New Gal On The Block

[Debelli]

Hope you don't mind me joining in. I'm a total novice:dunno at trying to keep my car clean - heck, I have a hard enough time keeping the house clean!:lol

Little background...I live in SOFLA (S. Florida shortened) where it's hot and humid, so I don't know if 1) having a dark car, 2) and living where it's hot 3) and living where it's humid 4)and living where there's a LOT of rain come summer 5) and appearing to own a car that seems to have a target mark only birds can see and 6) it seems like we must have invisible dust storms the way the car gets dirty in minutes - makes a difference on what products to use.

Bought a new Santa Fa 2 weeks ago. It's a dark blue - they call it MOONLIT, it looks more like MIDNIGHT. I'm wondering if I will regret buying a dark colored car since it seems to show EVERYTHING!:bigscream Since buying this car I've noticed red and blue cars on the roads that look like they've been washed with acid! :bigscream I sure don't want that to happen to my car - I keep my cars for a really long time. I see some really great looking black cars on the road and wish I could stop the owners and ask them what they use or where they go to have the car taken care of.

I've been trying to educate myself on what to use, but honestly, it's soooo confusing - there's too many choices out there and there's pros and cons about all of them. I'm really spending hours trying to figure it all out!

I've always had light colored cars - and I didn't take care of them (at least I'm honest) This one I have vowed will be different (not even the neighbors believe me on this one):rolleyes

I've looked at ZAINO but not having any experience in anything more than washing a car, it seems quite intense stuff to use. Read about PS12 - sounds good, but so do many other products. Very intimidating to know what to chose and not end up wasting so much money. Wonder if it would be worthwhile to have someone else do it.

I've already had to wash the car a few times due to BS. This morning before the sun came up, I knew the car was quite dusty so I hosed it down. Wrong thing to do without drying it I see - water spots all over! I think I've developed OCD with this car already - tried my best to get rid of them and THEN, washed it tonight - there's a few on the hood that I didn't get - shorty here - sometimes hard to reach, but becoming more aware that I need to pay attention to getting at this area.

So, I hope you "guys" don't mind if I hang around and maybe learn a thing or two. I'm no spring chicken, but the mind still can retain a few things for a couple hours

Okay, so I do have a valid question or two - where the heck does the water keep coming from under the side view mirrors so that it drips down right after you wipe it again, and again, and again, etc.??? It's driving me nuts to see that mini-stream of water!

Also, how long after buying a new car should you wax it? It's new to me, but it was sitting on the dealers lot for months, in the hot and humid weather. Gosh knows what they use to keep the cars looking good - whatever it is, I wish I knew because I can't imagine them washing all those cars on a daily basis, or even every few days. I look at mine and as soon as it's done, you seem to see it start getting dirty again :bigscream

I appreciate any input, experience, advice, etc. that you may want to throw out at me. I'm willing to learn

Anyone else in SOFLA???

THANKS

Debbie

[wytstang]

I'm a newby as well and in S. Fl. (Florida City/Homestead to be exact). I just started learning to care for my stang the 'proper' way as well. Let me be the first to say it can be $$ to do this the right way. But in the long run very well worth the time and money spent. The longer I can 'properly' maintain and protect the paint the longer I can prevent having to pay to have the car repainted. Spend now and save later, welcome from one newb to another.

[TraderB]

Welcome aboard! Doing nothing would be better than rinsing it off with water and letting it dry. Touchless drive through car washes seem to do good for some people. A quicky thing to do would be get a bottle of Meguiar`s ColorX and a terrycloth applicator and work it over. Follow instructions but have no fear. If you want to really get into detailing you have come to the right place. Start reading the tutorials that I think are somewhere on this website. In time, you will have a garage full of products!

[GregCavi]

HEllo and WElcome!

1st off nice ride. To answer your water drippage question. You can use a leafblower to blow out the water from all hiding spots in your car so they will not drip and drive you crazy anymore. And about the wax question. You should be able to wax the car right away. The paint is baked onto new cars so you will be good to go. Now in detailing there is more than waxing. I will layout some steps for you and then you can search each and find out more.

Wash
Clay
Wash
Polish (somtimes several)
Glaze (optional)
Sealent and or Wax

On the note about washing the car and not drying. That is a no no. You want to make sure to dry your car. To dry you might want to invest in a waffle weave Microfiber (MF). Also try to only touch your paint with MF. Dont use the retired bath towels and try to avoid the Car wash (swirl o matic) at all cost! Try to utilize the search engine to answer questions and always feel free to ask anythign. We have all been noobies at one time. There are sponsers to your left of your screen were you can find supplies and some even offer 10% discounts. And welcome!! I will let others chime in.

Greg

[Debelli]

Appreciate the welcomes

Wytstang - not too far away I see - to the south. Did you get one of the new Mustangs? They remind me of "when I was young.":lol Maybe you can tell me what you've used, to stay away from, so I won't waste AS much money as I probably will.

TraderB- thanks for that tip - appreciate it! I'm afraid of getting to many products - not using half of them. No garage, so not only do I not want to buy too much and waste money, but I don't have the space to store too much either.

Greg - thank you too Wouldn't you know it, I sold the leaf blower at the last garage sale :mad I've read about the clay - very intimidating to me, afraid to try too much. I have a great knack for screwing things up:rolleyes Have to read about polish, I thought you just wash and wax :dunno I do have some MF towels, no waffle ones though. Have seen them mentioned.

