Hello all, I am picking my car up next week from a private seller. It is a long drive back home and the car will without a doubt become dirty as a result.

I spent some time searching this on this website and cannot find anything that tells me out to do a basic (BUT GOOD) cleaning. This is my first car (yes I saved up for a while) and I do not have a lot of experience in doing a really nice wash.

I have heard Zaino is a good product, and am thinking about ordering their Canadian Starter Kit (http://www.zainostore.ca/category/cdn-starter-kit). My question is, after I wash it, should I be using the Z-2 or Z-6 or both (and if so which order)?.

I assume Obviously I should use the ZFX after.

Like I said, I want to make my friends jealous but at the same time I don't want to damage the cars paint. I have heard horror stories about people using the wrong products and absolutely ruining there cars paint. Has anyone heard about Zaino's products doing damage to a cars paint?

What non-damaging soap should use to wash the car?(Z-7 or something else?)

What kind of towel etc should I use to applicate the soap? (non-damaging)

If I am to clean the engine, which parts should I cover while doing so? Is it possible to do damage when washing the engine bay area?

Any other tips on washing the car would be appreciated, like the title says, I want to make my friends jealous they already know I am getting a G35, but I want to stop them from blinking when they see it

 

There's a lot of good information on washing and detailing your car on this link.

http://www.detailedimage.com/Auto-Detailing-Guide/

 

To answer a couple of your questions, you should use car soap only. Many people like and use Meguiar's gold class car soap. The key is using the right soap to water ratio or you might strip off the wax on your car (if there's any).

Washing your car should be done with a genuine sheep skin wash mit. If you do a search, I think you will find that most car enthusiast will recommend the same. Make sure you wash using a two bucket w/ grit guard system. Start from the top then work yourself down to the side skirts.

I don't have much experience washing engines, so I can't help you there.

You could probably spend a solid hour on reading proper washing techniques. Check out the website below for tons of good info or you can check out some of the stickies in this forum. Good luck, and I hope you didn't buy a BLACK car....

http://www.autopia.org/

 

eshine.ca

All you will ever need, in Canadian prices and shipped in Canada.

 

what color is it?

I would go with the menzerna line up if you are going to be polishing! 203 and 85rd should suffice with a PC and a few pads.

if you are looking to just wax, then collinite 845 for nice looks and good protection, or blackfire wet diamond sealant (havent used, but heard its good)

wash with something like chemical guys maxi suds or megs super soap (detailer line), use a sheepskin or a grout sponge, use waffle weave drying towels, MF towels for QD wipe ups!

p21s wheel gel, chemical guys diablo wheel cleaner, or megs safe degreaser all with an EZ detail brush (i like the mini)

dress the tires with a water based coating to make cleaning easy on yourself as silicone based take more to clean properly! Check out tuf-shine for a tire sealant that WORKS!

 

^^^with him being a newb to washing/detailing... a PC may not be a good idea just yet... we dont want swirls now.

 

you get swirls from washing (swirl marks are not the same as holograms/buffer trails)
you get holograms from rotary, not from the PC. That is why the PC is the user friendly polisher...