Hi all, I admit I know nothing about detailing but I’m here to learn. In the past, my Idea of detailing was dish soap, Windex, and Armor All; this should give you a general idea of how much help I need. I have an NX on order so the first thing I need is advice starting with day one. I need to know things like should I wax immediately? What can I use on the windows to protect them? What about the trim and interior? And so on…
Basically I need an idiots guide for initial detailing of a new vehicle.
Thanks in advance!

 

Hi

Your main goal with a brand new vehicle is going to be protection, and then proper maintenance moving forward.

Improper washing and drying will cause your paint to look dull and damaged in a short period of time.

For now, I would recommend reading through this Detailing Guide.


Please feel free to let me know if you have any specific questions about any processes or products.

-Zach

 

Just what I was looking for, Thanks!

 

Thanks for all this great info !

 

www.detailedimage.com, www.autogeek.net 2 sites with great info and products

 

Happy to help!

Again, Please feel free to let me know if you've got any questions about specific processes or products.

I'm always happy to help

-Zach

 

Zach, you should have a DI affiliate link. My purchases from them as a result of reviews and forum posts you wrote must be approaching a thousand dollars. I'm sure there are others who can say the same. My wife has affiliate links on her papercrafting blog and we get a nice check from that every quarter.

 

The links are all affiliate links DI also compensates me for my contributions to their Ask-A-Pro Blog, so it is all good. I'm more than happy to take the time to share the information here as well as it is something I am passionate about and I enjoy teaching others.

 

Zach deserves it as he contributes so much not only to the detailing world but this club lexus. I have been supporting DI and gave Zach business almost exclusively haha.

Zach is definitely in good shape financially being an engineer, a pro detailer, and helping DI. Can't wait to see you own a most shinny super car!

 

Thanks buddy!

 

Zach,
So I have read through DI’s detailing basics and it was very helpful. Now I’m interested in a one stop shop for all my products and accessories. I see the Wolfgang brand comes highly recommended and would like your opinion. Also my vehicle will be coming to me factory direct so my plan is to wash, clay, and wax immediately. Polishing with a buffer intimidates me right now and I don’t think that will be necessary for some time with a new car, is that correct?

 

Do the minimum steps necessary with the least aggressive action. If there are no swirls and scratches in the paint, there is no reason to polish it.

 

You will need to assess your vehicle's condition upon arrival. If you haven't done so already, I would contact your dealership and instruct them that you will not accept the vehicle if they have washed, detailed, or done any sort of "prep" on it. You'd be amazed at the amount of damage one bad car wash or "buff job" can do to a vehicle.

We work on many brand new vehicles, and I have seen a handful of brand new cars that are completely trashed.


As an example... here is a brand new scion FR-S....



After extensive correction, we were able to get it looking like a new vehicle should...





Another example... this brand new Porsche Cayman.



After extensive correction, again we finally had it looking like a new car should...




Each of these small vehicles required over 20 hours of work to whip them into shape.




Now with that being said, the majority of new cars we see are not this bad, but it can happen. Either way, if you're not up for machine polishing at this point, there is no need to mess with it as long as you may be willing to live with some of the defects that may be present. In that case, your plan of attack is spot on...... wash, decontaminate, and protect.

-Zach

 

+1 He is the man!

 

I'd still clay bar a brand new vehicle....especially if it's been rail transported. Rail dust is nasty and can be hard to remove.