Here I am putting a coat of Macguires on my wife's RX330. And it got me to thinking. Does anyone except us admitted car guys wax their cars anymore? My wife thinks I'm nuts putting three coats of Z5 on the vert. And as I'm driving thru the subdivision down the road from us, I don't seem to remember ever seeing someone out waxing their car. Has the advent of the new clearcoats put the death knoll to the saturday ritual of waxing the car? Has everyone gotten lazy? Or am I just one of the few that likes that "just off the showroom floor" look?

 

I think lazy.

I personally work with folks that drive cheaper cars now that get better MPG to save money, but the down side is they aren't passionate about the cars they drive anymore.

Andy

 

I try to keep my DD Ranger looking good, she just gets Zaino AIO. I do the Wife's Sable wagon once a year with what ever I have in the back of the cabinet. The Z06 get the royal treatment around here!

 

I believe you have to have a passion first for cars.People with their vehicles may understand that waxing is important but,it's not a priority.I detail other people's cars at times and they wash it and vaccuum it but,waxing no way.

It is a time consumer to do it right no question,people just don't want
to spend the time.Honestly,I can see their view-point at times if I had a giant SUV or mini-van,I'd think twice about undertaking that endeavor.

 

I was out for a walk on my lunch hour from work the other day and saw a lady in her late 50s/early 60s putting a coat of wax on her mid 80s Grand Prix. The car still looks in showroom condition! I couldn't see what kind of wax she was using but it came out of a metal can. When she's not driving that car it usually has a car cover on it, so she seems pretty serious about keeping this car in great shape!

 

I wax my cars at least twice a year, sometimes more. Can't beat the look of a freshly waxed car.

 

I wax all of my cars at least twice a year and claybar them all once a year.

 

Those that have a passion for cars wax them.
The rest of the world has forgotten about it.

 

I switched to Zaino after my wife gave me an extensive kit for Christmas last year. I used all the waxes. Most were real good products, BUT, Zaino whips anything I have ever used.


After stripping with a degreaser, clay bar treatment, I have put now 17 coats total of Z2 & Z5 on my car! The gloss enhancers are incredible as well!


For the Vette, I won't go back to just wax!


Car show yesterday!









Three coats ago!















At night in the garage,,,no flash!










Worth the bucks for sure!

 

Hi jbridgett -

There are a few in my 'hood that regularly wash and I presume wax their cars.

I washed and detailed my Z06 today, then washed and waxed my 06 Colorado.

While I was out working, a bud showed up with a nice selection of craft brews and he washed his Trailblazer SS.

I love to detail my vehicles - it is a good workout, and it accomplishes something tangible.

Now it can rain again lol....

best regards -

mqqn

 

The wife and my DD get a coat of cleaner/wax twice a year. Same for the truck. The vert gets as much as time allows and stays under cover. Took me three nights of compound,polish and 3 coats of Z5.
I remember when I was a kid going out to watch my neighbor wax his 66 red Bonneville vert. White interior and top. Put the Simonize on it like it was his most prized possession. I think people just don't value posessions like that anymore.

 

I wax the vert a lot, but our two DDs-04 6.0 Excursion and 05 Toyota V8 Four Runner just go to the car wash with the wax deal there. They shine almost as much as the vert, and the wax makes the water bead until the next wash.

 

How do you wax your wife?

 

very Carefully

 

I do mine atleast twice a year to keep them looking good

 

You know, it's been a low-volume thing as long as I can remember, and that's back to the late 1950s. My Dad would start out meaning well, wax whatever the new car was once or twice, then switch to washing it (with dishwashing detergent) about once a month, and maybe twice a year taking it down to the tunnel wash on PCH for a primitive spray-on wax. And Dad liked cars. '57 Chevy with the Power Pack 283, then a '65 Ford Country Sedan (wagon) with the HiPo 390, were the cars I grew up with. Oh, and his '50 Ford Custom with the flat-head 8 and the three speed with the overdrive. He loved that thing - said it was the first car he had that would do 100 MPH. There was a '40 Chevy convertible that he had when he and Mom got married. He did like his cars - it was just too much work to wax 'em. Don't remember any of the neighbors in Redondo Beach or San Pedro waxing their cars.

When I got the Shelby, I waxed it with Rain Dance, which was a pretty good liquid wax for the seventies. It beaded water for 3-4 months, then got another treatment. I never really let off on that car. Still drag it out and put Maguire's carnauba wax (number 26?) on it quarterly, even though it lives under a cover in a garage and maybe covers 200 miles per year.

The '84 Trans Am used to get waxed about every other month with a product called "Black Crystal" or some such. This was about 1985. It really kept the black car looking good, and worked well with that fairly early clear coat.

The Corvettes have been waxed at least twice a year, and usually more, with the carnauba product, after clay bar and Maguire's Show Car Glaze. My old GMC S15 Jimmy even gets waxed 3-4 times a year, using the Maguire's High Tech Polymer product. The hood is beginning to show some crazing, but the old truck looks great! Even do the leather interior about once a month. I'm out of garage space, so it lives outside, with a cover.

My wife's Grand Prix is the one that needs attention. Our son waxes it for her a couple of times a year, but the 2004 body style is a good-looking sedan, and she gets over 20 MPG around town in a relatively large car, so it deserves good care. But she trades off using my company car when I'm out of town, so her car will sometimes sit in the garage for weeks. The company car gets the drive-through car wash spray-on wax, and that's it. But I should probably put a good coat of the polymer sealant on it occasionally - we plan to buy it for our daughter.

But my other car-guy friends, outside the Corvette hobby, usually just drive 'em and let it go. Oh, and a local GMC dealer told one of my friends who's most into cars that he shouldn't wax his daughter's new pickup truck - it had clear coat paint, and didn't need to be waxed. Yeah, and politicians always tell the truth...

It's satisfying to get the cars really clean. I'm planning on taking the vert to a few shows this summer, and we're dressing her up for the dance. But I'm a few weeks from being able to really get the detail on it - some incestuous fellow (euphamism in the interest of family friendliness) felt a need to jam a shopping cart into the side of my car in about three places a few weeks ago, and cracked the left rear fender at the front of the wheel well. They use plastic carts at the market, so I guess our friend was unsatisfied with leaving just a little cart material and scuffing on the side of the car to polish out. Since the cart had to be taken between a curb and the car to do the damage, I doubt it was accidental. Anyway, my body shop guy told me not to wax or detail that quarter for a few weeks.

Short version - it takes dedication, but there are still wax-a-holics out there. Rock on!

 

The daily drivers get waxed once a year. The scoot-twice a year.

 

I got into a serious argument with a guy about waxing his car one day. He claimed that since his car had clear coat, it was not necessary.

Maybe claimed isn't the word, he over-empahasized it. Swore that he was right...

What are we gonna do with some of these folks...

 

The modern day clear coats don't need the waxing of the early days. Technology is much better. Did you know that the new Infinitis come with a clear coat that repairs its own light scratches and swirl marks? Pretty cool.

I wax my Vette twice a year and clay bar once a year like some others here. I never wax my DD as I only keep them about 8 months.

 

I wax my cars every couple of months.