ShowGSLuVv

I had just bought the Durashine stuff for your cars paint, and its suppose to cause the sheeting action whenever u wash ur car the water will all rinse right off, and i saw it in a TV commercial, they were testing it and im not sure if it's suppose to be good or not to put on my cars paint, and how about the Zmax stuff that they say it has Linkite and so on, if anyone could offer some tips or info on this subject it would be much appreciated, i dont want to do anything that would damage my baby, haha

kreativ

The as seen on TV waxes are usually crap.

If you want to treat your new GS well, go with One Grand Blitz Wax (less than $20 online). It's considered one of the best waxes that will last a long time. There are much more expensive brands like Zaino and Zymol (real Zymol, not the "turtle wax" zymol at your local auto parts store) that are also good, but they're not worth the price premium. But they're good at attracting the "I want the best for my car, so this must be the best because it's so *$&% expensive" crowd.

If you neglect waxing your car for a while, then it's good to go with an application of 3M Imperial Hand Glaze before applying the pure wax. This glaze is also good for removing swirl marks and fine scratches.

3M Imperial Hand Glaze/One Grand Blitz Wax is the detailer's choice.

If you want a polish/wax in one, try Meguiar's Gold Class wax. You can get a Meguiar's gold class car care pack at Costco for only $15, which includes 4 other full-size items (car wash, quick detailer, vinyl/rubber protectant which you shouldn't use, and endurance tire gel). Gold Class doesn't last as long, but does produce a nice shine. And at this price, as long as you don't applying it more often, you'll be okay.

By the way, don't apply any vinyl/rubber protectant (especially ArmorAll) to the inside of your new GS. They'll hurt more than help.

For your leather seats, use Lexol cleaner and conditioner. Lexol's the best.

ShowGSLuVv

Thanks for the help, I bought the Lexol leather conditioner but i didn't purchase the cleaner because my car doesn't even have 800 miles on it yet, and the inside is still completely brand new so i didn't want to put anything on the leather that wasn't needed, by the way, how often should i put the lexol conditioner on the leather because I was thinking about doing it once a month but am not sure if it'll cause more harm than good to put it that much

ShowGSLuVv

Ok i tried that Durashine Bull$!^^ and it didn't work at all, it was like 20 Degrees today and i washed the car, then put the Durashine and had to work it in a circular motion, and when i was done, the stuff only dulled my car, so then i had to wash it two more times just to get that crap off, worst thing i ever used for my car, so if ur thinking about using that stuff.... DON'TTT.

kreativ

The most I'd use Lexol conditioner is 4 times a year. It also depends on how often you use the car/abuse the leather. Back seats may not need it as much as front, etc. Use it too much and the seats get tacky.

When applying wax, go in a linear instead of a circular motion. This avoids swirl marks, and scratches are harder to see in a linear fashion than a circular one. A circular scratch you can see form any angle...a linear one only from certain angles.

I know it's a new car and all, but don't go too nuts on car care products.

ShowGSLuVv

yea i was talking to some Detail guy who knew all about waxes, and i wish i could of remembered the name of it but he showed me a wax, and said that it's the best stuff to use for japanese cars, and as far as too far with car care products, I spent about two hours wiping and cleaning every inch of the car today, LoL i even took a wet rag and wiped underneath the wheel wells, but what the heck, it's not all the time that my car is gonna be this new and perfect


p.s. I even got the little dash duster, thing comes in handy

mooretorque

In defense of Zaino: wash (Z7), prep (Z1) and clear coat wax (Z2) total $40. Sal takes personal checks and apparently sends your order before the check even clears, since I've RECEIVED my orders in less than one week! Easiest stuff to put on and take off I've ever used. And I only do it twice a year, on Zaino's recommendation. If I went by water beading (the smaller the bead, the better), I'd be doing it less than that!!! At current rate, it'll take me 3-4 years to go through 1 bottle of the surface prep and wax for my 2 vehicles.

I don't consider that amount to be expensive. This is not to disparage Blitz, Meguiar's, etc. Just don't lose sight of the fact that even if one wax costs 2 or even 3 times what another does, you still are talking about something that works out to cost of a couple of pennies per day! The big factor with Zaino for me is ease of application plus interval between re-dos. My time (physician, family w/two young boys, fitness) is too limited to use some of the more time-intensive products out there. But if you've got time to wipe out your wheel wells (!), there are likely some better performing products.

ShowGS, I'd also get the Lexol cleaner, because, though your car is new now, your butt will be pushing dirt into the leather with time (even if you vacuum frequently). And Vinylex (Lexol's vinyl treatment) is excellent for the vinyl parts of the interior. Meguiar's has a good vinyl treatment product also.

Lots of good stuff out there, but like kreativ said, the "as sold on TV" crap is always crap. Get something reputable (there are several posts on CL regarding wax, tho you'll have to go back through the threads the hard way, since search function here doesn't seem to work well) and you won't be disappointed, regardless of what you use. The differences are fairly small, as far as appearance.

subal

Here is an Auto Detailing Posting site for all you ever wanted to know about car care.
See http://64.33.32.111/detail/login.html

Erfan

what do you gentlemen think of NuFinish? I use that and it seems to work pretty good, what are your experiences?