Discount, I love discounts - I'm a true shopper!

THANKS GUYS :bye for now

[Dwayne]

Welcome to DC.

I think that Detail City is located in SW Florida. Somewhere around Sarasota. :naughty

[rollman]

Greetings and :welcome to the DC! It's good to see people interested in taking care of thier vehicles .

I'd like to make a suggestion for you and that would be , locate a professional detailer in your area ( perhaps you could find one here) and let them do a full detail on your car and then you could up keep it with a few simple products . This way you don't have to buy all the products and tools, unless thats what you want to do . Either way you came to the right place to learn how to better care for your new car.

I'll try your 2 questions .
Try not to spray alot of water in those mirrors , most pro detailers use compressed air to blow them out , you could do the same with those little cans of compressed air used to clean computers . Its cheap and works in a pinch.

No time like the present to wax that new car. Good luck



Regards
Jerry

[norahcrv]

Hi, Debbie!!

:welcome to the City!! Your Santa Fe looks really pretty in that picture, but I can see how it would show every speck of dust, waterspot & fingerprint.

Jerry's suggestion of finding a DC pro to give you a good start on detailing your new vehicle is a great one!! It would allow you to watch & learn the "scary" parts, and just do the regular maintenance on your own, until you feel more comfortable with them. I know there are several "citizens" in Florida, perhaps one of them will contact you.

Enjoy & feel free to ask lots of questions - we were all :newbies once!!

Norah

[Debelli]

And DWAYNE, does that mean that if I come up and over to Sarasota that "someone" from DC will show me how THEY detail MY car


ROLLMAN, I actually have looked on line and in the phone book for detailers - rhere's places where they hand wash the car and will wax it, but how good of a job they do, I don't know. I have to find a great looking car and ask who did it. Then again, I haven't a clue about the cost - and, well, just buying this new car AND not having a job, well, $$$ a bit tight - so if it's way up there, it's going to be me doing this job.

My other half has a guy who works for him that does detailing, but again, I don't know how well of a job he does - plus, I don't really like asking people like that, should something go wrong - better keep business and business separate. Maybe I can find someone down here that has a good reputation, does a great job and doesn't require an arm and a leg.

Thanks Norah - maybe one of these great guys will help out - if nothing at all, just to tell me what they use down here and what kind of results they have gotten.

So, here's another question...if you aren't suppose to rinse off your car while not being able to dry it immediately - what's the difference in that and if you're driving and it rains - which is does so much in FL.

Oh, and just how do you all handle bird crap? :huh With the heat and humidity and the sheer luck of the crap hitting the front of the car and being baked on immediately, what do you do when you aren't going to be near home to wash it off? I've been bombed 4 times in the 2 weeks I've had this car - pisses me off!

Thanks

Debbie

[wytstang]

Originally Posted by Debelli

Wytstang - not too far away I see - to the south. Did you get one of the new Mustangs? They remind me of "when I was young.":lol Maybe you can tell me what you've used, to stay away from, so I won't waste AS much money as I probably will.

Nope mines a little ole 95 white gt last year of the 5.0 and the some what new bodystyle. What I'm using right now is just meg's #16 I'm waiting for my Klasse All-In-One. So I can do a clay bar, Klasse AIO, toped with Meg's #16. The Meg's #16 by itself is pretty good but I need a paint cleaner to really get the most out of it hence the AIO on it's way. Mind you I'm a newb just like so I'm still learning. More experienced(sp?) members can give you better combo advice but so far from what I've read this is a good little combo to use.

[joyriide1113]

hey wsytang

i live in kendall. homestead is right under me... where exactly in s.florida u live in new girl.

[termigator]

Welcome to Detail City Debelli! In case you're still wondering how the dealers keep the cars clean, I've seen the Honda dealership near me use a pressure washer to spray the cars down every morning and that's all they do. How they keep them from waterspotting is another mystery. Maybe they use filtered water. :dj

[joyriide1113]

by the way.. here in s.florida there are way tooooo many fake detailers who washa nd slap turtle wax and cal it a detail. everyone here is mobile so imagine. look int he yellow pages and u will get tons of mobile car washes. i can do it for u. i mean, detail it, and i guess teach u pretty much how to maintain it while u elarn a bit to do it yourself. AGAIN, i live in southflorida too, and would love to help out.

[milky]

hi Debbie!!! :welcome It's really nice to see another girl here
Welcome to the addiction! You're going to have a great time, and since you live in Florida you can always visit PAC :naughty You're gonna be like a kid in a candy shop!!
Seriously, there are so many things that can make your life easier. I also have your problems (dust and bs issues) but it's all under my control now And it's all because of the help of the resident dcers and sponsors.
About the bird bombs.. poorboys offers a bs remover (which is really effective) that you can carry anywhere. Having the bs remover and a mf is really handy for quick touchups

	Poorboys World Products Poorboy’s has made a name around the show circuit for fantastic products at great prices! Its ever-growing popularity is due to word-of-mouth testimonies from novice detailers through auto enthusiasts about the brilliant results no matter what your level of expertise. You’re going to love Poorboy’s!

[Rub it out]

Welcome aboard.