I am confused by claying a car. Not sure how it is done and when it is necessary. I have relatively new paint (3 months) and am ready to start waxing. I plan to use NXT, but am not sure of the prep to do it right. Clay, polish, NXT?

What clay?
What Polish?

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Alan Hamm
'87 300SDL 277K Miles
'89 560 SL 68K Miles

from the questions you ask I thnk you should hold off on the clay.
New paint should not have too much embedded particulate.
Cleaner then a polish and wax or simply polish and wax should, after a wash, produce glass smooth paint surface.

I know lots of new cars are clayed, but my opinion is to just stay with washing, polishing, waxing and drying.

Meguiars Hand Polish works well as does their #9 Swirl Remover. If you like boutique products and ordering online you can also buy Einzett 1Z Paint Polish which can be applied by hand and works well. 3M also has good final step polishes although I'm not as familiar with them.

Good luck.

__________________
Afshin

Current:
02 C32 AMG

Previous:
92 500E
84 190E 2.3 5 Spd

But I should polish before adding wax, even with new paint, right?

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Alan Hamm
'87 300SDL 277K Miles
'89 560 SL 68K Miles

Light polishes are an excellent way to maintain new paint and hide/remove light swirls and spiderwebs. Light polishes are barely abrasive so you you could do this for decades without wearing through paint. Just don't use a rubbing compound .

You could actually use clay and I would recommend it every year or 15k miles to remove and tree sap, tar and other contaminants in the air. Clay Magic works well and is cheap, available at most auto stores too.

__________________
Afshin

Current:
02 C32 AMG

Previous:
92 500E
84 190E 2.3 5 Spd