ShowGSLuVv

Well personally, i never used Nufinish or know anyone who has, but someone on one of these threads before had said that Nufinish is nice when u first put it on, but it dulls really fast, and then it's a pain to take off, so..... idunno if that's really the case or not

Guitarman

I hope you guys don't mind me butting in here, but this is what I do for a living and thought I might add a couple things. BTW, This is my very first post at ClubLexus.
The NuFinish is a decent product for the money. It's an acrylic polymer sealant, not a wax. The one thing that keeps it from being a "great" product in the eyes of enthusiasts is the fact it is a "cleaner" type product in that it contains abrasives. This is good for the average Joe that has to keep his/her car outside overnight ( I imagine most here garage their Lexus' ) or neglects it somewhat and gets a lot of fallout on the car as well as slight oxidation etc. which the abrasives in it will clean and polish out to a degree. Any "one step" product , as opposed to claying, cleaning and polishing/ waxing with separate products can have certain drawbacks. The drawback here is that the abrasives in them can cause fine swirling scratches or "micro marring" which, on a dark car at least, stand out in the sun and create a "hazy" look.
Any product with abrasive cleaners will do this after repeated uses, and your paint clarity can suffer long term. NuFinish does have excellent durability over quite a few months ( a year is pushing it though ) time if applied correctly ( Letting it 'air" long enough for the polymer to "crosslink ' and bond )' I'm not here to offer "what's best" or any of that. Every product has it's pro's and cons. And we all have differing time constraints and budgets. Meguiar's Gold Class wax ( actually a polymer /wax blend , like almost ALL the products on the shelves today ) produces deep shine, but independant tests have shown it's durability to be downright poor, sometimes only lasting 2 weeks. But you know what? If you like the product, and are the type to wax your car every month, so what? You're covered. As long as you know when the protection starts going south , no problem.
Just a choice between certain tradeoffs. I could go on and on, but I will exit saying thanks for the opportunity and having me here on this site. My wife and I plan to buy a GS 400 soon. Can't wait. Cheers....DAN H.

Erfan

Guitarman,

You are welcome to post as much as you want, you have provided excellent info for me and i thank you. My car is kept outside all the time and i dont have a garage, I wash my car every week with Turtle wax zip wax car wash and my clear coat is very shiny and mirror like, my two cars are 95 and 96 ES300, I want to know if i use the Nufinish will it hurt my clear coat? What is your recommendation for a good overall wax instead of the Nufinish? Is the Turtle wax good stuff like the hard shell stuff?

Thanks for your input

Erfan

I read the bottle of my Nufinish and this is what it says
" Nufinish contains absolutely no wax. It wont scratch your clear coat finish".

So are they lying to us?

Erfan

Guitarman, Come forward immediatley and explain yourself

Guitarman

Hope I can succeed.

Correct, it's a polymer not a wax. And the part about it not scratching is well, subjective. Anything with abrasives WILL scratch clear.That's just physics. Semantics going on here though... kind of like...what is a scratch to you? Today's clearcoat paints mar very easily, and it will happen whether you use a nail, polyester cloth , or a rubbing compound. The difference is, with a piece of sand , nail or a polyester cloth, on a black car, you can visually see it. With a rubbing compound , or polish ( an abrasive cleaner in essence, just much harsher grit than what is in a cleaner-wax ) the scratches are more microscopic in nature.But they're there. If you looked under a 20x magnifier you would see tons of small scratches after you compounded the car. But they appear to our eyes as a dull haze. They can be removed by even finer compounds called polishes. Yes, the scratches or micro mars are just getting progressively smaller with this process. So the technical answer is. yes, NuFinish scratches. You just can't "see" the scratches. To the naked eye, they sometimes can be seen as "swirls" mainly on darker colored cars. They also can sometimes be seen as a slight haze, again, only noticable on dark cars. Heck, if you used a polyester wash towel to buff your car you'd see tiny scratches. It's real easy to do on urethane clears.

Now, if your car has been washed, clayed to remove surface contaminants ( called "bonded contaminants") and polished with a paint cleaner, you are at a point where, hopefully you have the best clarity and gloss from the finish, before you apply a wax or sealant. You don't want any more abrasives at this point. Any product you apply after this should be abrasive free, or you will run the risk ( depending on the level of the product's abrasiveness ) of swirls or hazing immediately or after continuous use. And you probably won't even notice it, it happens so gradually. The one step waxes with cleaners are for people that aren't willing or able to pay constant attention to their paint. It's not a condemnation if you only have time in your life to use a 1 step cleaner wax/ sealant. But you really can't expect the same result as the time consuming 3 step approach, which not all of us can do. Those that can, needn't keep "cleaning" their finish with abrasives on an ongoing basis, just initially IF they need to, and then maintain with an abrasive free protective product.

The point here is; Try checking out some of the detailing boards where people are taking all this to the nth degree, and you'll find the hardcore people all know which wax products have abrasives in them, and they avoid them like the plague. Should you? I dunno. Every car is different, and everyone's goals /needs are different. Not everyone needs to be show car perfect to be happy. I'm not trying to say you shouldn't use these products at all, because they may have been marketed and engineered just for your needs. If you don't have time to clay and use a paint cleaner and polish to keep your shine up every so often, these 1 steps are great. But there's no panacea in a bottle. The really show winning finishes come about through a multi-step process. We just don't all of us need a "show" finish and the resulting upkeep on a daily driver. Tenuous at best.

If Turtle Wax is working for you , super. You're there.
I'm sorry if I pushed any buttons or caused any confusion, not my intention. It IS a science and there's alot of technicality to it in some respects. I am a car care moderator at another site, and although I don't know everything about everything, I am on a constant learning curve as to new products and techniques. I have to be.
Bottom line; if your car looks great, don't change a thing. NuFinish or any other product will not ruin your paint. It's all a matter of degree of clarity . But why put an abrasive on your paint if you've just spend a day on a 3 step process of cleaning and swirl removing etc. and you've got it where you want it? Better to use a non abrasive wax or polymer , they're available from almost every manufacturer. Blackfire, Mother's , Meguiar's, Zaino. Griot's Zymol etc... and on and on. Just read the labels on the wax products. If they say "Cleans " or "polishes", they have abrasives or chemical cleaners. Whether you need them depends on your car's needs, and your time and ability. Hope this helps to some small degree.