My Protege5 is my first new car and I need to keep it's finish in good shape.

What's good to use as a wash/wax combo? I also heard its not good to wax the car right when its new...something about waiting for the clear coat to "adjust" or something? And what's best for keeping the wheels in tip top shape? And for the leather interior?

Thanks!

 

I like Eagle One, especially the $19.99 package they sell.

www.eagleone.com

 

I don't know about the clear coat having to adjust. Never heard of that before. As for waxing, Zaino is probably one of the best but it can be spendy and you can only get it online. For cheaper stuff Meguiars or Mother's is pretty good but honestly most waxes should work ok.

 

Wash every day, unless you want to stink. (More often if you work out.) Waxing should be done as soon as the hair is long enough, usually more than a week. However, if you choose to shave instead, you can probably go ahead and do that daily.

 

I'm on it!

 

This is what I do for my car to keep it nice. When waxing, I use Mothers 3 stage wax. #1 cleaner wax, #2 swirl remover (for dark colored cars) #3 finish wax. All with a orbital buffer.
For sap I use a little denatured alcohol. then spot wax.

 

i use turtle wax..it's good

 

Turtle wax has a wash that I use and a wax. Its cool beccause I dont have to dry my car any more I just wash it and it let dry in the sun.

The wash alone leaves like a shine with the wax its really nice.

For the tires I use detailers advantage foam I forgot what brand it was spayed some on last week and the tires are still shiny.

 

eagle one wash, doesn't streak, eagle one spray wax, used it for the last 4 washes, after washing, while still wet, spray a little bit on each panel and just dry with a towell, probably not as good a wax job as "real" wax, but it has me fooled! and it's so easy to dry the car, with a regular towell in just a few minutes, no streaks or nothing, and eagle one wheel cleaner, spray and rinse and then some foam stuff to make the tires shine

 

I've been really happy with Meguire's products. 3-stage (cleaner, polish, wax) with orbital. For the tires I spray on Meguire's new Hot Shine product. That stuff keeps a wet look on your tires for weeks with multiple rainy days.

I haven't found a tire shine foaming product that I liked yet. It doesn't last very long and it starts to look brown on your tires after a while.

 

Before shows, I use Meguiars 3 Step Cleaner, Polish and Wax. For wheels I use Mothers Clear Coat Wheel Polish and for tires I use Meguiars Endurance Tire Shine. I usually put about 2 to 3 coats of the tire shine to get them nice and black. It stays black for a good 2 weeks or so. Inbetween the 3 Step waxes, I use Mothers Carnuba Wax to touch things up as well as Mothers Showtime for shows and between waxes to keep everything clean. Oh and I use Mothers Wheel Mist Cleaner for my rims when they get hella dirty from brake dust. Also Mothers Mag and Aluminum Polish is great for the block and exhausts as it really makes aluminum and metals shine. Interior I use Armor All Wipes and for Glass I use Windex.

 

any quality car wash (without wax), then Nufinish polish & 303 for the rubber&vinyl

 

consumer reports rates the zymol cleaner wax as the best this year. its about 12$ a bottle at walmart. i use zipwax carwash for washing.

 

meguiars gold class has a deeper shine than mothers.
for a nice shine, i normally (but only about 2x year)
-wash w/meguiar's gold class wash
-polish w/envirotech dri wash 'n guard
-wax w/meguiar's gold class liquid wax

i would love to try zaino.
but for now meguiar's is just fine.