rbarth

My guy wants to use a clay bar before he waxes my new car. Sounds odd for a new ride. Any thoughts as to whether that is really needed? Any concerns with "new" paint?

Craig B

The dealer put three coats of wax on my car at delivery. Your dealer didn't wax your new car? I wouldn't think you would need a clay bar on a new car.

Craig

2007es350

Even new cars need to be clayed. There are lots of different contaminants that can embed themselves into the clear coat either prior to transit, during transit, and post transit at the dealership. Most dealers will apply a coat of wax on their new cars as part of their prep. However, the dealers usually don't put down a high quality sealant and more importantly, do not prep the car properly with a clay bar to remove all the contaminants prior to waxing.

So if your finish is not completely smooth, you should clay your car before applying a high quality sealant or wax. You can test your finish for smoothness by putting your fingers inside a plastic sandwich bag and gently go over a horizontal surface (hood or trunk) of your clean car. If you feel a little bit of grit, then you should clay your car.

By the way, properly claying your car does not remove any clearcoat and will not shorten the life of your paint/clearcoat. In fact, properly claying your car (and protecting the finish after claying) will extend the life of your paint/clearcoat.

Johnny

^ What he said... And it feels nice as well. Even with a factory paint, the clay bar will improve the surface finish. And it primes the surface for some real protection.

bob321

Clear bra guy was claying my hood (12 hours after delivery) and found a big patch that felt almost like sandpaper - clayed off just fine. I clayed the rest of the car later - most of it was clean but did end up with some orange/red thingys on the clay in a few other spots (rusted railroad dirt?).

Let him clay it - you need to start out clean.

Bob