or not to Wax... and rubber mats!

if you want longevity and ease of application, look into something like Zaino Z-CS. it lasts about 6 months. I cant speak more highly of Zaino, and the same goes for many many people in detailing forums.

 

I studied all the mats. My car came with the carpeted ones but they will get too dirty alone. The WeatherTech are very heavy and I don't know if I would like those high ends. I have read on these sites that you shouldn't think they fit your car exactly. I did order their cargo mat which hasn't arrived yet. You can find on e-bay for $55. Yesterday I went to a Toyota dealer and bought the front and back Prius mats that fit my car perfectly. I really like them and was surprised at how well they fit and look. They cost $110 and I think they are worth it.

 

Worth a read if you are considering Zaino's, i can save you some time, don't waste your money.

Zaino v Meguiar's

 

I dont mean to burst your bubble, but while I agree with the content of that article (I would never use Zaino to hide swirls, that's why I own a porter cable DA polisher) the conclusion you draw from it is entirely false.

if you expect Zaino to make a swirled car look like a mirror finish, you will be very frustrated with the results. Zaino is not meant for that, even if they do market Z5. you must fix your finish first, THEN seal with Zaino.

if you expect Zaino to seal your finish 6 times longer than carnauba wax for 1/10 the manual labor, then you will be very happy. the guy's car is brand new. I'm gonna guess he is happy with the condition of his paint now, unless he is the most hardcore detailing fanatic (in which case he wouldnt be asking how to wax).

spend the $30 and buy the Z-CS. for the $20 over a high quality carnauba, your arms will thank you.

 

??? To Wax or not to Wax ???

My 04 has never been waxed and still looks like new except for a few dings and scratches.

My neighbor swears that I must have it detailed regularly.

Just regular washing and a little tire dressing does it for me though I seem to be in the miniority here.

 

Just offering a folks some other opinions, this site seems to be heavy on zaino to the point where I question the independence of most of them. Any wax is better than no wax.

 

indeed. I am heavily biased to Zaino because I am LAAAAAAAAAAAAZY and it keeps my car looking like I spend time keeping it clean

carnauba is wonderful and every bit as good as Zaino for sealing--it just doesnt last as long. they say carbauba lasts about 4-6 weeks, probably less on dark finishes that get hot as hell in sunlight. polymers (not just zaino) last far far longer. hell, if youre lazy AND cheap, nu-finish is a decent alternative at a fraction of the cost of zaino.

I use nu-finish on wheels and such twice a year, and zaino on my paint. I zaino my glass with great results too.

sometimes the Kool-aid really *is* that good.

 

I love my weathertechs!

 

My last new Toyota was a 1985 Camry brown metallic. It always sat outside in Calif. I never waxed it in twelve years. When I sold it the paint looked like new, very high quality paint. I only used water, a very soft brush, and towel dry. My neighbor had an Accord who was always waxing. In twelve years his paint was peeling and shot. Maybe it is the initial quality.

I don't know if the Prius paint is as good as it was in 85, but I sure like the way it looks now. I don't know for sure if it is better to wax or not. I am staying out of car washes with brushes for sure. So far in one year I have only used water, and it looks the same as when I drove it off the lot.

If the car is in the sun a lot it may help to have a UV coating on there, now mine is in a shaded place.

 

I concur. After one initial waxing and four years of hand washing in Dallas my silver looks new, other than the road dings on the hood and front bumper. It spends every work day parked in the open.

 

in regards to "5 year coating warranty" ---it's a scam. It's a sealent, if that.

And will only last a few months at the most, my dealer had this on the sticker when i went to buy and would not budge on taking that value off, so i sucked it up knowing what a scam it was. Anyway dont worry about polish on a new paint, just get a good poly sealent, like zaino or mothers system. Then top it with a carnuaba to make it pop out..do this for a while, try to hand wash or at least find a touchless car wash place to reduce swirls. check out the detail thread here, and use google for more info. And yes a porter cable is the way to go if you want to remove mild/medium swirl's, and impefections, later down the road. Just keep it clean and waxed. In 6 months think about maybe doing a good light cut polish/or claybar.

and those are sweet mat's wish I had got those, I bought some weather tech's but they dont look as nice.

 

I have an 11 year-old Honda Prelude SH (an amazing car, by the way, but that's another story) that I bought new and waxed exactly once, probably when it was a year or so old. My son who lives in Minneapolis 'stole' it and kept it for five years until I was able to steal it back a little more than a year ago. It is silver in color (Nordic Mist Metalic) and spent the five years in the Twin outdoors, although I keep it mostly garaged. Now, it has been hit several times, seems to have a bullseye painted on it and I confess to some paranoia, have thought about having the entire car painted flourescent orange or hi-viz lime-yellow as I swear that it is invisible to other motorists, so a lot of the body panels have been replaced and have relatively new paint. In fact, the only original paint on the car is the roof and the trunk-lid. But those seem to be holding up well.

I got some Zaino Clear Seal and am going to treat all three of my vehicles, including the Prelude, to that in the next few weeks and see how it goes. I'm not convinced that waxing preserves paint and this thread confirms my suspicions that it really doesn't, that other factors are far more important, but it does look nice.

 

another really nice AIO is Klasse acrylic sealent. They claim it will last 6 months, probably depends on climate. In my area the 110F+sun weather can melt away most products pretty quickly. Need to try zaino one of these day's a buddy of my ine swear's by it.

but I can vouche for Klasse it does protect for quite a while, and looks damn good on my black prius. I ran out though, so not using it lately. NXT topped with no#26 lately..works fine and is easily found at stores.