Just purchased new car [not a mb] what should i use on this car to keep it protected? wax,polish,swirl pemover etc.

This is what I did when I first bought my car last year:

Wash car with Dawn to get rid of the crappy wax the detailer probably put on your new car.

Rinse car off

Take out Mother's Clay bar and go over wet car with clay bar to get rid of the contaminates on car. Use the mother's detailer (or other QD) for lubrication.

Rinse car off (or wash car again with Mequiars Gold)

Using a foam pad, apply Klasse's All-in-one, applying from front to back. Repeat car without buffing off.

Buff off with microfiber towel. Car should look great.

Apply Klasse sealant glaze, again applying from front to back. When finished, wait at least 30 minutes to buff off. If you need to, use a quick detailer to help buffing. I repeated this process two more times for a total of 3 layers of SG.

Car should be looking awesome, even with one layer of SG. Three layers has lasted me 6 months of exposure to So. Cal sun (it's also an outdoor car).

When I recently redid my car, instead of applying the SG layers one after another, I waited a week, washed the car, then added another layer. Again for a total of three layers. I have heard people put on a carnuba top layer for an even deeper look, but if you do that, you can't add SG on on top of that. Being in So. Cal, I have never used carnuba. I haven't tried the Zainio system....yet! Polymer sealants are the way to go.

jackb: Thanks for your reply,i forget to ask you about the leather in your new car [if you have leather].

check out www.carcareonline.com

stick with the mild stuff on a new car, stay away from cleaners and clay bars.

For a new car Meguiar's make a nice pure polish, think it is their number three (not sure). A quality wax, and a mild car wash soap.

For plastic rubber and vinyl use 303 Protectant. Leather. www.Leatherique.com

You probably could get away from the cleaners but you would be surprised at all of the fall out I pulled out with the clay bar on my new E320 wagon. The way cars get transported (rail/sea) as well as how they are stored at the dealer(out in the open), the cars do get a lot of fall out. I think it is important to start off with a clean slate, so to speak before you wax/seal. I highly recommend a polymer sealant at the very least. Waxes will not last as long.

BTW, I have not used anything for my leather yet...so far, so good.

Careful w/ Polymers-known to cloud many Benz paint jobs. I use carnauba-based poducts (Blitz Wax) and enjoy good results

__________________
"If God had meant for us to walk, why did he give us feet that fit car pedals?" Sir Sterling Moss

Michael
2014 E63S Estate
2006 SLK55
1995 E500
1986 Porsche 944 turbo

There was some discussion on this last year on another board:

http://autopia-carport.com/forum/showthread.php3?threadid=2558&highlight=clouding+on+mercedes

http://autopia-carport.com/forum/showthread.php3?threadid=3432&highlight=polymer+clouding

http://autopia-carport.com/forum/showthread.php3?threadid=4358&highlight=polymer+clouding

Personally, I've never seen it. I've used Klasse on my White 01 E320 wagon as well as my wife's Black opal E320. I've been wanting to try Blitz on top of Klasse on my wifes car. It would be a waste on my white car.

What does the Mother's claybar do? I have the silver metallic paint. Should I wax after the claybar? I use the Meguiar's Gold Class clear coat liquid car wax. Thanks.

Claying a car involves using a clay bar (Mother's, Clay Magic, etc.) with lubricant and rubbing your car's surface. What it does is "pull off" contaminants which are embedded on the surface of the car. One test that is used is to get a cellophane bag around your hand or fingers and feel the surface of your car (don't rub, just place your hand on the surface and feel). If you feel small bumps, you have stuff on your surface. After you clay the car, it should feel very "buttery". Also, in my own experience, claying also gets these strange small yellow spots (bird droppings) off my white car that a very mild cleaner could not take off.

When I bought my 01 car new, I felt a noticable difference after I clayed the car.

How do you use the clay bar? I don't want to scratch or marr the paint?

I was worried about that as well. From the directions on the box, as well as input from others, I did the following:

The directions say you can use a whole bar. What I did was break it up in 2-3 pieces and used one piece at a time.

After washing the car (do not dry) spray a little lube (Clay magic comes with its own lube or you can use some quick detailer) and with the clay flattened in the palm of your hand, rub the car back and forth, from front to back in small sections. If the clay starts pulling, add more lube. You should be able to feel the difference in the surface. When you are finished with the section, move on to the next. Before using the clay again, mold the clay so that the side that was used is now not exposed to possibly scratch the paint.

Depending on how much contaminates are on your car, the clay should last a good few times

On my white car, even though I thought the surface was clean, I noticed the color of the water/lube when claying...like dirty water. Pretty amazing. You should only do this a few times a year as it is a pretty abrasive cleaning. I've done it twice since last summer.

Everything I have read and heard regarding clay is that it is not abrasive.
Not even a little bit.
Zero.
It pulls the contaminants from the paint without removing paint, like a rubbing compound does.

__________________
Paul S.

2001 E430, Bourdeaux Red, Oyster interior.
79,200 miles.

1973 280SE 4.5, 170,000 miles. 568 Signal Red, Black MB Tex. "The Red Baron".

You are correct. It is not abrasive, per se, but it does remove your wax/sealant where you clay. I still get a little paranoid of the stuff that the clay picks up. You fold the clay over to embed it into the middle of the clay, but still...Just a little paranoid. That is why I break up the clay bar into pieces. After a couple of uses, I throw the clay away and use the next piece.

Now rubbing compound...I definitely would not call that non-abrasive. This is usually used to get rid of oxidation or get rid of swirl marks in paint. The only time I used a rubbing compound (3M swirl mark remover and finesse it II) is when my wife's car came back from a bad detail job and there were swirl marks all over the car. What a pain.

Another great use for clay bars is to really get your windshield clean. You know how sometimes your wipers sputter a bit? Clay the windows and it usually does the trick

What a great idea! Never thought of using clay on the windshield.

I have always used clay prior to polishing / waxing, so it never really bothered me that it removes this stuff.

It sure makes it easy to wax the car after you've clayed it.

__________________
Paul S.

2001 E430, Bourdeaux Red, Oyster interior.
79,200 miles.

1973 280SE 4.5, 170,000 miles. 568 Signal Red, Black MB Tex. "The Red Baron".

It sure does make waxing easier. That is one thing that people don't talk about.

All of this talk about how a good wax/sealant makes a car look...I also love the way a clayed/waxed car feels.....