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Did mi e as soon as i got it home. Was sell worth my time and energy.
I did the same. I use Zaino products. Happy with the results. Pic is the day after I got it home and clay barred and detailed. It was a 1200 mile trip home from the dealer so I could have picked up all sorts of junk.
Yikes, that changes things then! My car is going to sit outside for about 4 weeks thanks to the QC hold after plant reopening! I am sure the paint will build up a lot of contamination during that time. The paint is definitely going to need some help when I get it!
It is really up to you. With brand new paint that hasn't been out in the elements, you don't need it. My 18 was built, shipped right away, dealer stored it in underground storage until I was ready for it. Paint is smooth as silk.
I know this is a topic that seems like it would be best suited for the car care discussion forum but it's specific to the C7 so I'm hoping the mods will allow it here
I'm curious if those of you that bought your C7 new as a factory order found it necessary to use a clay bar on the paint when you got it? Because my C7 will arrive at the dealer all nice and wrapped up, and because it won't sit outside on the lot at all (my dealer keeps all their Vettes indoors), shouldn't that mean the paint should be pretty much free of contamination when I get it? I have never used a clay bar before so I'm hoping mine won't need it but I will quickly learn how to do it if I need to! (I have a DA buffer so I'm good at paint correction, I've just never taken that clay bar plunge yet)
As others have mentioned earlier do the "baggie test" where you insert your hand into a small (sandwiched size) biggie then lightly glide the bag over the paint if it feels like 400 grit sandpaper you need to clay bar the car.
If you want I have a detailed clay bar instruction guide document that I can email to you. It work great and it's so easy to do.
Personally I like Griot's Garage 11153 Paint Cleaning Clay available from Amazon.
If you want a copy of the doc send me a PM with your email address.
Yikes, that changes things then! My car is going to sit outside for about 4 weeks thanks to the QC hold after plant reopening! I am sure the paint will build up a lot of contamination during that time. The paint is definitely going to need some help when I get it!
A 4 week QC hold I had not thought of that but makes complete sense given a complete retrofit of the plant including new processes, new equipment and plant learning curve.
I generally 'clay' My garage queen once a year. I cando the whole car in a bit over 30 minutes. I always put an old 'beach towel' on the ground or floor where I am working
if the bar slips and falls I can keep going. I then as I have for years do the Zaino thing including the CS.
Before and after on the claybar from doing just my hood. Car is only 2 months old, so yeah you might want to do it and see what comes out. Side doors were fine, rear bumper was just as bad. First time detailing this car since I got it, put about 6 hours into it for my first detail.
Applying ceramic coating is like waxing a car. Big deal is the prep. If you find areas afterwards you're not happy, wheel it off with mild paint correction compound and redo. I've done a few cars results are amazing. Nothing is permanent.
Originally Posted by Patman
I have decided not to do it, as even though they told me it's ceramic coating, I have been having my doubts, as the price really is too low for what they claim it includes. They say $699 for paint correction and ceramic coating, with a 10 year warranty and they will reapply the coating at the 5 year mark. I tried searching for more info about the product (Diamond Kote) and there really isn't much out there about it, and I think it's just a regular sealant that probably won't even last 3 months. They call it Nano Crystal paint protection, but I really don't think that's another word for ceramic. I should have known better not to trust the finance guy at the dealership (who's job it is to upsell so he's going to do whatever he can to convince me that the stuff they sell is the best)
I got some prices for local places doing ceramic coating and one wants $600 for a 2 year product and the other offers 5 years for $600. Both of them said it would be more for the paint correction (which I could actually do myself beforehand) I'm still a little bit leery about doing ceramic coating. I know it offers amazing protection from bird droppings, acid rain, etc. I know that it offers a super slick surface that dirt barely sticks to. But I just don't know how long it will offer that protection, and I don't want to have to spend $600 every couple of years to keep it up. Some places here offer lifetime packages where they will reapply it every few years but they want something like $4000 for that. I know that there are do it yourself ceramic products out there but I'm very leery of using them as they all sound very finicky in the way you apply them and it sounds too easy to make a mistake and screw up your finish.
