For those of you who don't know, I had my 300D repainted with PPG paint. For the first 3-6 months, I won't be waxing/polishing/claying since it needs time to cure. I may only need to wait 3 months to do that since the brutal heat and humidity will prob be here through November, baking the finish a little bit more. But obviously I'll need to keep the paint clean and free of dirt/debris for the first 3 months.

What is a good car wash soap to use on new finishes? Or should I forego the entire use of car wash soap and use just plain water? What about California Car Dusters, are they safe to use on new finishes? And would it be safe to use Meguiars Quick Detail and a microfiber towel to remove potential road tar and bird droppings from the new finish, or should I sub the Quick Detail for a spray bottle of water?

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'81 MB 300SD, '82 MB 300D Turbo (sold/RIP), '04 Lincoln Town Car Ultimate

Sooner or later every car falls apart, ours does it later!
-German Narrator in a MB Promotion Film about the then brand new W123.

I wouldn't wax for 3-6 months. Did they wet sand/buff the car after painting? I'm assuming they did, to give it a very shiny/wet look.

The Heat will be good, to get the paint 'dry'. Since It dind't get to cure in a paint booth at high temps.

I use Meguiars Car wash (in the purple bottle). Dont use dish soap.

Plain water will not work like soap, since it has surfactants and acts as a 'lube' to glide across your paint.

www.jasonsautospa.com has good resources on how to wash/detail.

Quick mist is a little car wash soap and a lot of purified water.

I like zaino brothers polish and waxes.

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91 350SD
14 F150 Eco
19 Fusion Hybrid
11 GT500

Meguiar's Gold Class Car Wash and warm water will not harm your new paint. Realize that all new cars have "new paint" and folks take them to a car wash immediately ... which is far more aggressive than any hand-washing technique.

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Fred Hoelzle

Also keep in mind that new cars with 'new' paint go through a different process than a repaint, and with imports, have to sit on a boat then a train, so the car may be 3-6 months old by the time its into your hands.

Heres what I use....


Heres a review on the 3 auto shampoos they have....

http://www.superhonda.com/forum/f26/meguiars-car-wash-comparison-nxt-vs-gold-class-vs-deep-crystal-205067/

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91 350SD
14 F150 Eco
19 Fusion Hybrid
11 GT500

In other words, you're saying it's ok to use on my finish at this point?

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'81 MB 300SD, '82 MB 300D Turbo (sold/RIP), '04 Lincoln Town Car Ultimate

Sooner or later every car falls apart, ours does it later!
-German Narrator in a MB Promotion Film about the then brand new W123.

I wouldn't have any problems with it.

I like rain X spray wax after car washes to keep the paint slick...I wax my lawnmower with it too

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91 350SD
14 F150 Eco
19 Fusion Hybrid
11 GT500

You should always use the "two bucket" system of car washing but especially on a new paint surface.

One bucket has the soap mix and the second is a clean water rinse.

Flood the car's surface with water to lift away the large pieces such as sand. Don't use a nozzle or pressure end. Flow and volume is the key not pressure. Dip your sponge, car wash mitt, what ever you use, into the soapy bucket. Apply the soap to a section of the car, rinse the washer in the CLEAN water, back into the soap and rewash the area. Rinse the area and move on to the next section.

Pat-dry the car with terry-cloth towels. Do not use a shammy-chamois cloth or a micro-fiber towel on the new paint. It's okay to use either of those after the paint is 3-4 months cured.

A backpack blower is the simplest and least damaging way to dry a car. Light toweling may be required to remove all water droplets. I have been using a backpack blower to dry our cars for 10 years. For washing try a Griot's Garage boar's hair brush ... a quick shake in the soapy wash bucket removes any grit so that you're washing with a 'clean' brush.

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Fred Hoelzle

When the front end of my E500 was repainted, the body shop told me not to worry about doing anything special vis-a-vis cleaning and waxing. They said that repaints now are baked on so thoroughly that there is no further cure period.

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I never go far without a little Big Star

1994 E500 199/Gray 82k
84 300D (Salty) Orient Red/Palomino 141k
88 300CE (Ersatzhammer) 904/Java 163k -- Turbo Technics twin turbo kit, AMG Gen I body kit, Sportline steering box and steering wheel, Sportline/Eibach /Bilstein Sport/500E suspension, Quaife LSD in 210 mm diff case, Silver Arrow brakes.
88 300CE Brabus 3.6 199 on Black 44k

You have a false misconception regarding the painted surface. You can polish the paint ever single day if you want. They recommend not waxing it for 30 days...

check out the meguiars online forum www.meguiarsonline.com

Htown's car was not painted in a paint booth, nor was it baked after it was painted.

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91 350SD
14 F150 Eco
19 Fusion Hybrid
11 GT500