Hey!

Just got my coupe this Saturday and man oh man what can I say, im speechless!! Just wanted to know if you had any items you thought I should buy when I do a car wash. Please let me know what soap, wheel cleaner, interior dash or others y'all recommend. (I live in Houston, where we get the brief nasty shower that does a number on our cars!)

Thanks a lot!!

 

Congrats man! you're gonna love the car.
As far as supplies go.....i will get to that in a bit, just some tidbits first:

DO NOT go to a drive-thru carwash. Do not let anybody wash the car but yourself.
Do not use swirling motion when washing.
Ok now for supplies:

-Any carwash soap will do just fine, as long as its made for cars and not too abrasive.
-i use a regular 99cent car sponge. Just remember to clean the sponge every couple minutes while in use, from debris, which will scratch your paint.
-wax....i use Crystal Guard, there's an Ad for it on the left here. Works great for me. There's a bunch of How-to's here on this forum. Most people seem to prefer ZAINO wax products. Its probably the best on the market. I use Crystal Guard because it takes only 30 minutes to do. Zaino may take a couple of hours.
-brake dust removal: i use Eagle1 A to Z wheel cleaner in the orange bottle. It works great, sometimes you have to do some light scrubbing though. But thats normal. Some say that the stuff is pretty strong, so dont let it sit on the wheel for longer than 30 seconds.

Good luck.

<font color=green>-Rambo</font color=green>
G35c 6MT DG/Willow/Grounding Kit

 

Thanks Rambo for the reply!!

How often do you apply the Crytal Guard (how long does it last)?

Thanks again!!

 

Here is what I would get.

1. Two Buckets. One for doing lower part of your car and Rims and other for the rest of your car.
2. (MUST) Microfiber towels. You want at least 2 BIG blue towels to dry your car and maybe about 3-5 others to remove polish from your car.
3. 2 Microfiber Mitts. One for your lower part of car and rims and the other for the rest.
4. Car soap, anything that does not strip wax or applies wax. I use Zainos, but the Mequire one works well.
5. Sponge Wheel Applicator.
6. Meguiar's Endurance High Gloss Tire Gel. Will outlast any armor all product.
7. 303 Aero Protectant. For dash
8. Leather I just use lexol.
9. Simple Green for general purpose cleaning. I use it when have the energy to clean the inside wheel wells.
10. Stoner Glass Cleaner with old news paper to clean glass.
11. Use your favorite polish. I use Zainos Z2-Z5-ZFX-Z6-Z7.

That's all I can think of for now. Definately get the Microfiber towels!! Not sure if you can just go to your ordinary Pepboys for the towels. You can get them for cheap at http://www.microfibertech.com/ I never tried their products yet, so I can't get into how effective there towels are. I got my towels at http://www.properautocare.com/

Good Luck

G35C 6MT / E55

 

Thanks Wreck for the helpful items!!!

I am going to go this weekend and look for them!

 

Yeah, Wreck has a good list.

CG-Quick will last 4 months. Takes 30 mintues to apply it. ($50)
CG-Pro will last at least a year (Without maintanance). Takes like 15 hours to apply it. ($100)

Some retail stores (walmart, Kmart, Meijers, etc.) have "Turtle Wax" brand Microfiber towels, 3 for $5.
Be sure to pick up a set.
Drying the car....i use an old beach towel [img]/w3timages/icons/smile.gif[/img] most people use a Chamois/Leather thing

<font color=green>-Rambo</font color=green>
G35c 6MT DG/Willow/Grounding Kit

 

I've heard that genuine chamois can strip some of the wax/polish off the car, and leave some oil residues. I use mine only for the chrome trim and windows. You're better off with a synthetic chamois like the 'Absorber' and such. Also don't just bunch it up and rub. Grab the corners like a bedspread or table cloth or cape and drape/drag it lightly over the surface of your car.

<font color=green>GG</font color=green>

 

I have a black coape and started using a chamoi/shammy whatever,anyways,the shammy started to fall apart after a while and left pieces on the paint that I had to buff out.With a black car everything shows,so don't use an old beach towel cause I guaranty it will scratch.It's only a few bucks for a scratchless towell at any auto parts store.If you feel lazy one day and take it to a car wash,make sure the guy drying your car isn't wearing jeans cause the metal stud next to the fith pocket will scratch the heal out of your car.This happened on my white TL which was very noticable.

 

wreck,
Great list, I use almost identical items.

As Rambo points out, use Zaino if you have the time to apply it. Otherwise, go with CG.
I just applied by fourth coat of Zaino's in a month (three last month Z2 + ZFX + Z6 and straight Z2 + Z6 today). And everytime I apply it, the color gets deeper and deeper. Z6 is awesome, makes the car really shine. And I love the smell of Z6 .

 

I second Zorro's recommendation. Actually, after having used clay and wax on previous cars and converting to Zaino for this car, I find that the Zaino is a whole lot easier and less time consuming and produces a better result. So, I'm a Zaino convert. (Although my idea of a fun Sunday afternoon is washing and Zaino-ing my car...) Plus, you can buy Zaino stuff on line and it come's really quickly. They sell a complete car wash/shine/applicator kit and give thorough directions on use.

And my 6MT garnet fire sedan turns heads wherever I go. I'd be turning heads with a 6MT coupe, but couldn't stuff my teenage kids in the back
seat...

Zaino lasts 6 months to a year, depending on how often you wash your car. More coats, longer lasting.

Whatever you use, just be sure that when you wash it after putting your stuff on, you use a car wash (in Zaino speak, use Z 7) and not dish detergent unless you intend to strip whatever wax or polymer product you have on your car.

Have fun whatever you use!

Dreams garnet fire/graphite leather 6MT 2003.5 premium/aero/winter

 

I'm a G35 wannabe owner but I look through this site with envy, hoping someday to be a true member! However, I keep my black '02 Maxima well polished/waxed. I use Zaino for the long lasting durability and incredible shine. One thing about Zaino that I don't like is the shine can be a little too plastic or "saran wrap"-like to me so I top it off with either p21s or s100 carnauba wax to give it the added depth that Zaino lacks IMHO.

 

I'll admit I've never used Klasse before (although I've heard many, many good reviews by other car owners). Compared to other polish/waxes I've used, Zaino has the best shine IMHO. It's my understanding that you can put a carnauba was on top of a synthetic (like Zaino or Klasse) but you can't put a synthetic on top of a carnauba wax because it won't bond well. If I want to add more layers of Zaino, I'd need to remove my S100/P21S. I enjoy waxing my car so I haven't needed to add more Zaino since I keep a good layer of S100/P21S on my car.