So I'm going to test out a couple of different sealants on my C6 for the next few months to see if they can prevent etching from bird bombs (which is really my biggest concern as I get bird bombs almost every day at work) If successful, I'll simply continue using one or both of those products a couple of times a year and not have to spend megabucks to protect my finish. Right now I just finished polishing and then applying Auto Glym Extra Gloss Protection and if that doesn't perform as hoped I will try Rejex next. I have been mostly using Zaino since the 90s but it's time to try something different. Does anyone else have a sealant they like to use that they've found protects the finish very well and is the "next best" thing to a ceramic coating?
Applying ceramic coating is like waxing a car. Big deal is the prep. If you find areas afterwards you're not happy, wheel it off with mild paint correction compound and redo. I've done a few cars results are amazing. Nothing is permanent.
I can say almost without a doubt that I will do ceramic coating at some point in the future but I don't think you can say it's like waxing a car, as from what I've found so far, none of the ceramic coatings allow you to apply it to the entire car all at once and then come back and buff it later. All of them say to do it in small sections and wipe it off at the precise time (not too early, not too late!) and they also say it's not good to overlap areas you've already done (which is hard not to do if you're only allowed to work in small sections at a time!) I know that technology is always changing, and someday someone will come out with a completely user friendly ceramic coating that you can use exactly like waxes and sealants. But until then I'm just not comfortable with the possibility of screwing something up and having to polish the car all over again to fix a mistake. That never happens with waxes and sealants, they are extremely user friendly. If you put too much on, you don't have to start again from square one, you just need to work that area a little harder and then possibly spray it down with detailing spray to clean it up of any streakiness.
True, but I don't wax an entire car then wipe it off. Maybe it do it wrong, but do small sections at a time so in that regard, its like ceramic coating.
I've coated a few vehicles...yes its tedious, but hardly not hard.
Originally Posted by Patman
I can say almost without a doubt that I will do ceramic coating at some point in the future but I don't think you can say it's like waxing a car, as from what I've found so far, none of the ceramic coatings allow you to apply it to the entire car all at once and then come back and buff it later. All of them say to do it in small sections and wipe it off at the precise time (not too early, not too late!) and they also say it's not good to overlap areas you've already done (which is hard not to do if you're only allowed to work in small sections at a time!) I know that technology is always changing, and someday someone will come out with a completely user friendly ceramic coating that you can use exactly like waxes and sealants. But until then I'm just not comfortable with the possibility of screwing something up and having to polish the car all over again to fix a mistake. That never happens with waxes and sealants, they are extremely user friendly. If you put too much on, you don't have to start again from square one, you just need to work that area a little harder and then possibly spray it down with detailing spray to clean it up of any streakiness.
I am assuming those that think they can skip the clay process have never been in assembly plant or worked in an industrial environment. GA is not a sterile environment like the paint shop. Spend 8 hours in the plant and then go blow your nose and tell me what color the tissue is...
Regardless if your car was wrapped and shipped immediately.... wash, clay, wash, polish, and LSP is always going to be the process.
I clayed my car after 2 weeks of driving it. I did a 42 hour paint correction/ coating applications. I had more contaminants on my paint then I would have expected.
Clays are abrasive. No matter what. The soap/ spray are lubricants. You will get micromaring. People think of abrasives as much harsher scary things.
The particles you pick up will be embedded in the clay. You will drag them across the paint. In theory they get absorbed into the clay and cause no other damage but I've found this to be false in my experience.
I would recommend using iron out type product to see the iron particles to give you an indication. I was shocked to see how much stuff was on my car in such short time.
I have used synthetic versions and clay. I recommend real clay.
In the end I used two applications of an iron remover product and clay. I have my process logged.
I followed with a compound and polish and everything that goes along with that. ( which is a lot)
it all comes down to what you want your end result to be.
I still don't understand why they wouldn't put the white covers on them for the time they are going to spend outside! There must be bird droppings on a lot of those cars, just sitting there for an entire month with the sun baking down on them. And acid rain etching! The thought of all those paint jobs getting ruined already makes me sad
Yeah, but a lot of cars get sold on impulse buys as a result of seeing them in dealership parking lots. Needless to say, cars with covers on them don't generate that "gotta have it" passion.
09-23-2017, 09:07 PM
