New Car... Need Protection

[bsimpson145]

My wife and I traded in her '08 GMC Denali this afternoon for a '12 Chrysler Town and Country. I know. I now have a minivan. We picked it up this evening and it is very clean with no swirls (to the visible eye) and also only a quick coat of what feels like touchless car wash wax. What products and steps / techniques are reccomended to get a good start with this van's paint protection / shine? Thanks in advance for any help...

-Brad

[king]

Two bucket wash/ clay/ alcohol wipe/ Swirl & Haze Remover/ Fine Machine Polish/ quick sealant/ Brilliant Glaze/ americano. prior to all of that, watch the diy vids, good luck

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk

[GaryW]

Originally Said by king Two bucket wash/ clay/ alcohol wipe/ Swirl & Haze Remover/ Fine Machine Polish/ quick sealant/ Brilliant Glaze/ americano. prior to all of that, watch the diy vids, good luck Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk

Ditto

In the right place to keep mini-van looking clean.. Adams all over it will work.
And remember alot of advice here,, so ask for help. Really good advice on this board.

[irunnoft]

Originally Said by king Two bucket wash/ clay/ alcohol wipe/ Swirl & Haze Remover/ Fine Machine Polish/ quick sealant/ Brilliant Glaze/ americano. prior to all of that, watch the diy vids, good luck Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk

I agree with everything except the Swirl & Haze Remover. OP stated that there were no swirls to the visible eye, so I would recommend inspecting the paint with a light source and evaluating the condition in strong light.

The car may very well only need Fine Machine Polish, but as I've learned from this forum, you want to start with the least aggressive approach first. So the Swirl & Haze Remover might not be needed.

I'd recommend checking out the Adam's store site and going over the kits. You will find that there are quite a few kits that have many of the products you need, but at a cheaper price.

Here's what I'd recommend having/using going on the assumption that you have no supplies:

Single Soft Microfiber Towels (at least 4)
Waterless Wash (blue waffle weave) towels
Great White Drying Towel (at least 2)
Undercarriage Brush
Boar's Hair Wheel Brush
2 Grit Guard Buckets
2 Wash Pads
Adam's Car Shampoo
Adam's All Purpose Cleaner
Adam's Green Wheel Cleaner
Adam's Super VRT
Hex Grip VRT applicator
VRT Block Sponge
Adam's Swirl Haze Remover
Adam's Fine Machine Polish
Adam's Clay Bar
Adam's Detail Spray
Adam's Waterless Wash
Adam's Brilliant Glaze and applicator
Adam's Americana Wax and applicator


Watch all the videos

Spray wheel wells and tires with All Purpose Cleaner and hit the rims with the Green Wheel Cleaner. Use appropriate brushes to clean tires and wheels and rinse.

2 bucket wash the car, dry it, clay it (use detail spray) and then wash it again and dry it.

Use a PC and whichever method is least aggressive to get the job done - whether that's Swirl & Haze Remover or Fine Machine Polish.

After polishing, use the Brilliant Glaze and then Americana Wax.

The Waterless Wash can be used afterward to help keep it looking great without having to break out the buckets.

Hope that helps.

[Golf for Life]

Going to be a big job on such a large vehicle but a lot of fun also. Keeping the mini van looking good in the future will be easier to maintain once you have the initial correction completed.

[mc2hill]

Originally Said by bsimpson145 We picked it up this evening and it is very clean with no swirls (to the visible eye) and also only a quick coat of what feels like touchless car wash wax. What products and steps / techniques are reccomended to get a good start with this van's paint protection / shine? Thanks in advance for any help... -Brad

Congrats on new ride. I would never want to own a mini-van either, but I do often borrow my dad's for long trips! Nothing better for burning up miles on the interstate and keeping everyone comfortable.

Do you have or are you planning to purchase a Porter Cable or Flex polisher?
If so, then see the other responses.

If the car is relatively swirl free, then you want to work on keeping it that way. Watch the videos by Adam and by Junkman on properly washing the car. The 2 bucket method is the cornerstone to keeping swirls away. If you learn the proper wash techniques and do not add swirls, then you won't have any to remove! That being said, it is very hard to keep a daily driver perfect, so eventually you may need the polisher and the step mentioned above.

[BlueGenCoupe]

The previous posts, u got a barage of info im sure u feel overwhelmed.

First question: are you going to polishing by hand or machine?

[bsimpson145]

Thanks for the replies thus far. I do have a Portor Cable and have used it on my Nissan Titan. I have never had the time to take care of my vehicles to the "Adam's Standard." I'm going to make time in the next couple weeks to get some fine machine polish on the car and then maybe a hand coat of Americana. Any thoughts?